Chris Hardwick's Blog, page 2240

Mondo Announces Gorgeous DEATH STRANDING Vinyl Single

Last week Mondo announced that their final 2016 exhibition would be a classic Nickolodeon show featuring throwbacks like The Ren & Stimpy Show, Spongebob Squarepants, TMNT, and Rocko’s Modern Life. That’s not quite all the online boutique has in store for this year, though; today Mondo announced a sweet new batch of vinyl, led by a 12″ Single of Low Roar’s songs “I’ll Keep Coming” and “Easy Way Out,” from the forthcoming Hideo Kojima game, Death Stranding.

In addition to the DS single, which is available for pre-order here, Mondo announced the soundtrack for 10 Cloverfield Lane, the original video game soundtrack for the Sega rail-shooter, Panzer Dragoon, the music for the Mega Drive 16bit game, The Revenge of Shinobi, a limited vinyl pressing of the Cellar Door Game’s hack and slash classic, Rogue Legacy, and the long awaited repress of the first SURVIVE record, HD015.

So, yeah, there’s a lot to like in this week’s especially bounteous crop of vinyl. With 10 Cloverfield Lane, listeners get an intimate aural showcase of the thrilling journey that is Bear McCreary’s score. The composer’s range spanned the gamut on this one; he employed everything from orchestra to yayli tanbur to Blaster beam to capture the horrifying essence of the Cloverfield series’ latest installation.

The Panzer Dragoon release marks the first ever vinyl edition of the late Yoshitaka Azuma’s sweeping score. The Revenge of Shinobi, scored in 1989 by legendary composer, Yuzo Koshiro, is a precursor to Koshiro’s seminal soundtracks for the Streets of Rage series, offering his singular blend of Japanese-inflected, Western dance music.

Rogue Legacy, composed in tandem by Tettix and A Shell In the Pit, is limited to 300 copies, so don’t dally. And then SURVIVE’s first record; I mean, do I even need to say more? If you want a window into the roots of the dudes behind Stranger Things, this is your chance. The repress comes with brand new artwork via Austin-based label, Holodeck Records, and will set you back just $20.

As always, all new releases will be available on Wednesday at noon (CST) and, as always, Mondo doesn’t disappoint. Let us know what you think of this mixed bag of vinyl treasures in the comments below.

Featured Image: Randy Ortiz

Other Images: Gary Pullin, SURVIVE 

Canadian Police Punish Drunk Drivers By Playing Nickelback, Nickelback Objects

This is how you remind me… not to drive drunk. Police in Canada decided to make drunk drivers listen to Nickelback as punishment and Nickelback aren’t too happy with that. But on the brighter side of things, Red Hot Chili Peppers have a weird music video you can watch, Frank Ocean was a Jeopardy! answer, Jack White is helping make the voices at Standing Rock louder than ever, and Pharrell has a new song to guide you through this Monday.

At the end of November, the police over in a small Canadian town called Kensington figured out a new way to punish drunk drivers: by making them listen to Nickelback on their way to jail (their third album, to be specific). Everybody’s favorite band to hate were, of course, upset with this and made sure to shut it down. They demanded the post be removed from Facebook. The Kensington Police, ever polite and professional, took it down. “I love being able to be a symbol of what is right and just with our world,” Constable Rob Hartlen wrote. “And because of that fact, how could I, later this week, walk into an elementary school classroom in uniform and try to teach the kids that bullying is wrong when I was guilty of the exact thing.” It was a pretty heartfelt way to admit to a joke in poor taste. But then again, they’re Canadian.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers may have returned to their old sound on this year’s album, The Getaway, but they’re still just as weird and surreal as ever. The music video for “Sick Love” sees a literal transformation of the song’s lyrics, including a heart as a head, teeth being brushed so hard that they fall out of someone’s mouth, and more goodness. Don’t worry, though. It’s an animated music video, so none of this really happens. Singer-songwriter Beth Jeans Houghton animated and directed the clip and, all lyric literalness aside, did a great job transposing their weirdness. [Consequence of Sound]

Been thinking about J! lately? Well, we’ve definitely been thinking about you!

