10 Things That Still Don’t Make Sense In HBO’s Watchmen (Even If You Read The Comic)

HBO’s Watchmen was a fantastic follow-up to Alan Moore’s original comic book series. We honestly don’t get tired of singing the show’s praises. It’s that good. However, certain aspects of the show remain clouded from our understanding. Even readers of the original comic book can get a tad confused about the way the world works in HBO’s Watchmen.

But part of the major draw of Watchmen, funnily enough, is how things go unexplained. The mystery is just part of the fun. Read on if you want to know about ten things that don’t make sense in HBO’s Watchmen even if you’re an avid fan of the comic book.

10 Looking Glass And The Interrogation Pod

Looking Glass became a fan-favorite character in HBO’s Watchmen, and a large reason for that was because of his calm, albeit faceless, demeanor while in the interrogation pod. In this room, Looking Glass was able to suss out with his bare eyes whether or not a suspect was lying. While anybody with keen observational skills could probably tell a liar from a truth-sayer, viewers are still skeptical. How could he so instantly tell when a person was lying to him? Plus, wouldn’t his vision behind his mask be obscured? How on Earth could he see pupils dilating underneath that?

9 Family Tree Technology

In both Alan Moore’s comic and in the HBO show, technology is incredibly advanced thanks to the existence of Dr. Manhattan. He gave a boost to the way things work, and even though the television show is set even further in the future, the effects of Manhattan’s influence is still apparent. Still, the process from point A to point B is confusing. Take, for example, the technology used to determine Angela’s family tree. We have no clue how that was invented. Something like that never appeared in the comic book. All we know for sure is that it worked in tracing back Angela’s familial origins.

8 The Millennium Clock’s Appearance

As soon as we heard that Lady Trieu was building something called a Millennium Clock, the hairs on the backs of our necks stood up. We know a potential doomsday device when we see one. However, what doesn’t make sense is why she would construct it in such an obvious and eye-catching manner.

It’s revealed that the edifice holds the key to transferring Manhattan’s powers to Lady Trieu. This is basically her secret villain plot. So couldn’t she have built it more unobtrusively? We guess she inherited some arrogance from her father.

7 Elephant Transfusions

After Angela nearly overdosed on her grandfather’s Nostalgia pills, viewers were treated to a shocking glimpse at her “treatment.” As it turns out, in order to reduce the effects of the mind-warping pills, Angela had to be hooked up, vein to vein, with an elephant. Yeah, we get the symbolism behind it all. An elephant’s memory is not referenced for no reason when it comes to talking about remembering events. But we are still utterly clueless about the process of transfusing elephantine bodily fluids into a person. Angela’s horror and confusion matched our own.

6 Creating Life On Europa

Dr. Manhattan’s abilities are clearly of godlike proportions. We do not doubt that he could create life on the distant moon of Jupiter, Europa. Alan Moore’s comic book even hints that he intended to create life at the very end of it. However, when we see how that life is birthed during Ozymandias’ tenure on Europa, we are left scratching our heads. Do the clones Manhattan built not procreate on their own? Are they grown in the pond, as it appears when Ozymandias plucks out fetuses from beneath the surface? And if that is the case, holy moly, Dr. Manhattan crafted one insane life cycle.

5 Adrian Veidt’s Not-So-Secret Safe

Lady Trieu reveals toward the end of the season that she is the daughter of Adrian Veidt, also known as Ozymandias. Her mother stole a sample of sperm from Ozymandias’ safe without him knowing. The knowledge that Lady Trieu is the biological heir of Adrian Veidt wasn’t too surprising. (There were plenty of similarities in their personalities.) However, so many things about this situation don’t make sense as a reader of the comic book. Why did Adrian seal away sperm in a safe? Why would he not monitor the room where it was kept? How and why did he hire people to come to Karnak after his master plan was enacted?

4 Cryo Paint

Perhaps one of the best reveals of HBO’s Watchmen was the fact that Ozymandias was on Earth for the majority of the show. It was a major surprise. Trieu picked him up from Europa after his unwilling stint there, froze him with gold/bronze paint, and then placed his statue in her garden.

This is all very amazing (and an epic show of karma for Ozymandias), but we’re still unsure on how the paint job Trieu gave Ozymandias put him into a kind of cryo-sleep that she only woke him out of at the end of the show.

3 Hypnosis Technology Used By Cyclops

Hypnosis is not what it usually appears to be in movies and TV shows. It’s nigh impossible to hypnotize an unwilling person. That doesn’t stop pop culture from popularizing hypnosis technology. Even HBO’s Watchmen is not exempt from this trend. Cyclops, the secret society of white supremacists discovered by Hooded Justice, uses this technology against people of color in the show. It’s horrific, but nonsensical. There should be no way that this happens, but for the sake of the story-telling, we’ll allow it.

2 Manhattan’s Powers In An Egg

Watchmen, from Alan Moore’s original to the new show, is all about symbols. Items make appearances frequently, like smiley faces and clocks, in order to hammer home the point the story is trying to make. In HBO’s Watchmen, eggs are the item to look out for. In the season finale, Dr. Manhattan transfers his powers into an egg that Angela can consume, thus absorbing his abilities. It was a mystifying and thrilling conclusion, but puzzling. We can’t figure out how Manhattan was able to do that. The original comic never gave an indication that he could do this.

1 Lube Man’s Existence

The biggest mystery of the show that the comic book could not prepare us for was the inclusion of Lube Man. This strange costumed person spies on Angela Abar near an overpass, and when she makes to apprehend him, he flees. His use of oil to slip-and-slide into a sewer gave him the moniker of “Lube Man.” At no point in the show is his existence explained. (Though online sources did reveal his possible identity.) People might have wondered if Lube Man was some reference to the original comic book. As readers of said comic book, we can assure you that he is not. We’re just as confused as you are.