HBO’s Watchmen is heading into its fifth episode this Sunday, with “Little Fear of Lightning.” The show has been superb thus far, but to some extent it still feels like it’s setting the table for big sweeping events to come. In the third episode, we learned that Jeremy Irons was indeed playing Adrian Veidt, aka Ozymandias, the superhero/megalomaniac villain from Alan Moore’s 1986 graphic novel. Is another big turn coming?
Jean Smart (Agent Blake) recently popped by Late Night with Seth Meyers to tease what’s coming. Between talking about her trip to a very special strip club with costar Tim Blake Nelson (Looking Glass) and that “giant blue dildo” from Episode 3, she teased a big reveal on the way.
“Something that people are hoping for, they’ll probably—might—get to see. And something that they didn’t expect at all, they’re gonna see—and they’re almost the same thing,” Smart said, not being cryptic at all.
So something that we expect and something we don’t expect, all at once. What could be the nature of this quantum plot twist?
I have a pet theory. We’re all hoping to see Doctor Manhattan, the nuclear being at the center of Moore’s Watchmen and the only real “superhero” — in that he has actual superpowers — in the story. What if he’s been hiding in plain sight this whole time? Episode 4 introduced us to Lady Trieu, a trillionaire who seems to have prescient powers. What if she is actually Doctor Manhattan in disguise?
Watchmen. Hong Chau as Lady Trieu 2. Photo credit: Mark Hill/HBO
We don’t know a ton about Lady Trieu. She bought Adrian Veidt’s company, she’s an expert and cloning, and her name is shared with a real-life 3rd century figure who resisted the Chinese occupation of Vietnam.
What does all that mean? I have no idea, because showrunner Damon Lindelof loves keeping secrets, but I’m happy to theorize wildly.
Or perhaps the twist involves that big blue dildo, which is modeled after Doctor Manhatten anyway so we’re still kind of in the ballpark. HBO actually posted the blueprints for that thing on its Watchmen website, Peteypedia. Apparently, it’s called “Excalibur.”
Excalibur design. Watchmen. HBO
Who got paid to design this? Who?
Anyway, we’ll be reviewing the newest episode of Watchmen this Sunday night. Brace for impact.
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h/t The A.V. Club