'Watchmen' Is a Worthy Contemporary Followup to the Classic Graphic Novel

HBO’s 9-episode Watchmen TV series isn’t necessarily an adaptation of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ comic book masterpiece or Zack Snyder’s 2009 film adaptation.  It’s basically intended as a sequel to the graphic novel – set 34 years after its events.  But, for me, it doesn’t feel like an official sequel.  Rather, it appears to be a reimagination that answers the question, “How Watchmen’s alt-history world would have looked like continuing into the 21^st century?”

Much of its story takes place in 2019 at Tulsa, Oklahoma, where the police have been allowed to use masks and remain anonymous following the infamous “White Night”, in which the homes of several police officers were simultaneously attacked by a Ku Klux Klan-esque terrorist organization called “The Seventh Kavalry.”  One of those assailed officers is Angela Abar (Regina King) a.k.a. Sister Night, the main character of the show.  When the police chief Judd Crawford (Don Johnson), a close friend of hers, is murdered under mysterious circumstances, she conducts a dogged investigation that leads her to uncover disturbing truths that turn everything she knows upside down.

The original graphic novel is rich with sociopolitical commentaries, but it can be argued that its thematic relevance is limited for the Cold War era.  To “update” its subtexts for contemporary times, the show opts to put a spotlight on American racial issues.  But by doing so, as what’s to be expected, it occasionally starts pushing the Left’s favorite race-baiting narratives, like “if you disagree with paying reparations, then you are automatically an evil white supremacist.”  However, this con is overwhelmingly swallowed by a ton of pros.  The series is so stimulating and gripping that I don’t care if it’s peddling an agenda on the side.  In fact, it’s such a well-written show that even the political messages it wants to convey are seamlessly woven into it.  In other words, its primary concern is not heavy-handed “woke” virtue signalling, but to tell a genuinely entertaining, thoughtful, and compelling story with genuinely interesting, well-realized characters – to make art.  That’s all I ask from liberal-leaning shows.

Watching Watchmen reminded me of watching Westworld.   It’s very puzzling at first as lots of questions are raised.  But it’s so engrossing that you keep coming back for more.  Then, everything starts making sense.  Once they finally all click into place, you are left awed by how brilliant the storytelling has been.  On top of that, the jaw-dropping plot twists provide quite an exhilarating rush.

Overall, I was blown away by Watchmen.  I thought The Boys had already got the best “smart, gritty, realistic superhero TV series” covered for the year, but Watchmen is a whole new level.  Now, I didn’t close the possibility of it succeeding with what it was going for, but I didn’t expect it to work really well.  It’s honestly a worthy followup to the original.

HBO’s Watchmen series is a completely different animal from the classic graphic novel.  Nevertheless, the former organically connects its new story and vision to the latter’s, and I love how methodical, clever, and patient it is in making those connections.  In relation to this, every retcon – and there are a couple of significant ones – is logical and convincing.

It’s a show that’s obviously intended for those who have read the graphic novel.  It won’t have the same impact and won’t totally make sense to those who haven’t.  But it doesn’t concern itself with any fan service.  If there are elements and characters from the graphic novel that show up, they are there serving a true creative, thematic, or narrative purpose.  And, yes, a couple of the original Watchmen characters – now older – do show up in the course of the series.

A fan favorite that obviously can’t show up is Rorschach, being dead.  His legacy does go on in this world, although it unfortunately comes in the form of the Seventh Kavalry, who have been donning his mask have misappropriated his writings to serve their own worldview.  However, Rorschach is engraved in the DNA of Watchmen, and the showrunners probably recognized that, in order to be legit, this show needed to have an appealing eccentric, paranoid figure like him in it.  So this TV series has police detective Wade Tillman a.k.a. Looking Glass (Tim Blake Nelson) to serve that purpose.  And he’s pretty great.

There are no announcements of season 2, but I’m totally fine if none gets made.  The 9-episode series already told a satisfyingly complete, impeccable story.  A season 2 would be unnecessary.  However, if somehow a new season gets green-lit, I hope it takes the True Detective anthology route, in which every season delivers a stand-alone story.  Maybe center one on Looking Glass.