Character Analysis
(Avoiding Spoilers)
Living... for his work. Bernard spends long hours at the design offices of Westworld, a fantasy western playground for the uber rich. It’s populated by life-like animatronic “hosts,” who are designed to be both kissed and killed by Westworld’s guests.
Profession... head of Westworld’s Programming Division. Bernard is charged with creating Westworld’s robotic hosts. His mission is to make them as life-like as possible, in order to give the park’s guests a more immersive experience. Bernard works as the right-hand-man of Westworld co-creator Robert Ford, and over the years the two have made significant improvements to the hosts’ designs.
Interests... remembering his child. Bernard’s son Charlie died after a long illness and Bernard is too consumed with grief to have hobbies. As he tells his ex-wfe, “There are some mornings when I first wake up for a split second I forget where I am, when I am and I reach over, half expecting to find him there next to me between us.”
Relationship Status... secretly seeing Theresa Cullen. Theresa is a senior manager of Delos, the company that owns Westworld. Because of that, Bernard and Theresa keep their relationship a secret.
Challenge... understanding the true nature of the hosts. While cerebral Bernard sometimes seems detached from the world around him, he’s more curious than he lets on. At night he secretly meets with Dolores, the oldest active host in Westworld, to talk to her about the state of her existence. Though his exact purpose is unclear, Bernard pushes Dolores to uncover a maze hidden in the park. As he cryptically explains to her, “The goal is to find the center of it. If you can do that, then maybe you can be free.”
Personality... intelligent, observant, and reserved. Bernard is both a brilliant engineer and an astute observer of human behavior. But he tends to play things close to the vest. He’d rather investigate a problem personally than jump to conclusions or report it to the higher-ups. Bernard is soft-spoken, thoughtful, and introverted, but he’s no pushover when it comes to the things he truly believes in.