Westworld (Season 4), Episode 6 Recap & Ending Explained: Welcome back to Westworld. This episode focuses on the restoration of Maeve, the rebel group, and Caleb, attempting to escape after he learned that Frankie is alive. Aaron Paul steals the show with the multiple variants of his character and this could be the episode HBO submits to the Emmys for consideration.
It was that good. Dolores wasn’t present in this episode. We didn’t miss her. Paul stole the show.
Westworld (Season 4), Episode 6 “Fidelity” Recap:
Fidelity didn’t begin with Ramin Djawadi’s opening score. It commenced in the past with young Frankie approaching Jay and recruiting him to the group of rebels. He is an outlier who is being hunted and must pause like a host for a few moments. The most basic human instincts result in movement and termination, which provided Jay, Frankie, and Uwade the distraction to flee. Audiences learn they are part of a small group of rebels stuck in a remote location. When Frankie tries to bond with Jay as she sends messages to Caleb, Jay is scornful and refuses to be identified as her brother.
The episode then moves to adult Frankie and Bernard ferrying Maeve to a location to restore her. Frankie seems suspicious of Bernard’s knowledge of the park, but he seemingly convinces her that it is due to his knowledge whilst an employee at Westworld. Jeffrey Wright’s character even claims that he doesn’t know what his companion will do next.
Whilst walking through the abandoned premises, the characters find a pearl that Bernard pries out of a host. Frankie seems repulsed by what she saw. After a while, Bernard takes C to the top room of what looks like Maeve’s room and explains the methods used to collect data. Hats were the technique (I actually believed wearing a hat prevented it as William and Arnold donned hats within Westworld) and surprise surprise…mirrors.
We then see Bernard mending Maeve with care and C remembers her as the one her father left with. She hints at using pain to get the truth out, but understands that it would be futile. The host reminds her that saving the world makes for having strange bedfellows. This line can be seen as a take on how serious the problem is, as the outliers and uninfected individuals are so few that anyone has to be an ally.
C learns there is a mole and suspects the hosts at first. However, it could be a ruse to put the actual guilty party at ease. This holds as she even locks up her girlfriend. A later interaction with Jay sees her reveal her intentions to get Maeve running. This gets met with resistance with the threat of Host Charlotte potentially using Maeve to overpower the resistance to her perfect world.
The exchange sees C identify the imposter and after a message finally gets through, she fights and rises with able assistance from a re-awoken Maeve.
Within the park, we see the first outlier serve as a lab rat for Host Charlotte to understand what makes him immune to her goop. She tries to break him in many ways, even informing him about Frankie and revealing that she has implanted a mole (Jay) into her group. A defiant Caleb refuses to spill the secret and is left to suffer in a chamber within a chamber of Calebs. A fire at the top sees him look for clues and find one to escape. The adjacent chamber’s Caleb also drives him to this decision.
Once he falls into an ash chamber, he sees incinerated corpses. Then, whilst crawling through the vents, he witnesses another Caleb, who urges him to make good use of his body. The wounded Caleb’s performance was absolutely astounding. Aaron Paul’s character even sees an ash palm print on the door. A battle with a droid host also takes center stage, with Caleb remembering the advice he gave Frankie helping him come through.
He breaks through the ceiling and sends out a message to Frankie that helps her outside the park. This heartfelt monologue solves the mystery behind codename C. It stands for Cookie, Frankie’s father’s nickname to her. At this moment, a disappointed Hale arrives and chastises Caleb for his poor message, and snaps his neck. The host did this after revealing that she orchestrated Caleb’s path to the message in a bid to identify his secret and ability to become an outlier.
An exchange featuring Clementine and Hale sees a question pop up. How can Charlotte define Caleb (Version 278) as a human with petty defiance? She burns up the Caleb version cells and begins building Caleb 279.
Westworld (Season 4), Episode 6 “Fidelity” Ending Explained:
Is this version of Caleb going to join Charlotte?
The ending saw Caleb 279 open his eyes and Host Charlotte talk to him. He didn’t say anything, but given her dissatisfaction as what he branded a worthless apology, it could be that Caleb is now an evil version. There really is no reason to keep him good as he will not break and reveal the secret of the resistance. Also, Hale can look to use Caleb to hand her the advantage in a battle against C.
The apology showed the emotional bond to exploit.
Maeve is back to finish what she started
Maeve is back with a new control unit and has a member of Caleb’s family by her side. She is the weapon the resistance wanted and Bernard provided. Her line at the end, “let’s finish what we started”, has set up a thrilling penultimate episode. Given Jay’s status, Maeve could even serve as the leader. Perhaps that would be farfetched, but expect her to vouch for Bernard and Stubbs as they seek to bring Charlotte down. She can even turn Caleb around if he sees that she is up and running.
This looks likely as Caleb is undoubtedly an evil version, who will be programmed along the lines of Clementine or Host in Black. When 278 versions failed to break, Harlores would be wise to not use try to be 279th time lucky in the same way. Of course, she is trying her luck but with Aaron Paul fighting by her side, moving to the beats of the tower. Will it work? Or will the outlier instinct within him come through yet again?
Has Nolan pulled off an Interstellar here?
Interstellar is Christopher Nolan’s film, but it was the final film that the Nolan brothers worked on together before going their separate ways.
Remember the messages from Coop and Murph that weren’t getting through? The interactions between Caleb and Frankie seem to be just that. He left when she was a child; he faced difficulty and vanished; he passed on a message that helped her… now she will rise and find a solution to save the world and have a heartfelt reunion.
That’s what we have. Until next Sunday (or Monday) ponder over this, engage in analysis, have your say, and wait for a blockbuster penultimate episode. It usually is this episode that rules the season or sets the mood for the epic finale.
<< PREVIOUS EPISODE
WESTWORLD (SEASON 4), EPISODE 6 LINKS – IMDB
CAST – EVAN RACHEL WOOD, JEFFREY WRIGHT, ED HARRIS, THANDIWE NEWTON, JAMES MARSDEN, TESSA THOMPSON, LUKE HEMSWORTH
Where to watch Westworld
