Where is the park?
So beyond being a metaphor for Dolores, thats how Dolores looks.
Thats intentional, right?
Credit: HBO
Jonathan Nolan: There are a couple of references for Dolores.
Some more explicit than others.
Alice is one we talked about.
But also Andrew Wyeths paintingChristinas World.
Trish Summerville designed her amazing look for the pilot.
She also looks like a Disney princess.
Shes also got a leather belt, which is her utility belt.
Joy: Its feminine, but also striking and unique.
Nolan: And when we find her, shes already a capable a country gal.
Shes explaining to Teddy how to wrangle cattle.
Shes a formidable person in her own right, even if shes missing the bigger picture around her.
That hes reluctant to halt her development, the way his sons was halted in death?
Nolan: Hes trying to understand whats happening in terms of her consciousness.
He was wondering if shes actually curious.
Joy: Hes trying to see if theres real empathy there.
So we see here Dolores diverting from her loop in major ways.
Joy: The relationship with memory is something were exploring.
Yes, youre first seeing Maeve access them in her dreams, and now Dolores is having flashbacks.
Something in her mind is remembering different versions of it.
We have a revisit of the barn scene.
Joy: Thats exactly right.
Thats why Bernard asked that question earlier, to see if shes improvising in a wholly new way.
Nolan: I think thats good question to be asking.
Joy: We were doing a little of that.
Nolan: Id be hesitant to point out that we are not guilty of the same.
But we have not made the same mistake with Teddy.
There are these different tropes you rely on that were poking fun of.
Sometimes its not so much that theres a pea in the mattress so much as the person cant sleep.
Hes a lovely laconic guy and thats been infused into the character.
The [usual way of portraying] a security officer is hed be a disinterested dunderhead.
But Stubbs actually knows a lot more about the park.
As you said, hes correctly diagnosed what story hes in well ahead of the other characters.
We also like the idea that an artificial mind might break in different human minds.
Im a huge fan of John Frankenheimers films, likeThe Manchurian Candidate.
The idea that you have hidden purpose in a brainwashing movie.
We talked about it endlessly.
Brainwashing in human beings is always a little far fetched.
Everything theyre doing is brainwashed, in a way, with some exceptions, like Dolores.
The question is: What have they been told to do?
We also learned about Arnold in this episode.
Is there any chance well ever see Arnold, in any form?
Nolan: I think thats likely.
We also got a young Anthony Hopkins as well, can you talk about rendering that?
Nolan: Whos to say we didnt shoot it?
Thats a collaboration with our incredible effects supervisor Jay Worth and a wonderful vendor, ILP.
The 3D printing scenes of the hosts being created are also gorgeously created.
Is that all CG?
Nolan: The vast majority of shots of the 3D printing stuff is practical [effects].
So theres nothing youre looking at thats completely practical but very little youre seeing thats completely CG.
We got a couple more teases about the parks location this week.
[At this, the showrunners laugh heartily, and Im dying to know why].
Are these seemingly conflicting clues, or am I just reading too much into all this?
Nolan: I remember when [executive producer J.J. Abrams] called after watching the original film.
In my memory I conflated that hovercraft sequence when they arrive in the park with the space-hotel with2001.
And I said to J.J., Is that park even on this planet?
[Theres some offline chat.]
Lisa disagrees with that, by the way.
You dont have open communication where you’ve got the option to just pick up a phone.
Were hoping to paint a portrait of the culture of the corporation.
Nolan: We live in a post-Snowden moment.
You look at this election, and Wikileaks and the Sony hack.
Or youre going to see the creation of much more rigorous data-protection schemes.
Im amazed at Las Vegas has survived the Instagram age.
Well hunger for a moment where we can go back toward having some privacy.
