‘Westworld’ Almost Had a Dog as a Host
The HBO drama Westworld has taken a pretty liberal approach to who could be a robot host. Some of the main characters were revealed to be hosts themselves, and there have been heartbreaking episodes from the hosts’ point of view. One robot host you never got to see on Westworld though is the host dog.
Westworld co-creator Lisa Joy was a guest on the Script Apart podcast on Aug. 15 to discuss her writing on the show. While discussing early drafts, Joy told the story of a host dog that didn’t make it to air. Westworld Seasons 1-4 are now streaming on HBO Max.
The host dog would’ve been part of a ‘Westworld’ act
At Westworld, guests can visit saloons or Native American reservations populated by lifelike human hosts. Joy imagined one novelty act that would’ve needed a host dog.
“They have these Vaudeville shows in the old west where they wander around and perform,” Joy said on Script Apart. “I wanted to have a couple very much in love with a dog that helped do tricks. They would play the evil bandit and the girl who brings him to justice, or something like that. And they were this in love couple. When they cut, they would take off their silly costumes and just hang out and have a meal by the fire with their dog.”
The story would’ve seen the host dog mourn his owners
Delos would sometimes reprogram hosts so that regular guests could have new experiences. This also improves the hosts’ data collection. Joy speculated that Delos would reprogram the human hosts in the act, leaving the dog to experience tragic deja vu over and over.
“And in the thing, I remember we thought okay, and then the guy gets reprogrammed and really is a villain and the girl doesn’t remember,” Joy said. “The only one who remembers is the little dog because they forgot to wipe the dog. So it was the sad tale where again and again and again this woman shoots her lover and the dog is like noooo. The dog is constantly trying to stop this from happening.”
Parts of the host dog subplot made it into ‘Westworld’
Joy indicated that the host dog remained in many drafts of Westworld before she ultimately cut it. The writers reworked other elements of that storyline into the show.
“So that didn’t make it in but it made it pretty far,” Joy said. “We got pretty enamored with this dog and the idea of these star-crossed lovers. That came into play, the idea of the star-crossed lovers, for sure but no, the little dog, alas, did not make it.”
Teddy (James Marsden) and Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) were restricted by their programming. The closest storyline may be the Native American host Akecheta (Zahn McClarnon) seeking his missing love and discovering the truth about their existence. Still, a dog host would’ve been cool. Maybe if HBO renews Westworld for Season 5 they still can.
