WATCHMEN (S1E3) “She Was Killed By Space Junk”: Laughs To The Finish Line

There’s this guy, a bricklayer. He’s a real master of his craft, because he’s precise. Every brick has its place. This guy, he’s gonna teach his daughter to be a bricklayer because all a man has is his legacy. So he decides to build a barbecue. He does the math, he figures out exactly what he needs to do and he shows the daughter all the steps. When he finishes, it’s perfect. It’s a beauty, just like how he drew it. But there’s one problem. There’s a brick left over. He’s upset. Something must have gone wrong. He picks up his sledgehammer to knock the thing to pieces before the daughter stops him. She says, “Daddy wait! I have an idea,” so she takes the orphan brick and throws it into the air, so. And then she… ah, never mind. Forget it.

The Brick Thrower

That’s the joke that begins episode 3 of Watchmen, half of a zinger uttered by a now grown up Laurie/Silk Spectre speaking into a Dr. Manhattan machine that transmits messages to Mars, which is where he presumably still resides. What makes the joke interesting isn’t just that it runs over the intro, a small vignette showing Laurie’s job now as an FBI agent, but rather that it shows a shift for Laurie.

From the somewhat scared and broken young girl portrayed in the novel to the edgy, bureaucratic woman we see now is a notable, somewhat large shift whose comparison doesn’t take up much runtime, if any, but the change is notable, and equally poignant, nonetheless. Her dynamics with key characters, including FBI agent Petey, seem pent up to the point of repression of emotion almost. As a character study, it’s fascinating as hell.

In this episode, Laurie is sent to investigate the death of Judd officially, as the Seventh Kavalry is suspected to be involved. The rest of the episode, for the most part, follows her. This character episode idea isn’t new to Lindelof, it shows up in The Leftovers as early as season 1 episode 3, and it’s certainly not new to Watchmen, which had entire chapters dedicated to Manhattan and Rorschach. As expected, the two work beautifully together for the show. Diving into Laurie’s psyche 30 years after Manhattan’s departure to Mars (Manhattan dildo, Manhattan booth) and how she tends to cope with a post-squid world and its implications, blended with Lindelof‘s razor sharp instincts is entrancing at the least and breathtaking at the best. I’m sure future character episodes will be just as kind.

As the episode begins with one, it also continues on with a joke. It goes something like this. There are three heroes at the gates of heaven, with God awaiting to seek them all judgement. The first hero walks up dressed in an owl suit. God says, “I gifted you with the ability to make fantastic inventions, what did you do with it?” and he says, “I made this flying ship and weapons and gadgets to help bring peace to the city.” Well, God looks at him and says “So how many people did you kill?” and the owl guy looks offended. “I didn’t take a single life,” he says. “Sorry owl guy, your heart is in the right place but you’re just too soft.” God snaps his fingers and the hero goes to hell.

The Bricklayer

It’s finally confirmed that Jeremy Irons plays Adrian Veidt. It was a pretty solid conclusion to draw given the nature of his behavior in past episodes, but him putting on the Ozymandias outfit and outright signing a letter with “Adrian Veidt” in a satisfyingly and fully realized moment should be more than enough for confirmations sake.

His situation still becomes curiouser and curiouser, a scene involving a letter is particularly eyebrow raising, but hell if the mystery doesn’t elevate the enjoyment. There’s space suits, there’s clones, there’s horses, there’s a black flag referencing Tales From The Black Freighter, and there’s the “game warden,” whose identity is unknown. In a few episodes down the line this will all make sense, but for now all we have is crumbs to pick at.

Hero number two arrives at the pearly gates to face his judgement. This hero, he’s smart. Some might even say the smartest guy in the world. God says, “What did you do with the genius I granted you?” Smartypants smiles and says “As a matter of fact, I saved humanity.” “Well how did you do that?” asks God. “Well, I dropped a giant alien squid on New York. Everyone was so afraid of it that they stopped being afraid of each other.” “Okay,” says God. “How many people did you kill?” Smartypants smirks. “Three million, give or take. But you can’t make an omelette without breaking a few eggs.” “Christ,” God says. “You’re a f*cking monster.” “Am not,” says Smartypants. God snaps his fingers and the hero goes to hell.

The Brick

One of the best things from this episode is a specific reframing of the previous episode. In a scene after a funeral bombing, Laurie and Angela speak about the bomber and about Judd. In the last episode Angela searched Judd’s closet and found none other than a Klan dress. With the episode being presented through her eyes, with our knowledge being limited to the situation, it’s assumed this is her first time discovering the clothing, as we are seeing it for the first time too. Laurie and her conversation here seem to imply differently, suggesting Angela was complicit in hiding Judd’s secrets from the rest of the world, in the situation of his death. What makes the cherry on top is Angela’s sarcastic, uncaring reaction to it all. Casually dropping possible key information, questioning the viewers knowledge, and reframing the second episode through the eyes of someone else is bold, incredibly bold at the very best. It’s wonderful to watch.

The third hero arrives at the gates, and he’s basically a god himself. So for the sake of differentiation let’s say he’s blue, and walks around hanging dong. He can teleport, he can see into the future, he blows shit up. He’s got actual superpowers. Regular God asks Blue God, “What have you done with these gifts?” Blue God says, “I fell in love with a woman, I walked across the sun, I won the Vietnam War. But mostly I stopped giving a shit about humanity.” God sighs. “Do I even need to ask how many people you’ve killed?” Blue God shrugs. “A live body and a dead body contain the same number of particles so it doesn’t really matter. And it doesn’t matter how I answer your question because I know you’re sending me to hell.” “How do you know that?” asks God. Blue God sadly says, “Because I’m already there.” And so a mere piston in the inevitable of time and space and God does what he did and will do. He snaps his fingers and the hero goes to hell.

Conclusion

God is getting ready to pack up after a busy day of judgement, before someone catches his eye. It’s not a hero, it’s just a woman. “Where did you come from?” God asks. “Oh, I was standing behind those other guys the whole time, you just didn’t see me.” “Did I give you a talent?” God asks. “No, none to speak of,” says the women. God gives her a long look. “I’m so sorry. I’m embarrassed, seriously this almost never happens but I don’t know who you are.” And the woman looks at God and says, “I’m the little girl who threw the brick in the air.” And a sound from above, something falling, the brick. God looks up but it’s too late. He never saw it coming. It hits him so hard his brains shoot out of his nose. Game over. He’s dead. And where does God go when he dies? He goes to hell.

Like the novel that came before it Watchmen elaborates on its characters’ futures vs their pasts in ways only the author can imagine. Lindelof’s mysteries continue to spiral forward, but at least we know we’re in safe hands. It’s only fitting that the episode ends with the car that went into the air from the last episode, falling back to the surface. The brick has finally come down, somewhere where it never began. Roll on snare drum. Curtains. Good joke.

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