Watchmen “A God Walks Into Abar”

So, Doctor Manhattan…he actually explains quite a bit because he’s always living it.

Yes, it seems Angela’s husband Cal has been Doctor Manhattan the whole time.  Adrian actually invented a means to cause Manhattan to, more or less, forget he has superpowers which includes his ability to see his entire life at all times, and live like a normal human being, only using his abilities as a self-conscious reaction at any time he needs to defend himself.  Otherwise, he’s just like everybody else.

By the by, this episode goes a long way to avoid showing Manhattan’s face, and when we do, it’s after he isn’t Cal anymore, so he mostly looks like a blue, clean-shaven Cal.  True, it’s the same actor, but I’d like to think Jon/Manhattan looked slightly different before he had his memory temporarily wiped.  Like, as if his time as Cal influenced his appearance in some way.

As it is, this may be the episode I cared for the least, and it’s still a damn good one.  Manhattan’s explanations are maybe played chronologically for the audience, but not for the characters.  He can have conversations over long years of time with both Angela and Will, forcing Angela to realize the only way Will knew anything was because she told him through Jon.  Adrian’s prison was meant as almost something of a reward, where the people there would worship him as he somewhat expects.people should.

But that whole Europa thing was Jon building something to honor the English couple who temporarily took him in when he and his father escaped the Nazis during World War II.  The endless clones are the couple.  And they need someone to worship, so when Jon got tired of it, he left Adrian there.  And now Adrian is tired of it.

So, how do you fall in love with someone who knows you’ll fall in love due to precognition and not general creepiness?  Well, therein lies the question, and I’m not that sure how it works.  We know when and how Jon will, but why does Angela?

At any rate, this may also be the most “superhero-y” episode.  Doctor Manhattan has a secret weapon, but because, once the device is removed from his head, Manhattan is by nature an emotionless man.  The episode reflects that.  So, even when he points out the exact moment he falls for Angela, he still doesn’t sound more than a bit matter-of-fact.

It all fits, and this is a man who believes time is a flat circle.

Then again, he knows the Kavalry is going to capture him, and even after he and Angela kill a bunch of those racist assholes, it still happens.

Somehow, I don’t think it’s going to work out well for the Kavalry.

Good.