9 Shows To Watch If You Love Westworld

2/7/2018 9 Shows to Watch if You Love Westworld | PCMag.
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9 Shows to Watch if You Love Westworld

If Westworld's season finale left a hole in your TV-watching schedule, we put together a guide to
nine other TV shows that scratch a similar itch, in one way or another.
By K. Thor Jensen June 26, 2018
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HBO is synonymous with prestige television, but with one of its major
shows wrapping up its run soon-ish, the premium channel has been on
the hunt for the next big thing. Big Little Lies is coming back with Meryl
Streep in tow, but for the nerds, there's Westworld.
The series, which debuted in 2016, is based on the Michael Crichton

novel and 1973 movie. Westworld is an amusement park modeled after
the Old West where the attractions are robots called "hosts." Human
guests can do just about anything to these "hosts," up to and including
murder. Eventually the hosts get wise, however, and take matters into
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their own hands in the (somewhat confusing) season two, which just
wrapped.
If the show's season finale left a hole in your TV-watching schedule, we

put together a guide to nine other TV shows that scratch a similar itch,
in one way or another.
One Page Slides
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1 Almost Human
Westworld isn't J.J. Abrams's first take on human-robot relations. Sadly,
doomed Fox crime drama Almost Human only lasted a single season,
but it covered a lot of ground. The central conflict was between
Detective John Kennex, who was abandoned in a firefight by a robotic
partner years before, and his new artificial partner. The show is hurt by
being stuck in procedural "crime of the week" territory, but Karl Urban is
great as Kennex, and Michael Ealy is fun as his partner Dorian, a
slightly outmoded robot. There are tons of ideas at play in this one, and
each episode could have driven the better part of a season on a more
decompressed show.
(Watch via Amazon, Vudu, or Google Play.)
2 Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

Numerous media franchises have dealt with the tension between
humans and robots becoming self-aware, but probably the most
apocalyptic is the Terminator franchise. While the movies are (mostly)
required viewing, slept-on Fox series Terminator: The Sarah Connor
Chronicles had the opportunity to stretch out and go even deeper into
the concept. You know the basic premise by now: Skynet becomes self-
aware, sends killer robots to the past to kill John Connor. But the show
twists things even further, with time jumps in both directions. Lena
Headey from Game of Thrones is great as Sarah Connor, and the rest
of the cast is solid.
(Watch via Amazon, Crackle, Vudu, and Google Play.)
3 The Leftovers
Here's another HBO prestige drama that takes a big mystery and puts it
just offscreen as it ripples through the world. At the beginning of The
Leftovers, 2 percent of the Earth's population vanishes, seemingly with
no rhyme or reason. The survivors find themselves totally unsettled by
this turn of events, not knowing whether another event will happen or
where their lost loved ones went. Although there aren't any overt
science-fiction elements at play here, the general vibe is very similar
to Westworld —there's something the viewers aren't being told, and
puzzling it out is a big part of the fun. Watch the full series run on HBO
GO or HBO Now.
4 Person of Interest
Now that ABC crime drama Person of Interest is off the air, it seems to
be getting the critical and commercial appreciation it always deserved.
The show's basic premise is almost corny —an advanced artificial
intelligence uses mass surveillance to identify potential crime victims
that a team of operatives have to protect. But "Wild West theme park
full of robots" is corny, too, and look where that's going. Person of
Interest works because it's an incredible illustration of how AI is
shaping our world and how we interact with each other. Even though
the Machine isn't in a human body, it's as much of a character on the

show as any of the real actors.
(Watch via Netflix or CBS All Access .)
5 Black Mirror
If you want something a little more bite-sized, British anthology
series Black Mirror scratches that itch on Netflix. Devised by Charlie
Brooker, the show consists of self-contained episodes that take
present-day technology culture and extrapolate it to absurd and

terrifying ends. Individual episodes vary in quality, but "Fifteen Million
Merits," about a society where everybody is enslaved to pedal bikes to
produce electricity while being assaulted by advertising; and "Be Right
Back," a chilling tale of artificial intelligence replicating dead people for
the comfort of their survivors, are some of the best things ever aired.
Not sure where to start? We ranked Every Episode of Black Mirror,

