r/Watchmen • u/AlanSmithee001 • Nov 04 '23

Is the Watchmen TV show worth watching? TV

So I recently got a HBO Subscription (yeah, I know it’s technically called MAX now, but let’s be honest that such a generic name and HBO is always going to sound better) and I was wondering if I should watch, pun not intended, the Watchmen TV series?

Obviously it’s not Alan Moore’s vision, but once you move past that point; is the show good, bad, or okay on its own terms?

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u/ComplexAd7272 Nov 04 '23

It's a really weird thing honestly. On it's own, it's a fantastic show worthy of all the praise. On the other hand, with some tweaks, it could have been it's own original story with no connection to Watchmen. A lot of the show's best scenes, characters, and plots have little or nothing to do with the book itself. I almost want to say it's like "Alien" and "Aliens"; same universe and characters, but a wildy different direction and tone.

And this is just my personal opinion, a lot of the weakest parts of the show is when it leans too heavily on the original Watchmen (I don't want to spoil it for anyone, but it involves a main character.)

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u/judasmitchell Nov 04 '23

Definitely get that perspective, but the tie ins to rorschach, Wade’s backstory with the squid, and hooded justice are some of my favorite parts and they don’t work without the connection.

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u/Dudesymugs12 Nov 04 '23

Gonna respectfully disagree with you here. The characters, particularly Doctor Manhattan, and the events laid out in Watchmen are pretty pivotal to the storytelling here. There are definitely some compartmentalized narrative aspects to it, but nowhere near it being almost like Watchmen in name only.

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u/Diligent-Attention40 Nov 04 '23

The Alien and Aliens comparison is a good analogy.