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It’s a bit of a cheap shot, in my opinion, but it’s plausible that the first time we see the photo, we are seeing it through Bernard’s eyes and Ford is able to control his inability to see the full picture.ĭespite this “trick,” I loved the idea that we had seen Arnold, and not Bernard, talking to Dolores the entire time. This time, a third man is in the photo - the real Arnold, and he looks just like Bernard. However, when Bernard comes to realize that he was fashioned after Arnold, we see the photo again. In an earlier episode, Ford shows Bernard an old picture of two men - one of them a young Ford and the other presumably Arnold. This is a fun twist but also one that comes off somewhat as a trick. At least, that’s what we are led to believe.Īs Bernard tells Ford to return all of his memories that have been erased over the years, we learn that Bernard is not a random creation of Ford, but he was modeled after Arnold himself.Īll of those scenes from early in the season where Bernard is questioning the park’s central host, Dolores? That wasn’t Bernard - that’s Arnold. As much as we hear about Arnold, though, he isn’t shown. Arnold believed the hosts would be able to achieve consciousness, and Ford disagreed. Throughout the show, we hear quite a lot about Ford’s former partner, Arnold. Bernard Is … Arnold?Įpisode 9 brings Westworld‘s next bombshell. All the questions that we have from the first half of the season? Well, now we’re going to get some big answers. It signaled an enormity bubbling under the surface of all the secrecy. This was a big turning point in Westworld. Bernard, under the complete control of Ford, obeys without questioning and slams Theresa’s head into the wall, darkly reminiscent of the murder of Maddy Ferguson in Season 2 of Twin Peaks. While trying to digest this shocking news, Ford promptly directs Bernard to kill Theresa Cullen, the head of Quality Assurance and Bernard’s former girlfriend, who was recently discovered to be smuggling data out of the park. Bernard’s sympathetic personality and memories of a dead son were all created by Ford. Bernard is, in fact, a host who was created by Ford. We learn that park creator Robert Ford’s right-hand man, Bernard, is not simply the head of the park’s Programming Division. The first major twist of Westworld is the one that surprised me the most during my first watch of the show. Scenes jump around, and even though I was aware that multiple timelines are crisscrossing, I was often asking myself “What Year Is This?”īut once Episode 7 rolls around, the twists start popping up left and right. Bernard the Hostĭuring my rewatch, I found the first half of Season 1 to be a tad confusing, even knowing how many of the season’s secrets are resolved. Some I had remembered some I had completely forgotten. I’ll be outlining these twists here to help you get ready for the season premiere on Sunday. Heading into my rewatch, what I recalled most from watching Westworld was that it featured a number of surprising twists. And the act of watching Westworld at times feels like navigating through a maze. A major thread of the show involves characters searching for the center of a mysterious maze. Westworld has a lot to offer: its equal parts Western and Sci-fi with a dash of Jurassic Park it has great music (I think I counted four separate Radiohead covers making an appearance) it features a great cast, and all the while, there’s a dull buzzing of uneasiness that something very bad is about to happen.īut the heart of Westworld is its mysteries. I soon discovered two things: One, I still found myself wildly confused with many aspects of the show, and two, I was loving every minute of it. Going in knowing what happens in Westworld Season 1, for the most part anyway, (I first watched the show as it aired back in 2016, so it’s been a while), I wondered if I would find it as enjoyable. With HBO’s sci-fi thriller-mystery Westworld returning for a second season on April 22, I had an urge to give it another spin.