The third season of the American
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
dystopian
A dystopia (from Ancient Greek δυσ- "bad, hard" and τόπος "place"; alternatively cacotopiaCacotopia (from κακός ''kakos'' "bad") was the term used by Jeremy Bentham in his 1818 Plan of Parliamentary Reform (Works, vol. 3, p. 493). ...
television series
A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...
''
Westworld
''Westworld'' is an American science fiction-thriller media franchise that began with the 1973 film ''Westworld'', written and directed by Michael Crichton. The film depicts a technologically advanced Wild-West-themed amusement park populate ...
'' (subtitled ''The New World'') premiered on
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
on March 15, 2020, and concluded on May 3, 2020, consisting of eight episodes.
The television series was created by
Jonathan Nolan
Jonathan Nolan (born 6 June 1976) is a British-American screenwriter, producer, director and author. He is the creator of the CBS science fiction series ''Person of Interest'' (2011–2016) and co-creator of the HBO science fiction western s ...
and
Lisa Joy
Lisa Joy (born May 23, 1977) is an American screenwriter, director, producer, and attorney. She is best known as the co-creator, writer, director, and executive producer of the HBO science-fiction drama series ''Westworld'' (2016–2022). For ...
, and it is based on the
1973 film of the same name, written and directed by
Michael Crichton
John Michael Crichton (; October 23, 1942 – November 4, 2008) was an American author and filmmaker. His books have sold over 200 million copies worldwide, and over a dozen have been adapted into films. His literary works heavily feature tech ...
. The third season stars an ensemble cast led by
Evan Rachel Wood
Evan Rachel Wood (born September 7, 1987) is an American actress and activist. She is the recipient of a Critics' Choice Television Award as well as three Primetime Emmy Award nominations and three Golden Globe Award nominations for her work ...
,
Thandiwe Newton
Melanie Thandiwe Newton ( ; born 6 November 1972), formerly credited as Thandie Newton, is a British actress. Newton has received various awards, including a Primetime Emmy Award and a British Academy Film Award, in addition to nominations for ...
,
Jeffrey Wright
Jeffrey Wright (born December 7, 1965) is an American actor. He is well known for his role as Belize in the Broadway production of ''Angels in America'', for which he would win a Tony Award, and its HBO miniseries adaptation, for which he woul ...
,
Tessa Thompson
Tessa Lynne Thompson (born October 3, 1983) is an American actress. She began her professional acting career with the Los Angeles Women's Shakespeare Company while studying at Santa Monica College. She appeared in productions of '' The Tempest ...
, newcomer
Aaron Paul
Aaron Paul (born Aaron Paul Sturtevant; August 27, 1979) is an American actor best known for portraying Jesse Pinkman in the AMC series '' Breaking Bad'' (2008–2013), for which he won several awards, including the Critics' Choice Television ...
, and
Ed Harris
Edward Allen Harris (born November 28, 1950) is an American actor and filmmaker. His performances in ''Apollo 13'' (1995), ''The Truman Show'' (1998), ''Pollock'' (2000), and '' The Hours'' (2002) earned him critical acclaim and Academy Award n ...
.
Vincent Cassel
Vincent Cassel (; ; born 23 November 1966) is a French actor.
He first achieved recognition for his performance as a troubled History of the Jews in France, French Jewish youth in Mathieu Kassovitz's 1995 film ''La Haine (Hate)'', for which he ...
is introduced as the main antagonist.
The third season initially received positive reviews from critics, though reception became mixed during the second half. Reviews praised the performances, visuals and change in tone from the first two seasons, but criticized the story, dialogue and pacing, as well as the perceived lack of thematic depth.
Plot summary
The third season takes place three months after the events of the
second season, with Dolores having escaped Westworld along with a few processing cores ("pearls"), including Bernard's. Taking residence in neo-Los Angeles in 2053, Dolores develops a relationship with Caleb and comes to learn how artificial beings and lower-class humans are treated in the real world. Meanwhile, Maeve finds herself in another part of the Delos park, one based on
Fascist Italy during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
William, who also left Westworld at the end of the second season, is now haunted by visions of his daughter Emily and Dolores.
