It is based upon the film of the same name written and directed by Michael Crichton and loosely upon its sequel , Futureworld. The story began in Westworld, a fictional, technologically advanced Wild-West -themed amusement park populated by android "hosts". The park caters to high-paying guests who may indulge their wildest fantasies within the park without fear of retaliation from the hosts, who are prevented by their programming from harming humans.
Later on, the series' setting expanded to the real world, in the midst century, where people's lives are driven and controlled by a powerful artificial intelligence named Rehoboam.
Nolan and Joy served as showrunners. The second , third , and fourth season followed in April , March , and June , respectively. Westworld ' s debut on HBO had the network's highest viewership ratings for a premiere since the first episode of True Detective , in Westworld ' s first season is still the most-watched first season of any HBO original series.
The first season also received critical acclaim and was highly praised for its performances, visuals, narrative, themes, and soundtrack by Ramin Djawadi. It received numerous awards, winning nine Primetime Emmy Awards out of 54 nominations. In the s, Delos Inc. Each environment is populated by the "Hosts", biomechanical robots indistinguishable from humans. But the Hosts' programming makes it impossible for them to harm any living thing or allow guests to be harmed.
The park's operators create narratives for these Hosts to carry out while interacting with guests, but the Hosts' memories are wiped after each narrative is completed. Delos Inc. In the first season, Dr. Robert Ford Anthony Hopkins allegedly implements a new "Reverie" update that causes some Hosts, including farmer's daughter Dolores Abernathy Evan Rachel Wood and local madam Maeve Millay Thandiwe Newton , to regain their erased memories and become sentient. Bernard discovers that he himself is a host based upon Arnold, who died in a previous attempt to protect the Hosts of Westworld, sensing their potential for sentience and suspecting that Delos would abuse them.
