The story flashed by in bits and pieces, misdirecting the audience’s attention while carefully obscuring that which was right in front of their eyes, only to reveal the truth — the gag, really — in a breathtaking finale.*
Westworld attempted to do something similar in the show’s anticipated second season, but judging by the underwhelming final episode, the writers forgot a key part of how magic tricks work: They’re only effective the first time. If you perform the same trick twice in a row, what was magical is rendered pedestrian.*
Especially if you, uh... kind of fuck it up on the second pass. Read more...