"Some people choose to see the ugliness in this world..." My favorite series ever made. A wonderful inspection into what fuels humanity’s worst impulses, whilst simultaneously providing us with the counterpoint, to see the beauty in the world. Across four seasons, the series provides countless incredible episodes, with only the occasional stumble in its quality. To boil the story down to its key ingredients, “Westworld” begins as a Western theme park for rich people of a futuristic society to come visit and indulge in all of their worst impulses. The story evolves and shifts gears as the seasons progress, eventually morphing beyond the park itself and into the real world. There are both positive and negative consequences for these decisions. The first two seasons truly are what the heart and soul of Westworld is, and where I’ll argue that the show’s thematic meaning isn’t lost once we leave the park, I will agree that the changes in visual style and pacing (the series reduces from 10 episodes to 8) can be jarring at times. I’m an avid defender of the often maligned third season, a truly unappreciated year of television that I’ve written a more expansive and spoilerific review towards (located elsewhere on my profile). The show isn’t perfect and does warrant criticism towards some of its writing choices but the good far outweighs the bad for every season. Unfortunately, the show was never given its fifth season that it deserved, eventually getting cancelled after the merge with HBO and Discovery. The series as a whole is still worth watching because the writing, visual effects, cinematography and performances are incredible. The most unique and special aspect of the series wasn’t listed above, it’s music. Seriously, this show has one of the best original soundtracks of all time, Ramin Djawadi crafts a gorgeously dystopian soundtrack that wonderfully incorporates re imagined versions of modern music to create some of the most engaging pieces of all time. All the best moments of the series simply wouldn’t hit the same if Djawadi wasn’t the man behind the music. If you don’t have time for the show but want to hear some of the soundtrack, check out these tracks; Main Title Theme, Sweetwater, Heart Shaped Box (Orchestral / Piano), Free Will, Set Ourselves Free, Our World and The Day the World Went Away. I truly believe this show has one of the most talented casts in television. Leading the series is iconic and seasoned veteran actor Anthony Hopkins alongside Ed Harris as the iconic villain “the man in black”. Evan Rachel Wood, Jeffrey Wright, Thandiwe Newton, James Marsden, Tessa Thompson, Aaron Paul, Jimmi Simpson and Luke Hemsworth are all incredible in their roles, leading the series to utter perfection in the acting department. That list is stacked and everyone gets some great character work to play with. Matched alongside the performances are luscious, vibrant sets that draw the viewer in and keep a hold on them. So many elements work to perfection to make this an engaging series from the first episode to its last. What I find most frustrating about the criticism thrown towards this show is the so called ‘plot holes’ plaguing the later seasons. While there certainly are issues with the show’s action sequences where characters should clearly be hurt but survive (this plagues even some of the best pieces of media), there are purposefully unanswered questions left for the last season to answer. Think of the acclaimed series “Mr Robot” and how that’s built as a four season experience, if the series was to be cancelled after the third season’s finale, the fourth episode of the first season and all of its foreshadowing remains unanswered and becomes a ‘mess’ if you watched the series without the answers provided in the fourth season. That’s how I see “Westworld”, a show that was similarly structured to reveal its answers to you in the last season and I don’t think it’s fair or justifiable to criticise things like that in this show. It really bothers me. Whilst never quite recapturing the consistent outstanding quality of Season 1 episode to episode, Season 2 is a wonderful sequel that has a great mystery in itself and reaches higher highs quality wise, and is my favorite season of the show because of it. As mentioned above, I like season 3 and if you dislike it, I’d advise reading my long form take towards it. It most likely won’t change your stance for it but will provide an explanation as to why I feel so strongly about “The New World”. I was waiting for the series to take the iconic ‘nosedive’ quality that so many great series take later into their runs, but it never went truly off course for a long period, with every outlandish moment it would eventually regain its momentum and continue being the same show I loved from the start. Without delving into spoiler territory, I seriously suggest giving this show a chance, and also continuing it past the first season. This is the easiest five stars I’ve ever provided. Maybe if I recruit more people into being fans of this show, HBO can see the beauty in this world and give us the fifth season we deserved. Come on HBO, meet me halfway and let's find the center of the maze. Note: I’ve edited and rewritten passages of this review to reflect my current feelings towards the show as of August, 2024.