Right after class, I ended up watching the newest episode of Westworld (season 3, episode 2, "The Winter Line"), and it felt so connected to this week in our class. In the episode, we see Mauve wake up in a completely new setting (Warworld) and daringly escape from the clutches of Nazis with Hector, the landscape of a 1940s war torn Italy whizzing around the fast-talking couple as they drive to a plane to escape. This scene- which ends up being a "story line" akin to those we see the hosts enacting in Westworld- looks like a clear adaptation of old Hollywood war films, a la Casablanca or the 1944 version of To Have and Have Not. After the episode in a "behind the scenes" type feature, the creators buzzed about utilizing this genre in this new world. Which makes me think about Nick's point earlier more seriously- can this show be defined as a Western in this newest season, when they are out of Westworld? Can the Western-inspired character arcs of the protagonists (people vs. community, loner looking for family) alone make this a Western? Or is the show sci-fi playing "costume" after all?
As I considered this, Bernard, back in the Delos theme parks, made a pit stop in "World Four," a medieval and magical theme park which was clearly an homage to another HBO franchise, Game of Thrones. To cement this reference, we see DB Weiss and David Benioff, the showrunners of Game of Thrones, dressed up as park technicians, musing over a mechanic "Drogon" (one of Daenerys' dragons from the show). As Mittell described in the reading, we can interpret genre through the references that are made within the show. Also, as Kackman reminds us, HBO, even in their motto, doesn't see themselves as TV. Westworld's play with genre, as well as their reference to a show on the same network, revealed to me that the show might not see itselves as a "Western," as much as it see itself as an HBO show- and thus "Quality TV." I think this brand has succeeded in marketing its content as worth watching- and, perhaps, have even taken this so far as to make their own brand a "genre" unto itself.
As if they were reading my core post while in the writer's room, the next episode featured a literal illicit drug called "genre," which turned Caleb's (played by Aaron Paul) experiences into heavy handed homages to various classic film genres. As he follows Dolores in a deadly mission, his is dazed by his blurred vision as he fluctuates from noir, to action, to romance, to drama, to, finally, horror. The audience sees and hears his psychosis, experiencing the genre-bending nature of the show with Caleb. further emphasizing the show playing "costume" in a sense.
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