Westworld 4×1 Review: The Auguries

The new Westworld episode ‘The Auguries’ drops us off seven years after last season ended. Things seem to have changed a great deal, but nothing with this show is straightforward.

‘Auguries’ is basically an omen, or a sign of things to come. If the premiere episode of Westworld season four is a sign of things to come for the series, we’ve found ourselves in dangerous lands. The world may have dramatically changed since the conclusion of the third season, but the major players are still making moves. Delos is still up to shady shenanigans. The Man in Black is still threatening people. Hosts are getting all violent and homicidal. So maybe the world hasn’t changed as much as we think?

The episode re-introduced us to our core characters, though there are plenty of people we haven’t seen yet. I’m hoping we get Tessa Thompson next week, because she’s one of my favorite parts of the show. In fact, she’s one of my favorite parts in almost anything. In less than two weeks I’ll get to see her in Thor: Love and Thunder, so I guess I can’t complain too much here. Tessa content is coming to me one way or another quite soon.

Despite the lack of Tessa Thompson, many of the other characters were very much present and going on with their lives. Caleb seems to have made a serious attempt to move on from what transpired last season, but the past is not quite ready to let him go. 

Caleb has a wife and child now, though he clearly hasn’t completely forgotten the dangers of the world. His young daughter is being introduced to weapons training under his careful guidance. Caleb’s wife seemed to have hoped that the war was over, but that’s clearly not the case. Whether they like it or not, Caleb’s family has now been pulled into whatever mess is unraveling. Hosts came for them and, if it weren’t for Maeve, they could have very well been killed.

After the attack from the hosts, Caleb makes the difficult decision to leave his family, though honestly, that wouldn’t be my first logical step. There’s no telling whether this other group of hosts only wants Caleb, or if they’ll still come for his wife and child in his absence. Honestly, they still don’t feel safe where they are. But hey, Caleb, do whatever you think will work, I guess. I hope they survive this mess.

While Caleb has attempted to move on, Maeve has chosen to isolate herself. Honestly, can you blame her for running off into a forest and going off-grid? If I were in her shoes, I probably would too.

While Dolores unleashed her rage about learning her true nature upon the world, Maeve has always been the more restrained one. She speaks softly, but carries a big stick. Sitting alone in isolation and grief makes sense. Besides, it’s a decent move strategically. Being a host that’s become sentient puts a target on her. While she’s been the more peaceful one compared to Dolores, she’s still very deadly, too. Like Caleb, she hasn’t completely shed her violent past. When a group of other hosts comes for her, she’s ready to defend herself. The iconic Maeve badassery is still there despite the seven-year hiatus. 

The setting Maeve is introduced in reminds me heavily of the most recent season of Dexter. I suppose running away from life and living in a cabin in the woods just makes sense to people with a troubled past. Hopefully, this season will be better than Dexter’s however. That one very much left me wanting. She ditches the hermit cabin in the woods fairly quickly, though, so maybe we’ll have better luck. Maeve is best when kicking ass, and it looks like we’ll be getting a lot of that this season.

Dolores’ role in this season seems a bit less clear than Maeve or Caleb’s stories. 

At the moment she seems to be going by the name ‘Christina.’ I assume she’s still a host, though if she is, her mind has clearly been wiped. At the moment she’s living as an NPC writer and living a fairly isolated life. Despite having a roommate she doesn’t really go out. She’s not fond of humanity, despite currently believing she is part of it.

She also displays several parallels to her life as a host. We see lingering shots of her waking up the same way every morning and there’s a painting easel in her bedroom, which seemed to be one of her hobbies within Westworld. I suppose she could be the one Delores was based on, but I think this is actually her.

I’m not quite sure where the logic is choosing to let her out in the world after everything she’s done, though. She’s proven she’s able to shake her programming. I have no doubt she can do it again if needed. And honestly, it seems like it’s needed. The war still isn’t over. She can break free again and throw a wrench in whatever this other group of hosts has planned. But perhaps that’s the desired outcome? Who put her here? Was it the hosts, Delos, or the various copies of herself that she unleashed last season? I have no idea.

Her story for ‘The Auguries’ concludes with James Marsden’s character lurking near her apartment. Is this Teddy? Or will he have another alias as well? I shouldn’t be surprised I have so many questions. This is kind of what Westworld does. But man, I am confused.

Ramin Djawadi has come back with a score that is just as incredible as his previous work.

Whatever Djawadi scores is always going to be amazing, though. Even when I lost all hope with Game of Thrones, he continued to deliver. Honestly, he never misses and I’m grateful for it. A full album release is due in August, but we’ve got enough from this first episode to get excited about already. And the fans are deep-diving into the music with vigor.

We have our first cover of the season, with ‘The Auguries’ concluding with an instrumental version of Lana del Rey’s Video Games. But the covers aren’t the only absolutely killer tunes, of course. Djawadi’s original scores are some of the best on television. Now that Westworld has shed the ‘west’ aesthetic, his music has taken on a futuristic quality that is absolutely killer. While I’ve definitely downloaded covers from the first two seasons, I’ve found myself adoring his original works from last season and this new episode just as much if not more.

New episodes of Westworld will release every Sunday at 9 pm through July. There’s no word on if HBO will bring the show to San Diego Comic-Con, but the timing sure would be nice. Fingers crossed that they do.

Author: Angel Wilson

Angel is the admin of The Geekiary and a geek culture commentator. They earned a BA in Film & Digital Media from UC Santa Cruz. They have contributed to various podcasts and webcasts including An Englishman in San Diego, Free to Be Radio, and Genre TV for All. They identify as queer.

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