Reel and Roll: (SPOILERS) Ranking the 'Westworld' Cast/Characters

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

Westworld has one of the most outstanding overall production values of any television miniseries I've seen recently. It has visual excellence, a twisty and incredibly entertaining script that in classic (Jonathan) Nolan fashion has so many tricks up its sleeve, an immersive world it creates and of course, some truly memorable characters. Some work, others less so, but overall its a fantastic ensemble. So before the future where I might write a bit more aobut just the exceptional universe creation of Westworld, let me rank the cast in ascending order of impressiveness...(all photos credit to HBO)

21. Lee Sizemore (Simon Quaterman)

Unfortunately, like any large ensembles, there's bound to be underwritten/weak links in the cast, and Quaterman unfortunately falls into this niche. Admittedly, he doesn't have a great character to play around with - narrative director Sizemore is a bit of a one-note prat whose main purpose is to be abrasive and aggravate people. And to that extent, Quaterman does fulfil the purpose, but he's far too over the top with his line deliviries and facial expressions, and makes his character very jarring and artificial-feeling, even in a world like Westworld where half of the principal cast are androids/'hosts'. He's somewhat sidelined in later episodes, and slightly tones down the pretentious artist routine because of his increasingly limited screen-time, but he's eaten alive by most of his co-stars, Anthony Hopkins in particular, in whatever screentime he shares with them. I will admit though, his final reaction shot is quite good.

Best scene: his final reaction shot.

20. Charlotte Hale (Tessa Thompson)

In contrast to Quaterman, Thompson is incredibly bland in a role that actually had quite a bit of potential in it. The cocky, self-assured executive director of Delos, the administrative board overseeing Westworld, could've been a crafty, duplicitous figure in the power struggle within the amusement park, but unfortunately Thompson doesn't really realize any of these qualities of Hale. She remains an oddly inconspicuous character despite the incisive nature of the role, feels miscast throughout (an older actress might have more readily slipped into the role), and though never embarassingly bad like Quaterman, is very forgettable.

Best scene: her first scene (though that might've been because she was acting opposite Quaterman, and she felt like she'd stepped off her much, much, much better performance in Creed)

19. Felix Lutz (Leonardo Nam)

Nam starts off very shakily as Felix as he seems almost too rigid in trying to portray his character's passive, weak-willed state, which in turn makes his whole performance feel overly stilted. I find his performance improves greatly once Thandie Newton comes on board, maybe she gave him a few acting tips or something, but his nervy scientist routine gradually becomes a bit more endearing, his relationship with Maeve is fairly sweet in a strange sort of way, and he's even quite funny in one scene where he frantically wonders whether he's a host or not. Still a bit wooden on the whole, and I think the role had a bit more potential than he mines out of it, but in the end a performance that works.

Best scene: his last scene with Maeve.

18. Ashley Stubbs (Luke Hemsworth)

Stubbs is one of the least interesting characters on the show, and I do hope they bring him back to Season 2 to see how his character develops. He's just a standard security figure, with the occasional wisecrack or two, but admitteldy I can't really remember anything he does over the course of the series that's substantial. It's more the fault of the character than anything, and to be fair to Hemsworth he plays it well. He's certainly got presence, and I hope this series raises his profile even though he was given such a thankless role.

Best scene: bantering with Elsie in the lift.

17. Sylvester (Ptolemy Slocum)

I could see how someone might think he's terrible, and I would agree with the general consensus that he really overplays some of his characters louder moments. On the whole though, I though he fulfilled his role as the resident dickhead who has absolutely no censure in anything he says, and funny in a vulgar and very unappealing way. Like Nam/ Felix, he also definitely improves when Maeve comes onto the scene.

Best scene: Maeve threatens Sylvester

16. Angela (Talulah Riley)

A short performance, but I found Riley to appropriately smouldering, cool and professional in her first scene with William (Jimmi Simpson), introducing him to the park, then equally effective in portraying the other version of her character, a townswoman who reveals herself to be part of 'Wyatt's' twisted little cult.