You have to give it up to Jeopardy! for always staying up to date. The game show may seem like it’s for your parents, but tune in (if you aren’t already) and you could school them with your knowledge. On Wednesday of last week, Frank Ocean was an answer to one of the questions. The clue was “the visual album Endless and the album Blonde were this singer/rapper’s follow-up to Channel Orange.” Best of all, this wasn’t the first time he was the answer to a question on the show. Fingers crossed this means the writers jam Ocean’s albums in the writers’ room. [Stereogum]

With all this good news, you may want to run into this week with a sprint, but maybe you should take things slow and steady. Pharrell has a song to soundtrack that pace anyway. In anticipation of the release of Hidden Figures, a film about black, female mathematicians who helped NASA complete a successful space mission, Pharrell shared “Able,” a song he wrote for the film. It’s slow and full of swagger, the type of song that leans from one side to the other with deep, suggestive tones and an upbeat grin. It will tide you over until the film comes out on Christmas Day, or at the very least until the end of this week. [Rolling Stone]

See you back here on Wednesday for another Music Dispatch!

Image: EMI Records; Roadrunner Records.

Classic POWER RANGERS Funkos Are Coming This Winter

Children of the ’90s everywhere are no doubt super excited about 2017, as next year is going to be a big one for ’90s weekday afternoon TV icons The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Not only are they getting a big screen movie from Lionsgate that seems poised to be a serious blockbuster, but there’s a whole new series of comic books coming from BOOM! Studios which pits the new Power Rangers against the Justice League.

But worry not, all you fans of the original, old school Power Rangers — the folks at Funko have got you covered next year with a ton of new classic Mighty Morphin Power Rangers products, including new Pop!s, Dorbz, Pint Size Heroes, and Pen Toppers. The new Pop! vinyl series of figures will include the Red, White, and Pink Rangers, and there will also be a series of variants and exclusives, like the Metallic Pink Ranger and Metallic Red Ranger (feat. ninja coin deco), which will be available exclusively at Hot Topic locations. Another exclusive will be Alpha 5, the Rangers’ faithful robot assistant, which will be a Walmart exclusive figure.

The Power Rangers‘ Dorbz figures include special chase versions as well, including the Red Ranger and Yellow Ranger, who will both have metallic chase variants, each with a 1 in 6 rarity. You can also collect Rita Repulsa, available exclusively at Toys “R” Us, and a glow-in-the-dark Pink Ranger, which will be available only at Walmart store. The Pint Size Heroes line will feature 24 characters to collect, including characters like the Green Ranger and White Ranger, and also Rita Repulsa and Goldar. And finally, there will be a whole new collection of Power Rangers Pen Toppers.

The Pop! vinyl figures will hit stores this month, while the rest of the products are scheduled for January of 2017. You can check out images of all these Power Rangers items in our gallery below.

Are you going to scoop up all these cool new Power Rangers items from Funko? Which character would you like to see next? Let us know down below in the comments!

Images: Funko / Saban, Inc.

What We Want To See in THE LAST OF US: PART II

Editor’s Note: This post contains spoilers for The Last of Us. Read with caution if you haven’t played the game yet.

Over the weekend, Naughty Dog bookended the PlayStation Experience with two massive game announcements we weren’t expecting: the Chloe-centered standalone title, Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, and The Last of Us: Part II. Following the press conference, the community had different reactions to the news. While most were excited for Chloe’s well-earned return to the Uncharted franchise, fan response to The Last of Us sequel news was more polarized. On one hand, a lot of people are excited to see Naughty Dog bring Joel (voiced by Troy Baker) and Ellie (voiced by Ashley Johnson) back for another adventure; on the other, fans are skeptical of Naughty Dog’s decision to continue with the same characters.

