(Or he is a white hat, and the point is that white hats are, well, dumb.)

Probably, but if the William/Dolores storyline ends up as a "real" romance I'll be mad. He assumes she's in a loop; he knows it and is buying the story, which exists only to satisfy him as a paying customer, anyway. (In fact, he's specifically signed off on the loop, i.e. the story, because he loves stories!) He's no…

William's no hero or even a sympathetic character—not even close. He's just playing neatly into the customer experience.