Best scene: 'Theodore...welcome back'

15. Logan (Ben Barnes)

Like Slocum, Barnes' character is a one-note arsehole who does nothing but cause problems for others. Barnes is well-aware of this and goes about making Logan the most unappealing sort of guy you'd ever want to spend time with, and helps us symapthize a great deal with his future brother-in-law William (Jimmi Simpson). He gives a good portrayal of a man enjoying hedonism and excess in a world with no boundaries and limits, and even though I feel he could've done a bit more in exploring the darker edge of the character's desires, he's good in the role.

Best scene: 'Prove to me you're a real, live girl'

14. Armistice (Ingrid Bolsø Berdal)

The interesting thing to note about most of the hosts is that they don't really have traditional 'arcs', so to speak; Berdal's Armistice essentially repeats the same routine and traits of her character over and over again because like all hosts, she's living in a loop. Berdal is suitably badass and bloodthirsty in the role, carrying her character's violent nature well, and in the finale she really delivers when her character is given the opportunity to let loose.

Best scene: Armistice awakes

13. Elsie Hughes (Shannon Woodward)

Woodward's role is actually a bit thankless on the whole as she exits the show fairly swiftly (though it remains to be seen if her character can return). Before that though, she's a lively and very entertaining presence as one of the more humorous and sprightly sorts in the Westworld behavioral department. I particularly liked any scene which dwelt on her very saucy appreciation of the hosts' aesthetic qualities and 'talents'. Here's hoping they bring her back.

Best scene: Elsie voices her suspicions to Bernard

12. Hector Escaton (Rodrigo Santoro)

As someone who's been continuously unimpressed by Santoro's performances in the likes of Love Actually and 300, glad to see him get a good role and give a good performance here. He's pretty perfectly cast in the role of a rouge outlaw with a thirst for money and lustful sex, and though he has a few slightly iffy moments in terms of line delivery, his best moments, especially with Thandie Newton and Ingrid Bolsø Berdal, help make up for them.

Best scene: The safe is empty

11. Clementine Pennyfeather (Angela Sarafayan)

I was incredibly impressed with Sarafayan's performance, but I also have to add that she has the perfect sort of look for a host - beautiful, but with such an otherwordly touch to that beauty. Anyway, that aside I thought she was a very naturally engaging presence as the extremely enthusiastic prostitute, with a certain style that fits the Western vibe of the amusement park but also a suggestion of the character's inherent artifice. Then in scenes where she expresses her character's desires to break free of her lifestyle I found her pretty moving, and in her final few scenes despite her character being technically a 'walking corpse', I found her incredibly captivating in showing a creepily hollow shell of a host, lifeless and menacing. My reaction to seeing her re-appear in the finale was exactly like Ed Harris'. Great performance, and glad we'll get to see more of her.

Best scene: Clementine fights back.

10. Lawrence/El Lazo (Clifton Collins Jr.)

A relatively smaller role than most of the ensemble, and one that's there more to add flavour than any function to the plot proceedings, but I found Collins Jr. to be one of the most interesting performers on the show. He plays the same character, but in two different guises, one a menacing and powerful Western crime lord, the other a hapless, much less prestigious bandit. In both sides he's extremely entertaining, and even quite moving when the series necessitates, has great chemistry with Ed Harris in particular with whom he creates an odd couple partnership quite well. Lawrence/El Lazo is quite the fascinating supporting character to the proceedings who's a welcome presence whenever he appears, however sporadically. Can't wait to see more of him in the future.

Best scene: Anytime he utters 'motherfucker'

9. Teddy Flood (James Marsden)

Teddy is a bit of a repeitive character in the series initially, the gunslinger who comes to town to be gunned down repeatedly. I actually really liked the character even in this limited capacity in these initial stages, and found that Marsden made the most out of showing his character's good-natured, whimsically Western style of playing the 'hero'. Then, as Ford adds a darker edge of a haunted past to Teddy, Marsden is pretty exellent in gradually showing the increasingly haunted quality to Teddy's 'heroism', culmianting in some pretty fantastic scenes where he confronts his terrible deeds in the past. He becomes quite the fascinating sort of reactionary figure, one so attuned to the world of Westworld but also so blissfully ignorant of it all.

