Continuing the 1987 DC Comics series ‘Watchmen,’ the new television series of the same name stars Regina King, Jean Smart, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Tim Blake Nelson, Hong Chau, Louis Gossett Jr., and Jeremy Irons as the principal cast. The show is a dystopian-superhero-drama created by Damon Lindelof for HBO, and the first of the nine episodes premiered on October 20, 2019, to a mixed response from the audience for a wide variety of reasons.
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To kick things off with the plot, the narrative of Watchmen takes inspiration from several real-life events that took place throughout American history and blends in with the fictional elements of the show. Episode 1 opens with the 1921 Tulsa race riot and replicating the actual horror that happened during the actual event we see a large number of black people being massacred by the white supremacists in a barbaric fashion. Fast forward ninety years later, the racial divide and the battle between the two groups is still a significant issue with several people donning the Rorschach masks and continuing to spread violence while planning for major catastrophic destruction.
On the other side, The Tulsa Police Department tries to track down this white supremacist group known as the Seventh Kavalry as the narrative takes us through a myriad of backstories, subplots, with new characters and dense storyline developments.
Now, as a viewer who did not read any comics related to the Watchmen (or anything else, in general), the complex narration of the show, at least for the first few episodes, baffled me with more questions than answers and kept me theorizing of what is to come next. It follows the atypical process of throwing every plot point at the wall and later ties everything together comprehensively in the final episodes, making it a rich viewing experience for the fan.
Most importantly, Watchmen is not the average laid-back television show that you can watch casually while checking your Twitter timeline. It requires your full attention inside and out for every single minute from episode to episode. Especially for the fans, the entire show is filled with several easter eggs in each frame from the comics, pop-culture, and is overblown with metaphors that incorporate a more profound meaning within the show. As a result, the overabundance of clues and hints for the next episode takes time to analyze, and for that very reason, the format of releasing one episode a week works, as binge-watching is not suitable for a show this dense.
With a narrative comprised of rich and diverse characters, the creators ensured that every crucial individual on the show had a significant part to play. While expanding the ongoing narrative, the explanation and the backstories behind certain characters had a real impact on the overall show and their motivations, rationalized why certain things are moving in a specific direction.
Furthermore, the incredible performances from the entire cast also helped the characters get a much better shine. The main ones, in particular, Regina King as Sister Knight, a mother of three, a loving wife and the main protagonist of the show, knocked it out of the park with her Emmy-deserving performance. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Jeremy Irons had some compelling characters to play alongside the rest of the cast.
More on the things that stood out, similar to the comics, the production design of the show felt very ambitious as it involved a great deal of detail and precision from the art department. Every clue and easter egg was tough to compile and highlight secretly-yet-effectively on-screen, but the show did a fantastic job in making me not lose focus visually. The background score and the selection of songs also played a vital role in the development narrative as they almost felt like an additional character on the show.
Overall, Watchmen on HBO is not an easy show to watch. It takes the complicated route of telling a story, but, conclusively, succeeds in its mission of keeping the viewers compelled and interested in what is to come. The characters had their momentous moments throughout the show, and the storyline kept getting better with each episode through and through. It is, indeed, one of the Best Shows of 2019 and paves way for many more dystopian Superhero storylines that feel authentic in their approach.
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