A seminal, sprawling and dense comic book tome about conspiracies, vigilantism, and the ends-justifies-the-means morality, Alan Moore‘s complex “Watchmen” (1986/’87) graphic novel—a deconstructive exploration on the accountability of superheroes and the perverse nature of for-the-greater-good rational—was mostly meant to be a one-off (brief plans for a prequel were shelved when Moore fell out with DC Comics). But influential I.P. rarely stays idle. Following many prequels, spin-offs and a movie adaptation— all done without Moore’s involvement or blessing— HBO gets into the game with a new series by Damon Lindelof (“Lost,” “The Leftovers,” “Prometheus“). And while the show, described as a “remix” and equally thick, confounding, and abstruse at times, suffers from obfuscating mystery box elements at first— Lindelof withholding enough information to confuse the viewer and leave them asking what in the hell does any of this have to do with Moore’s graphic novel— once this “Watchmen” series comes together, it reveals itself to be a fairly brilliant and thoughtful take on the original. It’s part funhouse mirror riff on the original series, but it’s also very spiritually faithful to its core ideas, ultimately making for an engaging and provocative reimagining sequel to Moore’s original comic. But it certainly takes a few episodes to coalesce—viewers would be better of binging it then waiting week to week—and it certainly might be a confusing sit for newcomers.
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Knowing the details of the graphic novel are fairly crucial (you’ll want to read or watch some kind of pocket histories recap at least). “Watchmen” takes place in present-day, but it’s an alternate history that spins-off from Moore’s reimagined world of 1985. 34 years later, the United States is still reeling from the events of the gigantic alien squid that killed over three million people in New York in 1985 (where Moore’s comic left off). The series, still taking its cues from Moore—Vietnam, for example, is still the 51st State of the U.S. because America won the Vietnam war— takes place in Tulsa, Oklahoma and superhero vigilantes are still outlawed. Racial tensions remain high thanks to “Redfordations”—reparations implemented by President Robert Redford under the Victims Of Racial Violence Legislation, which leads into a new avenue of race never really explored in the original comics, but still feels distinctly sociopolitically American and thus, very “Watchmen.”
Before that, “Watchmen” begins in an arresting, destabilizing fashion—since you don’t know what any of it has to do with the “Watchmen” narrative, at first—during a bloody, race riot and massacre (based on the real-life, mostly-forgotten Tulsa, Oklahoma massacre in 1921). “Watchmen” declares its intentions right off the bat in this grueling sequence of black people tortured and killed with screaming children bearing witness to these horrors: this isn’t your typical show about superheroes nor is it even immediately identifiable as “Watchmen,” (perhaps aggravatingly so on the latter point, at first). Instead of devotedly recreating comic book frames the way Zack Snyder did with his “Watchmen” movie, Lindelof’s indirect approach to the source material is much more circuitous, as puzzle pieces of the story come together like microbiological Rorschach inkblots slowly taking shape and form.
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Even though Redford as President, Vietnam, and elements of this alternate history are fundamental backdrop elements to the show, it’s the 1931 Tulsa massacre that plays out as the most historically important event that shapes the narrative. It all connects, puzzlingly to Angela Abar (Regina King), a police detective who also dons a mask and superhero handle (Sister Night) thanks to the “White Night”—an infamous incident in Oklahoma’s history, years prior, when white nationalists performed an act of terror viciously murdering Tulsa police officers and families in their sleep. Since then, the police force hides their identities under yellow masks, with detectives and higher-ups receiving full superhero costumes; all sanctioned by the state government. Much like the original “Watchmen” comic series, that kick-started itself with a murder mystery, a vast conspiracy slowly reveals itself as the season unfolds. And yes, given how much the audience is in the dark at first, this slow unspooling of this new mystery is frustrating at times.
Ultimately, with a story as intricately paced and plotted (arguably laboriously drawn out at times), “Watchmen” not only demands familiarity with the source material, but also expects the viewers to hang on every word of dialogue for everything to fall into place and make sense. And that’s potentially asking too much of the average viewer, but when it finally fuses (mostly around episode six, but it starts to take shape in eps three and four), and you begin to see the ambitious canvas that Lindelof has created his new epic on, viewers will likely fall in love with HBO’s impressive new superhero drama (fans will love the series within a series element that’s also a meta-commentary on Moore’s “Tales of the Black Freighter” comic within a comic story of the original).
Rife with modern commentary and sociopolitical texture— racism, domestic terrorism, fake news, political corruption, and more— in a world where bland superhero television series’ ride the middle of the road—see the dreck of the CW and more— “Watchmen” feels like a truly adult entry in the genre, where punches aren’t pulled and superheroes are used to spark discourse over our country’s oppressive history, as well as current issues of class warfare and more, without relying on the over-the-top violence and crude humor found in other R-rated superhero entries like “Deadpool” or Amazon‘s “The Boys.”
As Sister Night, Regina King is terrific. Asked to carry the emotional weight of many of the scenes, often covered in a mask, King makes it look easy. The aces supporting cast Tim Blake Nelson, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Hong Chau, and Jeremy Irons all give show-stopping performances in roles that have been written in a way where everyone is given plenty of scenery to chew. Introduced later in the season, Jean Smart’s FBI agent character is perhaps the scene-stealer of them all, arriving in the middle of the chaos, upending the mystery box confusion, and injecting a fiery new brio into the drama’s second half.
Directorially, filmmakers Steph Green, Nicole Kassell, Andrij Parekh, and Stephen Williams, are all able to do something that filmmaker Zack Snyder only dreamt of doing in his 2009 film adaptation of the comic book series (and ultimately failed), by honoring the look and tone of the dark, gritty series, but also making it cinematic and real without falling into full-on slavish homage. Musically, “Watchmen” packs fire too thanks to a striking musical soundscape presented by the Oscar-winning duo of Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails) and Atticus Ross. Truthfully, some of the synth-laden, industrial beats feel out of place at times, but there’s no denying the music itself is great and seethes with fury.
Like a half-read novel, “Watchmen” won’t make sense until you experience at least the first six episodes, so patience is required (six of nine episodes were given to press), but the monumental, arguably impossible, task of adapting Moore and Gibbons’ seminal comic book for the modern-day, has finally been achieved and HBO’s “Watchmen” is truly impressive. While Lindelof has been dragged in the past, quite often, for his narrative smokescreens and mystifications (the end of “Lost,” most of “Prometheus“), outside of “The Leftovers,” this bold, cracked collage about identity, morality, and the broken culture around us, political and otherwise, is perhaps some of the best of both worlds balance between the mysterious and the humane, Lindelof has crafted thus far. [B+]