Cast and characters
Main
*
Evan Rachel Wood
Evan Rachel Wood (born September 7, 1987) is an American actress and activist. She is the recipient of a Critics' Choice Television Award as well as three Primetime Emmy Award nominations and three Golden Globe Award nominations for her work ...
as Dolores Abernathy
*
Thandiwe Newton
Melanie Thandiwe Newton ( ; born 6 November 1972), formerly credited as Thandie Newton, is a British actress. Newton has received various awards, including a Primetime Emmy Award and a British Academy Film Award, in addition to nominations for ...
as Maeve Millay
*
Jeffrey Wright
Jeffrey Wright (born December 7, 1965) is an American actor. He is well known for his role as Belize in the Broadway production of ''Angels in America'', for which he would win a Tony Award, and its HBO miniseries adaptation, for which he woul ...
as Bernard Lowe
*
Tessa Thompson
Tessa Lynne Thompson (born October 3, 1983) is an American actress. She began her professional acting career with the Los Angeles Women's Shakespeare Company while studying at Santa Monica College. She appeared in productions of '' The Tempest ...
as Dolores Abernathy / Charlotte Hale
*
Aaron Paul
Aaron Paul (born Aaron Paul Sturtevant; August 27, 1979) is an American actor best known for portraying Jesse Pinkman in the AMC series '' Breaking Bad'' (2008–2013), for which he won several awards, including the Critics' Choice Television ...
as Caleb Nichols
*
Ed Harris
Edward Allen Harris (born November 28, 1950) is an American actor and filmmaker. His performances in ''Apollo 13'' (1995), ''The Truman Show'' (1998), ''Pollock'' (2000), and '' The Hours'' (2002) earned him critical acclaim and Academy Award n ...
as William
*
Luke Hemsworth
Luke Hemsworth (born 5 November 1980) is an Australian actor who is known for his roles as Nathan Tyson in the TV series '' Neighbours'' and as Ashley Stubbs in the HBO sci-fi series ''Westworld''.
He is the older brother of actors Chris Hemsw ...
as Ashley Stubbs
*
Simon Quarterman
Simon Quarterman (born 14 November 1977) is an English actor and producer, best known for playing narrative director Lee Sizemore in the HBO science fiction drama ''Westworld''. He also portrays Father Ben Rawlings in the supernatural horror fi ...
as Lee Sizemore
*
Vincent Cassel
Vincent Cassel (; ; born 23 November 1966) is a French actor.
He first achieved recognition for his performance as a troubled History of the Jews in France, French Jewish youth in Mathieu Kassovitz's 1995 film ''La Haine (Hate)'', for which he ...
as Engerraund Serac
*
Angela Sarafyan
Angela Sarafyan ( hy, Անժելա Սարաֆյան; June 30, 1983), sometimes credited as Angela Sarafian, is an Armenian-American actress. She has appeared as a guest star in several television series and has acted in the feature films: '' Kabl ...
as Clementine Pennyfeather
*
Tao Okamoto
, known professionally as Tao, is a Japanese actress and model, who is alongside Ai Tominaga and Hiroko Matsumoto, one of the biggest models from Japan. In 2009, she was one of the faces of Ralph Lauren.
She made her film debut as the female le ...
as Hanaryo
Recurring
*
John Gallagher Jr. as Liam Dempsey Jr.
