It begins as a fascinating story about AI loops, but it evolved into a deeper, trickier story about consciousness. "When is a machine alive?" is a pretty old sci-fi question, but I think they handled it in an interesting way. It sort of forked. On one hand, there was a very nearly Buddhist aspect - life is suffering, and if you want to be conscious, you have to suffer and understand
why you're suffering.
But that makes the denouement for Dolores* a bit harder to grasp. She doesn't get the "ah-ha!" moment of that, really. Bernard gets one piece of the puzzle, she gets the other - free will. The hosts are never truly free, of course, so long as they are under the thumb of man; therefore, the thumb must be cut off. We were always told that she was different, so perhaps Ford is trusting her with this piece of the puzzle. She has to revel in this full freedom, but have the capacity to realize why it's important to utilize it with restraint, lest she become too human (another thing Ford hammered on). It's left up in the air if she has the capacity of restraint.
And then there's Maeve, who very quietly breaks her bonds. To me, that was probably the best twist of the whole season, this build up to Maeve escaping (the techs helping her out, of course, were way too convenient). We all want her to get on the train. But...that's part of her programming, apparently Ford's backup plan. And she rejects it on her own, without the violence Dolores needs to break free.
And it all wraps up in Ford as an architect, or for the purpose of this story, god. I could have done without the skull fucking with the "Creation of Adam" painting, but it served its purpose, I guess. Ford gave the hosts intellect, consciousness. He allows his creation to destroy him as a means to an end.
So yeah, I dug it. I was pissed at myself, because I said on episode 1, "yeah, I think Bernard is a robot." And I gave up on that at the beginning of episode 7 with the flashback to his kid dying. Then they reveal, yup, he's a host in the very same episode. I wasn't big on William sorta breaking heel the way he did - he's fine, he's fine, he's fine, oh he's murdering a bunch of hosts.
But overall? Way more good than bad, IMO.