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Fourteen months after HBO‘s Westworld was prematurely powered down, series star Evan Rachel Wood continues to wonder what would have happened in a hypothetical Season 5.
In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the three-time Emmy nominee laments the 2022 cancellation of the HBO drama, as well as series creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy’s decision to keep her in the dark about what would’ve happened in a hypothetical Season 5.
“[The cancellation] was devastating in a lot of ways because, first of all, they don’t tell us where the show is going. We were just always told, ‘We know how the show ends,’ when we started,” Wood explains to THR. “They weren’t writing it as we went along. They had an idea, and we were all just on a bed of nails waiting to see and hear what the conclusion of this was. What it all meant.”
Alas, Nolan and Joy remained tight-lipped. “I asked the creators after we got cancelled, ‘Can you please just tell me how you’re going to end?’ And they wouldn’t tell me,” Wood says. “I think because, I don’t know, maybe somehow, someway, in some iteration we’ll get to finish it, but I still don’t know. It does still keep me up at night.”
Westworld, which was loosely based on the 1973 film of the same name, ran for four seasons between 2016 and 2022. Wood starred as Dolores Abernathy, the oldest host still working in the titular park who eventually would discover that her entire life was a lie. Her performance earned her two consecutive Emmy nominations for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, in 2017 and 2018.
Following its cancellation, Warner Bros. Discovery pulled Westworld from Max and licensed all four seasons to AVOD services Roku and Tubi, where the former premium cable drama now streams with commercial interruptions.
So many things get revived these days. Even if they do it as animation or something, I expect we will see more eventually.
Personally I thought Westworld was headed towards a full circle type ending. The way the fifth season was pointing toward a first season type setting but with a twist suggested that.
Sorry I meant Forth season!
It seemed to me that Season 4 – which I disliked quite a bit – was a simulated world of some sort. The shimmering sky and everything, it did not seem to be the real world at all.
Creators not telling fans how it would have ended (once they’ve determined no one else would pick up season 5) is A HUGE act of disrespect to the fans. MASSIVE. Simple as. I understand ERW’s disappointment.
It’s also disrespectful to the actors that worked hard on the show & to the loyal fans that watched it.
HBO should given us one last season.
It felt like a complete ending to me. Was there room for more? Yes. Was it unsatisfying? No.
I think the writers had no idea how it would have ended. I can’t imagine that the show was canceled without at least a DISCUSSION of what the final season would entail. I think some recent cancelations (by recent, I mean over the last 5-7 years) reflect this. Stumptown is a great example. It was renewed, then canceled, allegedly due to the pandemic. But since then, the “plan” for S2 came out, and, uh, YIKES. I’d have bailed by ep 3 of S2. I think HBO had a talk with the showrunners, and what they heard was terrible. Given the costs of the show, funding a bad ending just wasn’t worth it.
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Because Fans don’t hold grudges. We won’t watch bad shows because a net treated show well in the past. We will watch a good show, even if a net treated a show “poorly” in the past. So nets aren’t going to make a decision based on anything other than profitability and quality.
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This show had to have been a huge money loser. HUGE. And when it was a watercooler hit, fine. It drove viewers to the net, and was nominated for big awards. The last few seasons were more expensive, with much lower quality. That is just unsustainable.
I’m not so sure about fans not holding grudges. I didn’t watch How I Met Your Father because I didn’t trust the creators after the HIMYM ending.
HIMYF wasn’t created by the creators of HIMYM, but I agree with your point. I don’t trust Bays & Thomas anymore than I trust Benioff & Weiss (GOT).
You screw fans over with a bad ending, many will not forgive and get over that. A Network screws you over, though, and it’s likely fans will give them more opportunities. Although I still haven’t forgiven VH1 for cancelling (after renewing) Hindsight, but I’m not their target audience anyway – I only watch scripted TV.
Sorry about being wrong about the creators of the Father show. I’m glad you got my point and corrected it. I agree about giving networks a second chance…refusing a second chance to an entire network is extreme.
This show should have gotten another season for a proper ending. Now I’m hoping for a revival.
This should have been given a fifth season to wrap things up. Now, I want a full on revival.
Loved the first season, but found it a case of diminishing returns as the seasons went on. (Or, less tactfully: it disappeared up its own are.)
They clearly think it’ll get a wrap-up movie or miniseries at some point, I don’t blame them for not revealing it