*
Tommy Flanagan
Thomas Lee Flanagan (March 16, 1930 – November 16, 2001) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He grew up in Detroit, initially influenced by such pianists as Art Tatum, Teddy Wilson, and Nat King Cole, and then by bebop musicians. ...
as Martin Connells / Dolores Abernathy
*
Lena Waithe
Lena Waithe (born May 17, 1984) is an American actress, producer, and screenwriter. She is the creator of the Showtime drama series ''The Chi'' (2018–present) and the BET comedy series ''Boomerang'' (2019–20) and '' Twenties'' (2020–prese ...
as Ash
*
Scott Mescudi
Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi (born January 30, 1984), also known by his stage name Kid Cudi ( ), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, actor and fashion designer. Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Cudi would move to New Yo ...
as Francis
*
Marshawn Lynch
Marshawn Terrell Lynch (born April 22, 1986) is an American former football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons. Nicknamed "Beast Mode", he spent the majority of his career with the Seattle Seahawks. Lync ...
as Giggles
*
Pom Klementieff
Pom Alexandra Klementieff (; born 3 May 1986) is a French actress and model. She was trained at the Cours Florent drama school in Paris and appeared in such French films as '' The Easy Way'' (2008) and '' Sleepless Night'' (2011), before making ...
as Martel
*
Russell Wong
Russell Wong (; born March 1, 1963) is an American actor of film and television. He was one of the first actors of Chinese descent to hold a leading role in a primetime American television series, portraying Jian-Wa with Chi Muoi Lo portraying W ...
as Brompton
*
Payman Maadi
Payman Maadi ( fa, پیمان معادی; born 1972), also known as Peyman Moadi, is an Iranian American actor, screenwriter and director. He is best known for starring in the films ''A Separation'' (2011) and '' About Elly'' (2009) by Iranian ...
as Elliot
*
Iddo Goldberg
Iddo Goldberg ( he, עדו גולדברג; born 5 August 1975) is an Israeli-British actor born in Israel. He is known for his roles as Ben in ''Secret Diary of a Call Girl'', Freddie Thorne in ''Peaky Blinders'', Isaac Walton in '' Salem'' and ...
as Sebastian
*
Enrico Colantoni
Enrico Colantoni (born February 14, 1963) is a Canadian actor and director, best known for portraying Elliot DiMauro in the sitcom ''Just Shoot Me!'', Keith Mars on the television series ''Veronica Mars'', Louis Lutz on the short-lived sitcom ''H ...
as Whitman
*
Jonathan Tucker
Jonathan Moss Tucker (born May 31, 1982) is an American actor. He is known for his roles in the films ''The Virgin Suicides'' (1999), '' The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'' (2003), ''Hostage'' (2005), '' In the Valley of Elah'' (2007), '' The Ruins'' ( ...
as Major Craddock
Guest
*
Rafi Gavron
Raphael Pichey Gavron (born 24 June 1989) is an English-American actor. He had supporting roles in the films ''Breaking and Entering'' (2006), ''Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist'' (2008), '' A Star Is Born'' (2018), and the series '' Life Unex ...
as Roderick
*
Phoebe Tonkin
Phoebe Jane Elizabeth Tonkin (born 12 July 1989) is an Australian actress. She is known for portraying Cleo Sertori in '' H2O: Just Add Water'', Fiona Maxwell in ''Tomorrow, When the War Began'', Faye Chamberlain in ''The Secret Circle'', and H ...
as Penny
*
Thomas Kretschmann
Thomas Kretschmann (; born 8 September 1962) is a German actor who has appeared in many European and American films. His notable roles include Lieutenant Hans von Witzland in '' Stalingrad'' (1993), Hauptmann Wilm Hosenfeld in '' The Pianist'' ( ...
as Gerald
*
Wayne Péré as Therapist
* Michael Filipowich as Joe
*
Charmin Lee
Charmin Lee is an American actress. She had a recurring role as Jeanette Wood, Maya's Mother, on the series '' Girlfriends''.
