Netflix have certainly changed things in the world of TV-viewing and not just in the way we watch shows these days.
Box sets on demand and full seasons of shows instantly available are the two obvious game-changers, but Netflix also use a very popular marketing tool: relentless hype.
Satellite channels such as HBO and providers such as Sky have taken all three on board to both a lesser and greater degree, but the one major test that every show has to pass is whether it justifies the incessant, pre-broadcast cheerleading. Not everyone's taken in by an eager marketing campaign.
We've been drip-fed, force-fed, hammered over the head with preview clips and bits and bobs of info highlighting the advent of Westworld, the latest drama from satellite supremos HBO, and now's the time to deliver.
In case you've been in cave for the last few months, it's a TV adaptation of a 1973 film written and directed by Michael Crichton that was itself an adaptation of a book, all about a western-styled theme park set in the near future, where androids provided a backdrop for paying humans to pander themselves.
That is, until some of the androids start acting strangely, decide they've had enough and begin to fight back against their human masters. The TV show is furrowing a similar, if intentionally much longer path than an 88-minute movie.
The pilot, which was broadcast on this side of the Atlantic last night on Sky Atlantic, sets the scene by showing early on that life for the robotic hosts is pretty monotonous (well, they are robots), and revolves around gratifying violent and sexual fantasies for paying customers. The implication is obvious: it would be a relentlessly gruesome Groundhog Day for the bots if they were sentient.
Evan Rachel Wood stars as Dolores Abernath, a host whose character is a sweet girl who, depending on the circumstances, sees her father and boyfriend murdered before she gets dragged away screaming to get raped in a barn. Westworld doesn't seem to do happy endings for its hosts.
On the chippier side, Thandie Newton plays Maeve Millay, the beautiful and sharp madam of Westworld, who's pretty useful with a gun as well as keen to satisfy the sexual urges of her male customers.
As for the human visitors, Ed Harris plays the Man in Black - bad guy alert - a rather mysterious guest who gets up to no good and with much gusto. Viewers also get plenty of the people pulling the strings, such as former Borgen star Sidse Babett Knudsen as Theresa Cullen, the sullen operations leader of Westworld.
In a nutshell. it's kind of a cross between Jurassic Park and Ex Machina and if the pilot's any indicator, it's going to be an engrossing series.
A bug seems to be affecting some of the hosts, likely from a software update uploaded into many of the hosts by the company’s founder, Dr Ford, who is played by a frankly underused Anthony Hopkins.
These updates allow hosts to retain some trace of memory despite having their experiences wiped clean after each episode in Westworld reaches its, usually bloody, climax.
But with some hosts acting erratically, those behind the scenes attempt to resolve the problem before it can become an issue with the park's customer base.
With the multi-award-winning and hugely popular Game of Thrones edging closer to its finale, HBO is desperate to find a show to take its place. It's early days, but Westworld shows great promise as it rolls along nicely, like a slick black limousine. It also ticks quite a few boxes as it's cinematic, sci-fi geeky, violent and voyeuristic. And it's got a cool logo.
The pilot episode drew a US audience 50% greater than the GoT debut and it was the most-watched opener on HBO since the very first episode of True Detective. More importantly, it's got a lot of people talking positively about it.
The door's wide open, so now it's up to Westworld to deliver on its promising start.
Westworld continues on Tuesdays on Sky Atlantic.
John Byrne
