When it comes to Sci-Fi TV shows, it can sometimes take a little while for series to find their groove. That can be true of any genre, of course, but it’s particularly true of science fiction. There are often more complex plot mechanics and headier themes, so you don’t always know where things are going immediately, and some shows need (and hopefully reward) patience, even if that’s become harder than ever in the streaming era. Sometimes, however, a Sci-Fi series comes out swinging, and will leave you instantly hooked and desperate for more.
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That’s exactly what happened one Sunday night, nine years ago, on HBO, as the cable outfit unveiled its big new Sci-Fi series, Westworld. While the show is perhaps now better known for being cancelled after four seasons, at the time, it held so much promise, especially with its pilot. That episode alone reportedly cost $25 million, and it was absolutely worth it. Based on the 1973 movie of the same name, the first installment takes us to a Western-themed park sometime in the future, where guests pay a lot of money to live out their fantasies alongside “hosts” (or robots).
5 More Great Sci-Fi TV Show Pilots
- Battlestar Galactica – “33”
- Farscape – “Premiere”
- Lost – “Pilot: Part 1 & 2”
- Orphan Black – “Natural Selection”
- Stargate SG-1 – “Children of the Gods”
If You Love Sci-Fi, Watch Westworld’s Pilot
I was watching (and writing about) the show back at the time, and was convinced it was going to be HBO’s next big thing – and so were they. That didn’t turn out to be true, but, rewatching the pilot today, it still carries all the hallmarks of something that deserved to be much bigger (and, at times, better). That pilot had me hooked into its world so quickly, from the beginning that directly invited us to question the nature of reality, and the promise of “infinite possibilities.”
Those were ideas that played out throughout: there were shocking twists within that installment alone, thrillingly violent shootouts set to an epic orchestral cover of The Rolling Stones’ “Paint it Black,” stunning vistas, and plenty of mysteries to make me wonder what was really going on.
We got to witness the Man in Black, the show’s immediately captivating villain, searching for a “deeper level,” and that was an inherent promise from the show to viewers, too: stick with us, and uncover all the secrets. Enjoy the violent delights, and try to figure out what the violent ends will be. By establishing its core concepts and themes, making it clear which characters to root for and against, and teasing much bigger things to come while being an engrossing hour in its own right, it was pretty much everything you could want from a Sci-Fi TV pilot.
I don’t think many of Westworld Season 1’s episodes quite reached the heights of the pilot, as it settled into more of a groove (but was still very good), with the exception of the final two, which, again, are some of the finest Sci-Fi TV episodes of the past decade. After that, the show had some more struggles: the writers tried to stay ahead of fans guessing their plot twists, and that led to things becoming overly complicated and muddled.
It never truly became bad, and there’s plenty to enjoy in the more derided Seasons 3 and 4. Certainly, Westworld deserved better than to be cancelled before its planned fifth and final season (and even removed from HBO Max), but that was also reflective of how it put viewers off. That was a sad fate for the series, but it doesn’t take away from just how brilliant that pilot was, and it’s something any Sci-Fi fan should watch.
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Courtesy of Comedy Central
