# A Watchmen HBO TV Series... \[Open spoilers\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 21, 2017, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-watchmen-hbo-tv-series-open-spoilers/789546 "2017-06-21T16:21:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 19
**Author:** ![Gukumatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/74df32/32.png) [@Gukumatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gukumatz)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2019, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-watchmen-hbo-tv-series-open-spoilers/789546/361 "2019-12-16T22:04:59Z")
As for Lube Man, followers of Peteypedia got this final update tonight: > [@](#): > > Effective immediately, Dale Petey is no longer an agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and his employment by the Anti-Vigilante Task Force has been terminated. > > (Former) Agent Petey’s computer folder will be deleted from the share server in 48 hours, after which time his meandering, self-indulgent memos (he certainly puts the “I” in FBI) and ridiculous documents will only exist as hard copy. > > Let the legacy of “Peteypedia” be an example of how NOT to conduct professional electronic discourse. Moving forward, I expect to see only the most succinct analysis and most pertinent information in your folders, not exhaustive summations of television programs as if they were in any way relevant to anything, nor schematics of pornographic space-age sex toys. Understood? > > Similarly, a maintenance crew will be boxing up the contents of Petey’s office later this afternoon. Anyone interested in taking anything from the stacks of media, ephemera, and straight-up junk cluttering his workspace — multiple copies of Rorschach’s Journal, hundreds of “comic” books (why our society is still so obsessed with pirates is beyond me) and a jug of what appears to be some kind of canola oil, help yourselves. > > Let the record reflect that I have personally removed a new album by The Nine Inch Nails entitled The Manhattan Project, as my son listens to that garbage, it is rotting his brain, and it brought me great personal delight to smash this “music” into pieces. > > Finally, I know there has been considerable chatter about what happened to Petey and his recent work with Agent Blake. Let me address those matters briefly and in order of importance. I can confirm that Agent Blake has resurfaced following her disappearance in Tulsa. She is currently being debriefed at a secure and classified location due to the sensitive nature of the discoveries she made over the course of her investigations, none of which I am privy to. > > For those of you whispering that said discoveries involve hoaxes and conspiracies linked to our Commander in Chief, I will remind you all of your oaths. What matters most is that Agent Blake is alive and well and she wishes to thank those who cared for her pet owl while she was away. > > As for (former) Agent Petey, the circumstances of his dismissal are as simple as they are baffling. After defiantly refusing my direct order to suspend his activities in Tulsa and return to Washington, I had no choice but to instruct the field office there to relieve him of his badge. My understanding from Tulsa PD is that he has now gone missing. > > Given the simultaneous deaths of a U.S. senator and a prominent trillionaire, it would appear Petey has taken it upon himself to continue the investigation despite our closing it. It’s clear now from his memos that Petey (Hero Enthusiast-Obsessive / Solipsist on the Werthem Spectrum) is at risk for vigilante behavior, and most likely, always was. > > Perhaps sooner or later, this task force will be investigating him. > God help us all, > > ANTI-VIGILANTE TASK FORCE (GROUP) > DEPUTY DIRECTOR FARRAGUT > OCTOBER 1, 2019 > DALE PETEY > MEMORANDUM > Privileged and Confidential > : > : > : > : > Max Farragut > Deputy Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation ---
**Author:** ![ebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c57346/32.png) [@ebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ebb)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-watchmen-hbo-tv-series-open-spoilers/789546/362 "2019-12-17T01:17:34Z")
Importantly, if you open the PDF for this Peteypedia entry, there’s a hidden link under the words “canola oil”. [https://www.hbo.com/content/dam/hbodata/series/watchmen/peteypedia/09/memo-dale-petey.pdf](https://www.hbo.com/content/dam/hbodata/series/watchmen/peteypedia/09/memo-dale-petey.pdf) I’d say Lube Man’s secret identity is pretty unambiguous. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-watchmen-hbo-tv-series-open-spoilers/789546/363 "2019-12-17T02:12:48Z")
> [@DrCube](#): > > Oh, my headcannon for the frozen squid is that they weren’t falling out of the sky, they were _shot_ out of the sky, and so Veidt’s claim that it would be like a machine gun could be true. They sure did look a lot like hail though. There’s a lot wrong with the shrimp. Cooling them to 22 degrees for a moment wouldn’t freeze them, and making the temperature exact is bullshit techspeak. We also see constant streams of them going through Veidt’s teleporter, but in usual dumb fake suspense they fall down one at a time at first, only gradually becoming a constant rain, totally unlike the way they fell in a sudden downpour in the earlier episode. Veidt says anybody within five blocks would be obliterated, but very little actual damage was shown. The biggest problem is that he didn’t know where in Tulsa Trieu was yet managed to pinpoint her exactly, even to allowing for wind and Coriolis force effects. Ugh. ---
**Author:** ![Made\_in\_Macau](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@Made\_in\_Macau](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Made_in_Macau)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-watchmen-hbo-tv-series-open-spoilers/789546/364 "2019-12-17T10:17:14Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > There was a shot of him alone in his room playing with an Erector Set-like toy that was suspended in air, each piece moving independently. When Angela talks to him about Uncle Miami Vice dying. This was what I was referring to, but on 3rd viewing (!) the structure was hovering over a blue mat and he was sat next to a Manhattan-blue box that said ‘Manhatten’ on it so… not Topher’s abilities at all. My critical faculties clearly not as acutely tuned as many on here. MiM ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-watchmen-hbo-tv-series-open-spoilers/789546/365 "2019-12-17T10:56:02Z")
Good catch on the Manhattan tech. I didn’t see it either. (I had assumed such earlier in the thread, but wasn’t sure.) ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-watchmen-hbo-tv-series-open-spoilers/789546/366 "2019-12-17T22:12:32Z")
