/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/51820819/westworld-maeve.0.0.jpg)
Westworld has been on the air for seven weeks now, but following the popularity of the internet’s latest meme, the Mannequin Challenge, fans can’t stop comparing it to the show.
Warning: Spoilers for Westworld’s seventh episode.
The Mannequin Challenge essentially asks participants to stay in one position, completely frozen, for a certain amount of time. That could be the length of a video or a pre-determined period, but if they move even a finger, the challenge is lost. In Westworld, whenever the engineers or design team need to examine or fix something in the park, they pause the entire world, walking around frozen mannequins and going about their business.
Noticing the similarities between the two, fans wasted no time comparing the meme and the show, calling out the hosts in the latest episode of Westworld for their dedication to perfecting it.
Nobody does the #MannequinChallenge better than the hosts of #Westworld.
— Dana Patterson (@DanaPatty96) November 14, 2016
Is the filming of Westworld a constant mannequin challenge?
— Fletch Grapes (@Nick_Graves7) November 14, 2016
I think Ford's narrative he has been working on is just a really complex Mannequin Challenge. #Westworld
— Dan Sostek (@dan_sostek) November 14, 2016
Even actress Evan Rachel Wood called working on the show the “acting Olympics,” because of how much effort went into going from being emotional one second to completely stoic and frozen the next. In the video below, YouTube user Ricky Perez-Selky, compiled a bunch of scenes from the show where the hosts were shut down or in analysis mode, unable to flinch or move in the slightest. In the video, he refers to the scenes as Westworld winning the Mannequin Challenge for their dedication to the craft.
In the latest episode of Westworld, however, the host rebellion has become even larger and it’s getting harder to make the various robots freeze in their place. As time goes on, the Mannequin Challenge aspect of Westworld may become less and less noticeable, but at least it’ll go out on top.
Westworld airs Sundays at 9p.m. ET on HBO.