Jump to content

HBO's Watchmen series


mdmost

Recommended Posts

I was following along for the whole ride but I still don't get the Manhattan thing....like he wanted to hide on Earth?  He took over Angela's husband's body?  Or he assumed it?  I mean was there a separate person that was the host, or was Manhattan intentionally or unintentionally staying "in character" until angela yanked him out? And given all that, what's the deal embedding the atomic ring thing in the brain


I’m guessing we’ll find out the why next week but the how seems pretty obvious.

“Cal” was a synthetic human/clone like all the Crookshanks and Phillips that are with Viedt. Lady Trieu and Angela talked about how Cal had an accident in Vietnam and the resulting amnesia. The accident and amnesia story was a lie - Cal didn’t exist before that time.

Dr. Manhattan transfered his consciousness into the ring thing and used Cal as his host.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think the idea was that he was trying to live a normal life for a period of time, something that normally does not exist for him, as he is like the aliens from Arrival, he experiences all time at once. By putting that "limiter" ring into the clone he inhabited, he got to experience life again as a normal human. He may have missed that feeling, from before the "accident" that made him superhuman.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

I wonder about Lady Trieu's daughter/mother.  What is the point of bringing her back?  I don't think it's out of some love for her mom, and we don't know any reason her mom is special other than giving birth to the world's first trillionaire.

I’m sure many people would bring their parents back if they could. 
 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

29 minutes ago, A-Tex Devil said:

While the "smartest person on earth" trait would suggest Veidt is Trieux's dad, it would tie back to the comic better if it was The Comedian.  That would make Lady Trieux 48, though.  

Who is this "The Comedian" you speak of? Is that a character we've been introduced to? Is this who's keeping Veidt captive?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 minutes ago, Horns RD Standard said:

Who is this "The Comedian" you speak of? Is that a character we've been introduced to? Is this who's keeping Veidt captive?

Laurie Blake’s father - one of the vigilantes that fought crime alongside Hooded Justice and Laurie’s mom. He is murdered in the beginning of the original comics/movie. Petey addresses his relationship to Laurie a bit in the car with Angela and Laurie.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, Brandywine said:

It’s starting to get weirder and I’m getting more confused. I’m beginning to feel like I need to be a true fan of the comics to understand the characters and their past to know what’s going on. 

I'm in the same boat, but just had the graphic novel delivered, it's 400 pages of 9 panel comic artwork. Way easier to catch up than GOT

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It doesn't hurt to know the background but the showrunner says that he knows many viewers won't know the story so he didn't make it a requirement.

And every person watching is confused and that's intentional. Unlike GOT, many of the characters in the TV show are not in the graphic novel so even big Watchmen fans don't know where this is going.  The only characters that have much screen time in the movies that we've seen so far are Laurie and Veidt. Presumably Dr. Manhattan will join the show as a major character next week. There's a potential that a character named Nite Owl could show at some point but there have been zero hints at that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah it’s not like there is a bunch of source material to go catch up on. And the graphic novel and the movie actually diverge a little. For instance the giant squid was in the novel but not the movie.

I’m actually finding it has gotten better as the story has progressed. Yes, the references to modern American politics are a little heavy handed but that’s ok (and to be expected). I’m looking forward to next episode.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think the genius of this show is that people like my wife that hadn’t even heard of the movie, much less the comic, are enjoying it because she’s enjoyed shows like The Leftovers in the past.  But if you know the source material it’s even on another level of enjoyment,  while as @Nice Guy Eddie mentioned above, still keeping you confused and uncertain of what is happening next (in a good way). 
 

edited to add - the fact that we can have those familiar and unfamiliar with source material on same thread without a fucking meltdown is a miracle in and of itself. 

Edited by A-Tex Devil
Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 hours ago, Brandywine said:

It’s starting to get weirder and I’m getting more confused. I’m beginning to feel like I need to be a true fan of the comics to understand the characters and their past to know what’s going on. 

If you don't want to read the graphic novel, just spend a few hours and watch the Zack Snyder movie.  It will give you basically all of the background on the characters you need.

Apparently a lot of the "true fans" of the graphic novel didn't like it, but I thought it was great and I think a lot of people in the thread here liked it as well.

Just know that the "squid attack" from the graphic novel and that was shown in the Looking Glass episode was changed in the movie to something else, but the outcome was the same.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Js1 said:

Same. I might as well be watching a Marvel movie on quantum physics. I don’t understand it but it’s enjoyable! 

