Watchmen (Season 1)

I wrote a review for the Zac Snyder Watchmen film when this blog first started and it is horrendous. I'm not gonna link it because it is that terrible but just know, I've seen the movie and I have probably a little more knowledge of the Watchmen property than I would guess most of the people watching. Since the show is a continuation of the comic and not the movie, I'm going to keep the comparisons to a minimum, but I do think it is worth it to mention that this show could have had an amazing opening credit sequence using the song "The Times Are A Changing" like they did in the movie and it would have been brilliant.

Just a note, its a little difficult to review this show for two reasons. The first is, I don't want to spoil anything for you. Big deal, that's everything I review. But the other part is that this show is so dipped into the Watchmen lore that it's hard to explain the entire background and universe this is set in.

The important thing to know is that this is an American timeline where masked vigilantes have been around for a little bit. Also, America won the Vietnam war by deploying a giant blue man by the name of Dr. Manhattan. Furthermore, Nixon served as President for at least three terms and was followed by Robert Redford, a detail they really just blow past, only for comic relief, and also, Vietnam is the 51st State.

Just know, its an alternate history built off history that was started in the graphic novel. It'll sorta fill you in as you go along.

Watchmen mainly follows a cop by the name of Angela Abar (played by Regina King). In the town of Tulsa, Oklahoma, cops are required to wear masks. I don't know how it went from masks to full on costumes, but whatever. Abar goes by the hero moniker Sister Night.

The story starts off when members of a white supremacist group called The 7th Calvary start killing cops in Tulsa.  Abar, along with other masked cops, including a masked cop with a mirror-like reflective mask called Looking Glass (played by Tim Blake Nelson), and the chief of police Judd Crawford (played by Don Johnson) begin investigating the 7th Calvary and begin to unravel a huge conspiracy surrounding masked heroes of the past, giant squids from other dimensions, and the illusive Doctor Manhattan, a god-like being who has been missing from earth for decades.

These characters are really good. I've noticed that Regina King is having a little bit of a resurgence which is odd because I remember her being the worst part of 24 Season 6. But in this she really goes no holds bar and really carries the show. Part of it is how she's written, but the other part is just her acting. Tim Blake Nelson is good, though I think he's not the most vital part of the show. He has his own episode which is pretty good, although not the most important to the show. Don Johnson is also having a bit of a resurgence because not only did he do a good job in this, but he was in Knives Out. I didn't know who he was until I looked him up and he was on Miami Vice back in the 80s.

Something I will note is that I do find it funny that aside from Sister Night, every other masked cop seems pretty lazy in their costume design. Not a huge issue, just a funny note.

Another character is FBI Agent Laurie Blake (played by Jean Smart), who is a former masked hero fans of the comic might recognize.

I found her character interesting because it is the show runners injecting a pretty important character from the comics into the show and I'm not totally sure I understand why. The fact that she is this character doesn't exactly add a whole lot to the story and while she is a welcome addition to the show, I've always really enjoyed Jean Smart as an actress, I never felt like her role added much besides filling an authority role and giving a nod to the original material. I'm torn because like Tim Blake Nelson's character, I do like the episode where they delve into her as a character. I like Jean Smart. But again, in the totality of things, she doesn't add much besides being a foil.

And then there is Jeremy Irons.

If you're like me, some of this show was spoiled just by the conversation around it when it was airing so I already knew what character Jeremy Irons was playing. Because of that I knew that he might be one of my favorite parts of the show and I wasn't far off.

Without spoiling anything. Jeremy Iron's character doesn't have a whole lot to do with the main plot at first, he's just kind of in his own world doing his own thing. Now that sounds boring, but he presents some of the wackiest and science fiction elements of the show. Furthermore, he usually shows up for a 10-15 minute at max segment of each episode and then they get back to the main story, but he is just a blast to watch.

Last few characters I swear...

Louis Gossett Jr plays a role I won't delve into too much because its important to the story but he's fine. Not great, but fine.

Hong Chiau plays probably the weakest character in the show, Lady Trieu. She's this really successful brilliant billionaire with her own agenda throughout the show and she's just not written very well. Chiau does a fine job with what she's given, but honestly I think the show runners were a little bit more interested in other elements of the story that they kind of forgot about her at times.

She doesn't really have an origin episode like everyone else which might be the problem. I guess it kind of illustrates how some of these premium TV shows are falling into a little bit of a formula. It is by no means a bad formula, but its the formula that breaks the show into three acts that include the first few episodes which are introductory and usually the slowest. They then start to delve into the origins of the main characters, throw in a flashback episode or two that are arguably the best episodes and show the main antagonists plot while also allowing for the hero to be incapacitated for a little bit, then finish up with the big finish all the way down to the last minute. Again, it's not a bad formula, but it felt a lot like the 1st Season of Daredevil in the introductions and expositions of characters.

While there's a lot of good things to say about this season of television, I do think there are some gaps. I've kind of already mentioned that some of the individual episodes that expound on origin stories are kind of pointless or at least don't hold the weight that I think I originally thought they were going to. While most of the characters are fleshed out really well, there are some that aren't as much who are pretty important, like Lady Trieu. The season overall is really well executed and it was a blast watching it, I just have had some thoughts in the aftermath of the show that makes me think it might not be as perfectly solid as I originally thought.

But one of the reasons this show is so entertaining is because one of the things it executes so well is the already super interesting IP of Watchmen in the first place. It's not just that the graphic novel brilliantly injected superheroes into American history and made it a staple in an alternate American history, it's that it just creates a whole new history.

Culture is different, social norms are different, history is different but in such a unique way. That was already the case in the graphic novel and the movie, but I think the most impressive thing about the TV show is how it takes that already developed world and not only builds on it, but makes it feel incredibly lived in.

One thing the show is able to do really well is not only expand on the existing world really well, but insert commentary on the experience of disenfranchised groups in the world. With the exception of Tim Blake Nelson and Jeremy Irons, all the main characters are women, people of color, or LGBT, sometimes combinations of both. The show does a really good job at looking at this alternative history through the lens of a diverse cast while not feeling preachy or gratuitous. There's a message being conveyed, but its executed very well in a way that's not see very much and less likely to be done this well. There's clearly a lot they could expand on if they continued this show.

But that's also the conflict I have with the idea of this show getting a follow on season.

It's such a rich world that they could go in any direction they wanted to with it. While I would argue they've used a lot of the lore set up from the graphic novel in a pretty succinct story, if there was a story to continue, its a world that is ripe for it. But that's just it, the story was pretty succinct and didn't leave much for continuation.

What's more, the main show runner and writer Damon Lindelof said that if there is a second season, he wouldn't be the one running it. And that's a huge down side. So, would I be happy and watch a second season? Of course. Like I said, there's some rich story to be told and I think it could be done well. Do I think it'll be as good, no.

Overall, I think the TV show is really well done. It does a brilliant job of continuing the story set up by the graphic novel while also making it its own viewing experience. The cast is great despite some characters not being utilized as well as others. And finally, it clips along keeping you engaged the entire time for all 9 episodes. If you have the time (which we seem to all have a little more of) and have HBO or access to this show, do yourself a favor and check it out.

Before I wrap it up with overall thoughts, I would be interested to hear the thoughts of people who watched this with no understanding of the graphic novel. I have never read the graphic novel fully, only watched the movie and even I felt like it took me a little bit to understand the full extent of the world and where things had gone since the events of the graphic novel. I'd be interested to hear the experience of someone who has no background knowledge of the graphic novel and is going in blind to this TV show. Does the show do a good job at explaining the background in a way that is meaningful to you and how did you like the show overall?

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Thanks for reading!