To many viewers' surprise, HBO recently announced its cancelation of Westworld following season 4, denying fans of the show a conclusive season 5. One of the network's most popular original series since its debut in 2016, Westworld chronicled a futuristic society in which an American West-inspired theme park sparked a vicious conflict between humans and their AI counterparts known as hosts. Over Westworld's four seasons, the series' stellar cast included Evan Rachel Wood, Thandiwe Newton, Jeffrey Wright, Tessa Thompson, Ed Harris, Aaron Paul, James Marsden, and Anthony Hopkins. HBO's Westworld derives from Michael Crichton's 1973 sci-fi film of the same title. Westworld's showrunners, Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, originally planned for the series to run for five seasons, yet various factors led to its early downfall.
Although Westworld's inception garnered widespread attention and critical acclaim, including seven Emmy Awards, appreciation for the show steadily declined from season 2 onward. Accordingly, HBO's willingness to invest in the high-budget production diminished as well. The combination of factors resulting in HBO's cancelation of Westworld revolve around low ratings and over-complicated plot lines that deviated too far from the show's origin.
Westworld Season 2 Was Much Too Confusing
It's true that Westworld season 1's original story of the theme park's mystery contained many misdirections, however, the show's cryptic nature never eliminated its intrigue and grip on its audience. Different actors playing the same character at different points in time, such as Harris and Jimmi Simpson's simultaneous portrayal of the Man in Black, in addition to Westworld's unclear timeline of events riddled with flashbacks, made for a confusing enough story. Still, Westworld did not veer too far off its beaten path until season 2. Westworld season 2 remained true to the show's roots, as much of its story took place in the theme park. Nonetheless, moving on from Dr. Robert Ford's (Hopkins) sinister manipulation of the park's eerie occurrences caused Westworld to lose much of its hook. Additionally, the series' introduction of new theme parks and storylines, such as that of Shogun world, detracted from Westworld's compelling main narrative and formed too many plot threads to keep viewers engaged.
Rotten Tomatoes scored Westworld season 1 at 87% critic approval rating, while season 2 fell to 85%. While that isn't much of a difference, audience scores varied more greatly at 93% positive for season 1 and 76% for season 2. At the same time, Westworld saw its ratings drop sharply after season 1. The show averaged 1.82 million viewers within the 18-49 age demographic during its first season, which decreased to 1.57 million in season 2.
Westworld Season 3 Moved Away From Its Roots
If Westworld season 2 marked a partial departure from the show's origin, season 3 represented its complete neglect of the story that captivated audiences in season 1. Westworld season 3's glaring contrast to its preceding runs lies in the narrative's setting in a futuristic version of Los Angeles instead of man-made worlds rife with hosts eager to escape into the real world. Season 3 told the story of how characters like Dolores (Wood), Maeve (Newton), Bernard (Wright), and other hosts dealt with living outside their former theme park prison, which could have served as a compelling continuation of Westworld's overarching story if only the show had not insisted on throwing its viewers for a loop with each episode.
Westworld season 3's plot involving Engerraund Serac's (Vincent Cassel) computer system known as Rehoboam in addition to Caleb's (Paul) introduction and convoluted existence proved that the show was far removed from its original identity. Westworld season 3's Rotten Tomatoes critic score plummeted to 73%, and its audience score also fell to a meager 62%. Unsurprisingly, season 3's viewership averaged just over 800,000 viewers per episode — a sharp decline from Westworld seasons 1 and 2.
Westworld Season 4 Improved Too Late
Westworld season 4 cleaned up season 3's convoluted narrative and instead presented one that was rooted in the mystery of a world that is not quite what it seems, though this time, the story took place in a futuristic New York. Thompson's Charlotte Hale served as a fascinating and complex villain much like Delores had in previous seasons, while Wood's new character, Christina and the return of Marsden's Teddy offered another set of intriguing puzzles to solve.
Westworld season 4's 76% Rotten Tomatoes critic approval rating suggests that the show improved since its last outing, however, scoring at just 54% among audiences proves that the show had lost many who once loved it. Even though Westworld season 4 can reasonably be considered a step up from the messes of seasons 2 and 3, the damage was irreversible. Whether Westworld season 5 would have continued the show's potential rise from the dead never mattered because the show was already dead in the eyes of so many.
Why HBO Canceled Westworld Before Season 5
In spite of Westworld season 4's improved story, the series' ratings continued to collapse. At an average of roughly 350,000 viewers per episode, season 4 stands as Westworld's lowest performing run to date by a significant margin. Furthermore, the ratings of Westworld's season 4 finale represents an 85% decline from the show's season 1 finale. Westworld's staggeringly poor performance from 2016 to 2020 is likely HBO's primary reason for canceling the series.
It appears that HBO sensibly concluded that Westworld could never regain its once-held stature near the top of the TV world. The show's consistent decline in ratings was never going to recover enough for HBO to deem a fifth and final season a worthy gambit. It's also crucial to consider Westworld's high budget as a potential reason for HBO's decision to pull the plug. As a sci-fi show that frequently employs visual effects, Westworld season 5 would represent an expensive bid. Each season of the series exceeded a budget of $100 million. Thus, HBO simply could not justify spending so much on a show not generating a return on the heavy investment. Overall, Westworld season 5 will never come to fruition due to its ever-declining appeal to TV audiences — which depleted the series' chances to receive its planned season 5.