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> I can't recommend watching HBO's Watchmen enough. Fair warning though: Damon Lindelof is responsible for Lost and The Leftovers, which had notoriously unsati

> I can't recommend watching HBO's Watchmen enough. Fair warning though: Damon Lindelof is responsible for Lost and The Leftovers, which had notoriously unsatisfying conclusions. Some of the plot arcs are starting to terminate with actual plot movement, so there is hope that the season might achieve some form of closure. If this show finishes after one season and succeeds in telling a coherent story, I will be surprised.

olivierlacan 7y ago
You shouldn't be. The show was explicitly designed to be self-contained in a single season and satisfyingly tie loose ends. I recommend Alan Sepinwall's Rolling Stone piece on the show if you can't take my word for it. https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/tv-reviews/watchmen-hbo-review-897290/ https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/tv-reviews/watchmen-hbo-revi... I don't think most people who've watched The Leftovers would agree that it had an unsatisfying conclusion but, yes, you could argue that every single event in the show wasn't clearly explained or that ambiguity remained concerning one important disagreement on the course of events towards the end of the show. This ambiguity, in my mind, is precisely what made the emotional conclusion of the show so great. Unlike Lost, which resulted in a brazen (and IMO tone deaf) cop-out with many more loose ends left either unresolved or haphazardly resolved in a way that seemed to avoid popular (and better) fan theories. I think a few people throughout the years have posted accounts of people who were on the writing staff of Lost saying "they were just making it up as they went along" as if that's somehow a shameful thing to do. Some of the best writing (especially for TV) isn't constructed with a clear ending scaffold in mind but rather iterated on to allow for believable character evolution and movement in the direction of the plot. The Leftovers was Lindelof's redemption song. And I think he's earned back the trust required to give Watchmen a serious consideration. More importantly, if you listen to him talk about how the show came about, you'll see a much more mature writer who has learned to rely on a diverse team of writers who challenge him away from some of the problematic instincts he showcased on Lost. It really feels like a musician who's slowly honed their craft after years of being a popular hothead and no longer plays to show off how clever they are but instead to deliver a tight emotionally resonating set.

olivierlacan 7y ago

You shouldn't be. The show was explicitly designed to be self-contained in a single season and satisfyingly tie loose ends. I recommend Alan Sepinwall's Rolling Stone piece on the show if you can't take my word for it. https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/tv-reviews/watchmen-hbo-review-897290/ https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/tv-reviews/watchmen-hbo-revi... I don't think most people who've watched The Leftovers would agree that it had an unsatisfying conclusion but, yes, you could argue that every single event in the show wasn't clearly explained or that ambiguity remained concerning one important disagreement on the course of events towards the end of the show. This ambiguity, in my mind, is precisely what made the emotional conclusion of the show so great. Unlike Lost, which resulted in a brazen (and IMO tone deaf) cop-out with many more loose ends left either unresolved or haphazardly resolved in a way that seemed to avoid popular (and better) fan theories. I think a few people throughout the years have posted accounts of people who were on the writing staff of Lost saying "they were just making it up as they went along" as if that's somehow a shameful thing to do. Some of the best writing (especially for TV) isn't constructed with a clear ending scaffold in mind but rather iterated on to allow for believable character evolution and movement in the direction of the plot. The Leftovers was Lindelof's redemption song. And I think he's earned back the trust required to give Watchmen a serious consideration. More importantly, if you listen to him talk about how the show came about, you'll see a much more mature writer who has learned to rely on a diverse team of writers who challenge him away from some of the problematic instincts he showcased on Lost. It really feels like a musician who's slowly honed their craft after years of being a popular hothead and no longer plays to show off how clever they are but instead to deliver a tight emotionally resonating set.