HBO has released a preview for episode 2 of Westworld titled "Chestnut" along with some extra bits of news about the series.
After the premiere of the first episode, HBO released a video of the opening credits and a preview for episode 2 online. The producers also discussed changes from the original source material as well as some of the violent sequences that occurred in the first episode. Lisa Joy talked about "the hosts" and taking a new approach, she said that:
"It was important for us to establish that connection with the hosts from the beginning. We’ve been trained to have a distance from those characters in other movies and TV depictions of artificial intelligence. To look at them as the Other ... We started from the point of view because for us it was the most tenuous emphatic connection and if you didn’t nail it right on you might not ever get it. If you started from the guests, we already have that kind of human-centric bias. We had to shake that system. And then after that in future episodes you could expand the guest point of view a little bit more and the technician’s point of view...I think the interplay between them and when different groups feel more human is part of the fun of writing this show and experiencing the show."
"It was important for us to establish that connection with the hosts from the beginning. We’ve been trained to have a distance from those characters in other movies and TV depictions of artificial intelligence. To look at them as the Other ... We started from the point of view because for us it was the most tenuous emphatic connection and if you didn’t nail it right on you might not ever get it. If you started from the guests, we already have that kind of human-centric bias. We had to shake that system. And then after that in future episodes you could expand the guest point of view a little bit more and the technician’s point of view...I think the interplay between them and when different groups feel more human is part of the fun of writing this show and experiencing the show."
Check out the opening credits, preview and synopsis for episode 2 below.
"A pair of guests, first-timer William (Jimmi Simpson) and repeat visitor Logan (Ben Barnes), arrive at Westworld with different expectations and agendas. Bernard (Jeffrey Wright) and Quality Assurance head Theresa Cullen (Sidse Babett Knudsen) debate whether a recent host anomaly is contagious. Meanwhile, behavior engineer Elsie Hughes (Shannon Woodward) tweaks the emotions of Maeve (Thandie Newton), a madam in Sweetwater’s brothel, in order to avoid a recall. Cocky programmer Lee Sizemore (Simon Quarterman) pitches his latest narrative to the team, but Dr. Ford (Anthony Hopkins) has other ideas. The Man in Black (Ed Harris) conscripts a condemned man, Lawrence (Clifton Collins, Jr.), to help him uncover Westworld’s deepest secrets."