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"Legacy isn’t land. It’s in the blood, passed to us from our ancestors, and by us to our children."

Lady Trieu to the Clarks trying to get them to sell their house


"If You Don't Like My Story, Write Your Own" is the fourth episode in the first season of HBO's Watchmen, and fourth episode overall. It aired on November 10, 2019.

Premise[]

Reclusive trillionaire Lady Trieu finally enters the stage with a mysterious offer. With Blake getting closer to the truth of her coverup, Angela enlists Looking Glass for help. Meanwhile, The Lord trains two new servants.

Plot[]

Katy Clark sits outside of her farmhouse and waits for someone to stop and buy the fresh eggs she has on display and is trying to sell them for $2 a dozen. She sees a truck driving by and gets excited, but the truck doesn’t stop and keeps on driving instead. Thus, she looks at her watch, puts down her book, and starts to pack up, but as she’s walking up the steps on her porch, she trips and a lot of the eggs break except for one that her husband, Jon, picks up as it's rolling, and before it hits the ground. He smiles at his wife. Later, they eat dinner, put together a jigsaw puzzle, brush their teeth, and go to bed. The doorbell rings and when the Clarks answer it, they find Lady Trieu there. She asks to come in, and Katy says that she's the billionaire building a giant clock down the road, but no one ever sees Trieu because she doesn't come out. Trieu says that it's more than a clock and she comes out when it's important and that the Clarks are the most important people in the world for the next three minutes. She asks for their house immediately, along with the other 40 acres of land it sits on.

The doorbell rings, and Trieu calls out in Vietnamese to wait. She then says that when the Clarks die, their legacy dies with them and they'll be extinct. Trieu opens her case and offers them a legacy by providing them with a child. Lady Trieu reveals that she got rich making advanced pharma and biochemical technology. But that among her holdings are thousands of clinics, one being the Sooner Fertility Partners clinic right there in Tulsa, OK. She reveals that she knows that 10 years earlier the couple went there to try and get pregnant but that they were told it was not possible because Katy’s eggs are non-viable. She says that is bullshit and offers them a child.

Katy tells her to get out, and Trieu tells her that she's already made them a baby. She opens the front door and takes a baby from her assistant, brings it in, and says that she has created their biological son. Trieu has placed $5 million in an account to cover their relocation costs and the baby costs, and gives them 30 seconds to decide. Jon takes their son, and he and Katy look at him. Trieu says that they have ten seconds left and then she'll destroy the baby, then says that she's joking and will just take him away but he'll never know where he came from. Katy quickly signs the papers, and the lights flicker as the house shakes. They go outside and see an object fall from the sky and crash to the ground just over the horizon on the property, and Trieu says that it's hers.

Angela goes to her bakery, cleans up the place removing any DNA evidence, cuts up Will's wheelchair, and starts to burn the note that he left. Skip Gates' automated voice calls talking about Will's DNA that he submitted to the cultural heritage center, identifying Angela as her ancestor. Angela blows out the flames on the note.

Later, Sister Night calls her squad to see if they got a silent alarm from the center. She goes there and claims that someone broke in, then breaks in herself and brings up the Gates DNA analyzer. Sister Night asks to see her family tree, and the computer gives her an acorn and directs her to the Greenhouse to "plant" it. She puts the "acorn" in a glass tube, and it displays her family tree. It shows a new branch of her father Marcus' lineage, and Sister Night opens it up to reveal an unidentified grandparent: Will. The center computer presents images of Angela's great grandparents, O.B. and Ruth. They had one son but his records were lost in the fires. The family was killed in the 1921 massacre, and Sister Night figures that Will disappeared but isn't dead. She says that now she knows where she came from, and tells him to leave her alone.

There's a crash outside and a car alarm goes off. Sister Night runs out and finds Laurie Blake laughing over the wreckage of Sister Night's car. The FBI agent draws a gun, turns, and aims it at Sister Night, who puts up her hands. After a moment Laurie lowers her gun, and Sister Night turns off the car alarm, then identifies the car as hers. She calls in to ask for a tow for the missing car, and Angela unmasks and says that nothing is gone. Laurie tells her that it fell out of the sky and goes to her own car.

Angela returns home and finds Cal asleep in their bed with their daughters. She goes to the girls' room and asks Topher if she can crash there. Topher agrees and asks where she was, and Angela claims that the police questioned her about the funeral for a few hours. The boy says that he thinks his sisters are okay, and they didn't see the bomber get shot in the head but he did. He asks if Angela was scared, and she says that she was and still is a little. Topher offers her his Bubastis stuffed animal to comfort her.

