The form that once housed the being we knew as Dolores is now playing host (pardon the pun) to another personality altogether. This woman is named Christina and she’s essentially an anonymous little worker bee in the future version of our own world. Christina lives in a reasonably-sized apartment with her roommate (played by recent Oscar-winner Ariana DeBose), goes to her job at Olympiad Entertainment, and then grits her teeth through awkward dates – you know: the usual American female experience. 

Like many new plots on Westworld, Dolores’s new identity takes some getting used to. Such was the case for the actress playing her. In speaking to Den of Geek prior to the season 4 premiere, Wood made it clear that she views Christina as an entirely new character and not merely a new aspect of Dolores’s psyche. 

“Yes. I absolutely approached Christina differently,” Wood says. “Every season I feel like I pick out a walk for each character’s mannerisms and other little things that people wouldn’t really notice. I strive to create a completely new vibe for the character that can go virtually undetected.”

Not only that, but Wood doesn’t even approach the character as a host, or at least as a host who recognizes they’re operating under host rules. 

“For three seasons, I’ve been living by the rules of what it means to be a host. This season was fun for me to approach from a human’s perspective. She is this kind of nerdy, sort of average woman just trying to make it as a writer in a big city. Of course, you know, there’s always many more layers to Westworld. But I was excited to be vulnerable again.”

Wood’s character is indeed quite vulnerable again, as fragile as the “unawakened” Dolores from season 4. If Christina has superhuman strength like Dolores did, she is certainly unaware of it at the moment. And if she were, she likely wouldn’t tolerate her boss chastising her for writing only sad stories. 

Danofgeek