This week, Angela is connected to an elephant, Blake falls for the old trapdoor in living room gag, and we learn that Dr. Manhattan is on Earth inside Cal. It was a brilliant episode. 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. What’s up with the elephant? That is the actual elephant in the room, well that particular room at least.
Jim: The first thing I thought of, is that an elephant never forgets. I’m surest of the show’s pseudoscience is based around that phrase. I am only assuming since it doesn’t forget, it grabs the nostalgia memories like a dialysis machine does toxins. Not what I expected to see though. (That is partially where my mind was going with an elephant being the best vessel due to size and possible some other attributes. I think I will be disappointed if it is as simple as “an elephant never forgets” unless they can make me laugh.)
Chris: Well, who on earth would have predicted that? Elephants must have something in their DNA that Trieu needs to treat nostalgia overdoses. After all, an elephant never forgets. (I would be beyond impressed if someone had predicted that, and I definitely wouldn’t believe that person for a single second.)
Kent: The safest assumption is with elephants and their memories, but what if an elephant’s size makes it a better vessel or storage capacity option compared to others? The memory thing seems, almost a tad silly. I guess I need to see where this goes before I form an intelligent opinion on it.
2. What do you think we are to make of Trieu not only telling us that Bian is her mom, but that she plans on having her father there as well?
Jim: Bain being the mom is not surprising. We kind of thought that when we met her as a character. The sad part, I hope means Ozymandias, simply by a means of getting all our characters together again. The thing I briefly thought when I watch her say that, was the Comedian, Laurie dead dad. We know he knocked up at least one Vietnamese woman while there, in the war, and wouldn’t it be something if Lady Trieu was really Laurie’s sister? Just popped into my head as I saw it, but Ozy makes way more sense. (I am definitely down with the Comedian theory. That would be more fascinating to me in some way. Maybe it’s because I simply don’t know the books and this sounds like such a good and new idea.)
Chris: I don’t think Brian being a clone was terribly shocking. Most people thought she was Trieu’s mother or grandmother based on her dreams. Her saying her father would be there as well makes me think her father is Ozy and that he indeed did crash on that farm. He has to be her father. She’s extremely intelligent like he is, she owns his company, and she clearly admired him. (Jesus Chris, why not just hit us with a spoiler alert? That just makes way too much sense.)
Kent: What am I really going to offer that is better thought out than their responses? Ozy makes the most sense but Comedian intrigues me more. Unless they are going to throw the puppeteer in here for some obscure reason, this most definitely feels like it only has 1.5 options. I’d like to go random and say that Will was the father, but it simply wouldn’t make enough sense given the things that Trieu has said. I’m trying here, at least.
3. What purpose will this millennium clock serve? Is the clock the thing that is going to save humanity, or is it a way to divert attention from the real thing?
Jim: I have to assume that it is supposed to counteract the Cavalry’s device, but I really hope it’s a magnified Cyclops Mind Control Device. Grand plans to save the world in the Watchmen Universe have been equal parts evil and good-natured, so mind-controlling the masses to peaceful means certainly fits that bill. That could explain Will’s role in the plan as well…. just a thought. (There is this constant weird unhappy middle ground, so nothing is purely one thing or the other, which makes this far more captivating. I’m about to go on a small tangent. It reminds me of some stuff that 80’s wrestling stars say now, that wrestling is most successful with clear cut faces and heels. But that archaic thinking goes back to westerns with the bad guys dressed in black. As entertainment and storytelling improved and evolved, I feel that it has been proven time and time again that most of the greatest characters live with a bit of grey area in their life. That is something that this show truly excels at.)
Chris: I was thinking it could be a lot of different things, but I think it in some way will disable the devices that the Calvary is trying to use. That’s my best guess at least. (I would dare to suggest that Trieu already knows how the 7K device works and has a counter for it. She seems like the type of person that has access to this knowledge.)
Kent: It’s time to rip the Cyclop’s eye out and bring back Ozy. That’s all I have. I never have much truly thought out here. Why wasn’t James Marsden the leader of Cyclops?
