Westworldjust wrapped up its addicting first season, and we now know that the HBO science fiction western won’t be returning to our screens until 2018. That’s a long time to wait. But in the meantime, let’s talk about some of the many TV shows and movies that share themes and interests withWestworld. If you’re dying to fall back into the discussion of consciousness, artificial intelligence, or simply The Western genre, we recommend you check out one of these stories:
Ex Machina
StarringDomnhall Gleeson,Alicia Vikander,Oscar Isaacs, andSonoya Mizuno,Ex Machinatells the story of Caleb, a man who wins the chance to spend the weekend with tech billionaire Nathan. As the trip commences, Nathan explains the true purpose of Caleb’s visit: Nathan has built a Turing-tested android and he wants Caleb to decide if she is human.
Westworldshares much in common with this 2015 science fiction thriller. Both stories take questions of artificial consciousness and play them out to their horrifying end, with questions of what culpability humanity would have in enslaving true artificial intelligence.Ex Machinagets to the point much faster thanWestworlddoes, so if you’re trying to lure your friend into an entire season ofWestworld, but they’re hesitant to make the commitment, try baiting them withEx Machina, which caps at a nice, tidy 108 minutes.
In my mind,Dollhousedoesn’t get enough credit for its truly terrifying depiction of what could be possible if we let technology develop along purely capitalist principals. TheJoss Whedonshow starsEliza Dushkuas a “doll,” one of an entire house of people who have signed their bodies and minds over to a corporation who rents them out for exorbitant amounts of money.
Sure, the show gets off to a confused start, but it finds its serialized, ensemble-driven footing by Season 2, and brings viewers on an unpredictably horrifying journey that asks questions thatWestworldwould like: What part does memory play in who we are? And: Who holds the bystanders and colluders accountable for their part in an abusive system that trades on a murky interpretation of consent?
Battlestar Galactica
The ultimate “Who is secretly a robot?” TV series,Battlestar Galacticais not only a pioneer when it comes to modern explorations of social anxieties around terrorism and technology, but a pioneer when it comes to the current era of the gritty, serialized, and cinematic-minded TV show altogether.
LikeWestworld,Battlestar Galacticais interested in questions of what makes someone human — or, more pressingly, what makes people see others as less than human. For better or worse, the Syfy series became more interested in questions of consciousness and spirituality as it progressed, meandering for longer stretches of time in musings about the stories we tell ourselves and each other to construct individual and collective identities.Westworldis a show afterBattlestar Galactica’s own broken heart.
In the Flesh
It shouldn’t be surprising that this British zombie drama makes the list. Its creator, Dominic Mitchell, is part of theWestworldwriting staff, and it’s not hard to see why.In the Fleshis obsessed with questions of social marginalization, organized revolt, and what makes us human.
Set in the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse,In the Fleshtakes place in a Britain where zombie-ism has been “cured,” at least partially, and Partially-Deceased Syndrome sufferers are being integrated back into society. One small town, the fictional, rural Roarton, is not excited at the prospect. Unfortunately, it’s exactly where protagonist (and PDS sufferer) Kieren is returning home to.
WestworldandIn the Fleshhave different relationships to storytelling structure — I would say that, whileWestworldis theme-driven,In the Fleshis character-driven — but they both nail that terrifying tone of claustrophobic social dischord on the rise. If you’ve never watchedIn the Flesh, you are missing out on a fascinating take on the zombie genre and aWestworld-like exploration of trauma and recovery.
Based on a Swedish series that is also worth checking out, AMC’sHumanstells the story of a parallel present where androids are integrated into ours homes, workplaces, and social institutions, exposing and causing tensions within Britain’s culture.
UnlikeWestworld,Humansis much more interested in sympathizing with characters on both sides of the human-robot divide. On the human side, we have the Hawkins family, a nuclear clan with its share of issues who only just bought their first Synth. From the robot side, we have a family of conscious Synths struggling to gain their freedom.
Humansjust wrapped its second season in the U.K., with a Season 2 premiere date set for February in the U.S. on AMC. Now is the perfect time to catch up on the series and dive back intoWestworld’s question of the complicated nature of the human-technology relationship.
Hunger Games
If you don’t thinkWestworldandThe Hunger Gameshave anything in common, then you haven’t been watching/reading the latter closely enough. ThoughThe Hunger Gamesmight not be interested in artificial intelligence, it is interested in pitting “lesser” citizens against each other for the entertainment of the rich and the famous. In both cases, the abuse of this lesser class also serves as a way to keep said class in their place.
In the case ofThe Hunger Games, the Capital created the games in order to continually punish the other districts for their rebellion as a way to dissuade them from ever trying to rise up again. In the case ofWestworld, the programmers erase their actions and abuses so that the hosts never have any reason to rise up, never realize (except on a fundamental, reverie-inspired level) that they are part of a system of intense oppression. Both stories are tales of rebellion and what that rebellion costs.
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles
You could pretty much watch anyTerminatorflick if you’re looking for a tale of robot revenge, but, if you’re looking for an in-depth exploration of what the struggle for consciousness looks like from the android’s perspective, thenThe Sarah Connor Chroniclesis your best bet. The science fiction drama starringLena HeadeyandSummer Glaumay have only lasted for two seasons, but it gave us more android angst in Glau’s Cameron character than all of theTerminatormovies combined.
As is with the case ofWestworld,The Sarah Connor Chroniclesisn’t just about the robot struggle to understand their own maybe-humanity, but also about the human characters’ struggles to understand the robots’ maybe-humanity. InThe Sarah ConnorChronicles, Sarah and John had very different perspectives on the inherent potential of android consciousness, giving us a complex interpretation of what makes someone human and what makes someone think someone is less than human.
Strange Empire
This lesser-known Canadian western is available to stream in its entirety on Netflix, which is great news forWestworldfans who kept watching the show for its western elements. Like the HBO drama,Strange Empirewasn’t interested in telling a straight-forward western of yesteryear, but rather a more complex retelling of a period in North American history when white men and women were moving in on indigenous peoples’ land.
Set in 1869, on the Alberta-Montana border,Strange Empire’s focus is on the female characters who are living, fighting, and dying on the frontier. When the men of their village are killed, the three main female characters band together to defend their own and fight injustices. Yeah, it’s basically like a feminist superhero western show. Dolores would fit right in.
You’ve probably already seenFirefly, but it’s pretty much always time for a re-watch (especially given the recent passing ofRon Glass). BeforeWestworldthe TV show hit the scene, mixing science fiction and western genres into one, delightfully genre-mashing premise,Fireflywas doing it with its tale of life on the space frontier.
ThoughFireflynever really got around to introducing android characters (there is Mr. Universe’s “love-bot” inSerenity), it did shareWestworld’s interest in projecting western themes onto the future. Also, if my theory that Westworld is located off of mainland China is right (it’s either that or another planet, right?), thenFireflyandWestworldalso share a vision of the future where China has immense cultural power.
Almost Human
Almost Humanshould have been better than it was. A human-robot buddy cop drama starringKarl UrbanandMichael Ealy. What’s not to like?Almost Humancould have used some ofWestworld’s patience, no doubt, but it was still an entertaining ride about two very different people (one a human, another a robot) trying to work together to save the day, which is a much more optimistic view of the future thanWestworldprobably ever plans on having. For now, my head canon is thatAlmost Humanis set in the same fictional world asWestworldand is how androids are being used outside of park purposes. Your move,Westworld.
