Below showrunners Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy answer some of our burning questions.
Entertainment Weekly:We get another trip down into the deepest levels of Westworld.
Im assuming that was mock-up of Yul Brynner from theWestworldfilm Bernard saw in the background?
Credit: John P. Johnson/HBO
Jonathan Nolan: It was indeed.
It was a little tip of the hat.
We didnt want to feature it too heavily, we dont want you reading too much into that.
Because youve previously said the films events did not literally happen in your story.
The show is very much about that god-like power.
Lisa Joy: It also speaks to Fords character.
In a weird way, his sense of company is his former self.
Would it change you now?
Would that change the child?
Its that fractal-like effect of looking at yourself through a different time.
Nolan: We had a scene in episode 4 that we werent able to include for reasons of length.
And he explains a little more about his personal life.
He had been married but his wife expected to have children.
So hes built company for himself here.
On the page, it sounds like a cool scene.
I didnt know it would be the most important scene of this episode.
I thought it was terrific.
Nolan: Its a beautiful piece of music.
Chris Kaller, our music editor, found that version of the piece.
Its one of our favorite scenes.
Theres a certain amount of wish fulfillment in the sequence with Maeve and the body shop guys.
I would love to make some changes to my 20-point Attribute Matrix.
Our visual department and graphics people developed this whole beautiful interface.
They look like human beings, but theyre not.
Our wet-wear as human beings is still impenetrable.
Were only now beginning to discover about the way the mind works.
When it comes to the hosts, we have to understand them, because we would have created them.
And all of those variables have been carefully refined over years.
For me personally, this is one of the ideas I get excited about by the show.
Nolan: I will point you toward episode 8.
I was a bit disappointed to find out sweet Teddy is a psychotic killer.
But I thought about it and Im like: But wait, is he?
Or is that just an expression of what Dr. Ford recently added into his backstory?
In other words: Guys, whats Teddys soul like?
Joy: That is a really great question.
Ford has given Teddy an update with a new backstory that he believes.
Its a new cornerstone for him.
So the question becomes: Who is he really?
Thats something well keep exploring as well go along.
Nothing weve seen them do is anything they havent been programmed to do.
You get into this delicious nature vs. nurture question here, that reflects back on human beings.
Elsie breaks every horror movie rule and goes into the dark creepy abandoned theater alone.
How worried should we be about her?
Joy: I love Elsies character and Im also worried about her character.
Im hopeful shes okay but worried shes not.
Is Elsie your Westworld avatar, Lisa?
Joy: I feel like she would definitely be my Westworld bestie.
If were there for months I would fully play board games with her when we were off shift.
More Westworld coverage:Check out our-deep dive recap here.
