This week, we meet Lady Trieu and Bian. Will and Trieu have some kind of deal that may involve secret pills. Ozy is harvesting fetuses and experimenting. 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. We meet Lady Trieu this week. What was the comet looking thing that fell from the sky early on that Trieu supposedly owns? Any idea about what purposes her big tower will serve? Will a direct nuclear blast hit it at some point?
Jim: It could be something Manhattan sent to earth, but I felt like the opening scene was the past, and she built her tower and factory there…. it’s possible whatever it is, is powering the tower/clock, or was used to build the clock. I think that a blast or equivalent will hit the building at some point, since she went out of her way to say it. (The fact that she was so specific about the nuclear blast seems to make that an inevitability. Otherwise, why say it?)
Chris: It’s hard to tell given some things are happening at different times, but, based on my theory from last week, I think that’s Ozymandias landing after escaping his prison. (I love this theory. It would make a lot of sense and add some more intrigue. She says that she owns it, so that also makes for some interest for me.)
Johnny: I’m at a complete loss as to what the meteor is. Perhaps something from Dr. Manhattan? (If it isn’t Ozy, then Manhattan would seem to be the next likely choice. I have one other idea that is very unlikely, but it could be slightly possible.)
Kent: My first thought was that it had something to do with Dr. Manhattan. The Ozy thing sounds awesome to me. I’ll toss out the idea that it has something to do with the Russians. Have the Russians already made their own version of Dr. Manhattan and kept it secret? It’s not a sexy theory, but it could work if they wanted to do more with the Russians. I’m still not sure about that. If it was the Russians, could the big tower go hand in hand with that? And yes, at some point, a direct nuclear blast seems likely.
2. Angela said that Topher did see the man get shot in the head. This kid appears to have powers. Any thoughts on why he has powers and what they may be?
Jim: I felt like the powers she was talking about was his ability to deal with the trauma that others seem to have difficulty dealing with. With the exception of Dr. Manhattan, no one in the world really has powers, just wears the mask to hide their identity while doing whatever they do.
Chris: Well, as far as I know, anyone on watchmen who actually has powers was not born with them. Maybe he had some accident that messed with his head?
Johnny: I don’t believe Topher has powers, but more so Angela was just trying to get Topher to accept the fact he saw a traumatic event and needs to process it rather than suppress it away.
Topher said he didn’t see him get shot when Angela knows full well he did see him get shot.
Kent: Damn, I was hoping that we would get a lot of cool powers theories here. What the guys are saying is probably correct. It makes a lot of sense, but I don’t have to like it. So I think he has some powers, maybe a bit of telekinesis. Maybe he has a bit of Professor X in him. As we all know, X Gon Give It To Ya.
3. Bian woke up from a dream about being in a village and men burning it down. Then she was made to walk and her feet still hurt. Trieu acknowledged it but wouldn’t help her back to bed. What is the significance of this scene, if there is any?
Jim: I think she is an exact clone of Trieu, recalled memories and all. Trieu seems old enough to have been a child during Vietnam. In the world of Watchmen, the Vietcong ended up worshiping Dr. Manhattan as a God after he won the war for the US. The scene doesn’t have direct significance, but rather seems to add to her character and maybe start to point to her motivations… (Good info there. I feel like I learn about 7 new things per blog. The actress playing Trieu was born in 79, and I know that it doesn’t have to directly correlate, but just tossing out some info.)
Chris: She’s got to be a clone of someone. She’s having memories from the Vietnam war when Dr. Manhattan came in and wrecked them. Maybe she’s a clone of Trieu’s mother or grandmother? (I think that the mother or grandmother theory makes more sense given Trieu’s age. That then makes me wonder why she chose them as a clone. Everything she does seems very calculated and purposeful.)
Johnny: It’s, of course, very vague yet detailed. I do know in the original story Dr. Manhattan and The Comedian were two of the main Watchmen who were in Vietnam. Part of me wonders if there’s some connection there. But I do still feel it’s a little early to tell. (There we go, teaching me more info. So if the Comedian was there, that opens up plenty of interesting possibilities that excite me.)
Kent: I’ll be honest. Anything that was I was going to say was pretty stupid compared to what these guys wrote. I’ll just say that the clone aspect makes sense and I hope that we learn why she chose that particular person to clone. I love these small seeds that they plant in the show.
4. Lady Trieu and Will have a deal in place. What kind of deal do you think they have made? Was Trieu involved in Judd’s death? Did Will use a drone to lynch Judd?
Jim: Trieu and Will’s deal seems to involve whatever her master plan is…. I’m not sure if she is the “villain”, or if it’s Ozymandias yet. I know Will and Trieu we’re responsible for Judd’s deal, and their plan somehow involves riling up the 7th Kavalry…. I don’t know if Judd was part of the plan, or a casualty because he was getting close to stopping the Kavalry. I think the drone was used, unless the Pills have something to do with it. (Well, the other guys seem to think the pills give Will some extra strength. Also, I guess that is a much easier pill to swallow than to maneuver a drone to lynch a man. The visuals in my head of the drone doing it makes me laugh a lot though.)
Chris: Maybe she enhanced him in order for him to help with her project. As far as the drone, I’m not sure since, apparently, Will is not crippled… (This is one of those fun “is he or isn’t he” scenarios regarding Will.)
