After a brief visit to one of Delos’ other worlds (The Raj) we now get to spend a whole episode in a new location – Shogunworld!

Picking up directly from the end of episode 3, a Samurai warrior advances on Maeve (Thandie Newton) and her party, but because her ‘vocal voodoo’ isn’t working (is it a language thing?) she isn’t able to control him, and they’re taken off to Shogunworld, complete with pagodas and blossom trees.

One of the fun moments in this episode is the realisation that you’ve seen this scene before, way back at the start of Series One as Hector and his desperados stole the safe from the saloon. The Japanese equivalents of all key characters re-enact the scene as their Wild West counterparts watch agog. Ramin Djawadi’s score cheekily rejigs the same music but with Japanese instruments.

For once, Quarterman is useful – confessing that it is indeed the same script they’re using. But because he knows what’s planned to happen, he can help his team prepare for the attack of ninja assassins, and Maeve discovers she has a way to think commands into happening.

Elsewhere, Teddy and Dolores are back in Sweetwater where the dead are littering the streets. Teddy is a changed man, having not only ‘woken up’ but learning from real life lessons, whole Dolores still has her full Clint on. All eyes are on taking the train back to the Mesa to rescue Abernathy, who continues to the key to the mystery.

Verdict: As fun is it is to see the show’s tropes given a Japanese makeover, this is the first show of the season where it felt like the story was treading water. I for one am in no hurry to see any more new worlds this year, apart from the world outside, and look forward to a furthering of the main mystery. 7/10

Nick Joy