David Hookstead
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“Westworld” season four is over, and the ratings were shockingly bad.
Earlier in season four, I pointed out the ratings were down more than 85% from the season one finale, which capped off one of the most successful seasons in the history of TV.
Now, the numbers are in for the season four finale, and the situation hasn’t gotten much better for HBO.
The season four finale of the sci-fi show had 391,000 viewers this past Sunday night on HBO. That’s an 82.2% drop from the 2.2 million viewers who tuned in for the season one finale in 2016.
I speculated whether or not the show would ever be able to recover, and the data is pretty damning. There’s really no positive spin you can put on it.
Season three destroyed the show, and it looks like it can’t be salvaged. It’s pretty much that simple.
Despite the fact season four was a vast improvement over season three as viewers were taken back to the show’s roots, people simply didn’t return.
The ratings were horrible all season and the finale was down 82.2% from the season one finale. To call it horrible would be an understatement.
As I’ve worried, “Westworld” went from being one of the greatest shows ever made to a cautionary tale of what happens when you stop giving fans what they want.
People watched “Westworld” because it was an epic sci-fi Western that was dark, gritty, engaging, suspenseful, thought-provoking and violent.
As soon as we left the park in season three, you could feel the base just collapse. HBO did everything possible to save the series with season four, but clearly, it didn’t work.
Now, fans likely have one more season, and the only people who will be watching will be the most loyal viewers. What an unbelievable botch job from HBO and everyone involved.
Never watched one show. Mixing two genres that don’t fit like sci-fi and western is surprising the how lasted that long.
Never watched it either. Did they go Woke?
I feel this is much more related to Evan Rachel Wood and Aaron Paul pointing their fingers at society and lecturing us on how to be alphabet advocates and abortion rights activists.
People continue to get in the way of their own success by talking down to their fans. That’s a recipe for disaster. I didn’t know season 3 was terrible because I felt the cast has personal animosity against myself, my family, and my friends. Sell your show to your preferred audience. I’m out.