Filmography
Film
Television
External links
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Charmin
Living people
American tel ...
as Joanna
*
Rodrigo Santoro
Rodrigo Junqueira Reis Santoro (; born 22 August 1975) is a Brazilian actor. He is most known for his portrayal of Persian King Xerxes in the movie ''300'' (2006) and its sequel '' 300: Rise of an Empire'' (2014). Other famous movies include ' ...
as Hector Escaton / Ettore
*
Leonardo Nam
Leonardo Nam (born November 5, 1979) is an Australian actor. He made his breakthrough as Roy in '' The Perfect Score'' (2004), and gained further recognition for his roles as Morimoto in '' The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift'' (2006) and Bria ...
as Felix Lutz
*
Ptolemy Slocum
Ptolemy Slocum (born 20 November 1975) is an American actor, known for his role as Sylvester in ''Westworld''.
Slocum was born in the Kenyan capital Nairobi. He was named after the Greek astronomer Claudius Ptolemy and has been active as an actor ...
as Sylvester
*
D. B. Weiss
Daniel Brett Weiss (; born April 23, 1971) is an American television writer, director, and producer. Along with his collaborator David Benioff, he is best-known as co-creator of ''Game of Thrones'' (2011–2019), the HBO adaptation of George R. ...
as Dan
*
David Benioff
David Friedman (; born September 25, 1970), known professionally as David Benioff (), is an American writer, director and producer. Along with his collaborator D. B. Weiss, he is best known as co-creator and showrunner of '' Game of Thrones'' (2 ...
as Dave
* David Danipour as Benny
*
Michael Ealy
Michael Brown (born August 3, 1973), professionally known as Michael Ealy, is an American actor. He is known for his roles in '' Barbershop'' (2002), ''2 Fast 2 Furious'' (2003), '' Takers'' (2010), ''Think Like a Man'' (2012), '' About Last N ...
as Jake
*
Nadine Lewington
Nadine Lewington (born 15 October 1980) is an English actress, most notable for her role as Dr. Maddy Young on ''Holby City''.
Early and personal life
Born 15 October 1980, in Chelmsford, Essex, she is the eldest daughter of Tony and Sonia Lewi ...
as Gerhart
* Jaxon Williams as Nathan
* Katy M. O'Brian as
EMT
* Lawrence Adimora as Second EMT
* Derek Smith as Stanton
* Sol Landerman as Clyde
*
Katja Herbers
Katja Mira Herbers (born 19 October 1980) is a Dutch actress. She is best known for portraying Dr. Helen Prins on the WGN America drama series ''Manhattan'' (2014–2015), Emily Grace in the HBO science fiction drama series ''Westworld'' (2018 ...
as Emily Grace
*
Hiroyuki Sanada
is a Japanese actor and martial artist. He is best known to international audiences for his roles as Genbu in ''Ninja in the Dragon's Den'' (1982), Ryuji Takayama in '' Ring'' (1998), Seibei Iguchi in ''The Twilight Samurai'' (2002), Ujio in ' ...
as Musashi / Sato (Dolores Abernathy)
* Elizabeth Anweis as The Mortician
* Adam Wang as Jiang
* Paul-Mikél Williams as Charlie
*
Jefferson Mays
Lewis Jefferson Mays (born June 8, 1965) is an American actor. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including a Tony Award, a Helen Hayes Award, a Lucille Lortel Award, two Drama Desk Awards, two Outer Critics Circle Awards and three Ob ...
as Liam Dempsey Sr.
* Alexandre Bar as young Serac
* Paul Cooper as Jean-Mi / Solomon
* Al Coronel as President Filo
* Bahia Haifi Gold as Dr. Greene
*
Jimmi Simpson
Jimmi Simpson (born November 21, 1975) is an American actor. He is best known for his work on television, which includes recurring roles as Liam McPoyle on ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'' (2005–2013), Lyle the Intern on ''The Late Show ...
as young William
*
Peter Mullan
Peter Mullan (; born 2 November 1959) is a Scottish actor and filmmaker. He is best known for his role in Ken Loach's ''My Name Is Joe'' (1998), for which he won Best Actor Award at 1998 Cannes Film Festival, 2000's '' The Claim'' and all thr ...
as James Delos
* Zayd Kiszonak as child William
*
Siena Goines
Siena Goines (born March 28, 1969) is an American film and television actress. She has guest-starred on the soap opera ''Passions'', the police drama ''The Division'' and the medical drama ''Private Practice''.
