Amph HBO's Watchmen

After the last episode, I wondered what it would be like to experience time and life the way Dr. Manhattan does. And I imagined it would suck. I mean, I avoid spoilers to movies. Knowing how my life unfolds my not be satisfying. It would like watching a football game and knowing everything that's going to happen.

Anyway, my wife brought up a question that I really didn't have an answer, which is, why didn't Dr. Manhattan...

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just teleport away himself and Angela with the kids?

The only thing I thought of is that Jon saw it happen and it was an unchangeable destiny in his eyes. Changing is not an option because of the butterfly effect.

 

I doubt that's it. I think we'll have to see what happens in the wrap-up of the season to understand it, though.

 

Remember Laurie's joke from earlier in the season; DM told God he was already in hell.

 

I am definitely looking forward to WTF is going on with Laurie, Looking Glass, and Trieu after a couple great Angela-focused eps.

 

Yeah, that's not a life I'd want to live. But, I suppose you could always live the best moments of your life as well. It's the Yin and Yang of it all I suppose. You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have the facts of life. The facts of life.

The biggest mystery going into the final episode is Veidt and of course everyone's favorite horseshoe.

 

"I did it 30 years ago." was a nice callback to "I did it 30 minutes ago." And you want to see Doctor Manhattan blow up Rorschach in Watchmen? He does it to like 12 of them! And it's actually kind of ... romantic? Anyway, I can see the "remix" described way back when the show was announced, there's definitely more than a few flips on iconic Watchmen stuff - this was basically a redux of the Doctor Manhattan issue instead of his own inner voice he's explains it all to Angela - but it certainly isn't a remake.

The new Doc power was taking on someone else's form, and note we didn't see Doc's face until after the timejump where he looks like Cal and also his voice changed as well, and Angela straight up says "You have his face" so I guess Doc taking on another person's body really embeds them into his features. Great line by Ozzy about "This kind of ... appropriation!"

I thought the actor who played Doctor Manhattan was fantastic and but honestly during the season as just the husband he was kind of a drag in, like, every scene. But that was probably intentional anyway. Makes me curious to see if I can see anything different in his performance from the previous 7 episodes cuz he's great here.

 

Now that is how you end a season (or series)

Kudos to everyone for developing such a tightly knit narrative and for parsing the mystery out without dragging it out. Great episode:

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A bit disappointed by Trieu immediately revealing her plan in the first 5 minutes, but she is the child of Adrian Veidt as we thought- and it was indeed SAVE ME DAUGHTER he spelled out knowing that her probe would arrive at exactly that time, which shows just how meticulous he was. And we now know that the Game Warden was just someone to keep Adrian amused- so he was never really trapped there by Manhattan. He created that struggle in an attempt to stay sane apparently. Doesn’t seem like it worked, but no surprise there. I liked how the squids from episode 1 and show again last week tied in here. It was just one of several things that tied back well - the biggest of course being the Tulsa Massacre and the chicken and the egg discussion Jon and Angela had. Very interesting if she now has his abilities.

Senator Goo Puddle got what he deserved as did Jane and the rest so no issues with Trieu taking them out. Interesting that Bian survived- I wonder if that will impact anything in the future.

Also, despite Adrian’s ‘gattling gun’ of frozen shrimp, it seems like all of Tulsa PD’s heroes survived. I assume Laurie and Wade will likely try to charge Adrian for that as well.

One thing not explained is how Will Reeves is still alive for so long. My guess is either Jon or Trieu- I would assume Trieu gave him something so he could walk just using a cane, but they don’t really get into that. It is interesting that Trieu thought she could hide from Jon but in fact he always knew and sent Will to partner with her. For being the world’s smartest woman, that is certainly one big mistake to make.

Finally, for those reading Peteypedia, the last article answers the one question the show did not: Who is Lube Man: https://www.hbo.com/content/dam/hbodata/series/watchmen/peteypedia/09/memo-dale-petey.pdf

Really great show overall. Very impressive use of the old characters to tie into the new and tell a new story that still paid homage to the original. I greatly enjoyed it.

 

Ending nailed which I was worried about. Best tv of 2019 for me. EASILY! Have to collect my thoughts for any deeper post.

Now I have to start His Dark Materials.

 

I would so very much love another season or more but this told a phenomenal story and it would be fine if this is it.

Still...

 

Prepare yourself for disappointment.

