'Westworld' Fans Will Be Excited About This Change In Direction For Season 2

There's plenty of intrigue left to untangle when it comes to preparing for Westworld Season 2. While many of the plot details remain vague, we have some new information about the upcoming season that is even better than any kind of plot tease. According to Westworld actor Tessa Thompson, women dominate Season 2. Elle interviewed her while she was on the red carpet at the 69th Primetime Emmys on Sunday evening and the most intriguing tidbits that Thompson was able to divulge had something to with the women of Westworld.

While making her way down the Emmys red carpet, Thompson paused to give Elle some insight on how the women of Westworld are achieving greater power on Season 2, and that means big power grabs. "It really is a season where I think women are king," Thompson divulged. "I think they rule the world in the park this season. It’s kind of all about the women and I think it might be a very feminist show as a matter of fact." This, dear friends, is very exciting news.

While it's not inaccurate to say that Westworld has a pre-existing interest and focus on the interior lives and struggles of its women — something productive to emphasizing their agency in a world designed to treat them like objects — the show could still do better by its women. From the sound of Thompson's hints, this certainly feels like Westworld is setting a new course for its female characters. If anything, these hints that "women [will be] king" show that this show is actively interested in talking about how female consciousness is developed (as we will most likely see primarily through the hosts) and how women create their own power dynamics in order to rise up in the world; big ideas and big themes, to be sure, but this is Westworld, a show that literally is founded on robots gaining sentience and independence. It's not that far-fetched.

Westworld Season 1 gave us a handful of women to keep our eye on. Hosts Dolores and Maeve went on separate but similarly tense journeys of self-discovery. Their rites of passage from mere machinery into completely self-aware beings was full of bloodshed and betrayal, but Westworld never treated them like pawns in a larger game; these women have always known their place in the world but that doesn't mean they've accepted it. The Westworld Season 1 finale left them each poised to upend Westworld the theme park is ways that would let them take control and control the destiny of the other hosts and the park itself.

For a show that is so interested in unpacking the psychology of unconsciousness, that Westworld is going to further tighten that focus on women is undoubtedly a good thing. Considering the women on this show are varied in age, race, and even life experiences (from what we know of their public lives), then the experiences they'll be bringing to the table to help build these new fictional, female-driven power structures on the show will only make for as more inviting watch. Having that range of female talent present means there will be interesting new territory to be explored, which feels like a perfect fit for Westworld.

So, while we're fairly certain Westworld Season 2 may dive into Samurai World and we know that the maze will continue to unfold itself to the hosts, it seems that we can also look forward to women ruling the Westworld roost; amen to that.