Ranked From Best to Worst.
6 The Prisoner
The world of Westworld is carefully crafted to give guests the
experience of their lives, but there's obviously hands cranking levers
behind the curtain that maybe aren't so benevolent. If you want a great
illustration of exactly how much paranoia you can wring out of paradise,
legendary 1967 series The Prisoner is it.
Patrick McGoohan stars as a spy who retires from his agency only to be
kidnapped and wake up in the Village, a quaint resort where everybody
else is tasked with squeezing information out of him. The show's
allegorical themes of the rights of the individual against the good of the
collective are just as potent today, and the series finale remains a total
mind-screwer.
(Watch via Amazon.)

7 Battlestar Galactica
Ronald Moore's update of the 70s sci-fi series took the chrome Cylons
of the original and reimagined them in a creepier way as humanoids
living among us, some not even aware of their artificial
origins. Westworld's artificial hosts coming to terms with their creation
owes a lot to the way Battlestar Galactica treated its adversaries. One
of the most well-packaged science-fiction series of the last few
decades, Galactica takes a few bad steps but overall delivers an epic
story that nails both the grandiose battles as well as the human cost of
war. Some might argue that the finale doesn't quite stick the ending, but
few TV shows manage to, and it's a hell of a ride getting there.
(Watch via Hulu. The 2003 Mini-Series is also on Amazon Video.)
8 Deadwood
Westworld isn't HBO's first venture into the Old West, but we can't
imagine many people would want to take a trip back to the South
Dakota of David Milch's critically acclaimed series. Over a trio of
seasons, Deadwood stripped away all of the fantasy of the Gold Rush,
replacing it with a grim and dirty portrait of awful people struggling for
power in a mining town. Incredible performances, including Ian
McShane as the unforgettable Al Swearingen, made this an iconic
show. Unlike Westworld, when somebody dies in this show it's a grisly
affair and lasts forever. And, of course, we can't forget Deadwood's love
affair with profanity in the English language—characters swore in
combinations that we'd never heard, and it was truly beautiful. Watch
via HBO GO, HBO Now, or Amazon Video.
9 Humans
It's kind of crazy what a renaissance we're living in for science fiction.
Big-budget shows are working out cool futuristic ideas all over the
place. Humans, a joint production between AMC and Britain's Channel
4, is one of the most recent. The premise of the show should sound
familiar—in the near future, artificial humans called "synths" are sold for
a variety of purposes. A small group of synths have the key to
advanced consciousness hidden within their programming, and each of
them deal with being forced outside of their programming differently.
Watch seasons one and two via Amazon Video.
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About the Author
K. Thor Jensen
K. Thor Jensen is a writer and cartoonist living in the Pacific
Northwest. He has contributed to dozens of prestigious outlets,
including PCMag, Tested, Clickhole, and Game Informer. He is
currently finishing his second graphic novel, Cloud Stories, which
will be released in 2015. Follow him on Twitter @kthorjensen.
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2/7/2018 9 Shows to Watch if You Love Westworld | PCMag.

9 Shows to Watch if You Love Westworld

By K. Thor Jensen June 26, 2018

The series, which debuted in 2016, is based on the Michael Crichton

If the show's season finale left a hole in your TV-watching schedule, we

Share Tweet Pin Email

(Watch via Amazon, Vudu, or Google Play.)

Share Tweet Pin Email

2 Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

(Watch via Amazon, Crackle, Vudu, and Google Play.)

Share Tweet Pin Email

Share Tweet Pin Email

the Machine isn't in a human body, it's as much of a character on the

(Watch via Netflix or CBS All Access .)

Share Tweet Pin Email

present-day technology culture and extrapolate it to absurd and

Not sure where to start? We ranked Every Episode of Black Mirror,

Share Tweet Pin Email

(Watch via Amazon.)

Share Tweet Pin Email

(Watch via Hulu. The 2003 Mini-Series is also on Amazon Video.)

Share Tweet Pin Email

Share Tweet Pin Email

The Disturbing Truth About The Real-Life, Tragic Story of

About the Author

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