Timelines converge as multiple parties converge at the Valley Beyond, but who will survive, and is anyone who they actually claim to be?

OK, deep breath. There’s an awful lot of plot to get through in the 93-minute finale of Westworld’s second season, and it both dazzles and frustrates in equal measure. On the upside, we finally get to see what happened to all of those dead hosts floating in the water at the end of the first episode, but there’s an awful lot of unsatisfying expository material and get out of jail free cards that shows a slight lack in conviction.

Some characters just won’t remain dead, even though logic and human biology dictates that they’re goners. Unfortunately, with the introduction of the Forge and the memory balls, even if someone does die we can assume their consciousness might be retrieved and loaded up into another body. This was one of my frustrations with the adaptation of Altered Carbon, where you’re not 100% sure who is or isn’t who they profess to be. This takes away the sense of jeopardy, and in Westworld we’ve long since given up trying to work out if a character is human, a host, living in a virtual world or another realm.

It’s also no longer enough to be impressed by the fantastic location shooting in the Utah locations, or the scale of the action set-pieces; this is a given in such a big budget show. My favourite moment in this episode follows Clementine riding along a line of hosts who are making their exodus to the promised land (subtle analogy it ain’t). As she passes them they become infected by a berserker virus and start turning on one another in the most extreme manner.

It’s also taken as read that all the leads deliver fine performances, presumably focusing on what they need to say instead of actually understanding it. The biggest issue is that it feels incredibly complex and convoluted when there are already enough understandable ideas to keep you occupied. You process what you’ve watched, rationalise it, and then get something even more vexing thrown at you. It’s a dangerous game, as it runs the risk of alienating parts of the audience who just give up, and you can’t really blame them.

Season Three is nicely set-up, and then there’s a vexing (and lengthy) coda with William (Ed Harris) and his daughter, operating in yet another timeline, with only a few clues to help you decipher what’s going on. Rather than being a fun treat to wrap things up, it’s just adds more WTF-ery for you to get your head round.

Verdict: After a really impressive run of episodes, Westworld’s finale comes across as too knowingly clever and self-satisfied with its own conclusions rather than stopping to see if it makes good television. I’m glad that it doesn’t make compromises and that it lives by its own beliefs, but when you need a second viewing to grasp the fundamentals, or someone else to theorise what just happened, that’s a sign that something has gone wrong. 7/10

Nick Joy