All good things come to an end, and for HBO’s Westworld, that conclusion arrived with its fourth season. Based on Michael Crichton’s 1973 movie, Season One of Westworld came to HBO for a series in 2016, one that explores the same concepts and pushes past the confines of the 88-minute movie.

We get more adventures in Season Four. This package includes all eight episodes of Westworld for that span, and the plot synopses come from IMDB.

The Auguries: “Seven years after the demise of Rehoboam, events are set in motion that reunite allies and enemies.”

Season Four came more than two years after Season Three, a delay likely prompted by the COVID pandemic. S4 also takes place seven years after S3’s events.

That means “Auguries” needs to act as a “catch-up” episode, one that involves more exposition than I might expect. This doesn’t make “Auguries” a bore, though, as it develops new themes and notions in an intriguing manner.

Well Enough Alone: “Maeve (Thandiwe Newton) and Caleb (Aaron Paul) search for answers. Christina (Evan Rachel Wood) investigates Peter Myers (Aaron Stanford). William (Ed Harris) announces a new Delos venture.

Like “Auguries”, “Alone” leans toward an expository bent. Still, it develops matters fairly well, and its conclusion points toward intriguing possibilities for the rest of the season.

Années Folles: “Bernard (Jeffrey Wright) begins his journey. Maeve finds herself in familiar territory. Caleb sees someone he loves.”

With the reintroduction of Bernard, we get a good new thread. Other elements heat up the action – especially via the Maeve/Caleb narrative – and help make this a pretty solid episode.

Generation Loss: “Maeve and Caleb attempt to escape Temperance with their lives. Bernard and the resistance search for a weapon in the desert.”

Via Charlotte’s scheme, we get a plot point that feels inspired by the fact S4 became the first appearance of Westworld post-COVID. That feels a little on the nose, but the episode manages useful material and development anyway.

Zhuangzi: “Christina questions the nature of her reality. Charlotte (Tessa Thompson) tasks William with tracking a human outlier who has breached.”

Expect more plot-thickening here, as the program allows for expansions on characters and themes. These add up to some intriguing threads that hopefully will continue to blossom.

Fidelity: “Caleb attempts to escape from Charlotte's brutal interrogation, and uncovers a disturbing reality. Bernard and C (Aurora Perrineau) make their way to the resistance hideout, only to find a spy in their midst.”

After one largely expository episode, we find… another largely expository episode. While I’d like a bit more action, this one nonetheless helps develop various elements.

Metanoia: “Bernard and Maeve fight to save the world. Charlotte begins to see her plans realized. The Man in Black returns to the game.”

Given that “Metanoia” comes as the season’s second-to-last show, one would expect that it heats up the action. That proves true, as the episode accelerates the drama in a good push toward the season – and series – finale.

Que Será, Será: “Christina finds the center of the maze. Caleb and C try to escape. William changes the game's difficulty, to Hale's furious disapproval.”

Because HBO cancelled Westworld after Season Four already ran, this means the producers didn’t get the chance to finish it on their own terms. They intended to create a fifth and truly final season – one that theoretically could still occur if they find a new network to back it.

Until/unless that happens, “Que” acts as the series’ conclusion. It avoids true “cliffhanger” status and doesn’t feel like it leaves too many loose threads, but “Que” also alludes to what would’ve become Season Five, so don’t expect a tight wrap-up here.

Still, “Que” gives us resolution to most of the year’s plot/character points. As such, it finishes the season well, even if it acts as a slightly unsatisfying end for the series as a whole.

Westworld appears in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 on these 4K UHD discs, though a few sequences went 2.39:1 as well. This was a positive Dolby Vision presentation.

Sharpness looked solid. A few shots were slightly soft, but not to a substantial degree, so most of the episodes seemed accurate and concise.

No jagged edges or shimmering occurred, and I saw no edge haloes. Source flaws were a non-factor, as the movie stayed clean.

Like most modern shows, Westworld favored a teal tint with a dollop of amber as well and some dingy shades of green and yellow. Within their parameters, the colors appeared solid. HDR added zest and impact to the hues.

Blacks seemed deep and tight, while shadows were smooth and well-delineated. HDR gave whites and contrast added power. In the end, the transfer proved to be appealing.

Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, the Dolby Atmos soundtrack of Westworld became a reasonably involving mix. With a fair amount of action scenes, we got some lot of good material from all sides.

Various elements blended around the spectrum and added a nice sense of activity to the film. Stereo music also worked well, and this turned into a moderately vivid soundscape.

Audio quality seemed fine. Speech was crisp and distinctive, with no edginess or other concerns.

Music was full and rich, while effects came across as lively and accurate. The track boasted good low-end when appropriate. All of this was enough for a “B+”.

How did the 4K UHD compare to the Blu-ray version? Instead of the BD's DTS-HD MA 5.1, the 4K offered a moderately more involving Atmos track.

As for the Dolby Vision image, it showed an upgrade in sharpness, colors and blacks. A native 4K presentation, this package offered a definite upgrade.

Spread across all three discs, Creating Westworld’s Reality consists of segments for each episode. These fill a total of 41 minutes, 38 seconds.

The various featurettes include comments from co-creators Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, production designer Jon Carlos, directors Meera Menon and Richard Lewis, visual effects producer Elizabeth Castro, visual effects supervisor Joe Wehmeyer, supervising location manager Jennifer Dunne, makeup effects designer Jason Collins, costume designer Debra Beebe, supervising producer Jordan Goldberg, special effects supervisor Mark Byers, head makeup artist Elisa Marsh, visual effects supervisor Jay Worth, and actors Evan Rachel Wood, Aaron Paul, Jeffrey Wright, Tessa Thompson, Thandiwe Newton, James Marsden, Angela Sarafyan, Aurora Perrineau, and Luke Hemsworth.

The segments of “Reality” cover story/characters, cast and performances, sets and locations, various effects, photography, costumes, and stunts. The clips tend to feel somewhat superficial, but they offer a decent view of the season.

Disc Three brings three additional feaurettes, and Westworld On the Road spans 16 minutes, 47 seconds. It involves Nolan, Joy, Wood, Hemsworth, Carlos, Paul, Lewis, Dunne, and set decorator Julie Ochipinti.

“Road” looks at sets/locations and consists of footage from the shoot with the comments overlaid. It becomes a pretty good view of the topics.

An Exploration of Humanity fills 14 minutes, 42 seconds and brings info from Nolan, Joy, Thompson, Wood, Marsden, and Paul.

“Exploration” examines characters, with an emphasis on how they connect to human domains. While not a great program, it offers some insights.

Finally, A Set Tour occupies five minutes, 39 seconds. It offers remarks from Ochipinti, Carlos, Newton and Paul.

Ochipinti and Carlos take us through the “Temperance” location. We find a fun look at this topic, especially when we get comparisons to the old Western set.

The set also includea a Blu-ray copy of S4. It includes the same extras as the 4K discs.

Westworld concludes with Season Four, and it does so on a fairly positive note. It seems too bad that the producers lacked the chance to wrap the series on their own terms, but S4 still works as a reasonably solid finale. The Blu-rays come with positive picture and audio as well as a decent set of supplements. This turns into a positive collection of shows.

To rate this series visit the prior review of WESTWORLD SEASON FOUR