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Damon Lindelofis a showrunner who needs no introduction.
He has shepherdedLost, The Leftovers,and, now,Watchmento glorious life.
Over the course of its brief first season,Watchmenhas dazzled and challenged in equal measure.
Its considered the nature of anti-black racism, bringing to life the heart-wrenching1921 Tulsa massacre.
It imagined a complex, trenchant backstory forHooded Justice.
And then, just as the terrain for the question, it didnt feel that ambiguous to me.
I have my index cards ready to make an argument for why she doesnt sink.
But we still chose not to show it.
1 is she walks on water, and her No.
2 is she sinks to the bottom of the pool, and then No.
3 is we stopped right before her foot hits the surface of the water, ending No.
3 felt like it was the best ending.
We had many conversations about Manhattan and Will Reeves forming an alliance.
Ultimately, origin stories are told in multiple phases.
Angela Abar is not a passive character.
Thats going to be a battle that goes on until the end of time, unfortunately.
To switch gears a little bit, the finale is also a big episode for Lady Trieu.
Im curious: How much was she driven by what happened to Vietnam?
But in answering your question, she has much bigger fish to fry.
America is just the beginning of the problem.
How did you decide to reveal Adrian as Lady Trieus father?
At first she was a male, then she was a white male.
Then she very quickly became a Vietnamese male, then she became a Vietnamese female.
And then we ended up with a version of Lady Trieu.
Lo and behold, it felt like story gravity.
Because when youre talking about myth, thats the way that myth works.
She wants to fix the worlds problems and make the world a better place.
But fundamentally, she also has a lot of disdain for Veidt.
Veidt is an empirical narcissist who took it upon himself to save the world by killing three million people.
Speaking of Adrian, I thought it was really interesting that Laurie arrested him.
She is agreeing with Rorschach, even though she probably did not hold Rorschach in particularly high esteem.
Not to overly simplify it, but the moral of the story is simplicity and transparency.
She has come to a place where she has indeed aligned her views with Rorschach.
Near the end of the finale, Will has an intriguing speech to Angela in the Dreamland Theater.
Can you talk about that speech?
Writing that scene, there were a lot of conversations about what anger is.
The sadness being: Why the fuck are you treating me this way?
Why are you seeing me this way?
I also want to talk about Adrians line to Mr. Phillips: Masks make men cruel.
But Im not entirely sure that was the right move.
Are you thinking about any future plans forWatchmen?
It doesnt mean that there arent dangling conceptual ideas out there.
Like, where is Dan Dreiberg?
Could he be in a future season ofWatchmen?
That is certainly the case, but if we wanted to use Dan Dreiberg, we would have.
In terms of who I would love to see take the reins ofWatchmenmoving forward?
That is another criteria for future iterations.
I certainly love and adore the originalWatchmen, but I think that it had some problems.
I dont think that this version solved those problems, but at the very least it shined a light.
Most of the good ideas that ended up in this season did not come from a white dude.
One final question, on a sillier note, because people are obsessed withLube Man.I love it.
Hes captured the hearts of America in a way that we never suspected he would.
When I read the originalWatchmen, the thing that I was completely and totally obsessed with was Hooded Justice.
And Id be like, You know, Hooded Justice?
Hes one of the original Minutemen, and their eyes would glaze over.
I was like, Oh, okay, nobody else cares about this thing.
But that obsession became the foundation for this season ofWatchmen.
And so, maybe somebody will do the same with Lube Man.
Theres a clear indication as to who he may be, but we didnt answer it definitively.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
