Extraordinary is a very apt way to describe "This Extraordinary Being". It is very hard to not expect a huge amount after such an outstanding previous episode in "Little Fear of Lightning". Which was the episode where 'Watchmen' did properly start to hit its stride and start being the superb show that it became after a mostly impressive but very much imperfect first half to the show (where only "She Was Killed By Space Junk" was great). This episode did not disappoint.
If asked what gets my vote as the best episode of 'Watchmen', it would be for me a joint first between "This Extraordinary Thing" and the penultimate episode "A God Walks Into Abar", with a very close second being "Little Fear of Lightning". If anybody is still recovering from the emotional impact of Looking Glass' origin story that dominated "Little Fear of Lightning", lets just say prepare yourself to get your heart ripped into two even more and cry even more buckets. Being somebody that watched both episodes back to back pretty much, that experience made for an incredibly emotional couple of hours.
"This Extraordinary Being" is one of the show's best looking episodes (stylistically too it stands out), which is quite a compliment as 'Watchmen' is one of the best and most ambitious looking shows in recent years. The black and white photography is really quite stunning and very film-noir-like, which is a big compliment being a big fan of film-noir that the production values reminded me of. The music also doesn't disappoint, the scoring is still haunting and in perfect keeping with the bold tone and the pre-existing music is also used cleverly. One of the most emotionally impactful uses of music on 'Watchmen' is here with "Living in the Past".
Some of 'Watchmen's' best writing can be seen in "This Extraordinary Being" too. There is less of the subtle or sharp wit of other episodes, but the gritty bite increases here as does the boldness. The more expositionary moments don't ramble or over-explain, or at least not so to me, and nothing felt unnecessary. The story, doing so well in connecting all the pieces and starting to put them into place, is deliberate in pace but utterly compelling, because of the unflinching approach to such heavy and painfully relevant still subject matter ('Watchmen' never held anything back throughout its run and this is most evident in this episode) and the emotional impact. It's one of the episodes closest in spirit and thematically to the source material and does so well in building upon the themes and making them timely in all the periods dealt with here.
It's another episode that relies heavily on flashbacks. Another being the second episode "Martial Feats of Comanche Horsemanship". For me, "This Extraordinary Thing" handled its respective flashbacks a lot better, more emotionally investable, more cohesive structurally, more interesting characters centred around and more importantly they don't bog down the momentum which the other episode was not as successful in not doing. One cannot not mention the big revelation, in a show full of them the one here (the truth about Hooded Justice) this was the one that actually left me staggered the most.
Have nothing to fault the characterisation for, Angela is at her most interesting at this point of the show's run and one feels for her. Will and Hooded Justice are even meatier though, Will is a complex figure and Hooded Justice really unsettles. The performances are dead on too, Regina King is on magisterial form and shows a more vulnerable side to her usual fearless one. Louis Gossett Jr is even more majestic and commands the screen powerfully, while Cheyanne Jackson chills as Hooded Justice.
Summarising, simply extraordinary television and some of the best for any show in recent years. 10/10
