HBO's Watchmen series

[Bama Chick 28596]

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.

[Pato del Muerto 52625]

But somehow cal didn’t know or remember that he is drm, so it’s not as though drm has had total control of the vessel. 

[Don Johnson 4757]

Didn’t Blake mention that Cal was sexy when she first met him?  

[Don Johnson 4757]

NM

Edited December 4, 2019 by Don Johnson

[T’Boo Ted Marshall 2740]

Maybe the ring in his head was blocking him from remembering who he really is.

[bamachine 1231]

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.

[RPM 26365]

5 hours ago, T’Boo Ted Marshall said:

Maybe the ring in his head was blocking him from remembering who he really is.

Cloaking device/mind program

[Nice Guy Eddie 13528]

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.

[kevwun 15936]

Maybe Oz wants her back.

[hornian 5230]

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. 
 

[oSuJeff97 3435]

18 hours ago, Don Johnson said:

Didn’t Blake mention that Cal was sexy when she first met him?  

I think she's mentioned it multiple times.

One thing I'm wondering for next week's episode -- is the same actor who played Cal going to play Dr. M?

[Lurch 5931]

I’m going to need a flowchart

[52-80 19271]

18 minutes ago, Lurch said:

I’m going to need a flowchart

[A-Tex Devil 2464]

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.  

[Horns RD Standard 67]

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?

[Jojen 31]

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.

[Buzzrock 14950]

Cal could also have been killed in the accident in Vietnam. Real Cal might be dead.

[Brandywine 1317]

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. 

[Grade of D as in David 13253]

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

[Nice Guy Eddie 13528]

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.

[Buzzrock 14950]

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.

[A-Tex Devil 2464]

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 December 5, 2019 by A-Tex Devil

[A-Tex Devil 2464]

Ex-Cal Abar

[oSuJeff97 3435]

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.

[oSuJeff97 3435]

12 hours ago, A-Tex Devil said:

Ex-Cal Abar

Yeah.

Andy Greenwald also pointed out on The Watch podcast that "Cal" is Superman's real first name. 

And wasn't there a line in the graphic novel and movie, re: Dr. M:  "The Superman exists. And he's an American!"   

[Dark Horse 2291]

I love this weird ass shit.

[Js1 85614]

10 minutes ago, Dark Horse said:

I love this weird ass shit.

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

[RPM 26365]

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.

[Bookman 4642]

Who imprisoned Adrian Veidt? It had to be Dr. Manhattan, right? Who else could it have been?

[Jojen 31]

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 December 6, 2019 by Jojen

[Buzzrock 14950]

Who imprisoned Adrian Veidt? It had to be Dr. Manhattan, right? Who else could it have been?

Trieu is pretty smart. But I agree more likely it’s Dr M.

[FORTY NINE TO ZERO 2652]

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 

[C-Man 27285]

That was an insanely good episode. 

Just watched it. Agreed.

[RPM 26365]

Great episode.

[NOMAAA 1696]

Damn. 

[Message Board User 12396]

Be sure to watch through the credits on this one.

[Bookman 4642]

Who the fuck fired the cannon?

[NOMAAA 1696]

1 minute ago, Bookman said:

Who the fuck fired the cannon?

Assume it was remotely 

[seven 1368]

Amazing 

[A-Tex Devil 2464]

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

That was an awesome episode. 

[MillerEP 30501]

So Angela inadvertently started everything? If The sheriff didn’t get killed by her tipping her grandfather the senator wouldn’t have taken over the local cyclops group right? Presumably they were still working on the stealing of Dr Manhattan’s power though.

[NotActuallyALonghorn 4979]

Halfway through it, but no mention of the excellent pun in the episode title? Y'all are slacking. 

[hornian 5230]

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 December 9, 2019 by hornian

[kevwun 15936]

What was the scene after the credits?

[mdmost 43059]

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 December 9, 2019 by mdmost

[Nice Guy Eddie 13528]

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? 

[hornian 5230]

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. 

[mdmost 43059]

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. 

[ATLLonghorn 857]

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.

[Dark Horse 2291]

I really enjoyed the episode, and thought I would head over to Reddit to see what people thought. Man, there are a lot of people that really don’t understand Dr Manhattan and his powers.