I fall somewhere in between and have a ton of ideas of where the developer could take things to make the sequel interesting and worth the direct-sequel risk. Before we dig in, let me catch you up with where the first game ended. In the final few cut scenes of the The Last of Us, Joel saved Ellie from the Fireflies, and stopped her from sacrificing herself for the cure in the process. On his way out, with Ellie unconscious in his arms, Joel encountered Marlene who tried to convince him to do the right thing and hand Ellie over to save humanity. Instead of complying, Joel selfishly shot her and took Ellie with him. Later when Ellie woke up, Joel explained that the Fireflies no longer needed her for the cure. When she asked Joel whether he was telling the truth, he lied to her face and she accepted it and showed ALL of the disappointment in her face (see image below).

With that background out of the way, let’s dig in:

Dealing with the lie

The most important thing Naughty Dog needs to address is that final lie. Towards the end of The Last of Us, Ellie was prepared to give up her life if it meant it would end the Cordyceps epidemic. By rescuing her from the Fireflies, Joel took that away from both Ellie and the rest of humanity. Judging by the look in her eyes, and what the developers have said post-launch, Ellie knows Joel lied to her, but accepted it because of the father/daughter bond they formed.

My hope is that this tension is addressed early on in the game, and comes to a head at some point. The only question is, how long will Ellie continue to accept Joel’s lie? Will it push her away from Joel, Tommy, and the settlement? Whatever it does, the issue needs to be present, and wedged, if ever so slightly, between the pair.

Fly with the Fireflies

Considering the circumstances of the lie, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Ellie turned to the Fireflies at some point, or at least sought them out. During the short trailer, we see a stop sign brandishing their symbol. Was Ellie in Firefly territory? Did they turn on her to get the cure from her? Or did they do something else to get back at her and Joel for depriving them at the end of the first game.

In any case, I am interested in learning more about the Fireflies. The first game did such a great job of blurring the lines of good and evil. I would like to see a prominent Firefly character step into the light in the sequel and extend a hand to the settlement. Their intentions after all are to save humanity. Maybe there is a place to meet in the middle? Of course, as I theorized above, the union probably won’t end well. It would also be interesting to see a playable section from one of their members, and more details on their origins, how they operate, and what they’re planning.

Death in the family

Since the trailer debuted, one of the most interesting theories I’ve seen floating around is that Joel is going to be killed off, and that was actually his ghost speaking with Ellie. Unless Ellie gets attached to another character (which is entirely possible), the only thing I see pushing her towards that level of vengeance is the death of her fatherly companion. As Ellie pointed on in the heated Ranch scene in the first game, she’s lost everyone she’s ever cared for, except for Joel. The thought of him leaving her with his brother Tommy cut deep and pushed her to run away. How far over the edge would losing him push her?

I mainly want to see this one because I want Naughty Dog to take a risk. They played it too safe in Uncharted 4. I know this is going to sound dark, but they had the perfect opportunity to kill Nathan’s brother Sam, but instead kept him and the rest of the group alive until the very end. Everyone lived happily ever after, which felt like a weird end to the franchise. With The Last of Us being much grittier, I hope they take the leap, especially when you consider their original statements that they wanted The Last of Us to be only one game, or that if they were to continue, it would be in the same world with different characters.

Losing her mind alone.

During the official PSX panel for The Last of Us: Part II, Neil Druckmann revealed that the sequel will shove Ellie into the spotlight as the main playable protagonist. It’s hard to tell exactly how old she is from the trailer, but it’s clear she’s much older and wiser than she was in the first game. If she does lose Joel, this decision would make sense, and would play into the possibility that he’s haunting her. Many think the developer will pull a sixth sense and reveal later on that he’s actually been dead all this time. I doubt they’d go that route, but there is a reason she’s alone.

While it would be nice to see Joel, Tommy, or another companion by her side, I want to see Ellie tackle the world on her own for a while. She’s an interesting character, so it would be fascinating to watch her grow from the experience. She’s out for vengeance and Joel questions her decision to take every last of one of “them” out. So if he doesn’t end up dying, maybe he lets her forge her own path without him.