This is my take. I didn't read the graphic, but I saw the movie and liked it. I'm really liking the series. I look at it like any other HBO series. Never read Game of Thrones but I loved the show and figuring out the story's universe.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 12/5/2019 at 9:35 AM, oSuJeff97 said:

If you don't want to read the graphic novel, just spend a few hours and watch the Zack Snyder movie.

Apparently a lot of the "true fans" of the graphic novel didn't like it, but I thought it was great and I think a lot of people in the thread here liked it as well.

I’ve heard this a lot, and it sounds like it has to do with the tone and message of the movie being different from the original comics. Alan Moore viewed the masked vigilantes he was drawing as fundamentally damaged people, but Snyder makes them a bit more heroic and glorifies some of the more brutal violence they inflict on people.

I really liked the opening credits sequence of the movie and thought the casting for Rorschach was fantastic.

 

Edited by Jojen
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, Jojen said:

I’ve heard this a lot, and it sounds like it has to do with the tone and message of the movie being different from the original comics. Alan Moore viewed the masked vigilantes he was drawing as fundamentally damaged people, but Snyder makes them a bit more heroic and glorifies some of the more brutal violence they inflict on people.

I really liked the opening credits sequence of the movie and thought the casting for Rorschach was fantastic.

 

Yep. Opening credits is probably the best thing about the movie 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dr. Manhattan said he could put his powers into some organic matter, and a person could ingest that matter and absorb his powers. 

This whole season has a theme with eggs. 

He told Angela to watch the eggs in the kitchen he was making waffles, but she crushed them. 

That has to be a Chekhov’s Gun. He put his powers in an egg. Who is going to eat it and become the new Dr. Manhattan?

Angela seems too obvious. I doubt it is actually Bob Benson, I mean Senator Bob Benson. 

My money’s on Will Reeves. 

Edited by hornian
  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Veidt was being punished by the clones for trying to leave. The scene ends with the game warden bringing him a cake with a horseshoe baked into it. Veidt then starts using the horseshoe on the jail room floor, assumingly to escape and try to leave Europa. 

 

9 hours ago, A-Tex Devil said:

So why doesn’t he blow up the cannon first?  Sorry had to. 
 

That was an awesome episode. 

He probably saw what was ahead and knew he had to give himself over. 

That was some of the best writing I've seen in a show. My only issue is why did he pick Angela? Did I miss that explanation other than she was longing for family. 

And it's awesome that Veidt is a prisoner of the utopia he wanted. No one kept him there. He just got bored with the adulation he was always craving. So the game warden is the original Adam. Where is the original Eve?

Edited by mdmost
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, kevwun said:

What was the scene after the credits?

Oxy and his punishment, and how he can potentially escape. The cake makes an appearance with what I think was 7 candles. Previously it was mentioned that he disappeared 7 years from the main story timeline so the cake would represent that his story is now caught up. Sets it up that the comet crashing to earth may be him.

who eats a egg made by Dr. M? Angela, Senator Joe? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

32 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

Oxy and his punishment, and how he can potentially escape. The cake makes an appearance with what I think was 7 candles. Previously it was mentioned that he disappeared 7 years from the main story timeline so the cake would represent that his story is now caught up. Sets it up that the comet crashing to earth may be him.

who eats a egg made by Dr. M? Angela, Senator Joe? 

I don't think it's punishment - at least not from Dr. Manhattan. Dr. Manhattan just forgot he had put Veidt there when he used Veidt's amnesia device. 

Think of it as be careful what you wish for. 

I don't even think the Game Warden is trying to punish Veidt. He just doesn't want Veidt to leave the way Manhattan left. He loves/adores him so much he can't fathom the idea of being abandoned again. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

He was meaning punishment from the Game Warden and the clones. They couldn't force Dr Manhattan to stay. But yeah, I didn't even think about Veidt's amnesia device is the cause for him being stuck on Europa. It's very interesting to go back to earlier episodes and the speculation was Dr. Manhattan had punished Veidt for his crimes. No, he actually gave him the keys to paradise, which became Veidt's punishment after all. The writing on this show is so damn good. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 minutes ago, hornian said:

I don't think it's punishment - at least not from Dr. Manhattan. Dr. Manhattan just forgot he had put Veidt there when he used Veidt's amnesia device. 

Think of it as be careful what you wish for. 

This. Manhattan thought he was doing Veidt a favor. He got sick of the adoration of Crookshanks and Phillips and thought that Veidt would like it because he's the world's biggest narcissist, but he got sick of it too and wanted out but Manhattan was in the tunnel of love and couldn't get him out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



×
×
  • Create New...