'Westworld' Season 3 Trailer Breakdown: We'll Meet Again
Westworld is ready to introduce us to a whole new world (or two) with its new season 3 trailer. While the previously-released teaser was almost entirely focused on Aaron Paul's new character, this one brings back a whole slew of familiar faces. But as is the Westworld tradition, things are pretty damn mysterious. In our Westworld season 3 trailer breakdown below, we try to solve some of the new season's puzzles.
Don't expect to spend too much time at the actual Westworld in Westworld season 3. Season 2 ended in a manner that more or less made the Western-themed robot park obsolete, and hinted that season 3 would take place in the real world. Sure enough, the Westworld season 3 trailer opens with a shot of just that – the (futuristic) real world. "We all have our role to play," we hear Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) say. "There are machines in this world, but...not like us."
"You and I have no mother, no father," the voice-over from Dolores continues. Who is she talking to? Well, the first character we glimpse is Tessa Thompson's Charlotte Hale, strolling off a flying vehicle. She's wearing a really cool cape-jacket thing, and lighting up a cigarette. Of course, this isn't really Charlotte Hale – since Charlotte Hale is dead. Dolores killed her in season 2 and then smuggled herself out of the park in a Charlotte Hale robot body. Then, just to make things extra confusing, the Charlotte-Dolores rebuilt Dolores's old body. But he also kept the Charlotte bot. So who is inside Charlotte now? We still don't know.
"We're alone," Dolores continues. "Outnumbered." Here, Dolores fingers some orbs. Those aren't just any orbs, though – they're robo-brains. When Dolores escaped Westworld, she loaded up her purse with several brains orbs, although we still don't know many of their identities. Obviously one of these is inside Charlotte. We also know Dolores smuggled out the brain orb of Bernard (Jeffrey Wright) since she rebuilt his body as well. But we'll get to him later.
Dolores: "We have to be smarter than them. Or they will find us. And they will kill us." The "they" she's talking about presumably are the folks Delos, the extremely wealthy corporation that owns and operates the robot park that Dolores came from. To underline the "kill us" part, we get a glimpse of someone strolling with a gun behind his back. Note: This trailer has a lot of shots of people's backs as they quickly stroll somewhere.
Next, we get an atmospheric shot of Aaron Paul's new character clutching a passed-out Dolores. What's his deal? What's his role in the series? Will he say "Science, bitch!"? We'll see. "I'm going to show this world for what it really is," Dolores says in voice-over.
A shot of some grassy hillside gives way to a grisly shot of someone digging into their arm, pulling out all sorts of wiring. This is a host robot, obviously. But who is it? "Why'd she bring you back?" a voice asks before we get a good shot of who this arm belongs to...
...it's Bernard, now sporting a much bigger beard than usual. "Ford made each of us for a reason, even Dolores," Bernard says. The conclusion of season 2 set up Bernard and Dolores as diametrically opposed. Dolores is all-in on pretty much murdering any human in her way, whereas Bernard objects. "I came back to find someone who can help me," Bernard says. "Someone strong enough to stop her if it comes to that..."
That someone – based on the editing of this trailer, at least – is Maeve (Thandie Newton). Maeve looked pretty damn dead at the end of season 2, but it was implied that nerdy Delos tech guys Felix and Sylvester would bring her back. And they presumably have. And now she's in another world...
That world is officially called "Warworld", and looks to be smack-dab in the middle of a World War II scenario. If you spent the last two seasons thinking, "Ya know what this show needs? Nazis!", you're in luck. Is Westworld really setting up a season that pits Maeve against Dolores? A part of me thinks this is a fake-out, but who knows.
The rest of the trailer is set to Vera Lynn singing "We'll Meet Again" – a song made famous by Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove. Side-note: The song was also featured in the latest season of Stranger Things, so it must be having a moment right now. As the song plays, we get a montage of shots, including this eye-catching moment where Dolores is spooning Charlotte in bed. Again: we still have no idea which robot brain is in Charlotte's body, so we don't really know who she's spooning. If you're thinking it might be Teddy (James Marsden), Dolores's love interest in previous seasons, it's not. After season 2 concluded, showrunner Lisa Joy confirmed that none of the brain orbs belonged to Teddy.
Another mysterious moment: Dolores, Aaron Paul's character, and others strolling through what looks like one of the many underground tunnels at the park. Did they go back? If so, why?
In a moment made to remind us what jerks humans are to robots in this world, we see several armed men gunning down some helpless bot. "I thought your world would be so different than mine," Dolores says. "There isn't any difference at all, is there?" Guess not! Although there are fewer cowboys.
"It won't take much to bring it all crashing down," Dolores says, as Charlotte strolls over to a giant Riot Control robot. Just what is the wicked plan here? A full-blown robot apocalypse? If so, I'm all for it. Destroy us, robot overlords!
Oh, great, this guy is back. The lesser Hemsworth.
Bernard goes haywire and attacks some dudes who I'm guessing are working for Delos. They're moving around trays filled with gore for whatever reason.
Poor Aaron Paul's character is about to get pushed off an in-construction skyscraper in this shot. Can Aaron Paul ever play a character not in terrible emotional distress? I guess we'll never know.
A shadowy figure shoots up a messy room. Who is this gun-toting man?
Why, it's Ed Harris as the Man in Black, aka William. He's still stuck in whatever terrible loop he found himself in last season, and he's clearly seen better days. Will he escape? Will he interact with his boring daughter again, in robot form? Do you care?
Aaron Paul's character comes gunning for...Bernard? Maybe? It's obviously Jeffrey Wright, but his beard is shorter, and he's dressed a lot nicer than he is elsewhere in the trailer. Could this be another robot? A flashback to Arnold, the real-life man who inspired Bernard? Start speculating.
Hey! There's Vincent Cassel! Who is he playing? Some powerful Delos guy, no doubt. And he's probably evil, too. Because I mean...look at him. When Cassel was initially cast, Deadline reported he would be a "new villain", but other details were being kept secret.
The whole thing ends with a bang: Charlotte (or whichever bot-brain is inside her) shooting towards someone. All in all, this is an effective trailer. It sells this season as both a continuation of what happened in the last season and also an expansion into something completely new. Westworld season 2 wore me down after a while, but this looks to be a huge improvement.
Westworld season 3 premieres in 2020.