Watchmen: 7 Ups And 0 Downs From 'It's Summer And We're Running Out Of Ice'

2. The New 'Minutemen' Are Genuinely Brilliant

One of the greatest achievements with this first episode has been how quickly it established the new Minutemen. They're vigilantes unlike the ones seen in the original text, but all are uniquely compelling and believable, and you care about each and every one.

The core relationship in the first episode lies between King's Sister Night and Don Johnson's Police Chief Crawford. Crawford is a veteran of the force and the only figure to publicly disclose their identity while in uniform, and he's incredibly likeable (even if he is doing coke at a family gathering). Johnson sells Crawford as a man who's been through a lot and who is both tired and determined. He's come up against the Seventh Cavalry before, and while he's sick of the conflict at hand, there's a ferocity at play that sees him lead the charge when it's most needed.

King's character sees the bulk of attention in the pilot episode and she's an incredible presence on screen. The story only ever touches on her past in a brief few moments, but King is able to telegraph the weight of these events in her every action, whether she be gearing up in her uniform or savouring her time with her family in the episode's quieter moments.

It's not just King and Johnson who shine through though. Tim Blake Nelson is fantastic as Looking Glass in the few moments he gets on screen, especially in the Parallax View-esque interrogation he oversees with a suspected Cavalry member, while the other members of the Tulsa Police Department have already shown signs of promise.