Watchmen. This show is still giving me lots of feels and leaving me with lots of questions, but in a good way. Marvelously put together. Again, this post has spoilers, and it is not a review - rather, it is more of a reaction piece that I am writing as I am watching the episode. Please feel free to leave a comment with your own thoughts and reactions to the show!
Martial Feats of Comanche Horsemanship
The Comanche Feats of Horsemanship is an art piece created by the American painter George Catlin - he had sketched this scene in 1834, when he accompanied the United States Dragoons to what was then known as Indian Territory. America’s history with racism is a major theme in this show, and though I keep having to take time to process it, it is certainly worth it.
This episode was less heavy on the visual callbacks to the movie/comic. I am okay with this, as too much would get rather annoying.
Opening is with typewriters? Oh, interesting - I like how they have the Watchmen logo relate to the opening scene. That is very interesting.
The words that the German Commandant dictated for the leaflets to the Black American doughboys during the Great War were very real. The one that we see on screen is a different one, but still very real. And they still hurt - we still don’t get the same rights as white people in America. It’s not as openly obvious anymore - the law is officially equal, but it is not equitable. Society is not equitable. We are still second-class citizens.
Wow - the title of the episode being on the tree that Pops hung Judd from. That was strong imagery.
Dr. Manhattan is one of the most powerful characters in all of pop culture, but how can a human go from normal, to naked nuclear god?
Damn, Pops! 105 years old, and you drank that hot coffee without even letting it cool! Are you a super? Though you’re not Doctor Manhattan - I’m sure of that - I don’t think that Doctor Manhattan can look like us. There is an episode of Because Science about him, and I agree with the conclusions that Kyle Hill comes to. Because of those conclusions, I think that he’s too radioactive to look like us.
Who is the kid in the beret? And global squidfall (gross)? I still don’t know if this is a sequel to the movie or the comic.
Sister Night is called “Detective” - that makes sense. She is not uniformed; neither are Pirate Jenny, Looking Glass, nor Red Scare.
Obvious conclusion is obvious, Looking Glass - maybe too obvious.
Moths! I wonder if they got the tech from Mothman.
“I’m not a Nazi! I’m a COMMUNIST!” There are a lot of people who need to learn the difference.
Oh, flashback. So this is the White Night. So, did Cal overpower the second gunman, or did he think that she died and didn’t waste the ammo, or what? Curious. And then Judd says that there was only the one - interesting… there were two… hm. Though this also helps explain why Judd doesn’t wear a mask, aside from being Chief of Police.
Oh, Sister Night - you need to tell them.
Ah, the Nixonville Trailer Park, once again. The phrase “Paddy Wagon” is derogatory, and yet Red Scare is using it. There is a 50-star flag on the backside of the pillar that Nixon is standing on instead of the 51-star flag that is regularly seen on the show (and is also discussed on Reddit).
“Redfordations are an abomination,” angry white people chant. That feels very realistic - too realistic. “You got a sorry now you want a handout”, “equal rights, equal taxes”, and so forth, outside the Greenwood Center for Cultural Heritage. Right-wingers, tea partiers, pro-lifers, and so forth of our world - they would do this, for sure. I can see them shouting while standing in the historic Greenwood District of Tulsa, where Black Wall Street was.
Damn, though - the Greenwood Center for Cultural Heritage has some great hologram technology. Can we get that in real life, please? And the Secretary of the Treasury is Henry Louis Gates, Jr.? Interesting, in this timeline, that Professor Gates is Treasury Secretary. And such powerful computer interfaces and AI. Wow.
Real checks. Heh.
Fucking racists.
An owl, kid? I wonder if this is a reference to Nite Owl I and/or Nite Owl II.
Does no one remember that Doctor Manhattan can be in two places at once?
Oh, wow, Topher. I want those Magna-hattan Blocks.
What happened to your parents, Sister Night?
Oh, lord, Topher. You are too old for your age. You have seen too much. I’m sorry, kid.
American Hero Story. “The FCC has determined that the following content to be emotionally harmful.” My my my. Rated TV X - LSV. In the real world, the TV Parental Guidelines ratings are Y, Y7, G, PG, 14, and MA, with content descriptors of D (sexual or suggestive dialogue), L (coarse or crude language), S (sexual content), V (violence), and FV (fantasy violence). Considering that the MPAA changed the rating of X to NC-17 in 1990, I am presuming that the current MPAA ratings are still the ones that were enacted in 1984, and that the TV Parental Guidelines are based off of those. Though it could be that Roger Ebert’s call for NC-17 to be discontinued and replaced with separate ratings for pornographic and non-pornographic adult films: A for Adults Only and X for Pornographic Films. After all, as Roger Ebert said, the MPAA rating system is useless.
Looking Glass, you wear your mask at home? Interesting.
Does Hooded Justice sound like Rorschach to anybody else, or is it just me? I mean, he is ultra-violent like Rorschach. Or, rather, Rorschach is ultra-violent just like him.
Being the only POC in a rich, palatial estate, with wall-to-wall rich white people, while the Kavalry is out and about, in the middle of nowhere - I’d be feeling very anxious. Though Sister Night is not the fainting type - she must be faking.
Yep. Faking.
Ooo! I want those goggles!
Secret closet? Remind anybody of The Comedian?
Oh, wait - Klan robes and what looks like an older version of the Tulsa PD police badge. And then we zoom in on Comanche Feats of Horsemanship. Hm.
Personally, I think that Judd’s dad was a member of the Klan, and Judd grew up in the Klan but reformed. That would answer a lot.
Back to that estate with the Master. His horse is named Bucephalus - the name of Alexander the Great’s horse. I feel like that’s a clue to something…
Tomatoes are berries! They can’t grow on trees like that, can they? Not without super-science shenanigans, anyway?
Another anniversary? What?
No, seriously, are Ms. Crookshanks and Mr. Philips clones or robots or something?
Yeah, no - this play is totally about Doctor Manhattan.
GOOD GOD, MAN - YOU SET HIM ON FIRE! THEY MUST BE CLONES, BUT THAT WAS STILL A PERSON, YOU SICK FUCK.
Nothing ever ends. And now Montrose is the new Mr. Philips.
This must be Adrian Veidt, I’m sure of it.
Dang, Pops! You got yourself out of the cuffs. Good thing, too - what if you needed to go and use the restroom, anyway. So, are you a super?
“Oh, I didn’t mean literally.” Well, I didn’t think that you meant literally, either, Pops. And yet, here we are.
Damn, Pops! That egg is still steaming! How are you handling it?
What is the tattoo on Sister Night’s arm? Is that Hebrew? Oh, that’s Regina King’s real tattoo, and it means "unconditional love" in Aramaic. Neat!
Pops! You’re her grandfather? Wow. Didn’t see that one coming.
AIRSHIP! Pops got rescued and left his note behind. Wow. Who are his friends?
Beastie Boys closing credits? Oh, that’s their song “Egg Man”. Interesting.
I’m looking forward to episode 3. This is good stuff.
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