Watchmen Episode 3 Review: Jean Smart Takes This Show to Another Level

Sometimes a character can take a series to a whole other level.

In Watchmen Episode 3, ‘She Was Killed By Space Junk’ FBI Agent Laurie Blake, played by veteran character actress Jean Smart, did just that.

It’s absolutely wild to think that a series already teeming with big, showy performances and tight storylines can add a new, attention-demanding character with a huge backstory into the mix this early in its run, and it’d work so flawlessly. A character like Blake is usually the type of dramatic presence reserved for a new season. But no, she’s here, and she makes the show even better than you could possibly imagine.

***SPOILERS AHEAD***

If you know Watchmen lore, you’ll immediately be tipped off by Blake’s boots, and well her last name — that she is part of the Watchmen. Yes, she is Silk Spectre II — the daughter of the original Silk Spectre and The Comedian. Now, she’s a weathered, cynical, and possibly ruthless FBI agent tasked with taking down masked vigilantes.

It’s an incredible turn for the character. It puts her on an immediate collision course with Sister Midnight (Regina King) and the rest of the masked Tulsa police, and it grounds Tulsa even further in the world of Watchmen as opposed to the a vague far off connections on television, Mars, and wherever Adrian Veidt (Jeremy Irons).

Smart’s performance is everything to this episode. Her smarmy interaction with Looking Glass (Tim Blake Nelson) and her bitter jabs at her FBI subordinate Dale (Dustin Petey) are well-placed comedic moments. Her one-on-one with Angela (King) is the stuff Emmy sizzle reels are made of, and King’s reaction to Smart’s amazing “I eat good guys for breakfast” monologue is both hilarious and powerful.

However, it’s Smart’s episode-long phone call to Dr. Manhattan that is everything. Smart’s distant stare, and her ability to imbue her performance with decades of hate and sadness makes the performance so incredibly lived in and powerful.

And it’s even more incredible that her addition to the cast felt so effortless. The test for the series is being able to balance both her and Sister Midnight’s screentime, while also paying off on the oddball Adrian Veidt story, discovering who Will Reeves (Gosset Jr.) is, figuring out who killed Crawford (Don Johnson), and also how Lady Trieu (Hong Chau) and Trieu Industries fits into all of this.

We’ve seen shows like Westworld get bogged down in too much story, so let’s hope Watchmen, which has been amazing so far, not suffer the same fate.

Watchmen Episode 3, ‘She Was Killed by Space Junk’ is now streaming on HBO Now.