4. Ozy was in court and the verdict was guilty. How do you read into this? It seems like he was sent to this place, wherever it is, and now he is guilty there as well. This kinda confused me a bit.
Jim: I didn’t love this Ozy scene, and I’m not sure why the game warden countered Ozy’s rude behaviors with prop comedy. I feel like the scene was an elaborate way to let us know every week on Titan has been a full year (364 days of trial). I don’t know what guilty there means, as it was his prison planet, so exile to elsewhere?
Chris: I’m not sure. This was the first Ozy scene that I didn’t like. He seemed out of character. I was not really sure what to make of it.
Kent: I don’t feel it necessary to echo Jim and Chris, but they shared my exact sentiments. It was my least favorite week/episode/year for Ozy. Not only that but if you watched a prison show and they were already stuck somewhere, what else is going to happen with a guilty verdict? I hope that something happens this week that makes me think about this scene in a different light.
5. Is it safe to assume that Joe, Judd, and Jane were all working together, or is there a possibility that Jane was working with Joe behind Judd’s back? Is Blake screwed? Also, talk about the trapdoor if you like.
Jim: I do think Judd was in on it. Ever since we found his clan gear, I’ve had the sneaking suspicion he was the Kavalry guy who spared Angela and Cal. (Ps I can’t say his name without thinking of the Easter egg hidden in the dildo… EX Cal Abar…. dildo named Excalibur…after Jon’s Crank. thank you internet for showing me that which I had never put together). So I think that Judd’s house somehow connects to the warehouse? The trapdoor was amazing, as I laughed as Jane fumbled with the old-timey remote for it, with Laurie giving a funny line with it. I’ll touch on it more in a minute, but I think Blake will be more than ok. (God damn, the EX Cal Abar thing…my mind is blown.)
Chris: I’m thinking Judd had to have been in on it. Blake is going to be saved (I’ll cover that in the next question.). I’m a little surprised she fell for the trap door. She seems to always be careful and smart, it was strange to see her let her guard down. (But how high can your guard be for an F’N trapdoor in a person’s living room? Is this a normal thing in the Watchmen world?)
Kent: As much as I want Judd to have not been fully in on it, it almost seems like they would be reaching with that type of swerve. I will submit to it, despite wanting to think Judd was more of a good guy. Blake is a gangsta, she’ll be good. I just hope that she isn’t in constant need of rescue to get Manhattan to expose himself…like he’s not exposed enough. That was a penis joke. You’re welcome. That trapdoor scene may have been the funniest scene yet for me.
Final Thoughts – It appears that both Trieu and Angela knew Cal’s secret. Did anybody else know? Do you think that Wade/Looking Glass has gone rogue at this point?
Jim: So, I don’t know if anyone else knows Manhattan is on earth, but I would assume that the Kavalry at least know he’s here as he is the focal part of their plans. I do think that Wade has gone rogue, as he did when he followed the lettuce trunk, entered the warehouse, etc.. I think he is the only chance Laurie has of survival (except Jon/Cal who can be everywhere all at once, so he becomes an easy way to undo everything, so I hope it’s Wade). He clearly has a Rorschach mask, so he can move among them, and I would assume he’s going to the IFG to foil the Kalvary’s plans, so all signs point to the save. (It makes sense that the 7K knows, which would implicate that Joe would also know, and probably be the source of the info, right?)
Chris: Well it happened in Vietnam, so unless they introduce some new characters, I don’t think anyone else would know. At the same time, the Kavalry found out, so they had to have learned that from someone. I think Looking Glass will save Blake. There was a Rorschach mask missing from one of the dead guys, so he is probably infiltrating their hideout. (They shined too big of a light on the missing mask for it not to be a big clue for what to expect, which I am totally on board with. Wade could definitely use a win right about now.)
Kent: Joe knew, that seems 92% plausible as he has access to all kinds of info, as we have already seen with the Ozy video. Besides Joe, I am going to suggest that there is a 4 person who knows. So I am guessing Topher for the hell of it. That kid is due to have something important happen. I’m excited to see how Wade handles business moving forward.