HBO’s Watchmen had fans on the edge of their seats from the get-go. The crisscrossing plots led to some truly shocking moments of the “what are we watching” variety, like Lady Trieu presenting a couple with their own non-consensually lab-grown baby, and threatening to kill it if they don’t sell their property.
Tying everything up in a show with this many twists was a tall order, but in many respects they were successful. It mostly left fans with the question “season 2 or no season 2?” So here are a few reasons the finale was a goldilocks show, and a few reasons this proverbial porridge was too cold.
Perfect: Satisfying End Of The Cyclops
While the Seventh Cavalry made for decent villains, the Cyclops was more interesting. True, they ended up being connected, but that wasn’t immediately apparent. Learning about the Cyclops was one of the best reveals, happening through the trippy episode when Angela was on her grandfather’s nostalgia pills.
To see them all blasted to nothing in what they were expecting to be a moment of triumph is extremely satisfying. A minor point, though: Trieu should’ve forced them to listen to her speech. They deserved it, and the audience deserved it after listening to Keene’s.
Not Perfect: Dissatisfying End For Europa
Now that Ozymandias has abandoned Manhattan’s pseudo-babies, what are they meant to do? They have no one to serve and seem to have been programmed wrong. Manhattan made them very subservient, but they’re left to fend for themselves now and Manhattan’s not coming back.
After seeing it built up as Manhattan’s fulfillment of an old promise to people who meant the world to him, it’s a bit disappointing to see them treated like space trash. Yes, Ozymandias was already treating them like garbage, but the abandonment really takes the cake.
Perfect: Tick Tock Paid Off
Though Tick Tock was meant to be the Seventh Kavalry’s thing, the doomsday clock’s final moments were way better as Lady Trieu’s plan. Lady Trieu’s ten-steps-ahead thinking really sold the feeling that she was Adrian Veidt’s daughter, and her trick on the Cyclops was fantastic.
Her smug reveal of what happened to the senator trying to become the new Manhattan was both super disgusting and brutally honest. Of course, he would die; that’s what everyone would’ve expected to happen to Manhattan, and he was a fluke. But there’s something poetic about a doomsday clock that kills one “god” to create another.
Not Perfect: Lady Trieu’s Mom-Daughter
Aside from the issue of the mom-daughter getting left behind, it seems bizarre that Lady Trieu would really consider this to be her mother. Lady Trieu being a scientific genius would realize that identical twins have the same DNA like clones, but they’re not considered to be the same person.
So technically, she’s created her aunt, and then fed her aunt her mom’s memories. Maybe this could be chalked up to sentiment and a little madness because she wants both her parents to see her brilliant achievement, but it just comes off as strange.
Perfect: All The Identity Reveals Feel Complete
The best thing about this season was all the well-done twists that left the viewer stunned. Many of those were identity reveals, like the moment Hooded Justice’s real identity and origin is shown. But in the season finale, it feels like the viewer really knows who everyone is.
Everyone from Looking Glass to Lady Trieu and Cal (and even one last surprise of Trieu’s mother the cleaning lady). Sure, any character could technically be expanded with more backstory, but it feels like all the essential elements of the characters were brought to light, and that they completed their missions.
Not Perfect: The Squid Conspiracy Will Change Everything
If Ozymandias is arrested, they’ll have to explain why he’s arrested. This means the whole squid conspiracy will be revealed as true, and they can no longer use that as an excuse to keep people united. Given how radically the squid experience changed society and the course of history, it would obviously change everything again.
That leaves a whole new mess where everyone has to reconsider everything they know about Manhattan, masked vigilantes, other dimensions, international relations, and technology. That’s not just an extra season of plot, that’s a whole series unto itself.
Perfect: The Visuals
The sight of Lady Trieu’s life’s work literally crashing down on her before she can ascend to godhood is amazing. But that’s not the only moment that will stick with the viewer.
The squid-hail as Angela runs through the streets, the death of Manhattan, and the end of Senator Keene will be hard to forget. Ozymandias’ escape from Europa wasn’t too shabby either, as the clean white ship lifts off from a verdant green paradise and everyone gets to see the full message he wrote in the bodies of Manhattan’s pseudo-babies.
Not Perfect: Angela’s Manhattan Experiment
The ending with Angela possibly walking on water is meant to be a tease. But if Angela actually gained Manhattan’s powers, that would likely include the ability to perceive time the way he did. That would’ve been noticed right after she ate the egg, or at least as soon as the powers took effect.
Yes, he did seem to imply with their first meeting and the incident in the kitchen that he may be passing his abilities, but it seems like a stretch. He said he wouldn’t pass them without consent, but what if she didn’t figure it out and someone else ate the egg? It seems like too big a risk for him to make this true.
Perfect: Ozymandias Getting Comeuppance
Ozymandias finally gets to save the world again, only to be reminded that he’s technically the one who screwed it up. Aside from the murder of millions of people with his squid, the viewers now know that he inspired Lady Trieu. No, he didn’t give her money, but he challenged her when he should’ve talked her down.
He didn’t even check with Dr. Manhattan to see if it she was really succeeding in the future. He just assumed she wouldn’t. But it’s most satisfying to see Looking Glass hit him over the head as part of his arrest, knowing how he experienced the squid’s carnage firsthand. The various digs at Veidt’s ego, like at the newsstand, are a bonus.
Not Perfect: The Blood Teleportation Trick
Right at the pivotal moment, Dr. Manhattan pulls the proverbial rug out from under Lady Trieu by touching the blood puddle under his friends and teleporting them to Adrian’s lab. There’s a lot of teleporting going on at this point, but this one seems a little odd.
If he could teleport them by touching the blood that was touching them, couldn’t he have done the same thing earlier by touching the floor? Not every viewer is going to read the comics, so this comes off as a little confusing. It’s not enough to ruin the moment, but enough to raise a few questions.
