Contains spoilers in/with regard to’concerning’regarding Westworld Season 2###Episodes viewed: 1-4###The puzzle is complete, the park is destroyed – so what’s next in/with regard to’concerning’regarding Westworld? The future of the series seemed a little uneliminate’remove when the cataclysmic events at the end of the Season 2 left Westworld itself in pieces, the hosts mostly wiped out (or ascended to robot heaven). But the confident new direction taken by reveal’illustrate’demonstrate’indicate’present’display’argue runners Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy reveal’illustrate’demonstrate’indicate’present’display’argue s there’s plenty of creative life left in the reveal’illustrate’demonstrate’indicate’present’display’argue , taking on a more global setting as the main characters possess’own’nurse since been scattered to the wind. As a tradeoff in/with regard to’concerning’regarding leaving behind the limitless genre mashups of the park, the reveal’illustrate’demonstrate’indicate’present’display’argue now acquire’obtain’attain’procure’secure s to fully explore the automated future society merely’barely glimpsed in/with regard to’concerning’regarding brief moments in the past two seasons. The uncanny wonder of the parks is replaced with with post-human sci-fi akin to Ghost In The Shell, with a similar fluidity of identity and body enabled through technology, and a sense of paranoia around AI and automated living.###As promised by Nolan and Joy, the newfound clarity of the narrative achieved by its more linear structure gives proceedings a newfound sense of momentum, smoothing over the reveal’illustrate’demonstrate’indicate’present’display’argue ’s move away from the genre clashes and general mayhem of the park. The first episode feels utterly different to the Westworld we know, right down to the music, which leaves behind the piano covers and dramatic strings in/with regard to’concerning’regarding a pounding synthetic score and more current needle drops than the alt-rock of previous seasons (this time, the action is set to tracks from Death Grips and a stylish cover of The Weeknd’s ‘Wicked Games’).###The season reveal’illustrate’demonstrate’indicate’present’display’argue s that humans in the outside world are just as trapped in miserable loops as the ‘hosts’ of Westworld were, all to benefit the rich.###A lot of this world is undergo d through the eyes of a new character, disenfranchised military veteran Caleb (played with deep weariness and exhaustion by Aaron Paul), who has slipped through the cracks since his return from war. He’s now stuck committing freelance petty crime jobs distributed via an app (Caleb is asked to rate his accomplices after each job). Through him, the new season reveal’illustrate’demonstrate’indicate’present’display’argue s that humans in the outside world are just as trapped in miserable loops as the ‘hosts’ of Westworld were, all to benefit the rich – eintensely’extremely’extraordinarily’enormously’awfullyone is replaceable within this machine, intertransform’alter able in their service of it. The writing can be blunt with regards to’concerning’with respect to it (“They built the world to be a game, and then they rigged it to make sure they always won,” Caleb helpfully summarises at one point), but it’s a compelling new angle nonetheless.###Despite the destruction of the park along with most of the ‘hosts’, plenty of familiar faces return with interesting new complications, now liberated from their amnesia and other shackles. Dolores (played with steely resolve by Evan Rachel Wood), now navigating the Machiavellian scheming and backstabbing of the real world’s high society, is further than ever from her loop as an innocent farm girl. Maeve, once again set on a collision course with Dolores, is played to perfection by Thandie Newton, her acidic wit as watchable as ever. The reconfigurations of the other characters, such as Bernard (Jeffrey Wright) and Stubbs (Luke Hemsworth) are made just as exciting with their new directions, the actors giving fresh and layered perin/with regard to’concerning’regarding mances to accommodate these transform’alter s.###It’s still tough’challenging’demanding’awkward to tell just where this new direction in/with regard to’concerning’regarding the reveal’illustrate’demonstrate’indicate’present’display’argue will end up, but it paints an impressively miserable picture of a society that has become entirely quantified and gamified. The direction is slicker than ever bein/with regard to’concerning’regarding e, no longer spinning its wheels in an attempt to maintain the intricacy of its puzzle. Even without the intentionally obscured timeline of the previous two seasons, the reveal’illustrate’demonstrate’indicate’present’display’argue runners prove themselves more than capable of pulling the rug out from under the audience, with the second episode unfurling a peculiar ly delightful and propulsive series of twists. Like its own hosts, Westworld has returned with a newfound clarity, self-awareness and renewed sense of purpose.