This week, we are introduced to Laurie Blake who is a very intelligent bad ass. You all know her from her past relations. She tells a very long joke this week. My name is Kent, and I ask 5 weekly questions and then people answer them. Any comments in BOLD are written by me. I hope you enjoy and if you or someone you know may want to do this blog, contact me, leave a comment, etc.
1. Throughout the episode, we see Laurie Blake sending Dr. Manhattan a voice message. It was at first a joke and then a story about heroes going to Hell. What was the point of all of them being sent to Hell? Was there more to this than just a set up for the final scene?
Jim: It started as a bad joke (obvious throwback to her Dad, The Comedian) but it turns into the story of three of the Minutemen going to hell post mortem…. it’s a subtle look and the hell they’ve created with their master squid filled plan. It shows that she realizes they did what they thought was right at the time, she knows it was awful to do what they did, and that anyone who knew, would judge it as such. (From the sounds of it, the “master squid plan” had decent intentions, but the ramifications are what they are. We all do some things that we know may have bad ramifications, but we reason it out. Of course, we don’t quite go to those levels of extreme and yeah, sometimes there is hell to pay.)
Chris: It was a few things. First, it was a nod to her dad. Second, I think it was her way of expressing guilt over what happened the day the monster “attacked” and killed 3 million people. The three people mentioned, Niteowl, Ozymandias, and Dr. Manhattan were all complicit in the act or coverup. She didn’t mention Rorshach, the only one who stood up and said no. (And that was something I wasn’t quite sure about. I kept wondering why Rorshach wasn’t part of the story, but this makes sense.)
Kent: Yeah, I totally forgot that she was the Comedian’s daughter. I saw the last name, but wasn’t sure the relation. For plebians like myself, I feel that this show could try to give us a bit more about Rorshach because we know him from the film and a lot of people really liked him, but this show provides mostly negative connotations toward him. For people like me who haven’t read the books, it is a bit confusing at times. Fortunately, I do this blog and get to learn as we go.
2. Why did Blake quickly shoot the man with the explosives when she knew the risk?
Jim: I don’t buy the “I thought he was bluffing”…. I’m not sure she cared if the bomb killed everyone…. in-line with the “Do what seems right despite the potential consequences”. Also, with her disdain of masked hero’s/vigilantes maybe it was a two birds /one stone situation…. she very quickly became an interesting character to me! (I like her as a character because I can only allow myself to believe half of what she says. I enjoy a character like that. Just like how this show has many grey areas, she is like the epitome of grey area.)
Chris: I don’t think she cared if she or all those people died. Plus, she seems to enjoy shooting people in masks. (Some people like shooting clay pigeons. Maybe they don’t have them there, so she has people in masks. Does she start Purging on Halloween?)
Kent: I liked that they waited until episode 3 to unleash this character. The show keeps changing its identity every episode in how it approaches things, and I truly appreciate that. Some shows get stuck in a rut, even if it’s enjoyable, say something like SOA. This show doesn’t even know what a rut is, yet. They waited and it paid off in a big way. There are many varieties of ways to introduce a major character. Sometimes it’s so out of the blue, like Euron on GoT. DO you even remember his first appearance? Sometimes you get stories of a character like Negan and then they get their big splash. This was practically an entire episode mostly dedicated to her character and it was great. Also, kudos on making an awesome female character that isn’t cliche-ridden garbage. Too many TV shows fail to know how to write a good female character and too often the actress gets blamed. Yet nobody gives Edward Norton shit for The Italian Job. Where was I going with all of this? Anyway, The Italian Job was terrible.
3. Early in the episode, Sen. Keane visited Blake. They talked about if he became president, he could get her owl out of a cage. What are your thoughts on that?
Jim: They are dangling Drieburg (Nite Owl) over her like leverage, to get her to do what they would like…. I hope it means we see him this series!! (It seems like the tease is there for this and I am all for seeing how old he is in this. He certainly wasn’t my favorite character in the film, but it’s a nice attachment for non-readers.)
Chris: My favorite scene. At first, I thought she and Nite Owl broke up, now I’m thinking they have him imprisoned and she possibly works for them in the hopes they will free him one day. I hope he’s alive. (I think that they could have broken up but maybe she still feels indebted or attached. What I like is the number of possibilities in play. Her sometimes bitter demeanor could be explained by this very situation.)
Kent: I just knew it was Nite Owl reference which prompted me asking Jim a bunch of questions. What I did like about this is that it opened up many possibilities. Not only that, but this Sen. Keane guy is going to be a major player in this series. It’s still giving me hope that he and Judd’s wife are in cahoots together in some capacity.
4. Speaking of Sen. Keane, he talked to reporters after the funeral incident. A reporter asked about the Russians building an Intrinsic Field Generator. I know that there is some historical context here and possibly some theories about why this was important. So tell me and the readers what we need to know about this and what we could possibly expect in the future regarding the IFG.
Jim: Well, an intrinsic field generator was the origin of Dr. Manhattan, and it was a huge part of Ozymandias’ experiments (how he made his freaky cat Bubatis). Could the Russians be trying to make another Manhattan? That really only worked because Jon Osterman was first a watchmaker, and was hyper-focused on how things go together, come apart, and go back together. He used this knowledge, to put himself back together after the IFG tore him apart, and it is part of his constant focus on atomic structure, time fitting together, and his detachment from the organic chaos that is humanity. (I ended up doing an image search on Bubatis, and that is one interesting cat. In theory, if the Russians had their own amazing watchmaker, could history repeat itself? Could this result in a super-entity being controlled by the Russians? Could this be the thing that brings Manhattan back to Earth? This could be bigger than Rocky vs Drago, Red Dawn, and every other fun cliche that I could toss out there.)
