‘Westworld’ Season 4 Episode 7 Spoiler Review — “Metanoia”

Following the previous episode of Westworld Season 4, Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy’s hit HBO dystopian science-fiction drama series spirals back into a situation that we have seen before. The fourth season’s second-to-last episode is titled, “Metanoia”. The episode is written by Desa Larkin-Boutté & executive producer Denise Thé and is directed by Meera Menon.

In this review, I will be discussing Westworld Season 4 Episode 7. There will be spoilers here, as the title of this article suggests. With that said, reader’s discretion is advised.

Plot Synopsis

According to WarnerMedia, here is the synopsis for Westworld Season 4 Episode 7—“Metanoia”.

You want to have a drink at a time like this?

WarnerMedia

Discussion

Despite its 53-minute runtime, “Metanoia” is more fast-paced with its narrative than the previous episode was with its rough pacing. This penultimate episode of Westworld is an absolute glory from its cinematic introduction and the change in aspect ratio to Djawadi’s stellar scoring to the exchanges between characters and more. If you have not caught up with Westworld, you might be missing out.

Much of what I admire about this episode has to deal with the aesthetics and the story itself. Beebe and Robbs’ costume designs along with their team of costumers allow the character to pop, at least with Charlotte Hale/ Dolores Abernathy (Tessa Thompson). I love her outfit in this episode (see this article’s thumbnail as well as the below photos), matching the redness of her map of urban structures — the city that is under her control. In contrast, we have the other characters in darker clothing, such as Bernard Lowe (Jeffrey Wright) and Maeve Millay (Thandiwe Newton) in the episode’s opening scene (see the above photo).

Conroy’s cinematography is outrageously terrific with its opening scene all the way to William Host (Ed Harris) departing from Hale/ Abernathy’s tower, where he approaches the center of the frame right as the scene can cut to black. If that is not enough for you to take a liking to this episode, here is still photographer John Johnson’s photo of a Drone Host:

Humanity and Its Civilizations

Outside of costumes, we see a juxtaposition between Hale/ Abernathy and other characters. In one scene, we see her speaking of Caleb Nichols’s (Aaron Paul) “pathetic human form”. When we first see Nichols in this episode, he has been born anew again into another Host body. He breaks through the glass cell in which Hale/ Abernathy has placed him, albeit to no success, and we get a glimpse at his bloody knuckles.

In the previous episode, she had killed him but placed his consciousness in a new Caleb Nichols Host body. In a way, she spared his life, but that is only because she is using the man as bait for his daughter, Frankie “C” Nichols (Aurora Perrineau), and the remaining rebels. Consequently, this does not mean she has humanity. Hale/ Abernathy sends a message out to the inhabitants of her city, stating: “It’s time for us to leave behind our human bodies, to rid ourselves of our sentimental allegiances, to evolve into the species that we were meant to become”.

This post-human talk seems serious, but remember that the concept of posthumanism must involve co-existence amongst all living species. Hale/ Abernathy fails horrendously at this, and so does the Host William. In his conversation with the human William, they talk about how cockroaches survive but culture(?) does not. The human states: “Civilization is just a lie we tell ourselves to justify our real purpose. We’re not here to transcend, we’re here to destroy. If could, I would pull the plug on this whole goddamn world, but I can’t, can I?”

What William (both the Host and the human, really) is implying is that, at best, humanity can only achieve a transhuman or inhuman state of living. If we were to apply that to our world’s current condition, then I would say that tranhumanism is where we reside, whereas posthumanism is far from our grasp.

God Complexes

Christina (Evan Rachel Wood) and Theodore “Teddy” Flood’s (James Marsden) time together on-screen is interesting as it serves as a teaser for the finale’s major twist. Teddy reveals that they are “reflections of the people who made them”. This returns to what the William Host discussed a couple of episodes back in terms of being made in the image of the “gods”, i.e. the humans.

Throughout Westworld Season 4, Wood’s character has faced issues with her identity, and it has come to a point where she doesn’t know who she is at all. By drowning herself in Teddy’s bathtub, she awakes as her old self, or perhaps a fragmented copy of who she once was. This is where the metaphor comes in, that is, the self-destructive movement out of her spiral. She herself is not a god, as she eventually encounters something preventing her from making demands out of Hale/ Abernathy’s citizens. As we will learn in the finale, it is actually Hale/ Abernathy who pulls all the strings.

The Crew of Westworld 

Westworld is created by Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy and is based on the film of the same name written by Michael Crichton.

Joy, Nolan, Ben Stephenson, Denise Thé, Alison Schapker, Richard J. Lewis, Athena Wickham, and J.J. Abrams serve as the executive producers. Jordan Goldberg, Matt Pitts, and Mark Tobey serve as the co-executive producers; while Don Bensko, Jay Worth, and Noreen O’Toole serve as the producers. Kelly Calligan, Halle Phillips, Skye Wathen, Caleb Duffy, and Susan Ekins serve as the co-producers.