Best scene: 'You're right, I am a killer'

8. Theresa Cullen (Sidse Babett Knudsen)

Cullen is presented from the outset as a bit of a stick in the mud, the Head of Quality Assurance who's in charge of keeping up appearances with the park, subsequently butting heads repeatedly with Ford (Anthony Hopkins). Knudsen though reveals a different side to the character as a series progresses via her romance with Bernard (Jeffrey Wright), and gradually unpeeling the character's stoic exterior to reveal someone a bit fazed and out of her wits. She gradually gets some of the juciiest scenes with Hopkins in the series and plays off him beautifully, enlivens scenes with Quaterman which is no mean feet, and her final scene is downright brilliant.

Best scene: Bernard's true nature is revealed

7. Peter Abernathy (Louis Herthum)

Speaking of downright brilliant, here's one actor who's in the pilot, and doesn't appear in a speaking capacity afterwards, but who's nevertheless just that, downright brilliant. Peter Abernathy could've just been a plot device to set up Dolores' entry into Westworld, but in Herthum's hands he makes him a warm, loving father who upon discovering a world beyond Westworld, is triggered into a deeply moving, disconcerting state of anger and detestation of his creators, spouting out lines from Henry VI and King Lear to Anthony Hopkins of all people, and nailing it. An amazing guest star, and I hope he comes back for season 2.

Best scene: You know which scene

5/6. The Man in Black (Ed Harris) and William (Jimmi Simpson)

If you're reading this, you know the twist, and even though I guessed it beforehand it didn't make the reveal any less powerful. Harris and Simpson, though, are both terrific in their respective roles as the hardened, violent and deeply cynical Man in Black who searches without any mercy for the centre of the maze to Westworld, and the younger version of the character, William, whose first visit to Westworld will change him forever. Simpson is brilliant at showing the gradual revelation of the character's hidden violent nature, but at the same time also makes his burgeoning romance with Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) very sweet and ultimately heartbreaking. As he showed in Zodiac he has the ability to take over a scene wordlessly and there's many examples of him doing that here. Harris has the more stoic role of a character very much set in his ways, but is terrifically entertaining in showing a fearless gunslinger almost tired of the world he inhabits, but is even better in the scenes where he reveals something more to the mysterious man.

Best scene (s): for Harris, the Man in Black explaining why he came back in...

for Simpson, William's slaughter of the soldiers, post-mortem

4. Dolores Abernathy (Evan Rachel Wood)

The central figure to Westworld, the oldest host in the park and the first one to gradually find 'consciousness', Wood has a tricky role in that he character has to navigate several story lines at once and make somewhat drastic leaps of characterization between them. Her character creation of Dolores is fantastic in finding the very earnest and endearing sort of girl she is, and amplifies the performances of her fellow castmembers by showing how their relative world-weariness contrasts against her worldview of everything being beautiful in its own unique way. She experiences more than a fair deal of adversity along her journey to find her purpose in life, and she makes these scenes particularly difficult to watch by showing how the ugliness of the world she's enforced upon with wears down on her. Then in the final episode she absolutely kills her final transition into what Ford always intended her to be, a sentient saviour to the hosts, and Wood is chilling but also pretty heartending in showing this final step.

Best scene: Dolores finds the centre of the maze.

And for my top 3, my next Westworld article, when it comes, will specifically focus on these three characters and how much depth, nuance and impact the acting, writing and visual presentation of these characters turn the series from a really good series to an amazing one. For now, 5 great scenes for each actor/character (no overlap with scenes I've already shown above, though):

3. Maeve Millay (Thandie Newton)

Best scene:

5. Controlling the situation

4. Examining the wound

3. Confronting Bernard with the truth

2. 'You think I'm scared of death?'

1. Motion Picture Soundtrack

2. Robert Ford (Anthony Hopkins)

5. Tearing apart Lee's shit storyline

4. 'In here we are Gods, and you merely our guests'

3. Asking Dolores about Arnold

2. Setting up Dolores' final steps

1. Bidding farewell to Bernard.

But his best scene in the series, which is also the best acted scene in the series, is the aforementioned Teresa's death scene/revelation of Bernard as a host scene, which is one scene I'll be talking about in great detail in the next Westworld blog post as that is, in my opinion, the best scene in the whole series.

1. Bernard Lowe (Jeffrey Wright)