'Watchmen' Episode 1 offers a fresh take on the racial lines that divide society and the fact that there really are no good people
Spoilers ahead for Episode 1 of 'Watchmen'
What could be common between Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1932 and Tulsa during the Redford administration in 2019 in HBO's 'Watchmen'?
How about racism, crime influenced by racism, mob justice and white supremacists sentiments? The first episode of the series created by Damon Lindelof takes us back to 1932 when a mother and father, try their best to save their son from being killed by white people during a race riot.
People are being gunned down in all directions, businesses are being attacked and there is no line of defense. So the young parents take things into their own hands and put the boy in a box, in a car on its way out of Tulsa.
The escape car has no space for adults and so the parents decide to save their son. The father writes a note on a piece of paper "Watch over this Boi" and tucks it into the pocket.
The boy survives and even grows old in Tulsa, Oklahoma, as Will Reeves (Louis Gossett Jr), but the people who drove him out of town don't.
He leaves a burning city behind and takes with him his saviors' baby who survives as well. This is reflective of the real-life race riots that happened in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1921.
Cut to the present and we have a cop pull a vehicle aside on a traffic stop. The driver is initially worried and tries his best to convince the cop, who is masked, that he has nothing to hide.
When the cop asks if he can take a look at what he is carrying, the driver refuses, and it is while he pulls out his license that the cop sees Rorschach contraband in the glove compartment.
One would expect the cop to pull his gun out, ask the driver to step outside and take charge of the scene. Not under the Redford administration though. You see, not only do cops wear masks, but they are also not allowed to carry their weapons around.
Each time they want to use their weapon, it needs to be authorized by someone in the department who buzzes the weapon out of its lock. This cop who tries to get access to his weapon is losing out on time, because of bureaucracy and red tape and in the meantime, the driver has nothing holding him back.
He gets out of his pickup truck and shoots at the cop with a rifle while wearing the Rorschach mask. Who is this man? Probably a racist farmer who has been indoctrinated by the Seventh Kavalry who are followers of Rorschach.
Why do we say farmer, you wonder? Who could have missed the reference to the murderer throwing a cabbage at the cop?
This reference is solely to show that there is no certain way of telling who is behind the Rorschach masks. It could be a farmer, a lawyer, a school teacher, any one. They are united by their white supremacists' sentiments and have now started to hunt again.
One of the fascinating details about the world of 'Watchmen' — the comics and now the show — is that there really are no good people. You cannot take the sides of any of these individuals for their just approach to dealing with crime in the city for sure.
Especially in Lindelof's world, things have taken a turn for the worse with an administration that is clearly ill-equipped to deal with hate crimes. So when we see Chief Judd Crawford (Don Johnson) investigating the cop shooting, it is clear that no one in Tulsa had expected the Seventh Kavalry to act again.
It has been three years since their last attack, so this shooting and a video that the cops have received with members of the Seventh Kavalry promising a racial cleansing in the future is the beginning of a new war.
Angela Abar (Regina King), a former detective, mother of three and now a vigilante behind a mask called Sister Night will be one of the main people to fight Rorschach's followers.
Here's where the plot gets interesting! You see, Sister Night works out of a backside of a bakery and at a time when divulging one's profession as a cop could be considered illegal, she claims to be an ex-detective who is now a baker.
Everything else about her is mostly muted to the background, and the spotlight is only on her taking action. She nabs the "most likelies" to have a connection to crimes, kicks and punches her way through to find a solution and above all, she is careful.
Her mask is not just to protect herself, but her family as well. So in a world where newspapers claim "Veidt is confirmed to be dead' when he is actually enjoying life in the lap of luxury, Sister Night can do nothing but trust no one.
In this absolutely messed up world, Crawford happens to be a friend who she can be her true self with. Sister Night is not invincible and with Crawford's death, she will break. The fight against the Seventh Kavalry will bring out her flaws while doing damage control and we have already seen a hint of that in the trailer.
The first episode also leaves us with many questions. For instance, why does the media claim Veidt is dead? Or what is Will Reeves' connection to Sister Night? These questions will be explored in the upcoming episodes of the show. 'Watchmen' episode two will air on Sunday at 9 pm ET on HBO.