The self-proclaimed world’s smartest man. It might make a difference.

The actual version of the video shown, which is a time capsule not revealed for some years (was it 7? I don’t quite recall) actually aligns with book Adrian much more than the version argued here does. It does remain one of the weakest plot points of the TV series to date though - but its just blunt and clumsy, not…

It is getting kind of muddled, but I will reserve judgment until we see how the mystery all comes together. Even if Veidt made the video for Redford, why would senators be shown it? Imagine a world where Mitch McConnell had a video from George Soros to Obama about how Soros arranged 9/11 as part of a byzantine scheme…

The Veidt video bothered me for the same reasons spelled out above, and more (like, don’t Deepfakes exist in 2019 Watchmen world?).

Last time I checked, this show is not called Lost and there is no smoke monster.

“What is the smoke monster?”

This doesn’t really relate to the topic at hand, but my least favorite bit about comics Ozymadias was that he had the world’s most easily guessed computer password. Seems like the world’s smartest man could have remembered a string of 24 totally random letters and numbers.

I think you can make the argument that he needed to do that to convince Redford that he was really behind it all.  If he just told him when he was elected, Redford might not believe him.  If Veidt could provide proof that this video tape was in a sealed vault/container/whatever then it would be totally convincing. …

“A dump?  I already took one 35 minutes ago.”

And also would have reacted as he did when he made it out of the “preserve”.

There is a difference between an actual mystery with a resolution, which the series appears to be working towards, and the oft-maligned “Mystery Box”, which is all about setting up something with no idea what it means.

...white supremacy is related to racism, my friend. If they’re not precisely the same thing, the Venn diagram almost totally overlaps. And yes, a show that opens in the first episode with a racist white guy killing a black cop and a white cop, who is revealed to have ties to the KKK, being hanged from a tree is most…

I disagree. Rorschach’s journal was never explicit about what was going to happen (because he didn’t know before sending off his journal), AND it got sent to a rag, AND he had an extensive criminal record as opposed to Veidt’s pretty stellar reputation at the time both as a costumed hero and as an entrepreneur, AND…

Kinda yes, but...

There WAS that thing that he did that was extremely reckless, that being the “failed” assassination attempt against himself that he set up, allowing himself to be shot at without being 100% sure his catching-the-bullet defense would work, and then being absolutely PUMPED afterwards like a goddam sports…

Yeah, but you’re saying that without knowing why Veidt really recorded that video. It does mess with the canon from the comics, sure, but I think it’s fair to give Lindelof the benefit of the doubt, the history of LOST notwithstanding, and see where he’s going with it before we decry this “remix”.

I don’t understand the complaint that Veidt making a video was “wildly out of character.” Veidt told Dan and Rorschach he wasn’t the kind of serial villain to spell out his plan to the people who could stop him (who were in the same room as him right in that moment).

I don’t think the Kavalry *does* have the Veidt video. An inner circle of the Kavalry that Senator Keene is using to manipulate the Kavalry as a whole has it. I’m pretty certain the average Kavalry member doesn’t know about it and believes all of them are following Rorschach’s inspiration.

More so than being out of character for Veidt (which it definitely is), it was just not good writing. The exposition—and especially exposition about things from the comic—is Watchmen’s weak spot.

That’s the “American Hero Story” show-within-the-show, though, and the episode goes out of its way to demonstrate that it gets a lot of stuff wrong. It’s even interrupted by Laurie calling it garbage.

I find that when the show veers away from the vast conspiracies the show is at its most interesting. Like Wade going to his squid support group or pretty much everything with last week’s episode. When the show veers into the Mystery Box Lindelof is concocting it starts getting dull.