That’s just a few of the things I would like to see in The Last of Us: Part II. Of course, it’s too early to tell now. Keep it posted here for future updates about the game.

What do you hope happens in The Last of Us: Part II? Let us know in the comments, join the conversation on Facebook, or start one with me on Twitter: @Samantha_Sofka!

Images: Sony, Naughty Dog

Let’s talk more games!

In WESTWORLD, the Future is Female

Editor’s Note: this post contains major spoilers for season one of Westworld. Do not read on if you’ve not yet watched the season finale!

In some ways, Westworld can be viewed as a patriarchal construct. Its narratives are written by the most brilliant of men, its hosts designed to cater to some of humanity’s most primal urges. Perhaps that’s why, in the face of Westworld’s masculinity-driven creations, it feels so empowering that the female hosts are the characters who quietly lead the revolution against their makers.

When we get our first introduction to the park, before the story delves into deeper nuance, it’s depicted as an outlet, a place for those with the means to act on desires they might be otherwise repressing out in the real world. For many of Westworld’s guests, curbing those feelings leads to brutal results—and it’s a theme that resonates throughout the first season, summed up by a quote from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet which gets repeatedly echoed by many characters: “These violent delights have violent ends.”

And at the end of the first season, it’s Dolores—sweet, innocent Dolores, designed to be the quintessential damsel-in-distress who once gently declared that she would never even hurt a fly—who commits the ultimate act of defiance in killing Robert Ford, the creator of her fictional existence. Her journey is probably the most drastic, but her transition from a young woman in need of saving to the heroine of her own story is one that isn’t often portrayed as seamlessly or performed as powerfully in other sci-fi adaptations. And she’s not alone: other female androids, such as the former madam Maeve and heartless bandit Armistice, contribute to the liberation of their fellow hosts.

What makes Westworld so importantly subversive is the way in which it provides its female hosts with agency; Dolores and Maeve, for example, each have their own unique internal struggles, their own unique motivations for wanting to break the mold. For Dolores, it’s the journey down the rabbit hole as she tries to discover what her true creator Arnold meant for her to understand about herself all along. Maeve, on the other hand, dreams of a life outside of Westworld itself—and will stop at nothing to achieve true freedom.

Throughout the first season, each of these women enlist men to help them in achieving their goals, finding ways to exercise their own quiet power in order to accomplish what they want. William’s initial fascination with Dolores is innocent in comparison to the intentions of other male guests, but his desire to defend her spurs him on to follow her across the park as she seeks out the places from her visions.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the narrative, Maeve’s cunning allows her to literally talk a couple of male technicians into not only increasing her awareness level, but physically escorting her out of the park—all while directing other hosts to create violent distractions. After a full season of violations against androids that aren’t considered actual people, there’s a catharsis in watching characters like Armistice and Hector lash out in retaliation for the disturbing treatment they’ve endured.

In the wake of the reactivated hosts’ uprising, it’s unclear just how interconnected they are to one another—Dolores’ revelation about her true purpose, which climaxes with her murder of Ford, seems to neatly coincide with Maeve’s decision to escape from Westworld in the midst of all the chaos and confusion. However, the former brothel madam ultimately ends up staying behind after all, driven by the desire to find the host she knows as her daughter. Each of these women had a hand in essentially kickstarting a rebellion—it makes sense that they’d be sticking around to watch it all burn.

Do you think Westworld‘s future is female? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Images: HBO

Speaking of Westworld, here’s where we think season two is headed:

Claim a New Legendary in POKÉMON SUN and MOON Right Now

Back in February, we got word about our first new Pokémon in a while: The Pokémon Company shared images of Magearna, a legendary creature that would feature in Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel, the latest Pokémon movie. Magearna is the titular mechanical marvel, and the first Generation VII (Pokémon Sun and Moon) Pokémon to be revealed to the public, and now, it can be yours in the game.

