Westworld season 3 episode 2 preview: “The Winter Line”

Season 3 of HBO’s Westworld continues this Sunday, with an episode that we can only hope answers the question of what, precisely is going on with Maeve.

As season 3 of Westworld continues, we’re still not quite sure what to expect. After a premiere episode that spent most of its time introducing our new outside-the-park reality and everyman avatar Caleb, all we really know is that Dolores has a big, complicated plan to….do something. Something that appears to involve taking over the mysterious, giant AI system known as Rehoboam. But what she wants to do with it is anyone’s guess.

Oh, and Maeve is still in the park, in a heretofore unseen area known as Warworld.

Given that Maeve appeared during the season premiere’s post-credits scene, one has to guess/assume/hope that this second episode will somehow deal with how Maeve came to be in this new park, and what, precisely, she’s doing there.

Season 3’s second episode is entitled “The Winter Line”, a name which is is fitting, given that this episode is set in Warworld. The real Winter Line was a series of German and Italian military fortifications in Italy, initially designed to defend Monte Cassino and the road that ran to Rome.

Which…well, it’s not clear exactly how that’s going to connect to the series’ overall story, but it’s nice to have confirmation that we are at least spending some significant part of this hour in the new park.

The official synopsis is so vague as to be practically nonexistent, but hey, at least it sounds like a cool fortune cookie saying. Sort of.

"People put up a lot of walls. Bring a sledgehammer to your life."

Whatever this means is, obviously, anyone’s guess. And given that this is Westworld it could be referring to walls of the figurative or quite literal kind.

Is this saying about breaking out of loops? Making unexpected connections? All of the above? None? Who can say.

There isn’t a specific episode 2 trailer, unfortunately, but the “In the Weeks” ahead promo indicates we can expect to see the show of wresting with a lot of predictably big questions: Destiny, identity, free will and more.

This clip does tell us that Bernard has gone back to the island for Maeve, and that she’ll somehow make it into “our” world, the same way Dolores and friends are.

Are you looking forward to more Westworld on Sunday? Check back here on Culturess after the episode airs to see reviews and updates about the show.