The next morning, Angela and Cal make breakfast and Angela tells her husband what Laurie saw happen. She explains that she broke into the cultural center, and the children argue about whether Judd Crawford went to Heaven when he blew up. Cal says that there isn't a Heaven and Judd is nowhere.

Later, Angela goes to a bomb shelter in the back of Wade Tillman's house, knocks on the door, and says who she is. Wade lets her in and shows her photos of the squids that he took during the last downpour. Angela notes that he's weird and Wade points out that she is as well, and asks why she's there. She shows him a pill bottle that she found in the car and asks Wade to have his ex identify the pills inside. Angela makes it clear she doesn't want them examined at the precinct lab, and Wade asks if it's related to Judd's murder. She points out that he was a racist and shows Wade the Klansman robe she found in Judd's close, and he says that they're old school. Wade suggests that it's a keepsake from Judd's father, and Angela asks him to hold on to it for her. Wade agrees and warns Angela that Laurie is weird too.

Later, Angela dons her Sister Night outfit once more, drives to an overpass, and tosses a duffle bag into the garbage container of a passing train. She turns to see a masked and costumed man watching her, and he runs off after a moment. Sister Night goes after him and he sprays lube on himself, removes his accessories as he slides into a sidewalk sewer outlet.

Returning to the station, Sister Night runs into Joe Keene. He thanks her for saving his life and mentions that he knows her real name, and apologizes for not knowing he was a target. Sister Night then gives the vigilante's belt to Pirate Jenny and Red Scare, but they don't recognize the vigilante from his description. Red Scare says that the new boss won't care about Lube Man if he's not part of the 7K. Sister Night goes to see their new boss: Laurie. Laurie says that she has a lead on her stolen car, and found prints on it that Quantico got a hit on. They belong to Will Reeves, a cop in New York City in the 1940s and 1950s. Will retired young and disappeared. Laurie says that he'd be a hundred now, and old men tend to get around in wheelchairs.

Dale Petey comes in and whispers something in Laurie's ear. Laurie tells Angela that they have another lead on her car. They drive off and Laurie says that Sister Night's car was stolen the night of Judd's murder and returned the night of his funeral. She figures that it's a Thermodynamic miracle, which according to Laurie is the sciencey version of saying, “it’s all connected man”. She goes onto say that her ex used to talk about them when he wasn’t distracted by "fucking quarks".

While in a car with Angela and Petey, she reveals to the other woman, that she paid a visit to her home and talked with Cal. Who revealed to her that the two of them met in Vietnam. Angela tells Laurie that her parents died when she was little, so she has no family in Vietnam.

Laurie notes that people in masks suffered from trauma when they were kids. Petey calls American Hero Story: Minutemen garbage and says it’s full of historical inaccuracies. But it’s through him that Angela finds out that Laurie’s parents were The Comedian and Sally Jupiter, the first Silk Spectre. Then he talks about Laurie’s own trauma (with her permission) since he says that in the real world The Comedian sexually assaulted Silk Spectre in the 40’s. But that Laurie didn’t find out any of this until years later.

The trio arrive at Trieu's complex around the Millennium Clock, and Laurie tells Angela to put her mask back on for her safety and all that. They go inside and they watch as a flight wing arrives. Laurie speculates that one could have been used to pick up a car, and asks for a list of pilots. The crew chief warns that she isn't authorized, and Bian comes over and greets them. Bian invites Laurie and Angela to have tea in her mother’s vivarium but tells Petey it’s ladies only. She says they’re building the first wonder of the New World, something that won’t collapse because it’s not affected by seismic activity. The structure is said to “tell time.”

While talking with her, Lady Trieu says she promised her mother on her mother’s deathbed she would never leave Vietnam. So she build a vivarium so Vietnam never leaves her. In Vietnamese, Trieu asks Angela if she has the pills, as a message from Will. Angela says, in Vietnamese as well, that Will (“the old fucker”) can ask her himself.

Laurie notes that Sister Night is from Vietnam like Trieu, and Sister Night sarcastically says that it's a thermodynamic miracle. Trieu asks if they think their equipment was used to steal a car and drop it, and Sister Night says that it was hers. The detective asks for a list of all of the pilots, and Trieu has Bian bring it forward. Trieu offers her condolences on Judd's death.