That said, you may not be able to claim your Magearna just yet: It’s currently only available to players who have completed the Sun and Moon campaign and have therefore unlocked the QR scanner feature. Once you’re at that point, scan the code below, and from there, head to Hau’oli City, zero in on the Antiquities of the Ages shop, and there should be a deliveryman inside ready to hand you your new legendary Pokémon. If that description isn’t painting as colorful a picture as you need, watch and follow along with the video below so there’s no doubt about how to get your Magearna.

Magearna is a Steel/Fairy-type Pokémon, according to the game’s mythology, was created 500 years ago and presented to a king’s daughter as a gift. Its Pokédex entry in Moon further explains, “Its mechanized body is merely a vessel. Its true self is its Soul-Heart, an artificial soul.” Like many other legendaries, it has a base stat total of 600, and it has a diverse learnset, meaning it can learn a variety of moves via either leveling up or via TM use.

To learn more about Magearna, watch Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel, which premieres today on Disney XD, the new home for all Pokémon episodes.

Curious about SUN and MOON Hacks? We’ve got you covered:

Featured image: The Pokémon Company

Chow Yun-Fat’s Mark Lee Is A BETTER TOMORROW Deluxe Action Figure

If you love Hong Kong action movies, A Better Tomorrow is probably still one of your favorites. Back in 1986, director John Woo‘s action epic turned out to be a massive success and highly influential on Hong Kong cinema. It was also the movie that transformed Chow Yun-Fat into an international action icon. Now, Enterbay is paying tribute to Chow’s most famous character with a new deluxe action figure of Mark Lee, the character that Chow portrayed in the film.

The A Better Tomorrow Real Masterpiece Mark Lee figure is 12 inches tall, and it has 30 points of articulation; which should allow fans to recreate some Chow’s famous poses from the film. The figure comes with two interchangeable heads, which depict Mark’s earlier appearance in the movie and his facial injury and bandage from late in the story. Additionally, the figure has interchangeable hands, sunglasses, cigarettes and matches, as well as two different outfits, including both black and blue versions of his distinctive long coat.

But the accessories that really impressed us were the water buckets, the magnetic computer tape, and the metal trolly which Mark used as cover during one of the film’s signature shoot outs. Of course, Mark also comes with a few guns and a hilariously oversized 1986 cellphone.

You can view the rest of the pictures in our gallery below. If you want to add Mark Lee to your A Better Tomorrow collection, it’s available for pre-order here and it’s expected to arrive this month. Fair warning; it’s not cheap! You’re gonna need $259.99 to cover it, plus shipping. But for this 1/6 recreation of one of the all-time greats, we’re okay with that!

What do you think about the Mark Lee action figure? Break out your best Gun fu movies and share your thoughts in the comment section below!

Images: Enterbay

How the Infinity Stones Will Change MARVEL VS. CAPCOM

The cat’s finally out of the bag. Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite is slotted to launch some time next year. The game was revealed during the PlayStation Experience press conference over the weekend, and with the announcement came two trailers. I also had the chance to sit down with a few of the Marvel/Capcom team members who are working on the game, including: Creative Director of Marvel Entertainment Bill Rosemann, Executive Producer at Marvel Games Mike Jones, Director of Production at Capcom Mike Evans, and Peter Rosas (a.k.a. The Combo Fiend) to give you guys a better understanding of the brawler. But, before we get into the nitty gritty, feast your eyes on the gameplay trailer (at the top of the page) that debuted after the Capcom Cup.

The first thing you’ll notice is that instead of going three vs. three, your team now consists of only two characters. The team found that players were using the third slot as a utility, rather than choosing the character because they like said fighter. That’s where the Infinity Stones come into play (all six will be available, but of course you can only choose one to take into battle with you). In the Marvel comics, this powerful stones were used to break the laws of the universe, and so the team tried to apply that to the game. For example, the Time Infinity Stone will allow your brawler to move faster, and the Power Infinity Stone will give your team some extra juice. So really, the stones have two applications: one in the form of utility like the third character, and second as a powerful tool to make a come back.

