Watchmen (TV Series)

[jimmy two hands]

I searched and didn't find anything on the show. Usually we're offering our opinions months or years in advance of these things, what gives?

So far it seems like Blue Lives Matters the TV Series. I've hated everything Damon Lindelof has done so far, but I'm trying to go in with an open mind on this.

[GrantMcNeilly]

The comic, when you get down to it, is about the death of liberalism at the hands of a leftist neoliberal psychopath (sorry, idealist, who also happens to be German. A German Idealist). This show seems like it is, well, neoliberal watchmen (the near universal praise for it by critics, as compared to an older class-based leftist movie like Joker, is telling).

That said, if there's anything that will make one doubt whether America could have ever had a functioning liberal government its the immature, blatant racism that seems to be everywhere, so the fact that the show seems like it has entirely different politics from the book may not be a bad thing. Lindelof has clearly done his research and i'm excited by the fact that he picked up on the temporal nuances of the comic book - too often you just get people talking about how it is so great because it "humanizes" the superheroes without thinking about the more philosophical stuff, and Lindelof seems like he's at least going to address that with Ozymandias (and thank god they cast Ozymandias well this time!). Oh, and it's funny seeing all the alt righters complaining about how the show treats Rorschach like a racist psycho when, in the comic, he pretty much was a racist psycho.

I'm giving it a cautious NC, excited to see where it goes.

[numberthirty]

Worth it's salt if only for the drama it is creating in "Comics" circles.

As a show, it's kind of hard to avoid that someone essentially looked at what FX did with Fargo and did "Their" version of it with the "Watchmen" IP.

While I don't know if that's "Crap" by it's nature, it is hard to avoid that I tend to be on the "Just Don't Adapt..." when it comes to this comic.

[the finger genius]

I enjoyed the first episode. As for the politics, it's maybe going to be a tightrope walk, but if they're opening the first episode with the Tulsa massacre then I'm giving the benefit of the doubt. Also I read something where Lindelhof was talking about how Race and Policing is the prime conflict we face today (similar to the US / Soviet stand off when the original came out) and it makes sense to me. I'm excited to see where they take it.

[DrAwkward]

I've gotta give the premiere episode a Not Crap. Pretty fascinated with where this ends up going, but i feel like they've hit the right notes with establishing what that universe would look like 34 years post-squid.

[VaticanShotglass]

I liked the little squids. Either meh or tightrope for the rest playing out.

[stewie]

This show is pretty fucking great so far. Very tight script and cinematography, and inventive in a lot of ways.

I didn't see it as a Blue Lives Matter thing at all. If anything, it's doing the opposite, but in a "you have to map what you're seeing in this alternate universe to your own" way.

[The Code is Almighty]

I came to it fairly skeptical, but it's far and away exceeded my expectations.

After the second episode, is anyone else wondering if Jeremy Irons isn't Viedt and actually Dr. Manhattan?

[jimmy two hands]

I rewatched the first episode and enjoyed it a lot more than the first time, but the second episode irritated me for some reason. I think I'm going to have to rewatch the entire series after all the episodes are out because it looks like they're going with that whole mystery box story that gets on my nerves.

After the second episode, is anyone else wondering if Jeremy Irons isn't Viedt and actually Dr. Manhattan?

Not sure if it's going to be Dr. Manhattan, but I feel like the way they're making it so obvious that it's Viedt makes me think they're going to pull a twist where it's not Viedt.

[GrantMcNeilly]

For a while now I've had this thought that Dr Manhattan's accident was not, in fact, an accident (something about the tone of Dr. Glass's writing on Dr M, the idea science fiction / comics presaging reality, and Jon Osterman's passive walking-through-life character) and it passed my mind that that might be one of the reasons Veidt was making this "play" on Dr Manhattan's creation.

This Veidt might be a creation of Dr Manhattan's as well, who knows.

2nd episode wasn't as good as the pilot but I think it's one of those things that is building up slowly.

[DrAwkward]

Fuckin' a, second episode kicked ass. I'm done with being intrigued and am now just all in on this show kicking ass.

Dr. Manhattan = Veidt? Hmm, i dunno...a lot must have happened in 34 years to turn Dr. M into a fucking loon. I'd believe that more from Veidt, especially since his grand scheme hasn't resulted in complete world peace and enlightenment like he expected.

[The Code is Almighty]

My case for Jeremy Irons being Dr. Manhattan.

They've made a point of saying that Dr. Manhattan is on Mars and doesn't need to be worried about, but we know that he can be in multiple places at the same time. Even though we're all meant to think that Jeremy Irons is Veidt, and we've seen Veidt's name in print elsewhere on the show as having gone missing, they haven't actually called him by any name. During the second episode they spent a whole lot of time talking about how Dr. Manhattan can't look like regular people which seemed like an odd thing to spend so much time on unless it was going to factor into the story. Jeremy Iron's character seems to know intimate details about Dr. Manhattan's origin story and the significance of his father being a watchmaker, and he seems to be obsessed with acting out his origin story over and over again. Also, the watch itself seems pretty important to Iron's character. And finally, one of the last things Dr. Manhattan said in the original story was that he though he might try his hand at making people and that seems to be whats happening in the Jeremy Irons arc.

[DrAwkward]

And finally, one of the last things Dr. Manhattan said in the original story was that he though he might try his hand at making people and that seems to be whats happening in the Jeremy Irons arc.

Shit, i forgot about that.

[numberthirty]

Just to point this out...

The folks who might trip over the current DC Comics' series Doomsday Clock might want to turn and run if they come across anything where it gets a mention.

While I'm not certain that it plays into what this series is doing, some of it feels like it might be leaning towards some aspects of what it is doing.

[stewie]

And finally, one of the last things Dr. Manhattan said in the original story was that he though he might try his hand at making people and that seems to be whats happening in the Jeremy Irons arc.

Shit, i forgot about that.

Would that also explain the shrimp, maybe?

[El Protoolio]

Guys at the end of the book Manhattan was leaving the solar system. Yes he said he might try making life but he was splitting the scene completely. I haven’t seen the show yet so not sure why he’s back on Mars but just wanted to point that out since this is a sequel to the book and not the film.

[Incandenza]

Re: Dr. Manhattan -- there's also the bit where we see the good Doctor on Mars, destroying a 'building' that looks a lot like Veidt's mansion.

[llllllllllllllllllllllll]

When’s the next episode supposed to hit Amazon?

[Nate Dort]

I watched E3 last night. There were some slow spots, but I like the addition of Laurie Blake in the mix.
Does anybody else get the feeling that the Jeremy Irons scenes are set in a different time? There's no modern technology, despite the presence of that Lee Perry album on the Victrola. There's been no connection to any of the events in Tulsa. He did come out and say that he was Veidt in E3 though. Not sure I believe that yet.

[jimmy two hands]

Does anybody else get the feeling that the Jeremy Irons scenes are set in a different time? There's no modern technology, despite the presence of that Lee Perry album on the Victrola. There's been no connection to any of the events in Tulsa. He did come out and say that he was Veidt in E3 though. Not sure I believe that yet.

This makes sense, I got a feeling they'll have some big reveal at the end of the season like they did with the Ed Harris/McPoyle guy in Westworld. Though it seems more like he's using old timey because of being stuck somewhere without modern technology for some reason or because he turned into a victorian cosplay dork..

Also it's a Desmond Dekker album (sorry).