‘Westworld’ Costume Designer Compares HBO Show To ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’

“Westworld” from HBO and “The Handmaid’s Tale” from Hulu might sound like two completely different shows, but costume designer Ane Crabtree, who is responsible for the outfits of both shows, believes there are actually some similarities between the two.

“Both shows for me are rather punk and have a lot of anarchy,” Crabtree told Gold Derby. “They’re bizarrely similar. I don’t see them as totally opposite, which is weird maybe, but visually, they’re so different.”

“Westworld” is set in the near future, while the timeline in “The Handmaid’s Tale” is based in 2020. For “Westworld,” Crabtree opted for designs from the 1850s because “it was the most intriguing visually.” For “The Handmaid’s Tale,” she created something sinister of her own. “Gilead is three years in the future, but it’s way darker,” she said.

Crabtree has her work cut out for her in “Westworld” Season 2 especially since show creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy teased about the introduction of Roman and Medieval worlds.

When Deadline asked them both why they decidedly left these out in the first season, Nolan simply answered: “We had to save something for Season 2.”

The first season showed just how cruel park guests can be towards the hosts. So for next season, the hosts will get their revenge. Nolan said that humans’ neglect and ignorance are some things that fans should give careful consideration about.

“I feel evenly split between the fear that A.I. will enslave us and make us do its bidding and my fear that it won’t,” said Nolan. “If you look at things that have gone down in the last year, humans are terrible at running this world. It’s clear that there’s room for improvement.”

“People like to ask, ‘Why would A.I. want to be evil and destroy us?'” his wife, Joy, added. “A corporation’s goal is to make profits. It’s very simple. It’s binary. It’s either less or more. Computers work along the same thing. If you can see how, with the simplest of directives that can get blown into something beyond what could image, that’s the kind of thing we’re talking about.”

“Westworld” Season 2 premieres on HBO in 2018.