Westworld

Our Review

A futuristic theme park where guests pay to live out their darkest fantasies among lifelike robots, until the robots start remembering. Season one is one of the best seasons of television HBO ever aired: a puzzle box about consciousness, free will, and what happens when the toys wake up, with Anthony Hopkins quietly devouring every scene he is in.

The honest warning: seasons two and three chase the maze of their own cleverness, and season four recovers some ground before the cancellation cut the story short. Watch it for season one alone, which stands as a complete masterpiece, and go forward knowing the show trades clarity for twists. The ambition was enormous even when the reach exceeded the grasp.