> [@sohvan](#): > > I was expecting Trieu to pull off a “I did it 35 minutes ago” on Veidt. She fell into the classic trap of explaining her master-stroke while there was still a chance to stop her. Because she must not be as smart as she thinks she is 🙂 Also, I didn’t mention it in my post about last week’s episode but I liked when they did a reference to this line. Something else about the previous episode: I would not be shocked if they have her character the surname Abar just to have that pun in the title of the episode. Loved this series and enjoyed the finale. Some thoughts: I am fine with assuming the frozen squid are deadly projectiles. It seems realistic enough to me as comic book physics if not real life. I don’t know if we have a second season but I could live without ever knowing whether she sinks or floats. The projectile Trieu acquired was definitely Veidt. She had no idea when he would launch so there would be no way for her to fully control exactly where it would land. Much easier for a trillionaire to just buy where it lands. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-watchmen-hbo-tv-series-open-spoilers/789546/367 "2019-12-17T22:54:32Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > The projectile Trieu acquired was definitely Veidt. She had no idea when he would launch so there would be no way for her to fully control exactly where it would land. Much easier for a trillionaire to just buy where it lands. The problem with this is that she already had the baby ready to go, that had to have taken a long time to prepare. I agree that it was Veidt but that entire situation made very little sense. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-watchmen-hbo-tv-series-open-spoilers/789546/368 "2019-12-17T23:20:57Z")
I don’t think Trieu had control over where it lands. The return trip was a ballistic trajectory, so after the fuel ran out it was going to land where it was going to land. Maybe they only calculated where the landing would be late in the process. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-watchmen-hbo-tv-series-open-spoilers/789546/369 "2019-12-17T23:24:38Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > I don’t think Trieu had control over where it lands. The return trip was a ballistic trajectory, so after the fuel ran out it was going to land where it was going to land. Maybe they only calculated where the landing would be late in the process. And then whipped up a baby for a couple who had already tried and failed to do so in no time and brought it to term and had it ready to be delivered on the very date of the crash? That makes no sense, she had to know the spot years in advance. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2019, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-watchmen-hbo-tv-series-open-spoilers/789546/370 "2019-12-17T23:50:41Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > And then whipped up a baby for a couple who had already tried and failed to do so in no time and brought it to term and had it ready to be delivered on the very date of the crash? That makes no sense, she had to know the spot years in advance. Who says no time? Maybe it was months out. Or maybe it was years in advance and she didn’t make her pitch until it was born which happened to be close to the crash. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2019, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-watchmen-hbo-tv-series-open-spoilers/789546/371 "2019-12-18T10:48:28Z")
Lady Trieu probably knew the general area where the capsule would be landing and undoubtedly had contingency plans for each of the farms in the area. Once she knew exactly where Veidt would land, she only needed to implement one of those plans. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2019, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-watchmen-hbo-tv-series-open-spoilers/789546/372 "2019-12-22T01:33:28Z")
Finally saw the finale, and I thought it was terrific. Fantastic way to tie everything together. A perfect ending… I hope they hold off on another season unless they have some really great ideas. Hard to write for characters with godlike powers. ---
**Author:** ![Smid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Smid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smid)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2020, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-watchmen-hbo-tv-series-open-spoilers/789546/373 "2020-01-06T15:55:05Z")
I liked the subtle hints of Dr Manhattan being in Cal all the time. The floating castle. Angela surviving without explanation, when she was in effect dead. When they said that Dr M. was already there, I knew who it was already. I do wonder what new information can be gleaned from watching the whole series again, with the knowledge that Sister Night wasn’t the innocent and uninformed one she appeared to be. The message on Europa stopping at a the D was a great trick too. I thought Veidt was sent to Europa as an exile, but then it appears he’s stuck there by mistake, because Dr M. has changed to be human. Seems to be a bit of a plot hole, this cleverest man in the world getting stuck there, despite knowing that Dr M., his means of escape, was gone now, by Veidts own hand. But still there’s so much in there unanswered (buying the farm to in effect get Veidt’s statue back, seems a weak spot). ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2020, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-watchmen-hbo-tv-series-open-spoilers/789546/374 "2020-01-16T22:32:48Z")
[USA Today reports](https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2020/01/16/watchmen-second-hbo-season-wont-happen-after-creator-bails/4491269002/) that because Damon Lindelof, who created the series, doesn’t want to do a second season that HBO isn’t going to do another season (presumably not even with someone else running things). ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2020, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-watchmen-hbo-tv-series-open-spoilers/789546/375 "2020-01-24T16:37:52Z")
