Regina King crushed it in the pilot, but this is toxically political. I see a far greater chance of real world violence committed by people in Rorschach masks than Joker masks.
"The fatal flaw of all revolutionaries is that they know how to tear things down but don't have a f**king clue about how to build anything."
Regina King crushed it in the pilot, but this is toxically political. I see a far greater chance of real world violence committed by people in Rorschach masks than Joker masks.
do you not know the origins of Watchmen and how it is actually a huge political commentary on our society?
Regina King crushed it in the pilot, but this is toxically political. I see a far greater chance of real world violence committed by people in Rorschach masks than Joker masks.
do you not know the origins of Watchmen and how it is actually a huge political commentary on our society?
Yes, but that was before 'woke' and intersectionalist thought were trendy, so the politics was more anti-Reagan. This is Coates level stuff. It will be interesting to see if this catches on as more episodes air given that the racial conflict piece gets more and more in your face as it goes on.
"The fatal flaw of all revolutionaries is that they know how to tear things down but don't have a f**king clue about how to build anything."
psychobain wrote:Why they use those maks though? I thought he was one of the "good "guys in the movie
He's a right-wing racist in the original graphic novel. Don't go by the movie. They changed a lot of who he is for the film. This is a sequel to the book not the show.
psychobain wrote:Why they use those maks though? I thought he was one of the "good "guys in the movie
He's a right-wing racist in the original graphic novel. Don't go by the movie. They changed a lot of who he is for the film. This is a sequel to the book not the show.
Steve Albini wrote:Whenever there's active promotion on the part of somebody else, whenever I see somebody all dolled up for a fancy photograph and someone's handing out flyers or whenever there's active promotion for something like that, as an imposition on my day, I hate all those people and I want them to fail. I have a visceral reaction to advertising and promotion. There's just something about salesmanship that grates on me on a very base level and I react very negatively towards it. I want those people to suffer and I want their enterprises to fail.
Last edited by tragabigzanda on Sun January 11, 2026 2:42 am, edited 1 time in total.
Gotta digest this a bit more, but my initial reaction was that the pieces that leaned into the source material's mythology were more intriguing than anything else. So far I'm much more interested in how this world works vs. what's actually going on in it, if that makes sense.
I do have a feeling that the depiction of law enforcement is going to take some turns as the season moves on. I didn't read it as an "oppressed liberal revenge fantasy" at all--maybe this speaks to a weakness of the show already, but I can feel it wanting us to root for the overtly violent police force that circumvents suspects' rights and uses psychological and physical torture to get what they want...just so it can pull the rug out from under us later. Maybe I'm wrong and they really do want us on this side, but I doubt it.
Something extra-textual that crossed my mind in an odd way: Matt Ruff's novel Lovecraft Country is getting adapted into a miniseries at HBO, and it also features the Tulsa Riots on Black Wall Street as an important plot point. That series doesn't have a premiere date yet, but there's a good chance it'll be depicted twice within 18 months on 2 different series on the same network.
Steve Albini wrote:Whenever there's active promotion on the part of somebody else, whenever I see somebody all dolled up for a fancy photograph and someone's handing out flyers or whenever there's active promotion for something like that, as an imposition on my day, I hate all those people and I want them to fail. I have a visceral reaction to advertising and promotion. There's just something about salesmanship that grates on me on a very base level and I react very negatively towards it. I want those people to suffer and I want their enterprises to fail.
Last edited by tragabigzanda on Sun January 11, 2026 2:42 am, edited 1 time in total.
tragabigzanda wrote:Ehhhh....I don’t know about this pilot. Feels extremely toothless and formulaic; lots of “wouldn’t it look cool if...” without it making any sense or looking particularly cool.
My biggest issue is that it looks like a network show: no vibe or ambience, despite the obviously large budget. And this is so far some of the most boring soundtrack work Reznor and Ross have done. There’s a lifelessness to everything that I can’t get past.
The best thing that could happen is Lindelof gets bored and they let someone with a sense of cinematic style take over.
And while I don’t totally agree with Bi_3’s criticisms, I get where he’s coming from. The idea of an “oppressed liberal revenge fantasy” is pretty boring to me as it is, and this didn’t do much to sell me.
I’ll try another 1-2 eps because HBO has a terrific batting average, but I’ll gladly drop it if it doesn’t find some real edge, rather than its current MO of “an ABC show but we can say ‘fuck’!”
"oppressed liberal revenge fantasy"
There isn't a single word of this that makes sense. I know our tastes vary and we often disagree (respectfully and thoughtfully most of the time; which I value), but this is easily the furthest away I've been from you that I can remember. So much so that I have to wonder if one of us was literally watching something else.
Steve Albini wrote:Whenever there's active promotion on the part of somebody else, whenever I see somebody all dolled up for a fancy photograph and someone's handing out flyers or whenever there's active promotion for something like that, as an imposition on my day, I hate all those people and I want them to fail. I have a visceral reaction to advertising and promotion. There's just something about salesmanship that grates on me on a very base level and I react very negatively towards it. I want those people to suffer and I want their enterprises to fail.
Last edited by tragabigzanda on Sun January 11, 2026 2:41 am, edited 1 time in total.
tragabigzanda wrote:Ehhhh....I don’t know about this pilot. Feels extremely toothless and formulaic; lots of “wouldn’t it look cool if...” without it making any sense or looking particularly cool.
My biggest issue is that it looks like a network show: no vibe or ambience, despite the obviously large budget. And this is so far some of the most boring soundtrack work Reznor and Ross have done. There’s a lifelessness to everything that I can’t get past.
The best thing that could happen is Lindelof gets bored and they let someone with a sense of cinematic style take over.
And while I don’t totally agree with Bi_3’s criticisms, I get where he’s coming from. The idea of an “oppressed liberal revenge fantasy” is pretty boring to me as it is, and this didn’t do much to sell me.
I’ll try another 1-2 eps because HBO has a terrific batting average, but I’ll gladly drop it if it doesn’t find some real edge, rather than its current MO of “an ABC show but we can say ‘fuck’!”
"oppressed liberal revenge fantasy"
There isn't a single word of this that makes sense. I know our tastes vary and we often disagree (respectfully and thoughtfully most of the time; which I value), but this is easily the furthest away I've been from you that I can remember. So much so that I have to wonder if one of us was literally watching something else.
I'd love to be able to say "Well then, they've made a divisive show that's maybe perfect for our times..." But as I said, my biggest problem by far is just how toothless the whole thing felt; I'm way more bored by it all than feeling put off by any perceived political fantasy messaging.
I appreciate that pilot episodes tend to be their own animals, and I have no idea what the director lineup is for the first season. Maybe they'll turn it around. But for something that's ostensibly supposed to be edgy, dark, and thrilling, I found it to be none of those things.
Yeah, I just completely disagree. I was tense and riveted the entire time. It vastly exceeded all my expectations on every level. The imagery, the direction, the art direction, the tone, the acting, the pacing,.. everything you dislike or think is lacking, is stuff that totally hooked me and wowed me. We just see it completely differently.
It's probably the strongest pilot I've seen in a long, long time. I'm 100% in.