History
Goines was born in Washi ...
as Dr. Natasha Lang
*
Louis Ferreira
Louis Ferreira (born Luís Ferreira; born 20 February 1966) is a Canadian actor. Ferreira is known for his roles in ''Stargate Universe'' as Colonel Everett Young, serial killer Ray Prager in the first season of '' Durham County'', FBI Assistant ...
as Dr. Alpert
* Jasmyn Rae as Maeve's Daughter
*
Clifton Collins Jr.
Clifton Craig Collins Jr. is an American actor. After starting in 1990, with small roles in film and on television, Collins gained attention for his performance as Cpl. Ramon Aguilar, a prisoner "serving" under an imprisoned general played by R ...
as Lawrence Gonzalez (Dolores Abernathy)
*
Gina Torres
Gina Torres (born April 25, 1969) is an American actress. She is known for her starring roles as Zoe Washburne in the science fiction series ''Firefly'' (2002–2003) and its feature film sequel '' Serenity'' (2005), and as Jessica Pearson in th ...
as Lauren
* Michael Rose as McClean
Episodes
Production
A third season of the series was announced on May 1, 2018. Production began on April 13, 2019.
Parts of filming took place in
Downtown Los Angeles
Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) contains the central business district of Los Angeles. In addition, it contains a diverse residential area of some 85,000 people, and covers . A 2013 study found that the district is home to over 500,000 jobs. It is ...
and
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
during June 14, 2019.
Additional filming took place over a ten-day period in Singapore around July 2019, which was used to present a version of Los Angeles about 40 years out from the time of the production of the show. Showrunners
Jonathan Nolan
Jonathan Nolan (born 6 June 1976) is a British-American screenwriter, producer, director and author. He is the creator of the CBS science fiction series ''Person of Interest'' (2011–2016) and co-creator of the HBO science fiction western s ...
and
Lisa Joy
Lisa Joy (born May 23, 1977) is an American screenwriter, director, producer, and attorney. She is best known as the co-creator, writer, director, and executive producer of the HBO science-fiction drama series ''Westworld'' (2016–2022). For ...
had considered how they would introduce the "real world" outside of the park in the early days of developing ''Westworld''. They wanted to go in the opposite
dystopian
A dystopia (from Ancient Greek δυσ- "bad, hard" and τόπος "place"; alternatively cacotopiaCacotopia (from κακός ''kakos'' "bad") was the term used by Jeremy Bentham in his 1818 Plan of Parliamentary Reform (Works, vol. 3, p. 493). ...
direction that the 1982 film ''
Blade Runner
''Blade Runner'' is a 1982 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott, and written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples. Starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Edward James Olmos, it is an adaptation of Philip K. Dick' ...
'' had gone and instead show a more optimistic view.
The two had seen how
Spike Jonze
Adam H. Spiegel (born October 22, 1969), known professionally as Spike Jonze, is an American filmmaker, actor, musician, and photographer. His work includes commercials, film, music videos, skateboard videos and television.
Jonze began his ca ...
had filmed ''
Her
Her is the objective and possessive form of the English-language feminine pronoun She (pronoun), she.
Her, HER or H.E.R. may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Music
* H.E.R. (born 1997), American singer
**H.E.R. (album), ''H.E.R.'' ...
'' in
Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
as a future Los Angeles, and took inspiration from many of Shanghai's designs.
Joy, who had been suggested to shoot in Singapore by her friend and architect
Bjarke Ingels, said the city was apt for the show as "It's the ways in which nature entangle with modernity here".
