Though much of the story still remains a mystery, it appears that HBO has a major win on their hands. Based on the iconic graphic novel, their continuation of the Watchmen story has set a new record for 2019. The premiere episode had the highest ratings of any show on a premium outlet in the last three years. According to Deadline, the episode averaged 800,000 viewers and just over 1.5 million viewers across all HBO platforms. This was up 21% over the Succession finale last week. Currently sitting at 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, it looks like they may have another major hit on their hands. If this continues, it will be their biggest genre type program, outranking even Westworld, which is still waiting on a third season.
This latest translation of Watchmen is not connected to Zack Snyder's 2009 version of the characters but is more a direct sequel to the Alan Moore classic. It carries over many of the political themes without trouncing on the material we already know and love. Regina King seems to be the central character right now, but we'll learn more in the coming weeks.
You can read our review of the first episode here!