The audience scores for HBO’s first episode of Watchmen from showrunner Damon Lindelof have been released and it’s not looking pretty. Audiences are putting the first episode in the dumpster.
https://youtu.be/Pt8f1OBoOUE
Rotten Tomatoes
On Rotten Tomatoes the audience score sits at 47% despite an overwhelming 95% critic score.
Audiences gave the film an average rating of 2.7 out of 5. Almost 1,000 people have left a review of the show.
Here’s what folks are saying about the show:
Mariann E writes gave the first episode a 2 out of 5. She writes, “i was a little disappointed cause its not what i think off as watchmen. give it 2 stars for the soundtrack and the production value. it wasnt poorly made, but white supremacy shouldnt been the whole point.gonna give it another chance since i really liked watchmen lore.”
Joe B gives the show 1 star. He writes, “I don’t know if I Could have been more disappointed. This is Watchmen in name only (other then a bunch of overly simplistic and ungratifying Easter egg drops that most certainly did not give me that good old feeling). So sad. There is some good acting and I loved the music, but oh God did they turn me off with this race baiting, rampant white supremacy story line. And to what end? Who is this supposed to make happy? Definitely not an audience that was looking to relive one of the all time great comic books from Alan Moore. Such a shame.”
Andrew S. gives the sholw a half star. He writes, “So much potential squandered sadly..”
J W gives the show one star. They write, “This is not Watchmen, I’m sorry. Sure it’s provocative and edgy but its still blah. Not crazy about their ideas and not interested in characters. HBO did not do this right, unfortunately.”
Ryan P gave the first episode five stars. He writes, “So many nods to the original book and so far a very compelling story on its own. Beautiful cinematography and fantastic acting. People complaining that it’s too political apparently never understood the original book to begin with. Excited for more.”
Abel P gives the show four stars. He writes, “What a great addition to the watchmen universe. My only complaint is the distraction with some of the music selection. At times it feels dark and gritty like the movie, other times it feels like something out of the CW or ABC with generic techno music and sub par editing. Still though, I’ll keep watching!”
Bob B gives the show 1 star. He writes, “What did i just watch. im a fan and you just ruined one of the best story lines…”
Robb V gives the show five stars. He writes, “Absolutely fantastic.. stays true to the universe while giving a fresh take on modern society. Where the original watchmen was a magnification of 1980s society… this is a bold take on 2019.. feels so dystopian but extremely relevant.”
Jacob H gives the show a half star. He writes, “First episode is supposed to hook you, I’m not hooked. I don’t have any burning desire to see what happens next. The first episode ended and I was like “ok”.”
Steven R gives the show four stars. He writes, “While it didn’t stay true to the comics (at least not yet) the first episode kicks off what has the potential to be a great series. Really looking forward to this goes and what HBO does with it. Solid acting and an intriguing story line are definitely worth exploring going forward.”
Metacritic
The Metacritic User Score is nearly identical to Rotten Tomatoes. It sits at 4.9 out of 10. There are 17 positive reviews, 3 mixed, and 18 negative.
As with Rotten Tomatoes this is in stark contrast to the critic score which sits at 85 and has 29 positive reviews and 2 mixed reviews with 0 negative reviews.
Here’s what folks are saying about Watchmen Episode 1 on Metacritic:
Deeziedeetz gives the show a 10. They write, “An excellent show. Very well written. Visually spectacular. Good job HBO and DC.”
JohnRofls gives the show a 10. He writes, “Complex storyline that intertwines new mythos into an existing universe while touching on a very real potential distopian world in a cautionary tale that spends little time directly preaching. Rather, the story forces the audience into the alternate history that began within the text of Watchmen. Absolutely brilliant cinematography ties everything together.”
tgm0 gives the show a 9. They write, “I knew nothing about Watchmen, but I really enjoyed the first episode of this new series. Looking forward to see more…”
MFT gives the show a 8. They write, “
DanielG gives the show a 4. He writes, “This is some artsy fartsy yuppies wet dream to take a solid franchise and integrate some awful identity politics into a franchise that has nothing to do with that. The pilot was extremely weak and boring almost the entire way through. It kept some original watchmen fans interested with mere nano seconds of well known characters from the original franchise. Mixed along with the boring plot line and terrible pacing that will put you to sleep. They did a fab job with the trailers, I’ll give them that. Too bad its going to be a one season let down show. If you are looking for your next series time sink. This isn’t going to be one of them.”
ScienceAdvisor gives the show a 3. They write, “This is Watchmen in name only. This first epsiode is boring, incoherent, breaks continuity (if you believe it is a sequel not a reboot) and full of ‘member berries. The only other thing it does is pound home that “Racism & Police Brutality” bad, except we are the choir and know that already. How this made it to series is beyond comprehension.”
mortendynamo gives the show a 3. They write, “This has nothing to do with the original Watchmen. It should never have been made into a series.”
goust24 gives the show a 1. They write, “This is not Watchmen. This is bad political propaganda. Thanks, I’m not hungry. One point for music.”
Mrnapalm gives the show a 0. He writes, “Unfortunately this TV series has nothing to do with the watchmen, and it’s sad. :(”
Prettyboyfloyd gives the show a 0. They write, “Not Alan Moore’s Watchmen, but Lindehoff’s attempt off making Black Panther. And there’s only one reason he needs to inject his idea’s into some one else’s franchise, because he’s too much of a hack to create his own.”
llagrok gives the show a 0. They write, “Absolute drivel compared to its predecessor. Completely devoid of nuance and void of interesting characters or plot points.”
Have you seen Watchmen on HBO yet? What did you think?