Watchmen The Series 1 × 08 [Spoiler]

I state: there will be huge spoilers, both about the ninth episode and about the plot in general (as it is for every episode of this weekly column). Structurally there will probably be a big mess, I announce it here, as this is one of the most mind-breaking episodes of the series. If you missed the previous episodes of Watchmen, you can find them here.

Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3, Episode 4, Episode 5, Episode 6, Episode 7, Episode 8, Episode 9

A God Walks into Abar

While Angela "enjoys" a fantastic anniversary of being an orphan, a strange subject approaches her inside a bar. The two talk and the man, none other than Doctor Manhattan, tells her about his life. So we can summarize the whole episode 8. The narrative structure of this set of easter eggs will therefore be… strange.

The beginning of Watchmen presents us with the change of color of the neon that has accompanied us so far, from a bright yellow to a manhattan blue; interesting how the doctor wears a suit and tie when he returns from earth, just as he was when he left it. He arrives in the same bar where Angela went during her childhood (we see it in the seventh episode, same graffiti) and, paradoxically, the bar is called Eddy's Bar. Eddy is a diminutive of Edward, or edward Blake, the comedian, who as we see in comics and books, he is attacked in this bar by a Thai woman and kills her, in the indifference and helplessness of the doctor. It is therefore interesting to note how the title "A God Walks into Abar" is very similar to a popular beginning of jokes (a guy walks into a bar - ndt) and that the bar in which the events narrated in the episode take place is a bar that we met thanks to the Comedian, a comedian. On background, Rhapsody in Blue.

Jesus Christ Superstar

The history of Manhattan passes through several stages, including the creation of life on Europa, a Jupiter moon. It is interesting to note that also this time the background recalls blue with The Blue Danube and how what we see is related to our history and the Watchmen imagery itself. Jon walks on the water recalling the figure of Jesus and also recalling the last page of the Watchmen comic, while he creates life from the water, recalling the evolution of the species. Another very quick flashback takes us to the childhood of Jon, a child on the run from Nazi Germany.

It cannot be said that it is the first time that we see someone fleeing a thorny situation: Will Reeves himself escapes, in the first episode, from Tulsa during the Black Street Massacre; references to Superman have been wasted throughout the series and even Jon is running away right now. Some of the scenes we see immediately after are clearly taken from the comic, such as that of the father, watchmaker, intent on checking components.

Twisted fate

The little Jon who observes the two owners "create life" inside a closet is the representation of biblical original sin (it is no coincidence that a bible is given to the young man shortly after), also motivating Cal's sexual tastes as a human ( we notice how more than once the two have relationships in a closet. Inspired by the bible he received as a gift, Jon will probably build his image of God.

Small side note; during the seventh episode I forgot (yet another) reference to the Superman movies that we see in this series: I'm talking about Superman 2, where Clark decides to lose his powers in order to be with Lane. The whole episode revolves around this plot, developed in the present, past and future, exactly how Jon sees the world - simultanously here, in Europe creating Life and in the future.

Tunnel of Love prepares us for what we are about to see: a tunnel, a straight and immutable way towards the end. We observe how the relationship between the two evolves, grows and meets exactly the same problems that Jon already knows without him or Angela being able to do anything. Keep this little clause in mind because it will help us motivate the entire ninth episode.

Ozymandias the Great

Jon then visits Adrian Veidt in Siberia, where we left him at the end of Watchmen. On the bottom we can see some details on the destroyed greenhouse we see in the comics; Veidt is intent on observing humanity, always with a poorly functioning remote control and the multitude of televisions. Here we notice how Adrian is preparing his plan towards the future: the squid materializer is almost ready! On the bottom three different clocks (always look at the clocks) make us understand that we are not near the end.

The lines of dialogue prepare us for the ninth episode by revealing that Trieu is clearly Adrian's daughter, as the fifth episode had predicted; Irons also gives us a clear quotation from BBEG, with a "I made it thirty years ago"Is a repetition of the line"i did it thrthy-five minutes ago“, Speech Adrian gives to Dan and Rorch in Siberia.

Gran Finale

The use of tachyons had already been used in the comic to shield Ozymandias from Jon's talents, as well as explaining why the seventh cavalry is looking for so much (all material for the ninth episode, of course). Veidt's computer is the same as the one we see in the comic and in the film, while on the table we can see some action figures already seen. In the background a huge painting of Alexander the Great, which explains why Adrian tears are on his face as he is teleported to Europa. Alexander the Great was in fact sad to know that there was no more unknown and conquerable land, which is why Veidt, who is a figure of the conqueror, weeps for joy in knowing he can conquer a moon.

The part in which Jon fights the Cavalry will not have escaped Matrix fans: the parallelism with Neo is practically self-evident; on the contrary, do you remember when Blake complained in Manhattan that he was watching while he killed the pleading girl in the bar during Vietnam? All that talk explains why the episode ends with Jon's capture. Manhattan can turn people into dust and walk on the surface of the Sun, but it is simply a puppet who can see the threads that pull the limbs.

That's all for the eighth episode; as I said this episode has received a particular structure in that trying to assist the easter eggs with the scenes was practically impossible. If you have found other references in Watchmen, write it below!

Last but not least, before the grand finale, I would like to thank a site that, during this episode, was of fundamental help to me, or Screencrush. Without these guys I wouldn't have been able to summarize the various Easter eggs so well during all the episodes.