‘Westworld’ Season 2, Episode 6 Recap: The Cradle

The episode opens on Bernard (Jeffrey Wright) saying what we’ve all been thinking for the past five episodes: “You frighten me sometimes, Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood).” Although he’s not afraid of who she is now, he knows that she’s capable of transforming into something dangerous. Therefore, he has a choice: He can either do nothing (aka “the unknown”) or end it.

When Bernard implies that it might not be his decision to make, Dolores interrupts and accuses him of going off script. She says he’s supposed to make a choice, not question whether it’s his choice to make. Before he has a chance to clarify, Dolores freezes his motor functions, tells him to sit and grabs the tablet from his hands. Oh, how the tables have turned.

Dolores says she’s quizzing him on something he’s been tested on multiple times: fidelity. Dun dun dunnn.

In Westworld, Teddy (James Marsden) appears to be adjusting A-OK to the tweaks Dolores made to his personality in episode five. At the train station, she questions a group of people about her father’s whereabouts. Teddy nonchalantly shoots a man for taking too long to answer, and even Dolores seems shocked by his aggression. Karma, much?

Meanwhile, Grace (Katja Herbers) tries to address the daddy bombshell she dropped in episode four. But the Man in Black (Ed Harris) isn’t having it. He claims Grace is a host that Ford created to get back at him. Yep, he’s officially losing it.

Later on, William demands to know why Grace came to Westworld. Grace says that she won’t let him abandon her like he did her mother. After a heartfelt apology, she somehow gets him to agree to leave with her in the morning.

In a total William move, he’s gone when she wakes up the next day.

In Shogun World, Maeve (Thandie Newton) and Akane (Rinko Kikuchi) are mourning the death of Sakura (Kiki Sukezane), who was kidnapped in episode five. Still, they need to get out of there. Fast. 

With the help of a samurai, they escape the wrath of a guard, Tanaka (Masayoshi Haneda), and reunite with Hector (Rodrigo Santoro), Armistice (Ingrid Bolsø Berdal) and Felix (Leonardo Nam). They eventually stumble on a koi pond, where Akane reveals she must sacrifice herself to be with her daughter. Romeo and Juliet would be proud.

Maeve tries to object but knows the show must go on.

Maeve and her crew eventually find a laundry-chute-like passageway that leads to a room filled with dead bodies. Lovely. But—whaddaya know—there just so happens to be a hatch door, which leads to an open field.

Much to our dismay, Maeve demands to go on alone. When she finally makes it to her old home, she discovers that her daughter, Anna, has been reassigned a new mother. There, there, Maeve.

Meanwhile, Bernard is with Elsie (Shannon Woodward), who is still as clueless as ever about the severity of the situation. Nevertheless, her prior experience comes in handy when they stumble upon a lab and discover the Cradle, a massive database that stores information about each of the hosts, is the source of the problem.

Bernard explains that it’s supposed to simulate park narratives, but it shouldn’t be able to influence other systems. He fears that the Cradle is fighting back by sending improvised orders to the hosts. The problem? Elsie can’t seem to find the source of the commands.

Suddenly, Bernard remembers bringing something—or someone—to this same lab. He tells Elsie that the only way to discover the source is to auto extract his software. Although she seems skeptical about the process, she hooks him up and presses start. Gulp.

He falls into a dream-like state and imagines himself on the train entering Westworld. When he arrives, everything—even Dolores—is as it should be.

Back in the lab, the system map is finally restored. Charlotte (Tessa Thompson) is baffled when she notices a red “X” approaching the outer edge of Westworld.

Cut to Dolores and Teddy riding the train, which explodes when it reaches the park’s border. Um, what?

The episode concludes with a continuation of Bernard’s vision. He enters the saloon only to find Dr. Robert Ford (Anthony Hopkins) playing the piano.

“Hello, old friend,” Ford says.

Well, this should be interesting.