A God Walks into Abar

Even if they go back in time and try to make this episode again, they can't. Simply brilliant. Pure stroke of genius. Can't get enough of this. Still in awe

This is top-notch stuff. I read Watchmen back when it first came out, and many times since, and this is a near-perfectly rendered continuation from a creative team who obviously know the source material inside-out. This episode was a wonderful offbeat love story with some clever writing, great direction and acting, nice payoffs to earlier mysteries and fan-happy easter eggs galore. And even all the 'blue' music was great! Best episode so far of one of the best shows on TV at the moment, if not ever (and I don't throw that around lightly).

... when the series gets really exiting and fantastic.

This episode was the best so far. Everything was put in to right place. The actors were great, the music was great, the sights wore fabulous and the whole god dam series is great.

This could be the next Breaking Bad.

Perfect, awesome, surprising and everything that a episode needs to be. I am so excited to see how they fly in the last episode of this first season of epic series. How they created the title is also interesting to notice "A God Walks Into A Bar" or "A God Walks Into Abar". Everything was perfect in this episode and I would have given it 1billion stars if there were any. That paradox was really a nice move in this story.

With "A God Walks Into a Bar", we are now at the penultimate episode of 'Watchmen'. Which proved to be a critical success but also proved to be more divisive amongst audiences and those that love the source material (which is a masterpiece) and the film (imperfect but very good). My stance leans much more towards the opinions of those that loved it, although it's a slow starter the show from "Little Fear of Lightning" onwards was brilliant.

Two episodes in particular stood out, though "Little Fear of Lightning" was outstanding as well and centred around one of 'Watchmen's' most interesting characters. One was "This Extraordinary Being", one of the show's most powerful episodes and stood out visually. The other was this penultimate one "A God Walks Into Abar", one of the most ambitious episodes and structurally it's the most unique. Both episodes were 2019 television highlights and some of the best television for anything in recent years in my view.

"A God Walks Into Abar's" production values are of the usual exceptionally high "can't believe it was made for television" quality of 'Watchmen'. The expense it cost to make really shows in the gorgeous production design that has ambition and atmosphere all over it, and the cinematic-like photography as ever enhances that. The music is haunting, equally haunting is the sound quality. The music choices have been right throughout the whole of 'Watchmen', its versatility of styles and clever usage still remains. Nothing is awkward or out of place here, certainly not to the extent of the awkward use of Leonard Cohen in the film. Most of the music choices here centre around the theme of love, appropriate that love is a major theme here.

It is a very thought-provokingly scripted episode, everything beautifully balanced with enough tense and emotionally investable moments (everything dealing with Angela's past is the finest example of the latter). It is not as playful as other 'Watchmen' episodes, but the intrigue factor is very high, nothing sounds stilted, cheesy or pointless. The grit and bite factors are also high. For instance, Veidt's dialogue is some of his best, most serious and it makes sense. Absolutely loved the structure of the thoroughly absorbing and typically tonally bold story, as said structurally "A God Walks Into Abar" is the most unique and most ambitious.

Easy to get one timeline or setting right it not always is. "A God Walks Into Abar" isn't just set in only the past, present or future, it actually combines all three at the same time. This could easily have been an episode that suffered from trying to do too much and feel rushed and lacking in cohesion like the first half of 'Watchmen' did. Amazingly, the episode does this incredibly well and handles it a lot better than films and other episodes for any show with similar structures. Things are actually clearer now, with less of a sense of more questions than answers, and that the episode managed to do this well with a complicated structure that not many would think of attempting shows how much the storytelling in 'Watchmen' has advanced (which is significantly).

Hard to follow the story is remarkably not and it is not bloated either, amazing for an episode that has a lot happening. The theme of paradoxical love is hardly wasted while not being heavy-handed either. All the different chemistries are beautifully handled, with both Dr Manhattan and Veidt making their most interesting appearances up to this point of the show, those that weren't overly fond of the latter's eccentricity and storyline (liked the character throughout and while it took time for it to come together his scenes intrigued and entertained) should be happy to see that he can be taken seriously here without being morose.

Performances are perfection in very richly textured roles. Not just from fearless Regina King and mysterious Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, but also Jeremy Irons giving perhaps his best performance on the show (speaking as someone that loved him throughout).

Concluding, masterful episode and 'Watchmen' on peak form. 10/10