Watchmen - Episode 4: If You Don't Like My Story, Write Your Own

WATCHMEN - HBO

It is much of the same in the Andrij Parekh directed fourth episode 'If You Don't Like My Story, Write Your Own' in Damon Lindelof's revamped sequel television series to Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons's Watchmen graphic novel series.

If this was the episode to get fans and audiences numbers back on track to be engaged with the series, this fourth entry does more damage than anything else. The right is the somewhat late inclusion of Hong Chau's enigmatic trillionaire, Lady Trieu, who is given a substantial amount of material in the episode that both definitively offers development for said character and plot but also holds back and remains coy to her motives. Chau's character, thankfully, moves the plot along to a more sufficient and engaging standard than the series has perhaps seen at this stage with the world-building beginning to be far more transparent and an understandable creation.

That being said, the problems and the wrongdoings once again arise with both the pacing and substantial baiting of each episode concerning returning viewers rather than solidifying the running time the episode proposes. It evokes a sense of continually underwhelming its audience in the present and promising a stronger future in a dire, predictable cycle. This is now the fourth episode and the structure of each episode before it has been exactly the same: big promises, little returns and a cliffhanger. Rinse and repeat.

This is a TV series about Watchmen — just let that pause for a second — a defining graphic novel that has undoubtedly changed the face of the entertainment world for the better. Why then does Lindelof consistently feel the urge to pander and underwhelm the audience with only flashes of interest and not a deiliver with a single solid episode yet? It is nothing short of bizarre. Time is not only ticking for these characters but also for the audience. It would come to no surprise if the numbers dropped off or dispersed entirely at this stage. Watchmen needs to get into its groove or the doomsday clock is going to strike midnight even earlier than intended.

Watchmen is released Sunday and Monday nights exclusively on HBO and SKY ONE.