I didn’t think Westworld could get dumber at the end of season 2, but it did, and I’d recommend a bunch of other crrrrrrazy robot shows worth watching instead that are smarter, tighter, and richer.
1) Obviously Battlestar Galactica. Final season runs off the rails but as a robots-run-amok drama where maybe humans are the real monsters, it's poetry.
1a) The spinoff, Caprica, had a slow start but got real good right before its cancellation. Lovely exploration of the self, memory, and grief. Tackles the digital composite concept well to ask what we are: Who we say we are or the choices we make or the symbols we leave behind.
2) Humans, BBC. A way smaller, quieter drama that’s abundant with something Westworld entirely lacks: human characters we care about and a bright sense of humanity.
3) Carnivale was 10 years ahead of its time. If you love the intricate set-dressing of Westworld and GoT but can’t abide by the…stupid, go follow a traveling carnival and an eerily charismatic radio preacher during the last days of magic in dust-bowl America.
4) Person of Interest is the most fascinating exploration of a distinctly un-human intelligence ever made for TV. It’s that, plus a chilling portrayal of an all-too-real police state, plus such charming characters, plus a great dog.
5) Star Trek Deep Space 9’s later seasons are a chilling look at what happens when the oppressed become the oppressors. The Trill will also bend your brain in good ways.
6) Star Wars The Clone Wars is, yes, a cartoon for kids, but wow does it have some amazing episodes on the nature of self, duty, what we owe each other, and how that all defines us.
7) The Good Place is…a stretch, but you won’t find a more intellectual show on TV, not to mention twists way better than Westworld’s while still retaining good ambiguity.
Anyway, this is just the top of my head, leave the Black Mirror and Westworld faux-prestige shit behind and rejoice in shows that will blow your mind while still making sense
I will grant the Westworld soundtrack owns.
