'Westworld' season 1 spoilers, ratings update: Thandie Newton talks harrowing scene in episode 2

Thandie Newton recently opened up about her character's shocking scene in episode 2 of "Westworld" season 1.

The second episode of HBO's new sci-fi Western thriller introduced a couple of new characters, gave deeper insights into the characters presented in the series premiere, and featured a handful of new mysteries. It also had Maeve, the main madame in Sweetwater's brothel portrayed by Newton, waking up in the middle of a surgery.

In the episode titled "Chestnut," Maeve went through a series of what were thought to be malfunctions. These included visions of a previous life that she couldn't remember. Towards the end of the episode, Maeve and her daughter were trapped in their shack with the Man in Black getting closer and closer.

Maeve counted backwards from three, a technique that was used by a programmer working on her in an earlier scene and suddenly woke up on an operating room table, with a group of surgeons working on her exposed insides.

"Isn't that just one of the worst things imaginable?" Newton asked The Hollywood Reporter, adding that the scenario is akin to the equally nightmarish scene of waking up inside a coffin.

Newton also offered an explanation for how Maeve found herself on the table, saying, "Her waking up was a result of the sloppiness of the experts, when they're not dealing with actual human beings."

According to the actress, Maeve's predicament and the surgeons' casual treatment of the host reflected the actual desensitization of humanity, what with the increasing amounts of violence and vulgarity people are currently exposed to.

"We are fed so much visual stimuli, and it's at the point where we have to be told if it's real or not," Newton said. "We have been programmed, and we are being currently programmed, to turn off our sensitivity," she added.

Meanwhile, in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, "Westworld" creator Jonathan Nolan offered a different explanation for Maeve suddenly switching on when she wasn't supposed to.

"That's part of the mechanism," he said, referring to the "3-2-1" technique. "[S]he's supplementing some of that, but there's other reasons for why Maeve is waking up," he added.

According to EW, the premiere episode of "Westworld" was HBO's biggest series premiere in almost three years. Deadline reported that based on Nielsen's ratings, the episode drew 3.3 million viewers across multiple platforms.

"Westworld" season 1 airs Sundays at 9 p.m. EDT on HBO.