A man tells Dolores to wake up. She goes outside in the middle of the night and the man in her head asks her if she remembers.
A stewardess wakes up her passenger William and takes his glass. William’s friend says where they’re going, the stewardess is a 2. The train arrives at the depot and the passengers disembark. Logan leaves with another stewardess and a man, and another host--Angela-- comes over and welcomes William to Westworld. She asks him screening questions and explains that she’s doing it to make sure that they don’t give him more than he can handle. Angela woman warns him that he should start at the center and things get moiré wild the further out he moves. When William asks if there is an orientation, the host says that finding out how things work are part of the fun.
William goes to costuming and Angela says that everything there is exactly his size. She invites him to ask if he’s real, and says that if he can’ tell then it doesn’t matter. When William wonders if he should undress in private or not, he asks what most people would do and Angela tells him that it doesn’t matter. She says that all hosts are there for him and starts to undress him, but William says that he doesn’t want to keep Logan waiting.
At the complex, Bernard finds Elsie reviewing Abernathy’s “incident.” She figures that the host malfunctioned after it saw the photo. She figures that he’s having a cognitive problem and points out that Bernard covered for Robert. Elsie asks to rebuild Abernathy, despite the policy to let it lie, and Bernard refuses. She suggests that they pull in everyone in contact with Abernathy in case what he has is contagious, including Dolores. Bernard points out that the Dolores host was examined and cleared, and tells her not to dream up wild stories.
Dolores rides into town but hesitates and hears the man telling her “remember.” She looks at the street and remembers the previous shootout. Maeve interrupts her and tells her to move on so no one thinks that she’s one of the girls. Dolores turns to her and says what Abernathy told Robert. She then smiles and walks away, leaving a puzzled Maeve.
William dresses and comes out, and Angela invites him to choose a white hat or a black hat. He takes a white hat and goes to the door to the park. William steps out and finds himself on a train. He sits down at the bar and the bartender gets him a drink. Logan comes in through the same door and the train starts up, heading for town. As William shares at the landscape, Logan tells him that Westworld seduces everyone and he’ll reveal who he really is.
Outside of Sweetwater, Sheriff Reed passes sentence on a killer, Lawrence. Before the hangman can pull the lever on the gallows, the Man rides up and says that he needs to have some words with Lawrence. Reed refuses to back down, and the Man guns down him and his men. Lawrence removes his blindfold and stares at the dead hosts. The Man says that Kissy sent him to find Lawrence and tosses him Kissy’s scalp with the maze diagram on the back. His rescuer says that it’s the main and deepest level of the game, and Lawrence is going to help him find the answers. He then drags him off.
Sweetwater starts up and William comes into the bar. Maeve approaches a guest and says that in her dreams she can be as good or bad as she feels like. Maeve remembers watching Indians kill her people and stares off into space, and the guest excuses himself. The technicians take her to the complex and review her cognition, and Elsie warns that Sizemore wants them to clear out the dead weight for his new storyline. She decides to double Maeve’s aggression so that Maeve doesn’t play coy, and if that doesn’t work then they’ll bump her to Behavior.
Robert approaches Bernard, who tells him that they retired the two hosts. Bernard suspects that it would have taken more than the photograph to trigger Abernathy’s cognitive damage, and suggests outside influence. Robert doesn’t believe it and warns that what they do is complicated and there are no simple answers.
The train arrives in Sweetwater and William and Logan disembark. They go to the Mariposa and Maeve and one of the other hookers flirts with them. A man with an eye patch falls off his horse and William goes to help him. Logan warns that all of the hosts want to sell William on some adventure, but first they’re going to have a drink.
Dolores gets her supplies but stops to stare at her reflection in a window.
The host remembers being in the complex and Bernard bringing her online. She assures him that she didn’t tell anyone about their talks, and he has her go into analysis mode. Dolores says that no one has altered her core heuristics, and Bernard says that there’s something different about how she thinks and others might not understand. He then has her erase her event log of their talk.
Maeve flirts with another guest and this time aggressively shoves her up against a post. The guest turns her down and leaves, and Maeve gets a drink at the bar. Clementine is there, yawning, and admits that she’s still having nightmares. Maeve tells her to wake herself up so she can have sex with a john, and then sends Clementine back to work. However, Maeve hesitates when she remembers her past. Teddy asks if she’s all right, and she tells him not to gawk at her.
A controller tells Maeve that her performance is continuing to decline. They retask Clementine to take over the Mariposa and leave Maeve on the floor until the morning until they decommission her.
Bernard meets with Theresa and warns her that QA will fine her for smoking. He figures that she’s been talking to Corporate and it didn’t go well. Theresa has Bernard confirm that his department will be ready for the launch, and asks about Abernathy. He says that all the hosts are back to normal and Theresa leaves.
William and Logan have a meal and Logan figures that his friend is trying to tell which ones are human. He offers to shoot one, and William stops him and suggests that they finish eating first. Eye Patch is at the restaurant bar and William makes eye contact with him. The host comes over and Logan tells him to go away. When the host ignores him, Logan slams a knife into his hand and tells him that they’re not interested, and leaves.
Later, Logan is having sex with three hosts. William is waiting outside and Maeve approaches him. He says that Logan isn’t a friend of his, and tells Clementine that she doesn’t have to come onto him. Clementine offers to find someone perfect for him, and William says that he has someone real waiting for him at home. The host says that she understands, kisses him gently, and leaves.
