The Stray (Westworld)

Teddy arrives in Sweetwater and encounters Dolores who has had visions of the Man in Black and asks Teddy to teach her to shoot. Though Teddy helps, Dolores finds she cannot pull the trigger, unaware her programming prevents this.

Teddy's programming is updated by Dr. Ford to seek out and kill his old Union army sergeant Wyatt, now the leader of a cult that terrorizes the countryside. Teddy joins with a posse of hosts and guests to seek out the cult, but they are ambushed; the posse hosts are killed and the guests flee, and Teddy, trying to defend himself, finds that his bullets have no effect on the cult members and is mobbed.

Bernard brings concerns raised by Theresa and Elsie to Dr. Ford about his seemingly unilateral updates to the hosts, Walter's rampage against hosts that had killed him in previous narratives, and a conversation Walter had with a man named Arnold. Ford explains that Arnold was a co-founder of the park who wanted to create true consciousness in the hosts, but died in the park due to an accident. Bernard is reminded of the loss of his own son Charlie and wife Lauren. When he brings Dolores into Mesa for a checkup, he gives her a copy of "Alice in Wonderland" to read, Charlie's favorite story. Bernard asks Dolores if, given the choice, she would question her own existence or stay safe, and she replies she would want to be free. Bernard clears Dolores to be returned to the park but does not report this answer.

Elsie and Ashley track down a stray host in the park, finding he had carved constellations in rocks despite not having been programmed with that knowledge. When they locate him in a ravine and try to free him, the host grabs a rock and smashes his own head in.

Dolores returns home to find her father killed by Rebus and bandits. Rebus grabs her and drags her to the barn and attempts to rape her. Dolores has further visions of the Man in Black, and is able to steal Rebus's gun and kills him. She flees from her home.

William saves Clementine by killing an outlaw. Emboldened, he takes a bounty hunt narrative, and Logan reluctantly joins him. At camp that night, a frantic Dolores runs into their camp and collapses.

"The Stray" was written by Daniel T. Thomsen and series co-creator Lisa Joy.^[1]

The episode was directed by Neil Marshall.^[1] In the episode, Anthony Hopkins' character Dr. Robert Ford was depicted as a younger version of himself. For this to be done, effects supervisor Jay Worth collaborated with ILP, a Stockholm-based VFX studio. References were pulled from Hopkins' early acting career, when he was in his 30s and 40s.^[2]

The scenes in which Elsie and Ashley track down a stray host who then self-destructs were filmed at Corriganville Park in Simi Valley, California.^[3]

In an interview, composer Ramin Djawadi spoke about the hosts playing piano in the episode instead of the humans. He said, "It's got a robotic harshness to it which is very distinctive. When a human plays it, the dynamics are modified. But when the player piano hits a note, it's always the same."^[4] Djawadi continued on why Dr Ford would keep a host in his office, saying, "Maybe to keep him company! — And it shows his control, as well. This is his world. He created everything. So he can have as many hosts around him as he wants. I would pick a human, though. There's something about the human performance that a robot could never get close to."^[4] The episode featured the classical piece "Reverie L.68", by French composer Claude Debussy and "Peacherine Rag" by composer and pianist Scott Joplin, which was played in the player piano by a host in the episode.^[4]