​"Martial Feats of Comanche Horsemanship – Watchmen S01E02 Review

Well, that was fun. I have no idea what it means, but it was fun.

I have to imagine what someone watching this who isn't familiar with Watchmen thinks of the whole thing. And even some who do. There's not much of anything to connect this TV series Watchmen to the comic book and movie. I suppose that means it's good writing and world-building on the part of Damon Lindelof & Company.

And there's not really much that makes sense in "Martial Feats of Comanche Horsemanship". We get an odd opening set in World War I, which serves primarily to establish the origin of the paper Will Reeve's (Louis Gossett Jr.) note from his father was written on. Angela easily arrests him, and Will engages in some banter with her, suggesting he's Dr. Manhattan and saying he's the one who strung Judd up from a tree. Despite the fact Will is 105 years old and stuck in a wheelchair.

Angela dons her Sister Night costume and drives to where Judd was strung up. Red Scare and Looking Glass are there, and Looking Glass (Tim Blake Nelson) is my favorite character of the new series. If Rorschach had a Texas accent, wore a silver faceless mask instead of a Rorschach-pattern mask, and was a cop, he'd be Looking Glass. Looking Glass, Red Scare, and Sister Night lower Judd's body down. And we get a flashback to the Christmas Eve that the Seventh Kavalry (7K) attacked policemen throughout Tulsa on "White Night". Angela survived as did Judd, and we see the origins of the policeman-in-mask conceit that fills the series.

We also get some other odd bits. Andy (Jim Beaver) is the grandfather of Topher, Rosie, and Emma, and is also apparently a 7K sympathizer if not a member. However, Angela easily buys him off when he insists on seeing his grandchildren. We also find out the three children were the children of Angela's partner, who was killed during White Night. So Angela and Cal adopted them.

Angela checks Will's DNA and takes it to a Cultural Heritage museum/memorial. Which is dedicated to reparations for the Tulsa Massacre survivors. Said massacre being the one we saw last episode. She learns Will is a descendant of the Massacre and Angela's grandparent. Then as she takes Will to the police station (having kept him at her bakery), an airship magnetically takes away the SUV containing Will while Angela looks on helplessly.

Also, Adrian's servants put on his play, The Watchmaker's Son. Mr. Phillips plays Jon Osterman and is incinerated. Another Phillips takes his place as the blue-skinned Manhattan, while the old Phillips' corpse is hauled away. So... clones? Adrian is still unnamed, but we all figure it's Adrian, right?

We're also introduced to Senator Joe Keene (James Wolk), who is a bit pushy and might know that Angela is Sister Night. Keene will play a bigger part in the episodes to come, judging from the previews. Angela also finds out Judd kept a KKK robe in a hidden closet in his bedroom.

There is also an apparently unrelated scene where a newspaper vendor sells tabloids to a woman named Bian (Jolie Hoang-Rappaport), and asks Bian if "she" reads all of his conspiracy-type tabloids that he sells to her. It's not clear if he's talking about Bian, or Bian's unnamed employer.

And we see the episode of American Hero Story that reveals the first crime-busting case of Hooded Justice (Cheyenne Jackson).

"Martial Feats" is weird but entertaining, based on the strength of the performances and the script. There are lots of philosophical questions here. The Watchmen universe has racial reparations, but they haven't lowered racial tensions. If anything, reparations seem to have brought racial tensions out: the 7K is more powerful than real-world white supremacy groups, and the KKK is apparently alive and flourishing.

Since the story doesn't make much sense yet because there are a lot of pieces missing (like... what the heck is Adrian up to?), that leaves it to the actors to portray their characters without knowing what the heck they're portraying yet as far as backstories. The series can't use the narrative structure of the comic books, so we don't "see" the origins of anyone except Angela. Jeremy Irons plays Adrian with a maniacal glee. Nelson portrays Looking Glass as a weird Rorschach-like loner, and Louis Gossett Jr. seems to be having a ball playing the enigmatic Will, hinting at his "friends in high places" who swoop in at the end from a high place and lift him away.

I remain intrigued by Watchmen. Is it the comic book Watchmen? No. But as I noted in last week's review comments, I'm not sure that there is a story to be told from the end of the comic book. Silk Spectre and Night Owl go undercover (although FBI agent Laurie Blake, who shows up next week, is probably related). Ozymandias got away with his scheme, sort of. Dr. Manhattan is on Mars. Rorschach has inspired a right-wing cult. The Comedian hasn't been mentioned yet as far as I've noticed. DC's attempts to continue the story in their current Doomsday Clock maxi-series is steeped in DC comics lore which the TV series couldn't do. As such, a "ten years later" approach with lots of Easter eggs is probably the best Lindelof & Co. could do.

Plus, if they had tried to recreate the comic book, I suspect they never would have made people happy. If you don’t have Watchmen creator Alan Moore writing it, it ain't going to be Alan Moore. That's how Alan Moore rolls. The TV series is unique and original, but I don't think it had a choice, and if it tried to be just a "Continuing Watchmen story", it would have failed by comparison.

But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. What do you think?