Stanko's Stance

Mike Phillips and I broke down the first episode of HBO’s brand new show, Watchmen.

We touch on the beats of the show, our overall impressions, and the obvious style of show-runner Damon Lindelof.

https://soundcloud.com/user-427130326/75-watchmen-premiere-recap-with-jon-stanko

Just a couple things that we didn’t have time to touch on during the episode:

• The obvious homage at the end of the episode with the blood dropping on Judd’s badge. It’s a direct connection to the blood dropping on Edward Blake’s, AKA the Comedian, smiling pin in the graphic novel. Fun fact that makes it even better; the Comedian referred to that smiling pin as his own “badge.”
• The technology in this world is different. There are not a lot of overhead street lights. The cars appear to be electrical (which was hinted at by Dr. Manhattan in the graphic novel) and there are no cell phones; just pagers.
• The transitions between certain scenes were fantastic, but none better than the swap between 1921 Tulsa, OK and then present day. Staying on the same street, a young Will Reeves just simply turns around and we have the giant “Watchmen” text blocks signifying the start of this latest edition/chapter of the story. Then the music hits, and staying on the same street, we are immediately thrown into the fear that the modern black man feels after having just seen what the previous generations of minority had to deal with.

Be sure to listen to Mike Phillips and follow all the content he creates for his “Just End The Suffering” podcast and blog.

Watchmen airs on HBO every Sunday at 9 p.m.