13

Edited based on the events of Episode 9 In the 8th episode of Westworld, it was reveled in a split-second flashback that Bernard had killed other people for Ford before - and many people believed the flashback showed Elsie being strangled.

It was reasonable to think that that could happen because Elsie told Bernard about her discovery and where she was going.

Then Episode 9 explicitly showed Bernard strangling Elsie.

However, in the episode where Elsie first went missing, she was just talking on the phone with Bernard. The abandoned theater where Elsie went missing is presumably miles away from where Bernard and Theresa were in that time, across the park.

So how is it that Bernard reached Elsie? Is there an in-show explanation, is it information we do not have, is it a plothole? Clearly he covered an extremely large distance in an extremely short time, and Ford was never present to help him at the theater.

Improve this question
10
  • 1
    Could you please make the title a little more explicit? It's hard to know if it's okay to read it if it just says it's a question with spoilers. I'd only know I want to read it after I read the spoilers! Maybe change it to something like "Given the events of <episode name>, how could a flashback be showing this event?"
    – Thunderforge
    Nov 21, 2016 at 4:04
  • 2
    There are still two episodes to go. How about just keep watching? Why this need to have everything explained right now?
    – BCdotWEB
    Nov 21, 2016 at 11:09
  • @BCdotWEB It seems like they are done explaining this event. Maybe I will be proven wrong
    – Zxyrra
    Nov 21, 2016 at 16:29
  • 1
    Nonsense ^ They are withholding such information so people like you'd speculate ;)
    – Mithoron
    Nov 21, 2016 at 19:00
  • 1
    So seems like a plothole now.
    – Serge Seredenko
    Nov 28, 2016 at 18:38

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
5
+100

An unspecified amount of time passes after Elsie hangs up.

  • Elsie finds a computer underneath the wooden floor of the stage.

      Elsie 1

  • She calls Bernard and informs him about her find. When she hangs up, the computer is still attached to wooden floor she pryed open.

      Elsie 2

  • It then cuts to Ford having a conversation with the kid-robot.

  • When we return to Elsie, we can see that she has removed the computer from where it was before. And she has made herself comfortable on the chair.

      Elsie 3

  • Elsie is going through the data on her tablet when she suddenly hears a noise.

      Elsie 4

So, after Elsie hangs up on Bernard she clearly did things that weren't shown on screen.

How long has she been sifting through the data she found? It might have been 5 minutes, it might have 1 hour ... I don't think there is any way to tell.

Improve this answer
1

The simple answer is that the person Elsie heard was not Bernard... let's say it was Ford.

Ford finds Elsie in the theater. He distracts her, has a conversation with her... he's good at that sort of thing... while doing that, he directs Bernard to meet them at the theater. Once Bernard arrives, Ford directs him to kill her.

There is no reason to require that her death occurred while she was on the phone with Bernard. Also, with a show so exquisitely planned as this, it's extremely doubtful that there would be such a glaring plot hole.

Improve this answer
9
  • Do you mean directs Bernard to kill her?
    – Zxyrra
    Nov 21, 2016 at 4:35
  • Sorry, I was having a conversation with my husband about the show and we were talking about Arnold :P
    – Catija ♦
    Nov 21, 2016 at 4:35
  • "There is no reason to require that her death occurred while she was on the phone with Bernard" is correct, but within a span of at most three minutes of the phone call ending, Elsie was being strangled - or someone was clearly there - and that is not enough time for Bernard to make it to an area that deep within the park
    – Zxyrra
    Nov 21, 2016 at 19:06
  • This answer is now incorrect as of Episode 9. We now have a clear sequence of events in the theater - and Ford is nowhere to be seen, nor is he heard, at any point - and yet Bernard interacts with Elsie.
    – Zxyrra
    Nov 30, 2016 at 1:53
  • @Zxyrra I never said it was Ford... it was an example. Regardless, Elsie was not on the phone when she was strangled... I still contest that the simple fact is that there was more time between when Elsie was on the phone and when she was strangled and that is the central point of my answer.
    – Catija ♦
    Dec 6, 2016 at 4:34

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .