By the end of Westworld’s second episode, we have a pretty good grasp of how the park functions, or at least how it’s supposed to function. High paying guests are transported to Delos headquarters, where they are dressed in their Western garb and then whisked into the park, at which point they are free to pursue all guilty pleasures their hearts desire, under the guarantee of safety and protection from any physical harm.

However, we’re now aware that there seems to be an issue with a recent coding update, causing some hosts to recall previous builds, and in response either malfunctioning (like Peter Abernathy [Louis Herthum]) or lashing out in uncharacteristic ways (like Walter [Timothy Lee DePriest]).

“The Stray” continues to build upon this sense that something is definitely not right within the park. Among the various storylines, Elsie (Shannon Woodward) and Stubbs (Luke Hemsworth) are called upon to track down the vectoring Woodcutter (Tait Fletcher). Wyatt’s (Sorin Brouwers) story is uploaded into Teddy (James Marsden) as the source anchoring his painful, and up to this point unknown, backstory. And the mysterious Arnold is described to Bernard (Jeffrey Wright) as Dr. Ford’s (Anthony Hopkins) late partner and the co-creator of the fantasy park and its inhabitants.

Continue Reading…