Doppelgänger

In this week’s episode Phil Rood takes the head mic to try his hand at hosting while Kari is stuck at home with the “Wilford Brimley Flu”.  Well, that’s at least what she sounds like.  Phil’s Doppelganger or “mini me”, Austin joins him to discuss his first viewing of the pilot episode of #HBO’s #Westworld, “The Original.”

Defining: Doppelgänger

In fiction and folklore, a doppelgänger or doppelga(e)nger (/ˈdɒpᵊlˌɡɛŋə/ or /–ˌɡæŋə/; German: [ˈdɔpəlˌɡɛŋɐ] (De-doppelgaenger.ogg" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:De-doppelgaenger.ogg"> doppelgaenger.ogg" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/De-doppelgaenger.ogg">listen), literally “double-goer”) is a look-alike or double of a living person, sometimes portrayed as a paranormal phenomenon, and is usually seen as a harbinger of bad luck. In other traditions and stories, they recognize one’s ‘double-goer’ as an evil twin. Doppelgaenger is a german word which also means double walker.

The word ‘doppelgänger’ is often used in a more general sense to describe any person who physically or behaviorally resembles another person. In digital marketing area this has a specific meaning which is related to brand. When someone creates a negative portrait of a particular logo/brand of an entity, it is also known as doppelganger.^[1]

Fly on the Wall

Doppelganger has a new theory

As we’ve worked through Season 1 already, it seemed natural to do it again as though it was programmed into our loop.

“Groundhog Days” being what they are in Westworld, we needed to add a variation for the re-viewing of the Pilot episode, luckily, our reveries were working behind the scenes and making this very thing happen for us.

Kari fell ill to a virus (it is unknown if it was computer or actual illness as we are still not sure whether she is host or human.) Kari was sadly unable to carry out her part of this narrative, so a new twist was added.

Austin Rood, Phil’s as-of-yet unknown doppelganger jumped on the mic to take Kari’s place and discuss his thoughts on the Westworld Pilot.  This was Austin’s very first exposure to Westworld, so we got a very raw and fresh take on first impressions of the show on a complete newcomer.

Still, with all the questions Austin managed to answer about his experience with the show, this episode of Brokebot Mountain leaves us with so many new questions:  Will Austin stick with the show?  Will Austin return to Brokebot Mountain for future discussion?  Will Austin learn all the characters’ names?  Is Austin actually a younger version of Phil who exists on an ambiguous separate timeline?  Listen to this episode of Brokebot Mountain and let us know what you think!