The Stray
| "The Stray" | |
|---|---|
| Westworld episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 3 |
| Directed by | Neil Marshall |
| Written by | |
| Featured music | Ramin Djawadi |
| Cinematography by | Robert McLachlan |
| Editing by | Andrew Seklir |
| Production code | 4X6153 |
| Original air date | October 16, 2016 |
| Running time | 59 minutes |
| Guest appearance(s) | |
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"The Stray" is the third episode of the HBO science fiction thriller television series Westworld. The episode aired on October 16, 2016.
The episode received positive reviews from critics.
When a new day begins, William heads out into town, when he stumbles onto an event where an escaped outlaw takes Clementine hostage. Initially hesitant, William intervenes and manages to kill the outlaw, but is "shot" in the process. Encouraged by his success and a thankful kiss from Clementine, William decides to go out on a bounty hunt.
Meanwhile, Teddy arrives in town and helps a guest hunt down a bounty. He then meets up with Dolores again. Dolores, who keeps seeing flashes of the Man in Black, asks Teddy to help teach her to shoot. While Teddy teaches her the basics, Dolores finds herself incapable of pulling the trigger due to her programming. Dolores then pleads with Teddy to leave town with her forever, but Teddy, sticking to his programming, refuses. In preparation for his new narrative, Ford at last creates the details of Teddy's hidden back story. Teddy's new narrative is to hunt down his old union army sergeant, Wyatt, who has gone insane and now leads a violent cult that terrorizes the countryside. Intent on serving justice to Wyatt, Teddy joins a posse with the sheriff and a few guests to hunt down Wyatt's gang. However, the posse is ambushed, and all of the guests eventually flee in terror while the sheriff and most of the posse are killed, leaving Teddy to face the gang alone. His bullets apparently have no effect on the cultists as they attack him.
In the control center, Theresa confronts Bernard and complains that Ford's veto of Lee's narrative as well as his having unilaterally changed the narratives of multiple hosts has thrown the park into chaos. She is also suspicious at how, even though the glitches have supposedly been fixed, Bernard's team is still pulling in hosts for checkups. Bernard then meets with Elsie, who is inspecting Rebus for signs that he might have contracted a glitch from Walter. She shows Bernard her findings that, during his rampage, Walter killed only those hosts who had killed him in previous narratives, as if he were fulfilling a grudge. Elsie also shows Bernard footage of Walter carrying out an imaginary conversation with an unseen man named "Arnold". Intrigued, Bernard meets with Ford, who explains that Arnold was one of his founding partners who helped build the hosts. However, Arnold was a firm believer in creating artificial consciousness; a belief that was not shared by the rest of the teams. Ford further explains that Arnold had died in the park due to what is officially described as an accident, but does not elaborate. It is also revealed during the meeting and a conversation with Bernard's wife that Bernard had previously lost his son Charlie, and is still emotionally traumatized. Bernard privately confides his feelings of loss to Dolores, and even gives her a copy of "Alice in Wonderland", which he used to read to Charlie. Bernard then asks Dolores whether, if she had the choice, she would choose to question her own existence, or stay safe where she is right now. Dolores responds that she wants to be "free", which surprises Bernard. Interested in seeing how Dolores further develops, Bernard allows her to return to her routine and does not report her odd behavior.
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