‘Westworld’ Season 3: Is Caleb A Host or a Human?
By now, Westworld fans know that the show’s who, where, and when is never what it seems. So far, a number of important characters that were initially portrayed as humans were later revealed to be hosts. This season, Aaron Paul’s character, Caleb, teams up with Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) in the real world. But the season premiere included a few clues that could indicate Caleb is a host too.
[Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers for the Season 3 premiere of Westworld.]
So far on ‘Westworld,’ Caleb has a predictable daily routine
The premiere episode introduces viewers to Caleb, an ex-soldier trying to adjust to his new life. He wakes up in the morning, similar to the way Dolores would wake up in the park, and goes about his regular daily routine.
Caleb brushes his teeth, walks to his job on a construction site, talks to his therapist, and visits his mom in the hospital. And the whole time, he feels like he’s in a loop that doesn’t feel right, similar to the way Dolores and Maeve (Thandie Newton) felt in the last two seasons.
“They said they would make a better world, smooth away the rough edges, but that was a lie,” he says in the episode. “I guess the rough edges are the only thing I’m hanging on to.”
His mom doesn’t recognize him
When Caleb goes to the hospital to visit his mom, he goes in to kiss her on the forehead. “I’ll see you next week, Ma,” he says. To which his mother responds, “You’re not my son.”
Now, this could mean that his mom is suffering from an illness like Alzheimer’s or dementia, which a nurse hints in the next scene. But it could also be a clue that Caleb is really just a host who’s been programmed to care for his mother.
Caleb is plagued by his friend’s death
In season 1, Bernard discovers that he’s a host and that the tragic death of his young son is just a programmed memory. The pain he feels is meant to shape his actions and story.
Similarly, Caleb constantly thinks about his army buddy Francis, who was killed when they were in the military together. If Caleb is a host, this painful memory could be a cornerstone in his story, just like Bernard’s son’s death was for him.
In the premiere episode of ‘Westworld,’ Caleb suggests he was shot in the head
In the first episode of season 3, when Caleb heads to the chopper to deliver the drug used on Dolores, one of Martin Connell’s (Tommy Flanagan) goons points a gun at him. “It’s not the first time I’ve had a gun pointed at me,” Caleb says. But when Connell’s thug asks Caleb if he wants to get a shot in the head, Caleb responds, “Someone else beat you to that too.”
Now, Caleb has no apparent scars on his face or head, nor does he show any trauma of being shot in the head. So, it could be that he’s a host who was shot, or that it’s just a memory implanted in his AI brain.
As of now, there’s no way to tell for sure who or what Caleb really is. But as the riveting season unfolds, viewers will likely discover how he fits into the grand scheme of things.