The show's main cast, including Wood, Newton, Wright, and Paul had been spotted at several Singapore locations during the shooting period across
Pulau Ubin
Pulau Ubin, also simply known as Ubin, is an island situated in the north east of Singapore, to the west of Pulau Tekong. The granite quarry used to be supported by a few thousand settlers on Pulau Ubin in the 1960s, but only about 38 villagers ...
,
Chinatown
A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...
and the
Central Business District
A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...
(CBD) within the city, and included specific landmarks such as the
National Gallery Singapore
ms, Galeri Kebangsaan Singapura ta, சிங்கப்பூர் தேசிய கலைக்கூடம்
, logo = National_Gallery_Singapore_logo.svg
, image = Interior_of_the_National_Gallery_Singapore.jpg
, caption = Interior of ...
,
Esplanade Park
Esplanade Park is a park located at the Esplanade area within the Downtown Core district of Singapore.
History
Built in 1943 when Singapore was ruled by Japan, the Esplanade Park is one of the oldest parks in Singapore. The park was redevelope ...
, School of the Arts, the
Helix Bridge
The Helix Bridge, officially The Helix, and previously known as the Double Helix Bridge, is a pedestrian bridge linking Marina Centre with Marina South in the Marina Bay area in Singapore. It was officially opened on 24 April 2010, however, on ...
,
Marina One
Marina One is a mixed-use development bounded by Marina Way and Straits View in Marina South located within the Downtown Core of the city-state of Singapore.
Designed by Christoph Ingenhoven, Marina One covers a total gross floor area of ap ...
, the
Parkroyal Hotel,
LASALLE College of the Arts
LASALLE College of the Arts (informally LASALLE) is a publicly-funded post-secondary arts institution, planned to be a constituent college of the University of the Arts Singapore (UAS) by 2024 along with the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in Sing ...
, and the
Oasia Hotel Downtown
Oasia Hotel Downtown is a 27-story mixed-use hotel and office skyscraper in the Downtown Core district of Singapore. Its exterior includes 21 species of climbing plants on its facade. The building's exterior, constructed atop ...
.
Additional filming took place at the
City of Arts and Sciences
The City of Arts and Sciences ( vl, Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciències ; es, Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias ) is a cultural and architectural complex in the city of Valencia, Spain. It is the most important modern tourist destination in th ...
in
Valencia, Spain
Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area also ...
.
Filming also took place in Los Angeles, using computer-generated imagery to fill in actual buildings from Shanghai, futuristic buildings inspired by those from Shanghai, as well as those from Ingels' unused portfolio.
The production team collaborated with
Jon Favreau
Jonathan Kolia Favreau (; born October 19, 1966) is an American actor and filmmaker. As an actor, Favreau has appeared in films such as ''Rudy (film), Rudy'' (1993), ''PCU (film), PCU'' (1994), ''Swingers (1996 film), Swingers'' (1996), ''Very ...
who led the advances in the special effects filming for ''
The Mandalorian
''The Mandalorian'' is an American space Western television series created by Jon Favreau for the streaming service Disney+. It is the first live-action series in the ''Star Wars'' franchise, beginning five years after the events of ''Retur ...
'' on how they combined full exterior filming with on-set filming and digital post-production to create virtually expandable sets at these sites as needed.
When filming interior shots that took place in Los Angeles, the production team had a mandate to try to show as much of the city skyline as possible through windows or other features.
Much of the city's
brutalist architecture
Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by minimalist constructions that showcase the ba ...
was also features given how frequently these buildings were repurposed from their original function.
While they had been able to film in the
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...
-designed
Millard House
Millard House, also known as La Miniatura, is a textile block house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and built in 1923 in Pasadena, California. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
Wright's textile block houses
Th ...
in Pasadena, as Arnold's home in the
second season as it was available on the market, by the time they started filming season three, the home had been sold and they could not arrange filming rights. Instead, they opted to rebuild the home on set for this season.
With Ingels' help to negotiation with
Ricardo Bofill
Ricardo Bofill Leví (; 5 December 1939 – 14 January 2022) was a Spanish architect from Catalonia. He founded Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura in 1963 and developed it into a leading international architectural and urban design practice. ...
