Elsie is still alive, as I thought :clap1:

Talulah Riley upgraded to series regular for season 2

http://ew.com/tv/2017/03/23/westworld-season-2-angela//

She was actually one of the characters I was most intrigued by in season 1 and I kept hoping we'd see more of her so I'm really glad about this :clap1:

Louis Herthum (Peter Abernathy) has also been upgraded to a regular.

http://deadline.com/2017/03/westworl...52806/#respond

Really happy about this one too, his performances in season 1 were brilliant :clap1: I like that being decommissioned (and essentially lobotomized) doesn't necessarily mean the end of a Host's role in the story.

If none of Anthony Hopkins, Sidse Babett Knudson, Jimmi Simpson and Ben Barnes return to the main cast next season, we'd still have space in the opening credits for some more new names, although I'm not counting out any of them coming back as regulars just yet given the nature of the show.

I heard a theory that he might return as either a host, or it was actually a host version of Ford that was killed at the end of Season 1, and I'd imagine if it was true that they'd want to keep it a surprise so I wonder if they'd announce him as part of the Season 2 cast even if he is in it.

as much as I thought Hopkins was brilliant and Ford became one of my favourite characters on TV, I think the impact of his story would be lessened if it was a Host copy that Dolores killed. Him allowing himself to be the first big casualty of the rebellion he sparked is a fitting end for him. I'd love to see more of him in flashbacks etc but yeah, I hope it was the real him who died for the sake of preserving the impact of his character arc.

The camera focusing on the machine creating a new Host during Theresa's murder is still suspicious though. The big theory was that it was making a copy of Theresa to cover up her death but that was apparently debunked when Ford made no effort to keep her death a secret, only the cause. Since the finale, the main theory has been the Ford Host idea but I'm not completely giving up on the Theresa theory since we don't know if her death was ever public knowledge outside of Delos and the staff / board members are being killed off now. Actually, I've seen another theory that the whole Delos board are going to be replaced by Host copies in the outside world which is a really creepy thought :laugh:

Oh yeah the Theresa thing, I remember reading that was a theory after I watched it. It would have been a good twist although looking back over the season I suppose it would have just been a twist for the sake of it, like I don't see how she'd have fitted into the rest of the story. I'm not sure what the purpose of the camera panning to the host being created might have been though, I'm kinda of the opinion that there was no purpose to it rather than it being a set up for something.

And the thing with bringing her back for season 2 is, why go to the bother of creating a host Theresa for the benefit of the outside world anyway? Like she's not the face of the company or anything (I think). And even though the outside world might not have been told about her death and only the staff were, would it not create various minor plot holes such as staff members might have told their family like you probably would if a colleague died, or a funeral, or informing Theresa's family etc (staff members might have had contact details of her friends or family on the outside etc), or maybe I'm over thinking all of that [emoji23]
(All that being said though I am actually here for a Theresa comeback!)

Oh and I kind of agree with what you're saying about Ford actually, as much as I'd like him to come back it might take away somewhat from the season 1 finale. Although I'm still open minded about the idea of him returning if they do it justice, like he'd have to have a worthy enough story considering it would be altering the impact of season 1, instead of it just being 'yay Anthony Hopkins is back' [emoji23]

Ugh I just love though about this show that there's so many what ifs and possible theories to discuss though and still manages to have a tight storyline instead of being a bit all over the place :worship: (no shade @lost)

I do think a Theresa Host is pretty unlikely thinking about it. I think the moment for that has probably passed, and for all we know the shot of the machine during her death scene could have just been a stylistic choice (she was being killed by a product of it after all).

http://i.imgur.com/bk21Kvj.jpg

"Journey into Night" presumably, Ford's final narrative.