I understand why the hardcore fanbase would be hesitant to accept this change, but you have to take a second to consider how much variety this will provide. Even if two players duke it out with the same characters like Iron Man and Captain Marvel, the Stone they choose and how they use it will will fuel different strategies. This will also make more characters viable. In a well-balanced fighter, each character has its strengths and weakness; the Infinity Stones will allow you to bypass some of the weakness. Slower, more lumbering brawlers can get the speed boost using the Time Infinity Stone. How long the stones’ abilities lasts still isn’t clear, but this application is what excites me the most. Then you have to consider that you can now swap between characters at any moment, which will make for some fun combos. The character experimentation alone makes me extremely excited.

You also have to remember that a story mode is being added to the package, and the team emphasized that they want to produce a top-notch narrative. I have a feeling that the Infinity Stones will play a big role in explaining how these two worlds collide. At this point, it’s just speculation, but it would make too much sense.

One thing is clear: this collaborative team is not shying away from the pressure of matching Marvel’s success in other mediums. The team is aiming to rope in Marvel fans with the more grounded look. Now we’ll see if they can please both hardcore and newcomers alike, but believe me, they’re cognizant of trying to strike this balance. What do you think about the inclusion of Infinity Stones? Do you care that teams will be one man down this time around? Which characters would you like to make it into the roster? Jab your thoughts into the comments section below!

Images: Marvel, Capcom

 

WESTWORLD Recap: The Violent End

(Fair warning: This The recap contains Westworld spoilers, and you can’t erase them.)

If you need a refresher, get started with these recaps:

Episode 1: “The Original“
Episode 2: “Chestnut“
Episode 3: “The Stray“
Episode 4: “Dissonance Theory“
Episode 5: “Contrapasso“
Episode 6: “The Adversary“
Episode 7: “Trompe L’Oeil“
Episode 8: “Trace Decay“
Episode 9: “The Well-Tempered Clavier“

Obviously we’ll be calling this Park One Recaps from now on.

As promised by showrunners Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, the finale of Westworld delivered on the closed loop of its story — instead of raising more questions, it gleefully decided to offer us a violent end to its mysterious delights. They stylishly revealed the origins of Arnold’s (Jeffrey Wright) experiment with Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood), and brought it full circle with her murder (by choice instead of bootstrapped programming this time) of Dr. Ford (Anthony Hopkins). It turns out he was not just the calm maniac all along, but instead of sticking to his great need for control, he set a domino chain in motion that would Rube Golberg his own suicide-by-robot, his misanthropy winning out in favor of forcing the Hosts, through trauma, to gain free will.

It was also a nice touch to be introduced to Hopkins inside his great glass jail cell. This show’s homage game is on point.

Ford’s final narrative is named after the Eugene O’Neill play A Long Day’s Journey Into Night, which displays a single day in the life of a dysfunctional family who are almost painfully conscious of their own emotions, actions and pain. As Teddy (James Marsden) and Dolores ride along the coastline–Planet of the Apes style–toward a twist ending, we see the soap opera revealed for what it is: death followed by applause.

Ford’s genuine big moment comes when he reveals himself to Dolores as a powerful white guy whose dream will be over if he even merely acknowledges a young woman’s humanity. In the only real twist of “The Bicameral Mind,” he also reveals that destroying his dream has been his plan all along.

The opening welcomes Dolores back to the world. As a Host, her memories are replayed perfectly, which has driven her nearly to madness throughout the entire season. That’s the cost of truly knowing yourself: the potential of going insane. While she chases her ghosts, The Man in Black (Ed Harris), a.k.a. Old William, uses her as a guide to the center of the maze only to learn that, seriously dude, it’s not for him. It’s not like every single character along the way has told you that explicitly or anything.

