While TV on the whole is in a pretty good place right now, one 2019 miniseries from HBO is a reminder of how effective the format can be as a storytelling medium. TV has gone through its fair share of ups and downs. Obviously, the sheer number of shows that are on television in any given decade means that no period could reasonably be called the medium’s unambiguous flop era, since every decade has at least a few classics shows to its name.
That being said, there are clearly eras when more masterpieces were produced than others. The ’90s began with ABC’s seminal murder mystery Twin Peaks, and the decade’s small-screen output went on to include E.R., The West Wing, Sex and the City, The Sopranos, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and Fox’s iconic paranormal procedural The X-Files. Similarly, the 2000s were littered with classics like Lost, Band of Brothers, The Wire, The Shield, and the Battlestar Galactica reboot.
Although Breaking Bad began in the 2000s, by the time the show wrapped up, the 2010s had already introduced new hits like AMC’s The Walking Dead and HBO’s Game of Thrones. Sadly, both of these big budget hits ended up faltering before their disappointing finales, and lost a lot of their critical goodwill as a result. The 2010s were defined by similarly inconsistent streaming and cable releases, but HBO’s Watchmen brought the decade to a strong close.
HBO’s Watchmen Blends Real History With Dystopian Fiction To Devastating Effect
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Previously adapted as a movie in 2009, author Alan Moore’s graphic novel Watchmen has long been considered the comic book writer’s magnum opus. Director Zack Snyder’s stylized take on the 1987 book divided critics, and led some commentators to claim that, like author William Gibson’s classic cyberpunk novel Neuromancer, Moore’s Watchmen might simply be unfilmable. However, 2019’s one-season take on Watchmen seemingly disproved this.
Coming from Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof, 2019’s Watchmen was far from a direct adaptation of the graphic novel of the same name. Instead, the show’s action began three and a half decades after the book’s story ends. Set in the town of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Watchmen sees the Tulsa Police Department take on a white separatist militia group, the Seventh Kavalry.
As Regina King’s Angela looks into the mysterious death of the Tulsa Police Department’s chief of police, the Seventh Kavalry utilize the late Rorschach’s mask as a symbol for their cause. While surviving original characters from Watchmen like Adrian Veidt and Silk Spectre play supporting roles in the story, 2019’s HBO show is as concerned with real-life history as it is with Moore’s creations. The Tulsa Massacre is central to the show’s plot, and Watchmen never flinches away from exploring the harshest elements of the town’s racist past.
In the years since Watchmen was released, The Leftovers creator Lindelof has been accused of making racist remarks during the production of Lost. In investigative journalist Maureen Ryan’s 2023 book, Burn It Down, future From star Harold Perrineau stated that Lindelof made racist comments, while various members of the Lost writer’s room accused Lindelof and Lost co-showrunner Carlton Cuse of various similar workplace infractions.
Watchmen Season 2 Not Happening Makes The Miniseries Even More Special
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It is not clear whether these allegations played a part in Watchmen 2019 never receiving a second season, or if the show’s depiction of the Tulsa Police Department as a largely heroic anti-racist force for good was simply considered dated after the events of 2020. However, the decision not to renew the series does mean the 2019 show is preserved in proverbial amber as a one-off.
Even though prominent critics like Struggle Session‘s Leslie Lee III would go on to critique Watchmen 2019’s mostly positive view of the police, the show’s early end means that its critical reputation remains largely positive to this day. For all its imperfections, HBO’s Watchmen undoubtedly introduced many viewers to one tragic chapter in real-life US history.
Watchmen
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