Watchmen 1x08 "A God Walks into Abar" reaction & review
Added 2020-08-28 11:50:24 +0000 UTCHey everyone! Here's my reaction and review of episode 8 of Watchmen! I've been hoping for a while that everything would be laid out for us to understand, and WOW did they go in on it in this episode! We witness the whole story of Angela and Dr. Manhattan meeting and getting together. Man, if the whole "because it's happening right now" thing hasn't become a meme yet, it really should!!! :P I loved how we finally got insight about Adrian's prison-planet and how it ties in, as well as the ultimate paradox of Angela being the one who tipped off Will about the police chief in the first place! Bad news though, the jerks have Dr. Manhattan now....did they destroy him yet though, or just kidnap him? Because I feel like they just took him, and there's still hope to get him back! Can't wait to find out - one more to go! Enjoy! ~ MH
Comments
I hear you! Seeing a first loop definitely helps. LOL I love the Lone Pine Mall reference!!! XD I'm glad that you enjoyed Dr. Manhattan more here, even if there were some choices that made him less than a favorite. It really is a testament to the show that he's much more tolerable here!!!
Melissa Moore
2020-09-03 12:21:34 +0000 UTCMan, bootstrap paradoxes are a boring way of writing time travel stories. I get that this is supposed to be a kind of remix of Manhattan's thoughts on life from the original story about how the complete randomness and chaos of nature is what makes the existence of ANYONE beautiful; in the same way, it doesn't matter how events came to pass: the chicken or the egg, what matters is that they occurred and are important and yada yada yada. The only way I like bootstrap paradoxes is if you show the "first loop" at some point in the story, so you understand how it began. Otherwise it just feels like empty, "deep for deep's sake" writing to me. Lone Pine Mall forever. I feel like my reaction to Manhattan in this episode is so weird and frenetic. I enjoy watching his dialogue and confusing people with his perception of time and it's all very funny. Then something like the chicken and the egg thing will happen and I'll be like, "Oh, right. This is why I only liked two characters in the original story." But it's a testament to how good the show is that I still love it and Manhattan is at least tolerable, whereas he almost ruined the movie/novel for me :S
Derrick C. Shields
2020-09-02 20:26:50 +0000 UTCRight?! This really does take it to a whole new level! That makes so much sense about Adrian...it must feel like a slap in the face to him to watch violence continue despite the squid incident. Ah, so he really doesn't want to be just appreciated....he wants to be appreciated for his specific "genius", and the servants loving him no matter what goes against that. I thought about that, if Jon was secretly punishing Adrian!!!!! It does make you wonder! Thanks so much for all the info, I definitely have a better understand of Adrian's situation now!
Melissa Moore
2020-08-29 14:15:27 +0000 UTCWOW Kelsey!!! I just love how you put so many of these points in perspective!!! I honestly enjoy this show even more because of the thoughts you share here every week! Great point, it does seem pretty public knowledge about Laurie and Jon. So she definitely knew!!! Wow!!! That makes it much more of a tense situation then lol. That's good to know about the illustrations!! What a cool way to incorporate Dave Gibbons into this show! You make such an excellent point about Dr. Manhattan taking the form of a black man. I never even thought about that during the scene with Will!!! It makes total sense that the comfort level might be affected, especially considering what Will has seen and what Angela faces on a daily basis in Tulsa, if Jon/Cal were white. WOW, very good point that Jon was left to die by his first love as she was sadly helpless to save him, while Angela has made up her mind to save him! She knows everything about Jon and treats him normally anyway. Such an intense thought that he is scared every moment - yet also saved every moment by Angela!!!!!!! Thank you for bringing so much to my attention and putting this episode in even better perspective!!! I always look forward to your thoughts!!!!!!!!! :D
Melissa Moore
2020-08-29 14:12:38 +0000 UTCThis may be simultaneously one of the most romantic and frustrating episodes of television ever. I've heard of going the extra mile for a relationship but this is next level! Adrian really said it all. Above all else he needs to be seen as the hero. He views himself as a savior which explains his frustrations at people continuously making bombs in spite of the squids. The fact that the "servants" love him unconditionally is like his own personal hell. It doesn't matter what grand gesture he makes, it is all the same to them. And don't forget what Adrian did to Jon all those years ago. Maybe this was his way of getting back at him, knowing that Adrian would get sick of it?
Brian Settles
2020-08-28 17:46:25 +0000 UTCOkaaaaaay! Here we go! Glad you didn’t need a title explanation on this one. ;) In regard to whether Angela knew about Laurie and Jon: Remember the plane ride with Laurie and Petey? He knew about Laurie’s past from popular culture. Both Laurie and Jon had their portraits done by Andy Warhol. It would be similar to knowing who the First Lady is. Angela knew. The whole damned time. In the scene with Jon and the Bible, you mentioned the pictures. Those illustrations were done by Dave Gibbons, who did the original illustrations for the Watchmen novel. Now we come to some of the backlash from last episode and how this episode addresses it in spades. “Why is Doc Manhattan a Black dude?” Why indeed? Because he fell in love with a Black woman, who in living her whole life as a Black woman in a land where no one looks like her, needed a partner she felt comfortable to look at. Why indeed does she feel so comfortable with a Black partner? Why indeed does Will, her GRANDFATHER, feel so comfortable with a Black god barging into his apartment? Do you think that Will would have trusted Jon the same way if he arrived with a white face? Would Angela experience the same cultural and social intimacy with Cal in Tulsa, facing these racially based wars, if he had a white face? I can’t say because we don’t know, but it’s definitely an interesting and reasonable line of thought. And at last we come to Jon in Love. Capital “L” love. Because only Angela could persuade him to leave the vastness of space and return to this spinning blue hellscape. He LOVES her. But why? Because she looks at him, a god on puppet strings, who sees all of time and space at once and feels almost powerless to stop it, and says “Shut up you big blue asshole, and let ME save YOU.” Only Angela loves him with all of his complexity, in spite of it, and treats him normally. Only ANGELA, would see him and try to save him, when the most terrifying moment of his life was being left to die by the first woman his mortal body ever loved. You were right. He is afraid. Always afraid and every moment dying. And every moment being saved by Angela.
Kelsey Roberts
2020-08-28 16:55:36 +0000 UTC
