Watchmen – A God Walks into Abar Review

We’ve had a lot of time travel stories over the past few years, and almost all of them fall apart at some point in the narrative. But “A God Walking into Abar” might be the first that actually holds up all the way through while also giving us its own take on the grandfather paradox.* Not too shabby for an hour of television. And let’s be frank: Attempting to deal with Doctor Manhattan’s nonlinear existence is not an easy thing to do. The Watchmen film largely ignored this aspect of the character (which, in the grand scheme of things, is hardly the biggest sin of that particular production), so it was pretty shocking to see Damon Lindelof and Jeff Jensen tackle this tricky storytelling hurdle – and succeed so well.

*Yes, I know this wasn’t an actual instance of the grandfather paradox, but it was a heck of a fun wink at the concept. One of the major questions following Angela’s trip into her grandfather’s memories was just how Will knew about Judd’s Klan robe and his work with the Seventh Kalvary. Well, turns out Angela willed that particular murder into existence by communicating with the past. A hell of a twist made even better by allowing the audience to figure it out right when Angela does. I will fully admit to exclaiming “Oh my god, it’s your fault, Angela!” at the exact moment the ball dropped for her.

This episode unfolded much like an onion, peeling back layer of time from layer of time, exploring the story of Angela and Jon via flashbacks and flashforwards – which were technically concurrent moments in time for Doctor Manhattan – only to end the episode by putting all the layers back together. If that simile is a tad confusing and doesn’t quite work, well, that’s the closest I could come to explaining the monumental task undertaken by Lindelof and Jensen with this episode. To have an hour of television that takes you through a series of moments at various times while still having them overlap enough to tie up nicely in a little bow at the end, well, that’s nothing short of amazing. And everything about “A God Walks into Abar” worked perfectly from a narrative perspective.

We learned more about crucial elements of Angela’s past (namely how she and Cal survived the White Night – Jon managed to override his chip when his life was threatened). We found out why Europa has a complete English country manor on it – and why Veidt has been stuck there for years. And we were told a bit more about just how Doctor Manhattan functions – while seeing that he’s more human than anyone (including his ex, Laurie) has given him credit for throughout the series. Sure, Doctor Manhattan is a god among men, but he hasn’t lost all of his humanity. He still experiences the terrifying fear and pain from when he was transformed into the blue god, he still desperately longs for someone to love him for who he is inside and not for what he can do, and he still wants to help those he loves. He knows leaving the house and facing down the Seventh Kalvary will lead to his death, but he does it anyway to help Angela (and because he knew he would, even if Angela was still unwilling to accept the fate Jon knew was coming for him).

We’ve spent weeks watching Veidt, the smartest man in the world, play god at his country manor. We’ve heard his tale of how he dropped a giant psychic squid in Manhattan to kill 3 million people and prevent the Cold War from turning hot. We’ve seen how little he thinks of the humanity he went to great lengths to save. Now we’ve had a chance to watch how an actual god interacts with the world around him. How he opted to leave his self-imposed exile to come to Earth to spend ten years in the tunnel of love with Angela, knowing that it would end in tragedy. He was willing to sacrifice himself for the chance to love – the most human of emotions. Everyone on Earth fears the powers of Doctor Manhattan, but it’s really Veidt who is the danger to the world and those around him. When given immense power, Jon may have taken several decades to get it under control and balance his emotions with his new status, but he did it. Veidt, on the other hand, well, I think it’s safe to say that his time on Europa has only brought out the worst in him.

And then there’s Angela. While most of the episode focused on the life and times of Doctor Manhattan, it was just as focused on how he has impacted her life. She’s known, if not always on a conscious level, that her life was counting down to tragedy. She has ten years with the man she loves (albeit, a slightly more human version of him). She knows they will have a family. She knows they will be happy. But she knows it will all end. No wonder she’s on edge the moment it becomes clear that the Seventh Kalvary is back in action – she knows the clock is ticking down to zero on her happiness and everything is about to change. That’s a pretty damn terrifying way to live, yet Angela still manages to kick ass and take names while living under this cloud of uncertainty.

So, here we are, on the edge of the season (possibly series) finale of Watchmen. Doctor Manhattan has been neutralized. Laurie is out of commission. Angela is in no position to save anyone or anything. Veidt is still on Europa, digging his way to freedom. Lady Trieu is about to start her clock ticking. Wade is, presumably, hiding out in the Seventh Kalvary stronghold wearing a mask. And Will has the Abar kids in a theatre. Things aren’t looking great for our heroes. But, then again, I don’t think any of us thought this would be a happy story.

Final Thoughts:

— While we were given the clearest explanation yet for just what is going on in Veidt’s story arc, we still have plenty of blanks that need to be filled in. Was the trial/presumed escape from prison just something fun Veidt sets up for himself to keep him on his toes? Chekhov’s horseshoe appearing again, when he needs it this time, certainly makes that seem likely. But then why put the message on the surface of the moon when the satellite appeared if you didn’t want to be rescued? If Keen manages to become a blue man, there’s every chance he could rescue Veidt from the moon with his new powers. If Lady Trieu sees it, she has the tech to get to him – albeit not for years. Then again, there’s the mysterious statement of Trieu’s from last week – her father isn’t there, yet. Might Veidt somehow factor into this?

— Will’s knowledge of Angela in the early episodes makes a great deal more sense now that we know he had a chat with Jon ten years prior to the start of the series. Angela’s desire to figure out all his mysteries also makes more sense: This man knew Doctor Manhattan was on Earth and looked human. If he knew that, everything Angela had was potentially at risk.

— Tip of the hat to Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, who pulled double duty this week as both Doctor Manhattan and Cal. It’s a hell of a performance, and everything about Abdul-Mateen’s version of Doctor Manhattan made it clear why Angela would fall in love with him. It would have been easy to make the character cerebral and cold, but there was an undercurrent of warmth throughout the performance that made Angela’s attraction to him make sense. Great work.