Westworld showrunner/co-creator Jonathan Nolan has shared a unique (and possibly brilliant/possibly terrible) idea to contain spoilers for the show's upcoming second season.
He explained as much from his personal Reddit account, where he stated that he'd like to put up a video to the program's subreddit that revealed all the Season 2 plotlines prior to the upcoming premiere, which airs on Sunday, April 22. As he reasoned, this would allow Westworld fans who watched the video to preserve spoilers, just as people who read the Game of Thrones books did because they were already aware of what would happen (at least, prior to the books being passed by the show).
"I greatly enjoyed watching the friendly folks at this subreddit guess the twists and turns of [Season 1]," he said in a Monday AMA. "[but] it creates a larger problem for us, though, in terms of the way your guesswork is reported online. ‘Theories’ can actually be spoilers, and the line between the two is confusing. It’s something we’ve been thinking about since last season. The fans of Game of Thrones, for instance, rallied around and protected the secrets of the narrative in part because they already knew those secrets (through season 5)."
Nolan's idea will, at least in theory, allow people who want the show spoiled for them to watch it without all the guesswork. They will then (again, in theory) help the show's creators protect fans who had not opted to spoil it for themselves by "distinguish[ing] between what’s ‘theory’ and what’s spoiler.” Maybe just stay off the internet if you're a fan of the show?
Still, whether or not Nolan ultimately decides to do this will be predicated on the announcement post getting 1,000 upvotes on his Reddit page, which it looks like it's already received. In full, Nolan (and fellow co-creator/executive producer Lisa Joy)'s message read:
Many thanks for your great questions and thoughts. As I’ve said before, I’ve been a member of the reddit community for years (no I’m not going to share my original username…). And I greatly enjoyed watching the friendly folks at this subreddit guess the twists and turns of the season.
It creates a larger problem for us, though, in terms of the way your guesswork is reported online. ‘Theories’ can actually be spoilers, and the line between the two is confusing. It’s something we’ve been thinking about since last season. The fans of Game of Thrones, for instance, rallied around and protected the secrets of the narrative in part because they already knew those secrets (through season 5).
We thought about this long and hard, and came to a difficult (and potentially highly controversial) decision. If you guys agree, we’re going to post a video that lays out the plot (and twists and turns) of season 2. Everything. The whole sordid thing. Up front. That way the members of the community here who want the season spoiled for them can watch ahead, and then protect the rest of the community, and help to distinguish between what’s ‘theory’ and what’s spoiler.
It’s a new age, and a new world in terms of the relationship between the folks making shows and the community watching them. And trust is a big part of that. We’ve made our cast part of this decision, and they’re fully supportive. We’re so excited to be in this with you guys together. So if this post reaches a 1000 upvotes we’ll deliver the goods.
Hasta victoria siempre!
Jonah and Lisa
Not surprisingly, fans/TV critics were unsure of the idea, which is understandable. Not everyone's a visionary (unless this idea fails, in which case pretend we said "Here are the people who saw this thing crashing from a mile away, like we all did"):
