'Westworld' just revealed a major secret about the Man in Black

Welcome to Pariah, where the rules of Westworld go flying out the swinging saloon doors -- even the most crucial doctrine, the “Samaritan reflex,” which dictates that hosts can’t truly harm guests. As Logan and William become embroiled in the narratives of the high-level outlaw town, they learn through hard knocks that they aren’t as invulnerable in Westworld as they thought.

The hardest we’ve seen a host fight a guest has been to feebly grab them from behind before getting stabbed in the neck by the Man in Black. But the black hat/white hat duo in Westworld’s fifth episode, “Contrapasso,” are punched in the face and even choked -- and these attacks don’t look like stage hits. Logan appears to really need William’s help by the end of the hour (although it's up for interpretation what's behind his smile when William ultimately ditches him).

But is Pariah always that dangerous, or are the hosts there unraveling like the hosts elsewhere in the park? Clearly we’re meant to assume the former, but if we cut back to Sweetwater next episode, will the guests there be facing similarly escalated threats?

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“Contrapasso,” by the way, refers to Dante’s Inferno and means that the punishment for a sin should be equal to the sin you've committed -- i.e. the guests getting what’s coming to them in exchange for the suffering they’ve inflicted on the hosts. It’s not subtle, but I like it.

This episode answered one question that's been burning since the premiere: Why is the Man in Black allowed to do whatever he wants in Westworld? His chat with Ford -- over the head of a battered and very confused Teddy -- reveals that the Man in Black is likely something of a majority shareholder in the park, and has a history with Ford and Arnold.

At some point after Arnold’s death, profits plummeted, and the MiB apparently bailed Westworld out. That’s not only enlightening, it also sets up potential conflicts between the MiB and Logan, who reveals that his family is considering buying the park out.

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Even with the MiB’s intervention, Westworld is suffering, it seems -- hemorrhaging money -- and no wonder. Just look at the decadent, elaborate, completely over the top goings-on in Pariah, a part of the park that the vast majority of guests will likely never see.

Luckily for viewers, Dolores -- no longer just tagging along with William and Logan but gaining more and more agency with every scene -- responds to Pariah’s debauchery not by recoiling or shutting down, like the old Dolores would have, but by adapting, even firing a gun to protect herself and William.

It remains to be seen how much of that is due to her own developing free will and how much is the result of Arnold taking over. Clearly she's begun speaking openly with the dead designer and deliberately following his orders, but that part of her “brain” does seem to be different from the “conscious” part -- the version of Dolores who longs for answers, who believes there's more to the world, and who kisses William like her life depends on it. Then again, it could simply be Arnold’s influence telling Dolores she needs William, and Dolores deliberately manipulating the poor well-meaning sap as part of her creator's plan.

The ambiguity throughout the script and the nuanced performances from Evan Rachel Wood and the actors playing many of the other hosts are Westworld’s greatest strengths as a series. The events unfolding feel inevitable, but the show still has me guessing.

“Contrapasso” retreads much of what we’ve seen in past episodes, including the climactic moments: Dolores’s shootout and Maeve waking up in the control center. Granted, these moments still have impact, but I'd rather see Westworld making bigger strides forward than doubling down on beats it hit in earlier episodes.

I’m also confused by Lawrence’s role; is his double identity a case of the park using the same host model for two different storylines in the hope guests won’t encounter both versions? Or is the Man in Black’s storyline actually taking place at a different time than the show’s other events, as some viewers have theorized? Lawrence’s role as the criminal mastermind in Pariah does explain the MiB’s interest in his alternate version, though not why the villain decides he doesn’t need him anymore, or what he intends to do with Teddy at this point.

At least HBO hit (and far surpassed) its weekly quota for gratuitous nudity this week with the orgy in Pariah.

Dolores’s visions -- of the church and her mysterious doppelgänger -- strengthened in intensity this week but have yet to coalesce into anything tangible to audiences. Clearly they tie back into Ford’s new storyline, but exactly how remains a mystery. What’s becoming increasingly clear with every episode is that for her, all roads lead to the maze.

Elsewhere, Elsie continued to dig into the mystery of the wayward host. Turns out the pattern carved into the figurines really wasn’t a constellation, as she first assumed -- but some sort of targeting array that was allowing the host to smuggle data out of the park. That’s a thread that will undoubtedly be important in the second half of Westworld’s first season, but for now we don’t know much else.

Thankfully, with Maeve awake, lucid and fully aware in the operating room by the episode’s end, next week promises to be a treat.

Westworld airs Sundays at 9 p.m. on HBO.