Westworld season 3 finale preview: “Crisis Theory”

The final episode of Westworld season 3 is here – and it’s clear that none of us have any idea what to expect from Dolores and Serac’s inevitable face off.

Westworld season 3 is almost over. This feels shocking, for the simple fact that this season is  two episodes shorter than its predecessors, which were both ten installments, rather than eight. How is this show going to wrap up its wildly ambitious third season story in just 75 more minutes.

This finale episode is entitled “Crisis Theory,” a term that’s often associated with Marxist economics. Per Wikipedia, this is defined as “concerning the causes and consequences of the tendency for the rate of profit to fall in a capitalist system”.

What that means in the world of Westworld, of course, is extremely unclear. (Surprise?)

The fallout from Dolores’ decision to release the Incite data used to create the algorithm of people’s lives will inevitably be global in scope, but how that will impact her battle with Serac is more complex question.

And now that Caleb has apparently decided to step up and own his role as someone whose very life was rewritten by Incite, there’s a populist element here that the show hasn’t necessarily looked at before. (The folks journeying to Delos parks probably weren’t blue collar construction workers, is what I’m saying.)

But with just one episode to go, it’s hard to know how Westworld will – or even can – address these complex issues. Thankfully, the show is already renewed for a fourth outing, but….we probably won’t see that for another two years. So, here’s hoping there’s some sense of closure, of some variety, here.

The official synopsis is…well, it’s about what we’ve come to expect from Westworld this season. Vague as heck, and something that could be applied to virtually any character if you think about it long enough.

"Time to face the music."

Which…yeah. Whether you’re most interested in how Dolores, Maeve, Caleb, William or Bernard’s stories wrap up – each of these individuals are going to have to face the consequences of the choices they’ve made, both in this season and over the course of the series entire.

The trailer for the finale previews that big confrontation between Maeve and Dolores that we first saw in the season 3 trailer, as well as another declaration from William that his newfound purpose involves saving the world. (Presumably from hosts?)

Buckle up, folks. This is Westworld, and anything can happen.

Westworld season 3 concludes this Sunday at 9pm ET on HBO.