Watchmen season 1, episode 5 review: Little Fear of Lightning

A stellar character-study of Tulsa PD’s interrogator, Looking Glass, offers direct ties to the original Watchmen graphic novel and much-needed answers.

Without question, the past four episodes of David Lindelof’s Watchmen have been a deliberate slow burn. As he’s done in previous television series, Lindelof slowly peels away the mysteries behind his “remix” of the classic graphic novel like an orange, only to show more mysteries underneath.

Just as the series reveals that Will Reeves (Louis Gossett Jr.) is Det. Angela Abar’s (Regina King) grandfather, for example, a new mystery about a “vast, insidious conspiracy” emerges. When Angela, along with the audience, learns that Will’s connected with the enigmatic trillionaire, Lady Trieu (Hong Chau), another mystery involving her plans for Tulsa – and the purpose behind the Millenium Clock – emerges. It’s understandable viewers would, like Angela herself, be wondering what is going on?

Watchmen’s fifth episode, “Little Fear of Lightning,” however, doesn’t just peel away his orange. He rips the rind clean off along with some of the fleshy bits. At least enough to finally get some idea about what really been going on.

But instead of exposing this mystery from Angela’s point-of-view, another character beats her to the punch – someone who prides himself on being an expert at uncovering lies and deception, even though he, ironically, has been fooled by the biggest lie of all; someone who exposes the truth others hide, even though he hides behind a reflective mask. That someone also just happens to be the most fascinating character on the show, Det. Wade Tillman, a.k.a. Looking Glass (Tim Blake Nelson)

“You’re still in the tunnel”

Those who’ve seen Zack Synder’s adaptation of Watchmen know that he did not include the giant-squid teleporting into Manhattan like the graphic novel did. Some argued this was a good thing because it would look too silly on-screen. Lindelof, and the episode’s director Steph Green, would disagree, as they do show it in all it’s tentacled glory. Likewise, Wade, too, would disagree.

As it so happens, Wade was near ground zero on November 2, 1985 when the psychic blast from the squid hit. Or rather, more precisely, Hoboken, New Jersey, in a House of Mirrors, while a “top knot” stole his clothes after she promises him an “end-of-the-world” hook-up. Given that he was a devout Jehovah’s Witness, the humiliation and shame he felt was bad enough. Surviving the psychic blast while nearly everyone else around him perished? That traumatized him for life. It’s also, the episode suggests, what drives him to seek truth and justice.

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That’s not all we learn about “Mirror Guy” as Laurie Blake (Jean Smart) sarcastically calls him. In keeping with his talents to read people, Wade monitors focus groups for an advertising agency. In keeping with his religious background, he also leads a support group for “11/2” survivors.

When many of Tulsa’s cops quit after the “White Night,” Wade actually volunteered to join the force. We even learn the reason he almost always keeps his mask on. Apparently, the material keeps out “psychic disturbances” and prevents nightmares – he even has it lined inside his baseball cap. He even has an alarm set-up for squid rainfalls, which would also explain how he was able to take pictures of them as fast as he did.

What we get then is a profile of a decent, but lonely man with obvious PTSD. It also happens to be a genuine tour de force performance by Nelson, giving us a believably sympathetic character who, in Watchmen’s insane alternate reality, may actually be the only sane person left. The way Nelson carries himself, the sound of his voice, the look in his eyes – it perfectly captures someone desperately holding himself back for fear he might break down and sob. Or, as we see when his squid alarm malfunctions, let his anger take control.

There is a ray of hope for Wade, though, once he meets a mysterious woman named Regina (Paula Malcomson) at one of his support group meetings. The scene showing them on their impromptu date at a local bar is actually quite sweet (even if it does involve a non-existent Steven Spielberg movie about the squid attack that, from Regina’s description, sounds like a warped version of Schindler’s List). Which is what makes what happens later than much more heartbreaking.

“Save Me”

But first, this wouldn’t be a proper episode of Watchmen without references to the graphic novel. Aside from seeing the infamous squid for the first time on film, we’re treated to another scene from American Hero Story: Minutemen, this time depicting Hooded Justice and Captain Metropolis as secret lovers, something only hinted at in the graphic novel and the Before Watchmen prequel comics. Also, we see just how much genetic engineering has become prevalent in this world, as apparently Wade’s ex-wife Cynthia (Eileen Grubba) runs a facility where people can clone their pets.

One callback to the graphic novel also turns out to be a key piece of evidence. Turns out Will’s pills Angela asked Wade to have his ex analyze are “Nostalgia.” In the graphic novel, it was the name of a brand of perfume produced by Adrian Veidt’s company. Here, they’re a type of pills which, apparently, can let a person relive one’s memories. Or someone else’s.

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Speaking of Ozymandias (Jeremy Irons), he finally, if for the briefest of moments, breaks free from his prison. As some folks suspected, he’s not on Earth, but he’s also not on the Moon. He’s on a moon… orbiting the planet Jupiter. And after spelling out “Save Me” with the hundreds of frozen corpses of Mr. Phillips and Ms. Crookshanks clones he’s launched over the years, and waving to a satellite, he’s suddenly hauled back inside by the “Game Warden.” It’s during his arrest in which Adrian angrily tells the clones how “their God” has abandoned them, which definitely implies they’re Dr. Manhattan’s creations. If true, it definitely clears up what are, perhaps, the oddest segments of the series.

“Is anything true?”

Further clarity occurs when Regina, claiming she’s too drunk to drive home, gets picked up by a lettuce truck… just like the one the Seventh Kalvary member drove which started all this mess. Wade, naturally, follows them and, sure enough, finds the “church” from which the Kalvary made their broadcast – that, and they’re throwing basketballs into a teleportation door. The Kalvary also knows Wade is there. They also know he’s Looking Glass, as they do all the Tulsa PD’s real identities. Regina set everything up just so that Wade could have a sit-down with the mastermind behind their operation… Senator Joe Keene Jr. (James Wolk). Like we didn’t see that one coming from a mile away, huh?

Also, to no one’s surprise, Keene and Judd Crawford were in cahoots all along. Having the Tulsa PD adopt masked identities after the “White Night” was their way of keeping the more radical members of the Seventh Kalvary in-line. Keene also puts in a CD he pirated for Wade to play, in which Veidt, from 1985, explains how he invented the squid invasion to save the world from World War III. Pirated from what, you might ask? From a copy given to President Robert Redford when he was first sworn in as president in 1992. That means the U.S. Government has also known about the hoax for over two decades at least.

As for why Wade’s being shown the truth? The Kalvary know Angela has something to do with Crawford’s murder and want her out-of-the-way. And the following day, Wade tricks Angela into revealing how she’s covered up her grandfather as a suspect in Crawford’s murder, thanks to a bugged potted cactus planted on his desk by Laurie. As Sister Night is about to be arrested, she downs the entire bottle of Will’s Nostalgia pills to, once again, hide evidence. Based on the previews for next week, though, it might not have been a wise move on her part.

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The episode ends with a guilt-ridden Wade removing his “psychic protection” and almost throwing out his squid alarm… just before several shotgun-toting members of the Seventh Kalvary arrive at his house. While it’s doubtful that this ominous cliffhanger will lead to Wade’s death, death might as well be a mercy for him now that everything he thought was true has been nothing but lies. And it’s a bleak ending for what is, without a doubt, the best episode of the series.

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