At the complex, Lee is supervising the creation of the hosts for the new storyline. He complains that they’re not up to his standards just as Theresa arrives. She says that she received his request to retire 50 additional hosts, and tells him that he’s only getting 20 additional hosts for his narrative. Lee suggests that Robert is ready for retirement and Theresa walks off without responding.
Robert takes an elevator to the surface and looks around. A young boy host finds him, and asks if Robert is lost. Robert says that he’s strayed a bit too far from where he’s supposed to be, and the boy says that his family is on holiday. Amused, Robert invites the boy to walk with him, and he agrees.
The Man finally sits Lawrence down to give him water and says that they’re friends. He removes Lawrence’s blindfold and says that he’s home. They’re at a small Mexican village, and the Man says that he knows everything about Lawrence. Lawrence’s wife and daughter come out and the Man admits that he never knew that Lawrence had a family. He loads his gun and says that he wants to know the location of the maze entrance. Lawrence says that he doesn’t know anything about it, and the Man gives Lawrence’s daughter two bullets and says that Lawrence gets to decide what he does with them.
The barkeep comes out and apologizes for running late, and the Man figures that he was telling Lawrence’s cousin to bring some more men. He then shoots the barkeep.
At the complex, a technician asks Stubbs if he wants him to slow down the Man as they monitor the situation. Stubbs says that the Man gets anything he wants.
Lawrence’s cousins arrive and the Man says that he’s been coming there for 30 years. He then stands up and faces the gunmen, and holsters his gun. He then draws it, stabs one man in the throat, and shoots the others. Their bullets have no effect on him, and he finishes them off. Once he’s done, the Man gets his two bullets back from the girl and repeats his question. Lawrence says that he doesn’t know about the maze, and the Man leads Lawrence’s wife into a dance. He then shoots her dead and prepares to shoot the daughter. She says that the maze isn’t meant for the Man, and gives him directions. Lawrence tells the Man to go home now that he has what he wants, and the Man says that now he’s never going back. With that, he leads Lawrence off.
Robert and the boy walk through the desert, and Robert says that the place is full of things. He describes a town with a church, and the boy imagines hearing its bell toll. A rattlesnake starts to pounce at them, and Robert freezes it with a gesture. He then controls it and sends it off. As the boy stares in surprises, Robert sees a church steeple in the distance, in the middle of nowhere. He then tells the boy to home and never come back, and the boy host obeys its programming. .
Bernard goes to his apartment and starts to settle in. Theresa arrives and he invites her in. Bernard then kisses her and she kisses him back. After they make love, Bernard asks her to stay a little longer. And Theresa points out that his creations always talk even when there are no guests around. Bernard says that they’re practicing being more human, and Theresa wonders if that’s what he’s doing now.
Elsie checks the Maeve host and realizes that the programmers in narrative increased her aggression. She has her assistant archive the configuration and bump her emotional acuity. The assistant wonders if Maeve dreams, and Elsie says that there’d be no point. If the hosts remembered what the guests did to them, then the humans would be in trouble. Elsie admits that they program the concept of dreams into the hosts so that if someone forgets to wipe them, the hosts assume that they’re dreams. Satisfied, Elsie tells Maeve to awake and puts her back into rotation.
The next time at the bar, Maeve describes her dream to a spellbound guest. This time she successfully sets him up with Clementine. As Maeve drinks, Teddy watches and says that the guest was impressed. She points out that at least the victims of her transgressions live but Teddy’s don’t. Teddy offers a toast to their transgressions as a fight breaks out and a drunken guest shoots Teddy down. Maeve stares at Teddy’s body and wipes the blood off of her.
Later in her room, Maeve remembers flashes of her past again.
Maeve and remembers leading her daughter home and playing with her. An Indian comes and tries to scalp her, and the Man rides up and kills the Indian. As an Indian shoots him with an arrow, more Indians attack and Maeve grabs her daughter and runs. They get to the house and Maeve grabs a shotgun, and the Man comes in. She shoots but the buckshot has no effect, and he advances on her with a knife, smiling.
Remembering her earlier advice to Clementine, Maeve brings herself out of her nightmare.
Techs Sylvester and Lutz bring Maeve in and find a fly in her abdomen. She wakes up as the technicians argue with each other, and after a moment they realize that the host is awake. Maeve feels the opening in her abdomen and gets up. She grabs a scalpel and one technician tries to calm her down. She backs out of the room and runs through the complex, and makes it to a walkway outside. She gets to a lab and sees the hosts undergoing repair and reconstruction... and the “dead” ones being hosed down. Maeve finally collapses as the technicians arrive and put her into sleep mode. They then take her back to their workshop before anyone realizes what happened.
Dolores walks outside of her house, goes to a spot, and starts digging. She finds a buried revolver and examines.
Lee briefs the staff on his newest storyline, “Odyssey on Red River.” He insists that it will be his greatest story ever and the apex of what the park can provide. Bernard and Theresa are watching, and Robert says No. he says that the guests come back because of the subtleties and details, not the titillation and horror. They come to get a glimpse of who they could be, not who they are.
William sees Dolores drop her can and comes over to pick it up. Logan tells his friend that it’s time to go, and William tips his hat to Dolores and leaves.
Robert says that Lee’s story only tells him who he is. He then asks what the size of one host’s boots are.
Later, Robert takes Bernard out into the desert, Bernard wearing the host’s boots. Bernard warns that the board won’t like Robert vetoing Lee’s storyline, and Robert says that they’ll have a new storyline that he’s been working on something original for some time. He then leads Bernard to the steeple.
Written by Gadfly on Oct 8, 2016