And that’s a wrap.
HBO’s Watchmen has concluded with its final episode, “See How They Fly” directed by Frederick E.O Toye, and, honestly, I’m a little disappointed.
That is not to say that I did not enjoy the finale because I did.
However, compared to the incredible episodes that came before “See How They Fly” is more on par with the first few episodes of the series.
Not only this, but there are multiple things that are set up throughout the season but many of them do not pay off here.
A prime example of this is Laurie Blake, who has such a minor role in this finale, despite being hyped up in the third episode.
In that episode, Laurie’s relationship with Dr Manhattan is shown to be very important to her character, and we are reminded of this in the seventh episode when Cal is revealed to be Manhattan.
So, how do these two characters interact in the finale?
Well, they don’t.
Laurie and Manhattan were shown to be intrinsically tied together in this story and yet there is no moment where they talk.
Laurie barely even reacts when she learns of his death.
And then there is Looking Glass, who is also pushed to the side.
The only role he and Laurie have is arresting Ozymandias at the end but they do nothing to progress the overall plot.
And what the hell was the point of Lube Man anyway?
I know the Peteypedia hints at Petey being Lube Man but you don’t just put a scene into an episode that looks to be important only for it to be relegated to internet content.
Speaking of setup things not having importance, remember when that guy showed up on Angela’s doorstep wanting to see her and Cal’s kids?
He is never seen again so who was he and what was his point?
I know I am hating on this finale a lot but I do want to say that, even though I was disappointed, there are still a lot of great things about it.
My favourite part of “See How They Fly” has to be the Ozymandias scenes.
I loved his opening escape from Europa with Trieu being revealed as his daughter, like many had predicted.
By far the best scene, though, is the callback to the Watchmen graphic novel where Ozymandias catches a bullet fired by the Game Warden.
As he kills the Game Warden, we learn that Ozymandias made him wear a mask to make him cruel as his entire conflict with him was created by Ozymandias to have a worthy adversary to keep him sane, even if he does not consider the Game Warden worthy.
This is certainly not the last mask metaphor in the episode either.
Upon returning to earth, Ozymandias is dragged along by Trieu, who plans to transfer Dr Manhattan’s powers to her like the Seventh Kalvary do, but she hopes to use his powers to create world peace.
However, being Ozymandias’ daughter, she is, of course, a narcissistic megalomaniac, so cannot be trusted with such power.
Hong Chau does an amazing job portraying Trieu’s crazy side as she reveals that Joe Keene Jr. has deservedly been reduced to a puddle of gore.
I also really enjoyed her nonchalant reply to Jane Crawford saying she’s going to kill them of, “Oh, yeah. Of course I am.”
But then, Dr Manhattan transports Ozymandias, Laurie and Looking Glass to Ozymandias’ Antarctic base to “save the day.”
There, they turn the squids Ozymandias had been using to simulate an alien invasion into deadly projectiles to stop Trieu from achieving her goal.
Before this, though, we get the death of Dr Manhattan as Trieu transfers his power.
This was a genuinely sad moment but it was a little tacky, considering how off Dr Manhattan still looks.
After his death, Trieu is stopped by Ozymandias’ plan as the squids rain down and, just before Trieu is killed, a Jesus on the Cross stand falls just as Trieu’s illusions of godhood fall.
She is crushed by her Millennium Clock or, more appropriately, her own hubris.
Taking refuge in the same theater where Will Reeves sat as a child as the Tulsa Massacre took place, Angela finds her grandfather caring over her children.
Will reveals how this was all part of Manhattan’s plan and, in my second favourite moment of the episode, he explains to Angela that what he felt when he became Hooded Justice was fear and hurt, not anger, and that “you can’t heal under a mask, Angela. Wounds need air.”
The music during this moment is also exceptional.
I have to say that I really liked how this show expanded on Hooded Justice and made him a much more interesting character than the original did.
Will and Ozymandias have the best moments of the series by far.
Speaking of Ozymandias, like I said, he is arrested by Laurie and Looking Glass near the end of the episode.
Looking Glass doing this does bring an end to his arc but it was a small part given what came before.
Hopefully, if we get another season then we can see more of him.
If we do get a continuation, though, I have no idea how they are going to follow up the big cliffhanger, which leaves it up to the audience to decide if Angela inherited Dr Manhattan’s powers when she ate the egg he left her.
The final shot of Angela about to attempt to walk on water but cutting away before it can be revealed if she can reminded me a lot of the open ending to Christopher Nolan’s Inception.
As soon as I saw her foot descending to the water, I knew it was not going to show us.
Still, it is a great shot to finish the finale on, whether this is the last we see of the show or not.
Overall, I found “See How They Fly” to be a satisfying conclusion, although somewhat disappointing with its usage of characters like Laurie and Looking Glass.
However, for characters like Angela, Will, and Ozymandias the end was more than worth the wait.
That is if this is the end because, in the words of Dr Manhattan himself, “nothing ever ends.”
THE REVIEW MONSTER 