TV Guide

Yesterday, the obsessive fan theory part of the internet caught fire when Westworld executive producers Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy promised to spoil Season 2 of their convoluted-but-predictable HBO sci-fi series if a post in their Reddit AMA got 1,000 upvotes.

Westworld invites fans to theorize about what's really happening and what's going to happen, and sometimes those fans are right. "'Theories' can actually be spoilers, and the line between the two is confusing," they wrote. "We thought about this long and hard, and came to a difficult (and potentially highly controversial) decision. If you guys agree, we're going to post a video that lays out the plot (and twists and turns) of season 2. Everything. The whole sordid thing. Up front. That way the members of the community here who want the season spoiled for them can watch ahead, and then protect the rest of the community, and help to distinguish between what's 'theory' and what's spoiler."

Westworld is not known for its sense of humor, so fans took Nolan and Joy at their word for the most part (there were some skeptics who sensed they were about to be Rickrolled). The thread turned into a seething cauldron of debate about whether they wanted to be spoiled or not be spoiled. It was sort of like robots getting to choose whether or not to become self-aware.

The post reached 1,000 upvotes (though not as quickly as you might assume), and true to their word, the producers released a video. Spoiler alert: there are no spoilers in this 25 minute video. It's actually only three minutes. Watch it if you want to feel vaguely disrespected.

Personally, I don't like this stunt. I think it shows contempt for the fans who take the show so seriously and dedicate their time and energy to engaging with it. Which is fine, the producers don't need to like their fans, but don't do Reddit AMAs if that's the case. Building it up to trick them is a little mean. Shame on us for caring, right? Also the joke is played out. If they really wanted to get people, they would have done Loss.

But that's just me. Plenty of people liked it, and the commitment to the bit is undeniably impressive.

Westworld Season 2 premieres Sunday, April 22 at 9/8c on HBO.



Other Links From TVGuide.com WestworldJonathan NolanLisa JoyEvan Rachel Wood