We still have ages and ages to wait until Westworld Season 2 premieres sometime in 2018, but that doesn't necessarily mean the team behind the new hit HBO show is enjoying a leisurely break before tackling their sophomore season. To that point, Talulah Riley, who plays the host named Angela, has been promoted to series regular for Westworld Season 2, as revealed by Entertainment Weekly.
According to the report, showrunners Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy "have been hard at work crafting a second season plan" ever since Season 1 wrapped last December. Naturally, part of that plan involves deciding the fates of their characters. Will Elsie Hughes and Ashley Stubbs (both currently missing) turn up dead, or return very much alive? Will we ever see William again, now that we know he's just the young version of the Man In Black? And which minor characters from Season 1 might turn out to be even more important to the story moving forward? Well, it looks like we at least have an answer to that last question, given Riley's recent promotion.
We first met Angela in the second episode, when she acted as William's greeter and tour guide, introducing him to the world of Delos and helping him choose his Wild West-themed outfit. Later in the season, she popped up once again in an entirely different role, this time as a member of the villainous Wyatt's posse. After posing as a victim rescued by Teddy and the Man In Black, she revealed herself to be an outlaw when she stabbed and killed the former and knocked out the latter, leaving him for dead.
So, what will Angela be up to next time we see her? What is it about the character that demands a promotion from supporting player to main cast member? Will she be continuing in her role as greeter, or her role as murderous outlaw? EW teased that Angela, "the host whose beatific face welcomed guests to Westworld for decades," will now become "one of the last faces many guests will ever see."
That brief description seems to hint at some sort of collision between Angela's two roles. Perhaps she'll retain her memories and personalities from her time as a follower of Wyatt, but return to her job as a chaperone, escorting visitors off the train and into the privacy of their suites… where she murders them before they can enter the park and wreak havoc upon its artificial inhabitants.
However, there's one curious thing about EW's tease: the fact that Westworld has any guests at all anymore. Given the fact that Season 1 ended with an army of rebellious hosts slaughtering the entire Delos board at their extravagant gala, it seems unlikely that any new guests will be coming to the park for quite a while. Will Season 2 take place after some sort of time jump, when the rebellion seems to be under control and the park is reopened? Or will it pick up immediately where Season 1 left off, with Angela and the rest of Wyatt's followers hunting down any human stragglers that remain in the park?
Whatever the case, given the finale's revelation that Dolores is Wyatt, hopefully Angela's promotion means that these two fascinating women get to share plenty of screen time together — because, like its predecessor Game Of Thrones, Westworld is often at its most fascinating when it's focusing on the lives and machinations of its complex female characters.