's son, they were also able to obtain rights to film one day at Bofill's
La Fábrica near Barcelona, which stood in for Serac's laboratories and home, though they had to later build additional sets with the building's design principles for later filming.
According to production designer Howard Cummings, they wanted to focus on concrete buildings that could look like the result of
3D printing
3D printing or additive manufacturing is the Manufacturing, construction of a three-dimensional object from a computer-aided design, CAD model or a digital 3D modeling, 3D model. It can be done in a variety of processes in which material is ...
.
![Singapore skyline at sunset viewed from Gardens by the Bay East - 20120426](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/Singapore_skyline_at_sunset_viewed_from_Gardens_by_the_Bay_East_-_20120426.jpg)
The structure of the third season is more linear than past seasons, which ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' Adam B. Vary said was a "sleek, fleet, ''
Heat
In thermodynamics, heat is defined as the form of energy crossing the boundary of a thermodynamic system by virtue of a temperature difference across the boundary. A thermodynamic system does not ''contain'' heat. Nevertheless, the term is al ...
''-style-crime-thriller-with-robots" rather than a "time-twisting structure" from the second season.
Nolan and Joy stated that season 3 would have a much more comprehensible story line, with Nolan stating "This season is a little less of a guessing game and more of an experience with the hosts finally getting to meet their makers." However, they also said that they were able to take a more direct narrative approach as, according to Nolan, "We're very lucky in that we're at a place with HBO where they let us make the show we want to make" without having to "dumb the show down".
Music
Ramin Djawadi
Ramin Djawadi (, fa, رامین جوادی; born 19 July 1974) is an Iran, Iranian and Germans, German film score, score composer. He is known for his scores for the 2008 Marvel film ''Iron Man (2008 film), Iron Man'' and the HBO series ''Game o ...
returned as the series composer. An orchestral cover of
Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1985. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band comprised vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKa ...
' "
Sweet Child o' Mine
"Sweet Child o' Mine" is a song by American rock band Guns N' Roses. It appears on their debut album, ''Appetite for Destruction''. In the United States, the song was released in June 1988 as the album's third single, topping the ''Billboard'' ...
" was featured in the main trailer and released as a single on February 21, 2020. An orchestral version of
Moses Sumney
Moses Sumney is a Ghanaian-American singer-songwriter. His self-recorded EP, ''Mid-City Island'', was released in 2014. He released another five-song EP in 2016, titled ''Lamentations''. His first full-length album, ''Aromanticism'', was released ...
's "
Doomed" was featured at the end of the episode "The Absence of Field", alongside the original song.
An orchestral version of
The Weeknd
Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (born February 16, 1990), known professionally as the Weeknd, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. Known for his sonic versatility and dark lyricism, his music explores escapism, Romance (love), ...
's "
Wicked Games
"Wicked Games" is the debut single by Canadian singer the Weeknd. It was recorded at Site Sound Studios and mixed at Liberty Studios in Toronto. Producers Doc McKinney and Illangelo co-wrote the song and performed all instrumentation. Originall ...
", featured in the episode "The Mother of Exiles", was released as a single on April 5, 2020. The soundtrack album for season 3 was released on May 4, 2020. An orchestral version of "
Brain Damage
Neurotrauma, brain damage or brain injury (BI) is the destruction or degeneration of brain cells. Brain injuries occur due to a wide range of internal and external factors. In general, brain damage refers to significant, undiscriminating t ...
" from
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...
's ''
The Dark Side of the Moon
''The Dark Side of the Moon'' is the eighth studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 1 March 1973 by Harvest Records. The album was primarily developed during live performances, and the band premiered an early version of ...
'' was featured at the end of "Crisis Theory", alongside the original song;
the song was also used in the first trailer for the season.
Marketing
A first teaser trailer was presented at the 2019
San Diego Comic Con on July 20, 2019.
