Serac’s past is revealed, Dolores pressures Liam for access to Rehoboam and Caleb is dosed with an unusual party drug.

There’s a real sense of joy when a show hits its stride, and that’s evident in this episode which marks the start of the second half of the season. It feels like a huge weight was lifted from the shoulders of showrunners Jonathan Nolan and Lisa when they were asked to go back to basics. The story is still there, and so is the intrigue, but it’s so much easier to follow.

Aaron Paul has the best moments in this hour, tripping out on party drug Genre which makes you feel like you’re living your life as a movie. From a film noir, underscored by dramatic soundtrack, to Francis Lai’s Love Story and a psychedelic Nightclubbing by Iggy Pop, Paul has a constant expression of complete befuddlement. Other music of note is an orchestral version of David Bowie’s Space Oddity and the original cue from the opening of The Shining by Wendy Carlos.

But it’s not all about the clever musical accompaniment. We get a significant chunk of exposition about Vincent Cassel’s Serac, how he and his brother convinced Dempsey senior to invest in their ideas and create a computer god. And having brought this behemoth into existence, they used it to create the desired outcomes, thus taking away mankind’s freedom. Dolores has other ideas and decides that humanity has the right to know what has been pre-ordained.

Verdict: An exciting car chase in Downtown LA, some major plot development and clever camerawork that captures the POV shift in genre, Westworld continues to impress. 9/10

Nick Joy