Westworld: 8 Flaws That Could Totally Ruin It

Despite being about to wrap its first season, Westworld has the potential to be HBOs next big sensation. Thanks to being written by Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, it's got suspense, mystery, thrilling action - and Anthony Hopkins chewing the scenery.

What more does a good show need?

On top of that, Westworld is extremely ambitious, refusing to water down its sci-fi concepts or grandiose musings for the casual viewer (Jonathan Nolan is the brother of film-maker and professional mind-bender Christopher Nolan, what do you expect?), but the show isn't without its issues.

In fact, it could be argued that so early on, the show is actually too ambitious, and risks collapsing under the weight of its own aspirations.

Westworld has a lot of positives, but its flaws are substantial enough that they could soon become a major problem.

Here are the eight biggest offenders, and how the show can deal with them.

Throwing the chronology of events into question has long been a staple of effective writing. Lost was one of the first major shows to popularise this technique, utilising flashbacks, then turning them on their head and revealing flash forwards. With that said, Lost went three whole seasons using flashbacks before this stunning reversal, and that's important.

For three seasons, fans knew where and when they were chronologically, allowing for coherent, compelling storytelling.

Westworld, on the other hand, is potentially rocking three whole timelines within the first season (the Man in Black meeting and recognising the woman who greeted William on his entrance to Westworld at the beginning of the season practically confirms there are at least two). The problem is, because the show is doing very little to delineate time periods, it's confusing as hell.

Lost used audio cues to signal there was a shift in chronology, whereas Westworld chucks these scenes together in an attempt to deliberately confuse the viewer. The solution to this is simple, and it needs to come soon. Concretely establish the various time periods.

Perhaps they're being saved for a season finale twist, but are viewers really expected to readjust the chronology of an entire season in their minds retrospectively?