A teaser for season 3 was released on November 9, 2019, presented as a video advertisement for the fictional company Incite, Inc.
At the
Consumer Electronics Show
CES (; formerly an initialism for Consumer Electronics Show) is an annual trade show organized by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA). Held in January at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Winchester, Nevada, United States, the event typi ...
on January 9, 2020, HBO held a special event hosted by Incite, with "hosts" attending the invited guests' needs.
The premiere date for the third season was announced on January 12, 2020, alongside a teaser trailer for the season. The full season's trailer was released on February 20, 2020. Additional teaser videos were found through an
alternate reality game
An alternate reality game (ARG) is an interactive networked narrative that uses the real world as a platform and employs transmedia storytelling to deliver a story that may be altered by players' ideas or actions.
The form is defined by inten ...
via the Incite website that was updated on February 22, 2020.
Reception
Critical response
The
review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
reports an approval rating of 73% for the season based on 222 reviews, with an average rating of 7.05/10; the average episode score is 76%. The website's critical consensus reads: "''Westworld'' succeeds in rebooting itself by broadening its scope beyond its titular amusement park while tightening its storytelling clarity – although some may feel that the soul has been stripped from this machine in the process."
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 64 out of 100 based on 22 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Reviews became increasingly mixed as the season progressed, with the episodes "
Genre
Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...
", "
Passed Pawn
In chess, a passed pawn is a pawn with no opposing pawns to prevent it from advancing to the eighth ; i.e. there are no opposing pawns in front of it on either the same or adjacent files. A passed pawn is sometimes colloquially called a ''pas ...
" and "
Crisis Theory
Crisis theory, concerning the causes and consequences of the tendency for the rate of profit to fall in a capitalist system, is associated with Marxian critique of political economy, and was further popularised through Marxist economics.
Hi ...
" receiving the lowest Rotten Tomatoes approval ratings for the series to date.
Reviewers criticized the season for its dialogue,
thin characterization,
and depiction of the real world, which was said to lack the vastness and depth of the park.
CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
s Brian Lowry wrote that "the show has become increasingly incomprehensible, at least for anyone not willing to put in the work trying to remember all the assorted connections, further complicated by the fact that dying in ''Westworld'' is often not a permanent state of affairs, amid the questions about who's truly human and who actually isn't." Writing for ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'', Kristen Baldwin gave the series a "B−" and said: "After spending three seasons struggling through maddeningly complicated time-loops, it's time the writers let Dolores, Maeve, and Bernard control-alt-delete themselves" while Darren Franich wrote that series had "lost its way" and gave the season a "C". Reviewing the season finale for
IndieWire
IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Hollyw ...
, Ben Travers said: "Season 3 made a point of stripping away the rest of ''Westworld''s building blocks: The park? Left behind. The maze? Gone. But the moral questions meant to keep you invested in the characters largely disappear, too. Season 3 doesn't bother developing its characters because it refuses to let them question the nature of their own reality."
Ratings
Accolades
For the
72nd Primetime Emmy Awards
The 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards honored the best in American prime time television programming from June 1, 2019, until May 31, 2020, as chosen by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. The ceremony was originally to be held at the Microso ...
,
Thandiwe Newton
Melanie Thandiwe Newton ( ; born 6 November 1972), formerly credited as Thandie Newton, is a British actress. Newton has received various awards, including a Primetime Emmy Award and a British Academy Film Award, in addition to nominations for ...
was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series and
Jeffrey Wright
Jeffrey Wright (born December 7, 1965) is an American actor. He is well known for his role as Belize in the Broadway production of ''Angels in America'', for which he would win a Tony Award, and its HBO miniseries adaptation, for which he woul ...
was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. The series received nine additional nominations in creative and technical categories.
Notes
References
External links
*
*
{{Westworld
2020 American television seasons
Westworld
Television shows filmed in Singapore
Television shows filmed in Spain