Review: WATCHMEN 1×03 – “She Was Killed By Space Junk”
[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]
Director: Stephen Williams
Writers: Damon Lindelof
Starring: Regina King, Jeremy Irons, Don Johnson, Jean Smart, Tim Blake Nelson, Louis Gossett Jr., Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Hong Chau, Andrew Howard, Tom Mison, Frances Fisher, Jacob Ming-Trent, Sara Vickers, Dylan Schombing, and James Wolk
Reviewed by: Brad Filicky
Summary
Watchmen 1×03: This episode starts with a bank robbery, but not your typical bank robbery to be sure. Turns out it is all staged to arrest a costumed vigilante. The agent in charge of it all is Laurie Blake. A name that readers of the book may have decoded as being the one, the only Silk Spectre. Costumed crime fighting is now very much illegal. Back at headquarters Laurie gets a new assignment, to go to Tulsa and investigate the death of Judd Crawford. After an interaction with a senator (who will most likely play a part in future epsidodes), Ms. Blake is on her way. At Judd’s funeral she foils a terrorist attack in a very uncomfortable way. This does not put her in the good graces of Angela’s good graces. We also learn a bit more of why the police wear masks. Yes it has to do with the 7th Calvary. Meanwhile in England, old man Veidt continues to experiment on his clones. Spacesuits (of a sort) and dead bison play a role. Laurie tells a joke to Dr. Manhattan through the episode and a certain car makes a reappearance.
Positives
The mystery is starting to come into focus and a little less cluttered even with the addition of Laurie Blake. It’s great to see characters from the book pop up. It makes it feel more Watchmen and as such a fan of everything about the book this like putting on an old comfortable sweater. Jean Smart plays a great damaged former superhero. She revels in the complexity of a haunted woman both enamored and repulsed by her past.
Negatives
Again, a drawback is that I’m not sure how much appeal this show has to those not familiar with the book. My fears may be unfounded as there seems to be a pretty healthy buzz around it. I want people to watch and like this show. The funeral scene was bit over the top and could have been played another way and still shown the same flaws and strengths of Laurie’s character.
Verdict
What I loved about this episodes way outweighs the problems. The introduction of Laurie Blake was seamless despite being such a change of location from the previous episodes. It’s nice to have familiar characters return. Th picture is coming clearer exactly what this season is about. There has never been an adaption quite like this. I can’t wait to see what happens next.
