HBO’s Quietly Cancelled 4-Part Hard Sci-Fi Sensation Deserves the Ending It Never Got

When it comes to pure ambition, HBO may have never had a show as impressive as its modern update on Westworld. While both Game of Thrones and The Leftovers were adaptations based on existing source material, Westworld went far beyond the original novel by Michael Crichton and the 1973 film of the same name, creating a multi-faceted world that asked tough questions about what defined humanity. Westworld was an imperfect show that took big swings and began to have a dwindling audience as it reached its later seasons. However, Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy entered into their deal with HBO on the understanding that they would be given the opportunity to end their show on their own terms, as they had stated from the beginning that they were working from a plan for five seasons. The abrupt cancellation of Westworld at the end of its fourth season was both a betrayal of the efforts that Nolan and Joy did, and a worrying move for the future of HBO’s auteur-driven projects.

Westworld wasn’t a success just because it sparked high ratings, but because it spawned a level of engagement that television hadn’t seen since the early days of Lost. Fans of Westworld became obsessed with uncovering the plot twists and secrets within every season. Even when Westworld began to dip in ratings and attention from the Primetime Emmy Awards in later seasons, the fanbase remained steady, particularly given that the series itself was getting more radical in its philosophy. There’s not a single episode of Westworld that didn't have an immense attention-to-detail. Nolan and Joy have clung on to the hope that they might be able to some day complete their story, and this influential series is not one that HBO should ignore anymore.

‘Westworld’ Was Originally Planned as a 5 Season Show

In the streaming era, it is more valuable to have a complete show with an ending than a bunch of half-finished programs that were cut off before they had the chance to grow, and are thus less likely to be watched by viewers who already know that it won’t have a satisfying conclusion. One of the reasons that Netflix has been forced to license content from other streamers is that a high percentage of its original shows are cancelled. HBO has traditionally avoided this issue because of the trust they put in their creators, even with stumbles like The Idol or Vinyl that simply don’t have room to improve. The fact is that Westworld still holds a lot of value for its passionate but niche fanbase, fans who were eager to follow the story that Nolan and Joy established.

What’s even more troubling is that HBO removed Westworld from its library entirely, thus scrubbing it from existence outside of dedicated viewers that purchased the seasons on physical media. While services like Disney+ have removed entire shows before, that’s not something that HBO has been known to do, and didn’t begin until the David Zazlav regime. Even if Westworld was ultimately too expensive to produce on the scale that Nolan and Joy wanted, it doesn’t negate the value of the other seasons, which were highly acclaimed and took home several Emmy Awards. The message that it sends to creators might be enough to inspire them to shop their work around to other streamers. After all, why would an artist want to work with a studio where they know their hard work could be erased from its library upon the first sign of declining views?

‘Westworld’ Leaves Behind a Lot of Unanswered Questions

There are plenty of shows that were forced to reach a conclusion prematurely to accommodate a quick cancellation, but the news that Westworld wasn’t continuing seemed to take everyone by surprise, including the stars. This may have been because the setup for the final season was very clear. Now that she had become the creator of a new digital world, Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) was going to essentially recreate the story of season one to offer one final test for whether the hosts would be able to sustain themselves. A future season may have been able to cut down on the cost of bringing back returning stars, as a vast majority of the main cast were killed by the end of the fourth season. However, seeing Dolores come full circle to become a creator was what Westworld had been building to since its very first episode.

It was a show that explored how revitalizing an outdated work of intellectual property could actually lead to a creatively industrious endeavor, but Westworld also has become more relevant than ever before because of its thoughtful consideration of the ethics and dangers of artificial intelligence. Many of the ideas that the show adopted early on have now become an accepted part of reality, specifically when it comes to the paranoia of the surveillance state and the dangers of giving private investors authority over the implementation of emerging technology. Westworld was the rare show that built an entirely original universe of many great characters, yet also resonated deeply with current issues. Its removal won’t change the enormity of what Nolan and Joy pulled off, but it only makes it more frustrating that they weren’t given an opportunity to complete their story.