What I’m Watching: Watchmen

Watchmen: Season 1, Episode 8 “A God Walks into Abar” (B+)

I didn’t fully realize the cleverness of this episode’s title until I read it again, though the far more important information to know is that this is the penultimate episode of the season, and this show, while immensely popular, has yet to be renewed. I read an article suggesting it might not return, intended as a one-season effort, but I have to imagine that HBO will respond positively to its success and insist upon bringing it back. After the shocking revelation at the end of last week’s episode, we once again got a fascinating history lesson that explained how Dr. Manhattan met Angela at a bar and saw their entire lives together while having that conversation with her. It’s mesmerizing to see how that works, especially when Angela inadvertently got Judd killed by having Dr. Manhattan, referred to from here on out as Jon, ask him how he knew that he had a KKK robe in his closet. That does beg a chicken-or-the-egg question of time travel and cause and effect since it had to have already happened for Angela to know to ask about it, but I’ll forgive that since this episode’s presentation was done so well and Jon’s abilities are almost unfathomable. Telling Angela that this was the moment he fell in love with her when she decided to save him even though he told her he was going to die was appropriately dramatic, and I feel like he probably could have saved himself if he was so aware of how he would be destroyed. I’m so curious what this means for Angela now since she was obviously hiding quite a bit and should really trust Laurie as one of the few allies that she has left. It was very enlightening to learn that the prison in which Adrian has found himself is one of Jon’s making, originally intended for good but corrupted for his evil selfishness. I don’t expect much clarity from the upcoming finale, but I do hope we’ll get more than just that of this incredible show.