‘Westworld’ Season 4’s Daniel Wu Talks Plot Twist and His ‘Hope’ for Jay

Westworld Season 4 has been full of surprises, shock revelations and betrayals, and the show’s sixth episode is no different with all of the above applying to Daniel Wu and Aurora Perrineau’s characters, Jay and C respectively.

Wu spoke to Newsweek about the latest bombshell reveal in Episode 6 of the HBO show, sharing his “hope” for his character’s future.

Warning: This article contains spoilers for ‘Westworld’ Season 4 Episode 6

‘Westworld’ Season 4’s Daniel Wu Talks Episode 6 Plot Twist

Wu’s character Jay was as much a mystery as Perrineau’s C was until it was revealed in Episode 4 that she was really Frankie, Caleb Nichols’ (Aaron Paul) daughter all grown up.

Episode 6 puts the spotlight on Wu’s Jay, revealing his motivations for being part of the rebel group fighting against Charlotte Hale (Tessa Thompson) and her plan to enslave all of humanity, including Outliers like him and C.

Unfortunately, it’s revealed in the newest episode that during the rescue operation to save an Outlier in Episode 5, Jay was lured into a trap and killed by a host copy of himself, who then infiltrates the group and attempts to stop C from waking up Maeve Millay (Thandiwe Newton).

Wu told Newsweek he found Jay’s character arc “really interesting” and that he didn’t know exactly how things were going to pan out for him until Episode 4, when he was told that Jay was going to become a host.

Before then co-creator Lisa Joy, with whom he worked on Reminiscence, had only told him she’d written a part about a rebel leader she thought he’d be perfect for.

“I thought it was really interesting, because when I signed on all I was really told is that, you know, he’s the rebel leader of a group of Outliers,” Wu said. “He’s had a traumatic experience with [the] loss of his brother through the hosts and so that’s turned him into this angry guy who’s trying to find freedom in this world where they’re being controlled, and protect these Outliers.

“And so that’s all I knew at first and then as we’re filming, I think, Episode 4, […] I found out that I was going to be a host, and so that threw everything out the window. Like, ‘Whoa, okay. I wish I knew that earlier.’

“But in retrospect, I think it’s fine that I didn’t know it earlier because you don’t want to foreshadow what’s going to happen with the character too much.

“That’s the fun part of working in TV, sometimes you never know what’s going to happen to your character, or what’s going to happen with the storyline, and that’s exactly what happened.”

On Jay’s Betrayal and His Hopes for the Character’s Future

Although Wu knew that his character would become a host, he wasn’t told that it’d mean his character would betray C.

“I didn’t know that it was going to turn into a betrayal, I just was told ‘okay, you’re gonna be a host,’ and then when I saw the script, I was like, ‘Ooh, this is juicy,'” Wu said. “Because this pair, even though he says ‘don’t ever call me brother,’ they’re like a family, you know, they’ve been together for many years.

“You see in the flashback C was a very young girl, 8 years old probably, when they met and she’s now a woman, they’ve grown together so […] they’re like brother and sister.

“So when he turns on her, it’s a hard cookie for her to swallow because there was trust, there was a sanctity there, and they’re in their Outlier group that’s been hiding in the desert all these years, there was a sense of protection and for that one person that you trusted most to turn against you is a crazy thing [to happen].

“That was fun, it was really fun to do as an actor, you know, to have that change, to have a sudden 180-turnaround from the character.”

Jay’s betrayal ultimately leads to the host’s death as Maeve stabs him after being brought back online, but, of course, this being Westworld that doesn’t mean the end of the character. Wu certainly hopes so.

“When I read that part in the schedule where I, you know, I passed I was talking to Lisa [and] I’m like, ‘Oh, so that’s it for me.’ And she goes, ‘No, it’s Westworld, right? You’re a host now, so you can always come back.’ And I’m like, ‘okay, cool.’

Reflecting on how most of the cast have returned despite their character’s deaths, and how Evan Rachel Wood has even come back as a new character, Wu went on: “I find it really interesting to be able to reboot a character and make them different, and have the audience be able to accept that.

“I think they’re really successful with that, and how these characters like Hale and Dolores have really changed and evolved over time, and Maeve. All those characters are strong, really strong female characters, they’re just bad**s but also have evolved and changed through this series.

“I think that’s a testament to Lisa Joy being one of the showrunners, it’s a total reflection of her personality because she is a very strong, smart, powerhouse of a woman and writer.”

Daniel Wu on Feeling Personally Connected to Caleb’s Season 4 Plight

The show’s sixth episode wasn’t just about Jay and C, though, as it also followed Paul’s Caleb, also now a host, who desperately tries to escape from Hale’s prison to send a message to his daughter, whom he calls Cookie (hence her nickname C).

Caleb’s love for his daughter and determination to protect her, even after being turned into a host, was something Wu felt a connection with as a father himself.

“It was such an existential moment for that character, like, what is his purpose now? What is he trying to do?” Wu said of Caleb’s plotline. “And then, at the end, when he realizes Cookie is the focus, he needs to get this message out to Cookie, to see that was really heart-wrenching.

“You know, as a father watching that I was like, oh, man, he knows he’s no longer that person he was, not a human anymore […] but he still has that memory and the love for his daughter, it really, really hit home.”

Reflecting on what’s to come in the show, the actor went on: “I really like where the story is heading with [C] and her dad and that relationship. I think that’s the strength of the season, Aurora’s character Frankie coming in and being, again, another strong female minority character and having a really cool, compelling storyline with Aaron Paul’s character, and this idea [that] he’s no longer himself anymore but he still has that love and he still has the memory, and he still has that drive to want to be that father.

“That’s really powerful for me, because I’m a father and I totally feel that same thing, my biggest fear is anything happening to my daughter, and my biggest fear about all this c**p that’s happening in the world right now is because it’s what she’s gonna grow up into, it’s not about me right now.

“And I think, Caleb’s storyline this season is that: Is this humanity? Can we make humanity better for our future offspring?

“We’re headed down a really dangerous road right now, I mean Sci-Fi always talks about that. Sci-Fi is about a reflection of ourselves and I feel like a lot of the points that we’re talking about in Westworld right now are a reflection of what’s happening in society at this moment.”

Westworld airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and HBO Max.