Just like the most ambitious androids on the show itself, the more fans keep digging into HBO’s social marketing campaign for Season 3 of Westworld, the deeper the rabbit hole goes. Only hours after a fan unearthed the first of an unknown number of “secret” trailers for the upcoming season, two more have now emerged — and they’re pretty meaty.
Making a departure from the show’s increasingly dystopian tone, the first clip — titled “When Caleb meets Dolores” — focuses on the relationship between alpha android Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) and newcomer Caleb (Aaron Paul), with HBO playfully teasing a budding pair-off that’ll make Season 3 “35% more romantic.” With rom-com music and a slyly lighthearted vibe, it’s still anyone’s guess, though, whether things are what they seem on the surface — especially as Dolores’ self-aware powers of scheming and manipulation continue to grow.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zN5h_JW0mEU&feature=emb_title
Is this a straightforward romance, or is Caleb just another pawn in Dolores’ plan to tear down the veil between the human and synthetic worlds? It’s too early to tell, but the second “secret” trailer, which serves up plenty of previously unseen Season 3 footage, certainly makes it look like her enemies would be crazy to underestimate her:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVTQuK2CaWaTgSsoNkn5AiQ?feature=emb_subscribe_title
One of the darkest looks yet at a show that already wasn’t exactly lacking in the dystopia department, the “Your World” trailer above almost veers into cyberpunk territory, with futuristic robot mechs, mass rioting (perhaps the opening salvo of Dolores’ revolution?), and surgical procedures that might make David Cronenberg blush.
Watch closely and you might even spy a couple of intriguing split-second eye-openers, including a shot that makes it look as if Maeve (Thandie Newton) amputates Dolores’ arm with a sword, as well as an early peek at NFL star Marshawn Lynch, a new casting addition whose character appears to be part of Dolores’ protective entourage. There’s even a subtle Breaking Bad easter egg, as Caleb questions whether he’s a “bad guy” — perhaps a nod to Jesse Pinkman’s realization, in the first episode of Breaking Bad’s third season, that that’s exactly what he is.
Without too much in the way of plot explanation, most of what’s in the new trailers reveals more about the setting and overall vibe of Season 3 than of how the story might unfold. But taken together with the dialed-up bleakness of HBO’s earlier peeks at where the series is headed, it’s a safe bet we’re barreling toward some of the show’s most violent delights yet. Westworld returns to HBO for its third season beginning March 15.