Just a FWIW and bit of an aside … I’ve recently been streaming Netflix’s German language production “Dark” (watch it subbed not dubbed) … and either there are some big coincidences or these writers cribbed from each other. It not just that a major theme is the version of time in which the future causes the past just as inevitably as the past causes the future, but the same “chicken egg” metaphor explicitly used and the same “tick tock” ominous muttering by various characters. Still even if Lindelof cribbed some ideas the execution and novel application of them was great! ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2020, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-watchmen-hbo-tv-series-open-spoilers/789546/376 "2020-02-02T09:44:16Z")
Well, I’ll be the one to say that I think they really bungled the finale. There’s been a current of the futility of human striving going through Watchmen, with Dr Manhattan embodying that. A ‘normal’ superhero universe has a range of individuals of different powers, but in the Watchmen, all the power is concentrated within a single, god-like being—there’s not a gradation of ability, there’s a bunch of zeros, and a single one. This parallels a Lovecraftian theme—humanity doesn’t, ultimately, have any power over the universe, which is an uncaring absolute. Dr Manhattan represents that absolute—‘the world’s smartest man poses no more threat to me than does its smartest termite’. Except now, humanity can build a gizmo capable of overcoming Dr Manhattan after all. That means Veidt, in the original watchmen, simply wasn’t smart enough; if he’d built a quantum centrifuge, he could’ve taken out Manhattan. So Manhattan isn’t an absolute, compared to whom all humans are essentially nothing; a really, really smart termite can take him down. He’s on the same scale after all, just a thing with more power; there’s no fundamental gulf between him and humanity. I think that basically undercuts the whole point of Watchmen, and I’m a bit saddened that the series’ developers didn’t realize this. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2020, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-watchmen-hbo-tv-series-open-spoilers/789546/377 "2020-03-17T19:34:04Z")
I just binge watched the series because we’re getting HBO on a free preview (clever marketing team). Love the original comix and followed the monthly Usenet conversations dissecting each detail as they came out. Like the movie, not great but better than many people thought. I loved the series, with a few exceptions. Still some open questions, but that’s to be expected with anything based on the Watchmen. A good story arc, lots of interconnected strands and poignant callbacks, mirror imaging, and deep symbolism. Overall I’d give it an A-, mainly because I didn’t like the use of the Madame Trieu character or the Ozymandias plot of Europa. But lots of great new characters and a few updates on old ones. I hope there’s a season 2, but it could go anywhere from here. Jean Smart played a similar role in the first two seasons of Legion, and while she’s great in both roles I wish the characters were a bit more different. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2020, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-watchmen-hbo-tv-series-open-spoilers/789546/378 "2020-03-19T01:41:00Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Hard to write for characters with godlike powers. That was my main qualm with the show: whenever anything mysterious or weird happened, I just tended to shrug and say “I guess Doctor Manhattan used cloning or time travel or something silly like that”. I liked the Hooded Justice stuff, though. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2020, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-watchmen-hbo-tv-series-open-spoilers/789546/379 "2020-06-07T08:01:36Z")
> [@Smid](#): > > Watch The Leftovers. > Watch. The Leftovers. > Watch. The. Leftovers. > WATCH. THE LEFTOVERS. > > It made up for Lost. And then some. Started slowly with people you hate (and I liked the first season), and then became something beautiful. Suprising. Amazing. Sad. Takes you places you really wouldn’t predict. > > His large debt from Lost is repaid with that. He’s got credit now. 100% agreed. I absolutely loved _The Leftovers_ starting with the second season, and was really excited to see this, after hearing all the critical buzz. But I can’t afford to subscribe to more than one streaming service at a time, so I decided to wait for HBO Max to launch before getting a chance to binge-watch this. Aaand…wow was I disappointed! It took me three efforts over the space of nearly a week to slog through it, and I had no enthusiasm to watch any more. I think I’m out, although there are a lot of mentions of episode 6 as a stellar standalone ep, so maybe I’ll check that out. FWIW, I had not ever read the comic but went to see the movie in 2009 with a friend who was a huge fan. He thought the movie was absolutely fantastic, I did not dig it at all (although I pulled my punches out of respect for him). But then I saw that a lot of other people who loved the comic thought the movie was a misfire, so I read the graphic novel. I liked it better than the movie (hard not to), but I didn’t love it. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2020, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-watchmen-hbo-tv-series-open-spoilers/789546/380 "2020-07-28T18:21:59Z")
> **[Emmys: Netflix Dominates in 2020, With a Whopping 160 Nominations; HBO’s...](https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/emmys-nominations-2020-netflix-hbo-mrs-maisel-analysis-1234718298/)** > > The Emmy smackdown between Netflix and HBO has taken another dramatic turn. As the Television Academy announced the 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards nominations on Tuesday morning, Netflix came out on to… The Watchmen got a record 26 Emmy nominations. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-watchmen-hbo-tv-series-open-spoilers/789546.md?page=18) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-watchmen-hbo-tv-series-open-spoilers/789546.md?page=20)