Take a well known entity, put your own view onto the content, that's exactly what Damon Lindelof has done with Watchmen. Not a direct take on the graphic novel itself but taking the nostalgic parts giving it's fans plenty to dig their teeth into. But this TV show was much more than just that.
Written by Elliot Lines
Tackling the depths of societies impurities, Watchmen creates a story that emphasises the problems within this world we live in and attempts to confront them head on. Something in which the graphic novel does is it dives deep under the masks, it's not about the superheroes, it's about us, the dark underlying realistic depiction of society, a feeling that Lindelof carries on throughout this show.
At the forefront of this world, Angela Abar or Sister Night, played by Regina King who is phenomenal throughout this series. Along with her are a host of strong women leads who steal the show when on screen, Jean Smart as Laurie Blake/Hong Chau as Lady Trieu, both of which provide great characters to take on this story. Along with these we have the like of Tim Blake Nelson as Looking Glass, a character you could compare to Rorschach, who's masks do get used by the main antagonists. But a stand out was Jeremy Irons as, the well known to Watchmen fans, Adrian Veidt. His story we follow is definitely the most questionable one, but by the end of it you are given a satisfying conclusion to the mind churning plot we are witnessing.
Structured to perfection is one way to put it, this series gives you everything you need to connect and follow this at times complicated story line. A show that goes down all kinds of routes to provide the little details, one example of this would be the array of flashbacks to dive into the characters past, but not always in the normal conventional way, but a clever part of the story to aid to viewing experience as a whole.
What made this show tick were how all the pieces were aligned to create this engaging show that doesn't rely on the knowledge of the graphic novel, but expects you to have that little bit of background insight on this world. Set apart from the novel, Watchmen is in a world of its own, Lindelof has created a show that is intricate, beautiful to watch and delves into the current social issues. A must watch.
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