‘Westworld’ episode 2 preview: The story of ‘Chestnut’

Tonight, HBO is launching what may be one of their most important series in quite some time in “Westworld.” With “Game of Thrones” in its home stretch, they are now in need of a major hit more so than ever. They’ve poured a great deal of money into this series, and also assembled a heck of a great cast to go along with it. Just think about some of these names: Jeffrey Wright, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Thandie Newton, and Ed Harris. Add to that Jonathan Nolan as an executive producer. It’s a show with a tremendous amount of weight on its shoulders, but there is criticism already about the show’s depiction of violence and sexual assault. If you’re reading this, odds are you’ve seen the pilot and you can offer your judgment in the comments.

What we have for you in this article is some more information regarding what’s coming next in Westworld. Episode 2 is entitled “Chestnut,” and the synopsis below gives you a pretty good sense of what is coming up:

“A pair of guests, first-timer William (Jimmi Simpson) and repeat visitor Logan (Ben Barnes), arrive at Westworld with different expectations and agendas. Bernard (Jeffrey Wright) and Quality Assurance head Theresa Cullen (Sidse Babett Knudsen) debate whether a recent host anomaly is contagious. Meanwhile, behavior engineer Elsie Hughes (Shannon Woodward) tweaks the emotions of Maeve (Thandie Newton), a madam in Sweetwater’s brothel, in order to avoid a recall. Cocky programmer Lee Sizemore (Simon Quarterman) pitches his latest narrative to the team, but Dr. Ford (Anthony Hopkins) has other ideas. The Man in Black (Ed Harris) conscripts a condemned man, Lawrence (Clifton Collins, Jr.), to help him uncover Westworld’s deepest secrets.”

By the end of this episode, our hope is that we will have a little bit more of a sense as to what this show will look like week in and week out — it’s a little too early to say anything definite about a pilot, which typically is larger and more epic in scale than the average hour of television.

(Photo: HBO.)