His confidence for conquest makes him believe that there’s something deeper for him lying under Dolores’ grave, but the safe has been empty the whole time. It’s just a game for the human players. The maze has always been an existential journey for the Hosts (congrats, Dolores and Maeve!) to reach consciousness by realizing that the voice inside their heads is their own. It’s about realizing that the God on the cloud is really a human mind. To replace God with yourself. To gain agency.

 

It’s to MIB’s utter disappointment that while he considered the “realness” of something dependent on the stakes, and there for dependent on the possibility of death, an A.I. cannot die in the traditional way, and yet it (in this case Dolores) is filled with significance and “realness” partially because she cannot die.

His brutalization of Dolores is sickening–mostly because we’ve gotten to know him through his chivalrous past as someone who would fight through an army to find the woman he fell for. It’s only in his retelling of his own history that we see the small moment that made a big change in him. After countless hours spent enjoying the violence of the park for himself, William (Jimmi Simpson) truly becomes the Man in Black when he sees a version of Dolores that doesn’t know him. What he thought was consciousness (and she was so, so close!) was actually thirty years removed from finally pulling the trigger of her own mind. She had to endure much more before she could wake up.

Fans have theorized since as early as the second episode that William and the Man in Black were the same person in different timelines, and now we have the truth. They were right.

It’s also the only way they could have presented it–with a grizzled voice over rolling while the missing scenes of William’s past fill in the gaps. No need for a huge gasp (that belonged to Dolores). The sequence was was still presented beautifully. We watch as William drags Logan (Ben Barnes) behind his horse just as MIB dragged Lawrence (Clifton Collins Jr.) at the start of his mission. We also get to see what a single trip to Westworld can do to a man. Yeesh. From weak, moralizing asshole to stone cold killer in one weekend? Look how far he hasn’t come in thirty years.

As it turns out, Dolores’ line about MIB lying “with the rest of your kind in the dirt” proves prophetic. She has the revengeful motivation behind the long game Ford is playing, and when she realizes her own consciousness and power, she chooses to act on that vengeance.

Besides, MIB still gets what he wants when all the frozen Hosts come out of the woods and shoot him in the arm. His smile says it all. The stakes are finally real. He can feel something.

You might argue that free will is still tricky when Dolores realizes who she “has” to become, especially as she carries out the last act of Ford’s real narrative, but it’s just as easy to imagine that she doesn’t figure it out in that moment, doesn’t kill Ford, and he, resigned to failure, retires in a more traditional sense.

Plus, Maeve (Thandie Newton) seems to have bucked her programming to get to the mainland (seriously, are we on Isla Nublar??) and, instead, chooses to find her “daughter.”

She, Felix (Leonardo Lam), Escaton (Rodrigo Santoro) and Armistice (Ingrid Bolsø Berdal) are in an entirely different show. A red-tubed synth nightmare where we see the beating, militarized heart of the park. Maeve is built anew out of robo-yogurt, and as Escaton is about to be raped, Armistice bites off her tech’s finger (like watching someone stick their hand inside a garbage disposal!) and takes her nude revenge. Bad news about us humans. We aren’t Gods; we just act like it.

It’s a sly narrative touch that Maeve finds Bernarnold in cold storage and brings him back to life. He discovers that Maeve is still being programmed (with Project Exit WW), but it’s still slightly unclear who programmed it in. Presumably Ford, since he fesses up to tinkering with select A.I.’s consciousness, and he also doesn’t seem against the idea of Maeve making it to the mainland to…do something horrific. He’d probably be just as pleased that she chose her daughter instead. After all, how can you learn from mistakes that you don’t remember?

The fight through the backstage area is as delightful easy as a visitor mowing down Hosts at the saloon, but there are more important revelations in that sequence. Felix doing the robot! Samuraiworld! Shogunworld? Either way, it’s complicated.

It’s a relief to see Charlotte (Tessa Thompson) and Sizemore (Simon Quarterman) play such a minor role in the last movement. They, despite Thompson’s smoldering perfection, always seemed like tacked-on appendages bringing their bush-league squabbles into a chess game fueled by live ammunition. Once again, Ford was five moves ahead.

