Is basically a one & done affair. We wanted to see him so we got to see him & we saw his end. They gave Ed Harris an episode to conclude the story line & I suspect that we shan’t see him any longer from here on out. If you agree or feel I’m wrong let me know, but I think this is it for the MIB. Went out on a low note.
shareTime to buy a new crystal ball.
shareFantastic character in the first season who has been relegated to an absolute nothing of a role this year.
And why the fuck did they never explain what the end of season 2 was about? When he was "in the thing"? He appeared to be in the place Delos was, but they completely ignored it this year. He just shows up at his house like he was never there.
The showrunners explained that season 2's after-credits stinger was set far in the future, in the ruins of the park.
It's meant I suppose to show William's ultimate payback, suffering the same fate as James Delos
His hand wound is fresh. He's taking an elevator down into The Forge right after Delores blew it off. We literally see him go from the outside into The Forge. It's clearly the present.
Not to mention, WTF is the point of a scene - a cliff hangar no less - that has no explanation or follow up outside od a supposed writer/creator comment? It was implied that scene had meaning.
It's clearly meant to trick us into thinking it's the present
But he seemingly took the elevator down the same time as other characters took it up - yet they don't encounter him
Everything we see William do after his fingers are blown off occurs in the far future - he's a host duplicate of William, right down the freshly blown-off fingers
For whatever reason, the powers-that-be in the far future are forcing host-William to relive William's life from the moment his fingers got blown off
In-universe, perhaps that's the last time his black cowboy hat was transmitting data to the forge. So they're forced to start there.
Dramatically, it's to show William suffering the same hellish fate that James Delos suffered, for the same hubris and lack of compassion
"Everything we see William do after his fingers are blown off occurs in the far future - he's a host duplicate of William, right down the freshly blown-off fingers"
Season 3 is the present, but the end of season 2 is the future? There's no proof that's true and even if it is, that's sloppy as FUCK, especially since no one tells the audience that. And with a two year break in between seasons?! That's awful writing to expect an audience to piece that together. A random throwaway cliff hangar scene from season 2 never mentioned again until what, season 4...if ever? That's terrible.
"For whatever reason, the powers-that-be in the far future are forcing host-William to relive William's life from the moment his fingers got blown off
Dramatically, it's to show William suffering the same hellish fate that James Delos suffered, for the same hubris and lack of compassion."
William wasn't torturing Delos. He was doing what Delos wanted - trying to make him immortal. There's no revenge or justice needed for William from that POV. Delos retired and gave his company to William, because Logan was a disaster. Delos wanted to be reincarnated as a machine. William didn't push that on him. There is no hubris or lack of compassion, William was just doing with his father-in-law wanted.
First, the showrunners have stated that it's in the far future (BUT IT HAS TO BE IN THE SHOW OR IT'S SLOPPY WRITING).
Okay, IN THE SCENE his daughter tells him "the system's long gone ... this is your world, or what's left of it ... it's been a long time, William, longer than we thought."
All of those lines imply that a good amount of time has passed. Same implication in Season 3's stinger, showing Bernard covered with dirt and dust.
(BUT NO ONE TELLS THE AUDIENCE THAT) It's possible, even advisable, to communicate the passage of time without a detailed explanation. Indeed, explicit exposition is often deemed the hallmark of sloppy writing.
Also, whether what the Delos host(s) suffered was "torture" is just semantics. Clearly, none of the Delos-hosts were enjoying the ordeal. Neither is the William-host we see in season 2's stinger. It's poetic justice (and therefore reeks of Delores's handiwork).
Last point - something I just read in YouTube comments that I rather like: In the far future, humanity's gone, and the hosts are trying to recreate it for their own reasons.
So this stinger DOES fit with the series arc AND with what we've seen at the end of season 3. William-the-human is dead (maybe - we know they can rescue humans from slit throats), William-the-Host is alive, and now whoever-is-in-charge is trying to achieve "fidelity" by forcing host-William to relive that last experience human-William had while in the park and wearing his Bluetooth-hat.
The only indication to me that what we see of the end/after credits may very well be sometime in the future is when we see a gray & dusty Bernard awake & return from the sublime. With what purpose one can only guess.
shareYour not understanding me. Season 2's post-credit scene being in the far future from the end of season 2 isn't a problem. The problem is that scene was not referenced ever again in the very next season. We've not gone an entire season, which took two years to make btw, and a cliff hanger from season 2 was never explained or referenced again. But yeah, cool, it might come up in season 4. That's real crafty.
Semantics my ass. It can't be poetic justice when the people going to the park don't know the hosts are becoming sentient.
William (maybe) is dead but the "Man in Black" isn't.
Charlotte-Delores has recreated him, so we'll still see more of him.
Unfortunately, I can't see where they go from here with the host-William character.
Moreover, if y9ou think MIB went out on a low note, seems Ed Harris himself may agree. He's said as much in interviews, that he was disappointed with what he was given this season.
It does seem like a waste of a great actor to give him a one-note role to play.
it was kind of a let down, but like you said, we still get to see him in action
shareMIB: "I'm gonna save the world" > Is in the episode for 20 seconds then gets killed in the after credits scene.
Has there ever been a worse proclamation?