‘Westworld’ Spoilers: Director Talks About That Major Death Scene

Warning: Spoilers are up ahead for the “Westworld” episode “Trompe L’Oeil.”

In the seventh episode of HBO’s sci-fi drama, two shocking things happened during the final scene. First, Bernard Lowe (Jeffrey Wright) was outed as a host created by Dr. Robert Ford (Anthony Hopkins). Second, he was ordered to kill his former lover, Theresa Cullen (Sidse Babett Knudsen).

The episode’s director, Frederick E.O. Toye, told The Hollywood Reporter that he was quite shocked himself when he read the script, and he is grateful that Wright executed it perfectly.

“Once they first step out of the elevator and you realize he's taking her to the cottage, the fact that we don't jump ahead in the story and that we allow that to draw out and play out and we watch Theresa's face as she moves through the field and into the cottage… I was very excited to play that,” he said.

Hopkins was also very involved in that scene, and Toye said he wanted to avoid “a Hannibal Lecter approach” (Hopkins’ iconic role in “Silence of the Lambs”).

“He wanted to make sure that it didn't come across that way — that it wasn't a monster type of a presentation. I think what he gave was a very subtle performance, and very still,” he said. “I feel like Tony gives a very powerful but very understated performance in that moment that maintains a character without being too completely far gone. But there is a monstrous and chilling quality to the performance in that scene.”

The next episode has been entitled “Trace Decay.” The synopsis, which was shared by Comic Book, focuses on three particular characters. “Bernard struggles with a mandate; Maeve (Thandie Newton) looks to change her script; Teddy (James Marsden) is jarred by dark memories,” it reads.

In the promo for the episode, Bernard questions his boss and maker, “Why did you make me kill her?” As for Maeve, she is slowly putting her plan to escape in motion. “The things I need you to change are quite sophisticated. I’m getting out,” she says.

“Westworld” airs every Sunday at 9 p.m. EST on HBO.