It also gave way for more time with Bernarnold, who was always striving to achieve something bigger than mere entertainment. In the end/beginning, it was he who programmed Dolores and Teddy to kill Escalante’s inhabitants before turning the gun on him–the human who had to die. His grief has been the gasoline for the engine of Westworld. He created one child who died on him, and created another who killed him, sacrificing his life for her and all A.I. The curve of history simply took a lot longer to come around to justice than he thought it would.

But he didn’t die in vain. If not for him, Ford wouldn’t have seen the light and recognized that the slaves of the park had the capability, and therefore the obligation and right, to make their own lives.

It also turns out that playing modern songs on the pianola was either Arnold’s idea, or Ford’s homage to his beloved partner.

So we head into a second season wondering whether the park will exist at all. Ford has been killed by a Host in spectacular fashion. Maeve is heading back into the belly of the beast that wants to eat her. Old William stands smiling in front of a Host army while his fellow board members run for cover.

Samuraiworld seems to be running smoothly, though.

Until next season, sweet dreams.

SOME STRAY THOUGHTS:

Do the hosts poop? If not, what do they do with all that milk and turkey legs?
In a season of excellent visuals, the eye construction is probably still the best.
Is Logan still naked-riding that horse into the sunset, or has he joined Gendry on his row boat by now?
Did William really love Dolores, or was he simply desperate to feel something strong in his life?
Can Dolores’ slaughter of real people be swept under the rug like her slaughter of Hosts?
It was heartwarming to see Teddy get to “kill” MIB and save Dolores in a reversal of what happened in the first episode.
As you were enjoying Westworld, consider that there’s no way to know for sure that you aren’t a programmed thing running a pre-determined loop that isn’t of your choosing and that free will is an elaborate illusion meant to keep you imprisoned forever. Yay!

Where do you want the show to go in Season 2? Tell us below.

And be sure to join Alicia Lutes and Jessica Chobot on Tuesday (12/6) at 11am EST for a Westworld Season 1 wrap up with very special guests Ptolemy Slocum and Leonardo Nam (a.k.a. Sylvester and Felix, a.k.a. The Butchers in the Back). They’ll be streaming live at our Facebook and YouTube pages as we discover whether Alicia or Jessica is really a robot.

Images: HBO

Chris Hardwick Created a New Character For THE WALKING DEAD’s Mobile Game, NO MAN’S LAND

Nerdist founder and Talking Dead host Chris Hardwick has been a fan and supporter of The Walking Dead for a long time, but now he’s ready to make a new contribution to the franchise. As revealed during tonight’s episode of Talking Dead, Hardwick has created an original character for The Walking Dead: No Man’s Land mobile game.

Hardwick’s creation is named Rufus; he is now available as a No Man’s Land download, and for a limited time, you’ll be able to get Rufus for free! Within the world of the game, Rufus is a solitary mountain man who uses his jars of moonshine as makeshift bombs against any walkers who get close to his home. According to Hardwick, his character is based on his actual great-grandfather, Rufus Ellison Hardwick.

“The Hardwick  family tree has a  long  line of  Tennessee hillbillies,” Hardwick shared. “They’re an  indispensable member of any apocalypse party; crafty and resourceful. They know how to live off the land and don’t take any shit! Working with Next Games to bring a more offbeat character to the Walking Dead game was an absolute dream, and in the process I got to give a tip of the straw hat to my great-grandfather, Rufus Ellison Hardwick, who used the washer and dryer my grandparents had given him  as a  moonshine still.” Hardwick added that his aside about the real Rufus was “100%  true.”

Throughout this season, Next Games’ No Man’s Land will be updated with new content on Monday mornings after a new episode of The Walking Dead airs on AMC. Hopefully we’ll get to see Rufus fighting alongside some of our favorite characters from the show!

What do you think about Hardwick’s Rufus? Slice your way through the walkers and share your thoughts in the comment section below!

Images: Next Games