Chris: The generator is what created Dr. Manhattan. My guess is the Russians are trying to replicate what created him, but it shouldn’t work. Dr. Manhattan was only created due to certain circumstances in his life that allowed him to focus and put himself back together. (I think we are going to get some kind of Cold War theme going here which could be super fun in this show down the line in season 2 or 3 if they want to explore that. Red Scare could be featured in such a story.)
Kent: While I lack the knowledge of these 2 guys, I did do some independent studying and came across this interesting article that I would recommend if you like the scientific side of things.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-accurate-is-watchmen/
5. Blake knew about Judd’s secret closet compartment. Does this change anything or add to any ongoing theories?
Jim: Sure makes it seem more like a red herring/plant…. but based off of the information from the Peteypedia, it seems he has been known within the KKK/Kalvery circle for some time. The painting/title of episode 2, is a throwback to this…. she could have just done her research like she has on everything else. It just reinforces that Laurie is not easily surprised, and there is more to come on Judd’s history. (I’m just saying that I am glad that I called my gang 9 Deuce as opposed to Kent’s Kavalry because I would some explaining to do right about now. This lady seems to have so much knowledge, and obviously, she has great resources, but she seems to be on a whole other level. Also, A Pup Named Scooby-Doo has forever changed how I think of the term Red Herring. I need to get that series on DVD or Digital.)
Chris: No, I don’t think so. I think she just knew to look because of her past life. She had hidden closets like most of the heroes did. (Was that a thing? A lot of them had hidden closets? If so, that makes total sense. I didn’t know.)
Kent: While I still believe that Judd had some Kind of Kavalry Konnection, I don’t know if Blake knows the Konnection. Who am I Kidding? Of Kourse, she did! It’s okay to replace C’s with K’s it appears.
6. Master Ozy is now launching Philips into the air. What the hell is going on here with this?
Jim: I don’t know, but it’s possibly a test to see if Dr. Manhattan cares about humanity yet. Ozy has been torching Philips’ in his play/homage to Dr. Manhattan, and now launching them closer to him, and waiting for a reply…. that is the only real thought I could take from this, or it could just be because it seems awesome…
We do know he is paying attention since he dropped a car like the end of Laurie’s joke! (Would Dr. actually acknowledge Ozy’s pleas for attention? It seems like there are a handful of people still looking for acknowledgment from the doc. From what little I know, it feels like Ozy is the last guy that Manhattan wishes to acknowledge.)
Chris: I have a feeling he’s not on earth for some reason. He clearly built some sort of astronaut suit, and in the preview for next week it looks like he tried to build some sort of shuttle. He has zero contact with the world, plus with the cakes, you can tell this is occurring over several years. (I just assumed that he had his own island, something reminiscent of the old TV show, The Prisoner. But if he’s not on Earth, even better! I like this theory a lot and it would explain a lot.)
Kent: This definitely feels more than just keeping oneself busy. Is he trying to send a message? Is he working on escaping someplace? Did he run out of resources to do something which is forcing his hand to work on a different way to do something? I know that eventually, the mystery behind all of this will have to be revealed, but I am enjoying every second of this craziness while it lasts.
7. We also met a Game Warden who took a warning shot at Ozy. Who is the Game Warden? Is he an employee or creation of Ozy or is he simply a neighbor who likes tomatoes?
Jim: I feel like he is another role played by a clone. If Ozy has feigned death, he wouldn’t so easily give his name in a letter to someone outside of his control, for fear of discovery. I think it is just another set-up, helping reinforce to Ozy that he is continuously outsmarting people.
Chris: It has to be another clone. I think his life on this island is all just a game he created to try and provide some excitement in his life.
Kent: This definitely feels like a clone to add some subtle outside distraction and drama in his life. Maybe he likes the challenge of sneaking onto his ranch to hunt? If you were on some piece of land and had to start from scratch and had the use of clones, you would eventually create some drama for yourself to break up the monotony and keep you feeling mentally sharp on how to deal with certain life obstacles. It’s like if you play a Sim City or Sims type game. Sure it is fun to create your city or life however you like, but the real fun is when something bad happens so you can react to and deal with it. If this isn’t some clone though, this will somehow be even funnier. I also hate tomatoes.
Final Thoughts – Did Blake have a blue sex toy? Will Petey include his sexual conquest in the Peteypedia? What are your initial thoughts on Petey?
Jim: it certainly seemed like the Violator 20k Manhattan edition…. but it seemed like she decided to not ride the atom, and to score a real person instead. Now I don’t believe Petey is chronicling his superheroine exploits, because it didn’t seem he initiated it this encounter, but we will see in the coming (play on words) editions of the Peteypedia.
I do like that he is not a dummy, has a firm grasp of history, and is the poster for the Peteypedia, I think. This makes me wonder how he arrives at that point, since this seems to be a post dump of information.. I’m curious what happened for him to become a government mole. He is an interesting character, and I believe there will be much more to come from him (literally and figuratively)! (I’ll just offer a slow clap in approval of everything. The Violator 20K Manhattan edition should be on sale just in time for Christmas this year, if sex toy manufacturers are smart, which they clearly are.)
Kent: While this was meant as more of a question on Petey, I couldn’t resist the sex toy scene. I immediately scribbled down some notes. As if we didn’t already have a rather extensive list of characters that I need to know more about, Petey had leapfrogger a lot of them. This dude intrigues the holy hell out of me. Plus, it is nice to have a face to the Peteypedia.
Also, the name of the episode was “She Was Killed by Space Junk” and I see the blue toy and think of Manhattan being in space and his junk and I feel that there is some significance there. Just tossing that out there. Don’t judge me.