Editor's note: The following contains spoilers for Season 4, Episode 1 of Westworld.Oh Westworld, I just can’t seem to quit you even though I probably should have. The fourth season of the slippery science fiction series that is all about questioning the nature of our reality recently kicked off and continues to be just as coy about its intentions as ever. Already we have seen the return of some familiar faces who we once thought were dead and it seems as though the story is once again holding back key information about what is going on. This is, for better and worse, the most defining aspect of the show that has kept us coming back for more even as the show has often stumbled into subpar storytelling. The first season was inventive and imaginative, further bolstered by consistently outstanding performances. The second season was not always up to the task of continuing on with the story, though it still was worth sticking with and had some really standout episodes that kept us enthralled despite itself. Still, our collective patience was already starting to wear perilously thin.
Then there was the third season, a mishmash of disparate elements that was its most straightforward season though betrayed a disastrous uncertainty about what to do with its compelling characters. There were some promising elements as it made the leap from the confines of the nightmarish park into the horrors of the outside world. In particular, even as it became tangled up in itself, the introduction of key revelations about how the park was being used to monitor those who went there just as much as the hosts was an interesting wrinkle. Questions of free will and destiny were always at the core of the show, though this was the first time the show expanded it out into the broader society. Unfortunately, the answers it provided to these questions ended up being lackluster and devoid of stakes. It left the show in a bit of a narrative rut as it wrote itself into a corner without any clear idea of where to go next.
That is why, despite all the missteps Westworld made in the prior season, this new one has set itself up for success in a way that is crucial to ensuring it can continue onward. The show was due for a hard reset, and it has now provided one. This all comes down to the fact that the story has made a significant jump forward in time, placing itself seven years after we last saw the characters. In doing so, it mercifully leaves the fallout of the last season and subsequent reshaping of the world in the rearview mirror. While this may be disappointing to some who were hoping for the season to start off with rebellion and chaos, the story actually benefits from the creative distance it makes for itself. Not only does it open so many doors for its future, but it also allows for the show to be more reflective in tone. We get to see how Thandiwe Newton's mesmerizing Maeve has carved out a quiet life for herself out in the woods, a peaceful existence that she has been fighting for all of her life. Of course, peace is not to be and is disrupted when William (Ed Harris) sends men after her, who she dispatches with ease that masks deeper existential exhaustion that she will have to go through all this again.
In addition to growing a beard and letting his hair enter into a bit of an emo phase, Aaron Paul's complicated Caleb has started a family he loves deeply. However, he remains concerned for their safety due to a past that continues to haunt him. He always seems to believe destruction is right around the corner and this paranoia, while somewhat justified, is taking a toll on his ability to move forward. We also see how Dolores is no more, though Evan Rachel Wood is back as the new character Christina who is the center of the mystery thus far as she seems to be inhabiting a world that is disconnected from everything else taking place. While there are likely to be additional twists and turns in the episodes ahead, this first episode already feels so unburdened by the past season because of the space it has created for itself. Whereas the last season often felt more and more constrained, culminating in a final episode that could have been a series finale, this recent episode serves as a narrative rebirth. Yes, there are plenty of threads that we see still having an impact on the story ahead though it also feels like it is untangled itself from the more tedious ones. It is a bold, crucial move that frees it up to go into engaging and expansive directions untethered from the past.
All these new developments, while still only in their infancy, allow the show to chart a new path. Where the third season felt like a step back, this fourth one is showing there can be a way forward that proves the story can begin to reinvent itself when it desperately needs to. By placing us with people who have grown in interesting ways while still struggling to put the past behind them, the show feels new and fresh again. It provides a more poetic approach in line with the ideas from the first two seasons about how the tragedies embedded within the stories we tell ourselves are always looming just out of sight, no matter how much time has passed. By giving itself room to breathe, this first episode feels like a necessary exhale and release of all the tumultuous tension that had dragged down the prior season.
Even as it will take some getting used to, as we remain uncertain about all the pieces as they’re playing out, this feels like the fresh start that Westworld needed more than anything. The world is different, and the characters are made central to this, providing a far more measured sense of depth in the span of a single episode than we got in the often haphazard spectacle of last season. While it still may not always connect as cleanly as we would like, the way forward requires challenging what has come before and cutting ties with the past. Even if it doesn't all come together, this represents its greatest potential and demonstrates the show still has a few tricks left up its sleeve. Where it takes us is anyone's guess, though we're back in for the ride.