Look, my gut reaction last night and into today is that the finale was the weakest episode of the series. It left me a little cold and I think some of that is just the nature of the medium and having to bring stories to a close.

They absolutely did NOT drop the ball or fumble the bag by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, I think the finale will improve upon re-watch. It's just that the episodes preceding it were so groundbreaking and so well done that to finish on a well-executed episode that is rather conventional in its story-telling was bound to be a bit of a letdown. There's still so much to unpack in the finale and the series as a whole does not suffer for it which was everyone's worry heading into this week. They pulled it off.

Sure there were some bits that were too neat, the ending was perhaps too hopeful given that it is, at the end of the day, Watchmen. But as a series capper it serves to bring this story to an end and makes me eager to revisit the series again soon.

Most importantly what they did was they made Watchmen. Think about that. They did what was once thought impossible and what the movie failed so spectacularly at doing. Why the film is such an absolute failure to me is that it is Watchmen on only the most surface level. It is a near perfect facsimile in every way except any way that actually matters.

The show is Watchmen through and through in all the ways that something bearing the name should be. It is bold. It is groundbreaking. It is confrontational. It invites exploration, discussion, inspection and introspection. Just like the comic it is both timely and timeless. The fact that it got made at all is a minor miracle. The fact that it is truly a worthy successor to Watchmen is a major one.