Blu-Ray Review: ‘Westworld — Season Two: The Door’

Some shows you buy the box sets because you’re a fan. Others you buy for nostalgia. Then there are those you buy because you yearn to watch them over and over again. Westworld — Season Two: The Door is one of those because there are layers waiting to be peeled back on repeat viewings.

Spoilers Ahead — If you haven’t watched Season 2 yet, stop here and go buy it anyway!

When the park faded to black at the end of Season One, Dr. Ford fulfilled his final wish getting shot through the head by Dolores. With motivations we can still only guess at, his goal was to create chaos as the hosts all gained seemingly complete free will. Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) is set to follow her vision of burning Westworld to the ground, then moving on to the world outside the park. Meanwhile, Maeve (Thandie Newton), who also has a strange ability to bend other hosts to her will, turns back from escape, diving back into the park to find her lost daughter. Of course, the scene could never be truly set without The Man in Black (Ed Harris). He has what he has always wanted now, a game with real life and death stakes.

This time around, Bernard (Jeffrey Wright), still reeling from discovering he is a host as well, takes center stage in one of the storylines. Pieces of his memory and timelines are broken and scattered through his brain and there is a key to the real mission of the Delos Company hiding in the mess. Wright brilliantly plays the extremes of Bernard’s reality at once pensive and empathetic, then cruel and calculating. If you thought Wright was fun to watch in the first season, you’re in for a super-sized treat.

We also meet the man himself, James Delos (Peter Mullan), who held the wallet that paid for this land of secrets and sin to be built. Even more interesting is watching young William (Jimmi Simpson) take us step by step through his evolution from the shy, socially tactless boy we first met into the singularly focused businessman who plays Mr. Delos like a fine-tuned instrument.

If you had to describe Westworld — Season Two: The Door in a single word, it would be evolution. The characters, the hosts, the stakes, everything evolves into more complex and more philosophical, which fans of Westworld should welcome like a warm December day.

Cracking open this new box set from Warner Brothers you find six discs, three are Blu-ray and three are 4K UltraHD. Having both types is a nice touch because folks like myself who haven’t updated their Blu-ray players in a while are completely covered. Those who have beefed up their entertainment centers with 4K UltraHD-compatible players get to really immerse themselves in the heightened quality in every aspect.

The set contains all ten episodes from the season and a ton of special features on the last one. Everyone from the main actors to the showrunners and creators are all on board to bring viewers even deeper into how they created this insanely detailed world.

Westworld — Season Two: The Door is continuing proof of the amazing level of storytelling on television these days. Get this, pack snacks for an entire day, and binge this with your friends. The conversation afterward will be incredible.

*Reviewer’s Note: This box set was sent to me for the purpose of writing a review, but neither the publisher or the box set being sent to me affected the outcome of the review.*