Johnny: I think Will has it out for the 7th Kavalry and is working with Trieu to stop them by any means, those pills he’s taking gave him the strength to do the job himself. “The job” meaning hanging Judd. I do believe the drugs are provided by Lady Trieu to give Will his temporary powers. (The pills make a lot of sense. I wish I had thought of it, but I admit that I didn’t. And it makes sense to have it out for the 7th Kavalry, almost too obvious. I am missing way too many obvious things in this show.)
Kent: Every week, I have to double-check the spelling of Kavalry. By the end of the season, I am hoping that we all get it right. I am fully on board with the pills helping Will lynch Judd. It all adds up and makes the most sense after reading everybody’s thoughts. While everything Ozy is doing intrigues me the most, I have to say that the mystery and truth about Judd is possibly the best plot of the whole show. Why does Will have it out for Judd? Judd was close friends with his granddaughter. Was Judd plotting something? We have kinda looked at many Judd theories and I think maybe he was on the verge of harming Angela.
5. Any thoughts on who the silver vigilante is and what purpose he may serve?
Jim: It looks like it could be Petey, but somehow I just think it’s someone else…. no reason, simply gut-feeling. Whatever ultimate purpose I don’t know, but he was directly spying on Sister Night. The only reason I felt like it could have been Petey, is that Laurie made the comment about the wheelchair, which means she’s checking up on Angela. (The wheelchair part of it really solidifies it for me.)
Chris: I want to say Petey because of the build and his superhero obsession, but I don’t know. (The superhero obsession is also a good point.)
Johnny: I think it’s safe to say it’s Petey. (Yeah, it probably is. If this was a test, I’d be failing.)
Kent: I guess Petey does make the most sense. Once again, I didn’t even consider him. It’s like I didn’t even pay attention to the episode. But I swear, I have a page full of notes. Actually, closer to a page and a half. Maybe I need to start rewatching. This seems fairly obvious in hindsight.
6. I saved my favorite part for last, Ozy’s scenes. We saw how he traps fetuses and turns them into Philips and Crookshanks while listening to Reggae and eating cake. Perhaps the most interesting revelation of this whole scene is Master revealing that he was sent to this place 4 years ago and judging by the preview for the next episode, he is ready to try to catapult himself. Who put him there? Where is he currently? Did he build this whole thing from nothing? Does he want to escape for his own sanity or to start something else? Is he going to want his company back from Trieu?
Jim: I’m starting to believe he was not put there, or self sequestered himself and now has changed his mind. The Fetus harvesting and growing scene was crazy, as of all the ways we imagined him cloning, that was nowhere near the way anyone imagined.. we now know what he was using the dead Phillips’ for…. further cannon fodder (literally and figuratively). Between the suit, the catapult and its testing, it’s clear he is trying to escape beyond the invisible wall…. whether it’s to retake his company or not I don’t know, but he is clearly determined and focused to escape. (I thoroughly enjoyed the cannon fodder line. Well done.)
Chris: I still think he’s on Mars or the moon. He keeps launching things into the sky and testing the atmosphere. I think he wants to escape because he’s bored. Either that or he looks at it as a challenge. (I think he can be bored and needing a challenge. It’s like when you are really good at a video game that you keep bumping up the difficulty but you continue to beat it. Ozy is playing his own interactive game, with fetus harvesting as a mini-game.)
Johnny: I feel Adrian is where he wants to be by his own accord. Adrian has always been one to want to expand his knowledge. I feel he thinks the highest form of being is Dr. Manhattan, so therefore he wants to be or make another fully realized Dr. Manhattan he can control himself. I believe that’s what he’s doing with all the male clones he’s murdering in various different ways. He’s hoping to replicate John Osterman’s transformation into Dr. Manhattan the same way with Mr. Phillips. But, of course, he is failing miserably. Perhaps him shooting them up into the atmosphere via catapult is a big middle finger to Dr. Manhattan in hopes to entice a response to the God-like being. (Huh, this is a very interesting take. When he does the plays, I wonder if he is trying to replicate or test new techniques to create a new Dr. Manhattan. That would all be pretty fascinating to me.)
Kent: I am hoping that someone put him there. I get it, it seems like he did it all on his own accord, but who would have the power and ability to place him there? Could Trieu have banished him to this place? I say, sure why the hell not? I like being wrong all the damn time.
Final Thoughts – At the very end, “Tick-tock” was said. This is a phrase that seems to be used a lot in this universe. Is this simply a common phrase there or is there a much huger conspiracy or plan at work?
Jim: The clock comes from the doomsday clock, and as the world tensions rise, it’s always moved closer to midnight (the end of the world). It was a huge theme and tone of the book, and I am sure it matters here, between the Kalvery stealing old watches to get lithium batteries, to the building tensions threatening the country. It’s somehow tied to the “clock tower” Trieu is making as well, but they have done a masterful job just giving us enough information for uneducated guess what she is actually doing. This is the reason I’m starting to think of her, not Ozymandias, as the primary “villain”. I’m sure she is trying to make a “Stronger, Loving World”
I don’t own the rights to this image. We are simply using it for review purposes only.
Johnny: I think it’s just in reference to the doomsday clock, they believe they are in end times with all the insanity afoot.
Kent: At least they aren’t referring to the Tik Tok app. Once again, I didn’t consider the Doomsday Clock and simply felt that it had more to do with Trieu’s tower. It will be interesting if Ozy has a redemption story arc of sorts and Trieu is the big bad. But, as has been pointed out numerous times in these blogs, most of these characters exist in varying shades of grey as opposed to a clear cut hero and villain. All I know is that we are Islands In The Stream.