10 Best TV Episodes Of 2019
3. The Extraordinary Being - Watchmen
Prior to its release, few would’ve considered that we’d be describing a Watchmen sequel in 2019 as ‘essential’, and yet that’s exactly what Damon Lindelof’s HBO series is.
It’s impossible to separate Watchmen from the controversy surrounding its source material - namely the fallout between DC Comics and the book’s writer, Alan Moore, over what he sees as the misuse of his own creations - and it was no surprise that many greeted Lindelof’s show with a huge degree of scepticism when it was first announced. DC had produced a number of prequels, sequels and adaptations that had failed to live up to Moore and David Gibbons’ work; why would Lindelof’s be any different?
Whatever doubts remained by the time the show’s premiere aired were quickly assuaged by the end of the episode. Watchmen immediately distinguished itself as a challenging and ultimately worthwhile continuation of the comic, re-focusing Moore’s superhero satire of Cold War America on the nation’s most important element: race, and the historic challenge of white supremacy.
Watchmen has and continues to never miss a beat, but arguably its greatest moment came in Episode 6, titled “This Extraordinary Being.” Directed by Stephen Williams, the episode sees series protagonist Angela Abar dealing with the effects of a heavy overdose of nostalgia - pills that enable people to unlock and relive previously hidden memories. The twist here is that it’s actually her grandfather’s nostalgia, who turns out to be the original Hooded Justice, the founding member and inspiration behind the Minute Men from the original comic.
It’s a technical and story-telling marvel, blending past and present together to deliver an emotionally devastating episode, all the while intermingling commentary on the racial dynamics of costumed crimefighters and institutionalised racism. Simply stunning.
[Words by Ewan Patterson]