 

Your post from earlier in the thread made me think of this.


Just read pages 1-8 of this thread as I'm only 4 episodes in. If you're reading this post on the most recent page (11) then this isn't a spoiler as you're way ahead of me.

Anyway, I just met Lady Trieu and I'm interested what her and Will have planned. I like that I've come to some of the same conclusions others have made. I'm jealous you all got to watch the finale last night and I'm still five behind. Gotta do my best to avoid spoilers!

As for what I've referenced above, IMO, there's definitely more to the 7th Calvary. They're collecting a specific kind of watch battery in secret and we know they didn't kill the Chief of Police so the people pulling the strings (or ropes), maybe Lady Trieu and Will, definitely have a very elaborate plan. The 7th Calvary really haven't been heavily featured since the first episode so we won't see them again, I feel, until they're needed for the plot.

Tonight, I may watch the 5th episode, but gotta watch the Rick and Morty fall finale first. Priorities!

 

I'm right there with ya. Definitely the most engaging. Here at the end there's a lot to unpack, pick apart, and scrutinize. The Boys, for me, perhaps came closest but that was more to do with relatively narrow character motivations and less about the thematic narrative that was driving the characters forward. If you were to tell me 20 years from now this series is Damon Lindelof's signature work I wouldn't be surprised.

 

I've just finished the last episode. It's been a series of real quality, and I don't think there was a weak episode in the bunch. Definitely deserves awards.

As a follow-up to Watchmen the graphic novel... I have a few minor issues. gezvader28 said weeks ago that the Adrian Veidt of the TV series is very different from that of the novel, and I think that's very true. I think Jeremy Irons' Ozy is something of a broad piss-take of the Alan Moore character rather than being a credible version of the guy from the comics as an old man, but I've got to admit he was lots of fun to watch, so it worked for the series.

 

Well that was cool. One Q:

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Looking Glass and Laurie confirm that not only will they arrest Veidt for his crimes but President Redford for knowing about them. So, I guess Looking Glass let Laurie off the hook for knowing and never saying anything too?

 

It’s not good or good but just not comparable to this lvl of excellence?

 

I'm sure you'll get varied opinions. It's not as good as Watchmen but better than the Nicole Kidman Golden Compass

 

Wonderful! Stuck the landing.

 

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So let's fantasize that there'll be a Season 2. Who will they cast as Dan Dreiberg? Reddit seems to like the idea of Jeff Bridges or Michael Keaton (who I think would be great).

 

Michael Keaton all the way. We already have a collective memory of him as a younger vigilante. Also Jeff Bridges is totally wrong.

 

Plus Keaton was Birdman. And Vulture. It's like it was meant to be.

 

Yeah that's what I mean. He has this track record. He would be peeeerfect.

 

What a season, what a finale. My favourite episode was definitely 8, so well written, mesmerizing to watch. This was my breakout show this year along with Mandalorian.

 

Don’t know what episode number the love story was, but that was my highlight of the season. Just such amazing storytelling.

 

The show was incredible, the issue I had with the finale (which I’ve just seen now) was the only real reason Lady Trieu needed to be stopped was some vague idea from Ozy that she was a narcissist. Has she really done that much wrong all season? Her point that DrM never used his powers to help with the planet , renewable energy etc is a good one. I mean Ozy was saved by her, she is his daughter, she intends to help the world and he still feels that she can’t be trusted? Why? I didn’t buy that. I didn’t want her plan to be foiled, which tells me her being the ‘baddie’ wasn’t written well enough.

but overall it was amazing television. Great soundtrack too.

 

Yes, look at what she did to her daughter/mother as the best example of the danger she posed. She literally cloned her mother which was questionable. But that she then subjected her to her own memories every night- that was essentially torture because it was the good and the bad memories. And as she explained when she reflected on nostalgia, patients tend to focus on the bad memories.

She chose to capture a god, murder him, and then take his power because she thought she could do better. If instead she had worked to find someone selfless to take those powers (like Angela) then she would have still been a bit twisted, but more noble. The fact that she thought she could do better and was willing to kill to do it, shows exactly why she should never have such power.

She was a brilliant woman, but she could not resist power for herself. As horrible as what Adrian did was, the whole reason it worked was because he kept it quiet. But even he had his moment of hubris with his video to Redford. So when he says it takes one to know one, he’s not kidding.