John Conroy serves as the director of photography. Sarah C. Reeves serves as the editor of the episode. Thomas Sabinsky serves as the assistant editor for the episode.

Suzanne Wrubel serves as the story editor. Alli Rock serves as a staff writer on the show.

Ramin Djawadi scores the music for the series. Benjamin Cook is the sound designer, while Christopher Kaller serves as the music editor. Trygge Toven is the music supervisor.

Jon Carlos serves as the production designer. Mark Robert Taylor serves as the supervising art director. Chris DiLeo, Amelia Brooke, Rachel Aguirre, Rebekah Scheys, and Michael Navarro are the art directors; while Elaine Jen, AJ Cisneros, Jeanine A. Ringer, and Mike Piccirillo are the assistant art directors.

Jay Worth and Mark Stetson serve as the visual effects supervisors, while Elizabeth Castro serves as the VFX producer. Jill Paget and Andrew J. Trainor are the VFX editors, while Stephanie Huerta Martinez is the VFX assistant editor.

Debra Beebe serves as costume designer. Margaret Robbs serves as the assistant costume designer.

Jose L. Zamora is the department head hairstylist. Michael Buonincontro serves as key hairstylist. Dorchelle Stafford serves as the hairstylist, while Charolette Noon and Sandra Avila-Valencia serve as additional hairstylists. Elisa Marsh is the department head make-up artist.

Andrew Hull, Daniel Jennings, Sally Thornton, James Bolenbaugh, and David Chow serve as the set designers. Dan Caplan is the storyboard artist. Julie Ochipinti serves as the set decorator, while Ellen Reede Dorros is the assistant set decorator.

John Papsidera and Kim Winther are the casting directors of Westworld. Maddalena Zuppetta serves as the casting assistant. Sande Alessi serves as the extras casting director, while Shayne Hartigan is the extras casting associate.

In the New York unit, Barbara McNamara is the extras casting director. Rachel Musson is the extras casting associate, while Patrick Kline is the extras casting assistant. Geoffrey Ehrlich is the art director, while Lucy Pope is the assistant art director. Candice Cardasis is the set decorator. Ashleigh Williams is the head of the make-up department.

In the Cabo unit, Aleph Alighieri serves as the extras casting director.

The Cast of Westworld 

Evan Rachel Wood plays the protagonist of Westworld, Christina, once known as Dolores Abernathy.

Thandiwe Newton portrays Maeve Millay, while Aaron Paul portrays Caleb Nichols. Ed Harris portrays William, also known as the “Man in Black”.

Jeffrey Wright portrays Bernard Lowe, while James Marsden plays Theodore “Teddy” Flood. Tessa Thompson portrays Dolores Abernathy (previously Charlotte Hale), while Luke Hemsworth plays Ashley Stubbs.

Zahn McClarnon guest stars as Akecheta. Aurora Perrineau portrays adult Frankie “C” Nichols, while Morningstar Angeline appears as Odina.

Darien Lee co-stars as a guard, while Marti Matulis and Joey Wilson play Drone Hosts. Braxton McAllister plays a stranger. Patrick McLain and Terra Strong play a father and a mother, respectively.

Performances and Character Developments

I was quite fond of the reunion between Caleb and Frankie Nichols. Perrineau’s delivery when she learns of her character’s father’s unchanging appearance is heartbreaking, but what else would she have expected? Perhaps it might have been the irony that the viewer knew this was coming. Perrineau has given us mighty fine performances in the episodes that she has been in thus far, include last week’s when she is faced with taking down one of her allies. My only issue with the character is we do not really get to see many scenes with her and her partner, Odina (Morningstar Angeline). In fact, I don’t think the fans know all that much about Odina, so hopefully, the series features a return of these two characters in one way or another.

The scenes between Wright’s Lowe, Newton’s Millay, Thompson’s Hale/ Abernathy, and Harris’s William are incredible. I was not sure how the entire fight would end, but once one of the characters spoke of a game, I thought of Richard Connell’s 1924 short story, “The Most Dangerous Game”. Knowing how skilled all four characters are, Westworld has given us an intense fight, one of the best in the season so far, in my opinion.

It is unfortunate that the former three die, with William coming out as the survivor. I feel the show has outgrown William as a central antagonist and that it was better off having someone else in the role of the core villain. That is why I liked Season 3, but more so why I loved this current season.

Final Thoughts on The Penultimate Episode of Westworld Season 4

“Metanoia” is an interesting title for this episode of Westworld. It combines the prefix, “meta-“, meaning beyond or transcending, and the suffix, “-noia” which deals with the mind. I don’t think it is anything close to paranoia, but rather something more. For all the reasons stated in this review, this penultimate episode of Season 4 is worth the watch. In comparison with Episode 406 — “Fidelity”, this episode offers something more and with a stronger pace.

Westworld Season 4 is now airing on HBO and streaming via HBO Max!

Have you seen Nolan and Joy’s series? If so, then what are your thoughts on it so far? Let us know! For more Westworld updates as well as drama and science-fiction-related news and reviews, don’t forget to follow The Cinema Spot on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!