Laurie finds a statue of Adrian Veidt, and points out that Trieu bought his company after he disappeared. She wonders why Trieu had the sculptor make Veidt so old, and Trieu points out that he is in fact old and in Vietnamese culture, elders are revered. Laurie says that he looks like shit.

Adrian goes out on a lake at night and pulls infants out of crab traps. He throws back the ones that are unsuitable, finds two that he wants, and takes them back to his workshop. Adrian puts them in an aging chamber and as they start to grow into Phillips and Crookshanks, he puts on a record and sits down to eat cake. The babies cry as they age to adults, and Adrian opens the chamber door and wishes them a happy birthday. They go out together and Adrian says that he's their master, but definitely not their maker. He knows that they can understand him and know what they are: flaws in a faultless design. Adrian insists that he's their master but not their maker, because he wouldn’t have given such pathetic creatures the gift of life.

He dresses them and says that their purpose is to serve, leads them into the manor, and they stare at the dining room filled with corpses of Phillips and Crookshanks. Adrian apologizes for the mess, saying he had a rough night, has his new servants load the corpses into a trebuchet, and launches them into the sky. Each corpse disappears, and Adrian says that it's been four years since he was sent there. At first he thought it was a paradise, but now he realizes that it's a prison. One way or another, Adrian promises that he will escape it.

That night, Angela drives home and finds Cal sitting in the living room. He's reading Things Fall Apart, and Angela admits that she's trying to pick a fight when she spoils the ending for him. Angela asks when Cal was going to tell her that Laurie came by, and Cal tells her that Laurie came by and asked about who called the night that Judd was murdered. He describes how Angela came back and said that her grandfather killed Judd, and he didn't know she had a grandfather. Cal then says that he lied and didn't tell Laurie that, and Angela explains that Laurie knew they met in Vietnam. She asks if Laurie asks Cal about his accident, and he says that it didn’t come up. Cal suggests that Laurie wants to help Angela, and suggests that Laurie knows how to find Will. Angela says that she can find Will by himself, and invites him to the closet to have sex.

Bian wakes up, with an IV that has the logo of her mother’s company in her arm, in a panic. She tells her mother that she had a nightmare and describes how she was in a village and men came to burn it. The men made the villagers walk a lot, and Bian's feet still hurt. Trieu says "Good", and refuses to walk her daughter back to bed. Bian says goodnight to Will and goes back to her bed.

Trieu offers Will tea, and says that she's concerned rather than worried. She suggests that Will tell Angela who he is, and he figures she has to learn by herself. Trieu says that it's too cute, and Will notes that Trieu is doing the same thing with Bian. She says that it's something different, and warns that when family is involved, things get cloudy, feet get cold, and deals get broken. Trieu figures that Will isn't in, and he stands up out of his wheelchair and says that his feet are fine. He asks how much longer, and Trieu says that it will be three days. Will admits that he betrayed Angela, and in three days she'll know what he's done... and hate him for it. He insists that he's in all the way, and mutters "tick tock" repeatedly.

Cast[]

Main Cast[]

Guest Starring[]

Co-Starring[]

  • Danny Boyd, Jr. as Young Will Reeves
  • Steven G. Norfleet as O.B. Williams
  • Alexis Louder as Ruth Williams
  • Regina Ting Chen as Crew Chief
  • Robert Wade Pralgo as Jon Clark
  • Christine Weatherup as Katy Clark
  • Dr. Henry Louis Gates as Skip Gates
  • Mariana Novak as Guard
  • Quinten Johnson as Fireman

Trivia[]

  • The episode title is a reference to the novel Things Fall Apart by Nigerian author Chinua Achebe. Cal is shown reading the book later in the episode.
  • In the beginning of the episode, we see a woman named Katy Clark reading a book titled Fogdancing. This book is one of the classic novels written by comic book artist and writer Max Shea, better known as the creator of the Tales of the Black Freighter comics.
  • The puzzle that Katy & Jon Clark are working on in the montage at the beginning of the episode is of Vincent van Gogh’s Starry Night.
  • The episode begins with a kind farming couple with the last name Clark – a clear nod to Superman’s secret identity, Clark Kent. The couple is desperate for a baby, which they get from a mysterious figure who hands them a child wrapped up in a blanket, at the same time as something falls from the sky and crashed near their home. Also, the father’s name is Jon, just like Pa Kent, the adoptive father of Clark Kent.
  • Hong Chau debuts in this episode as Lady Trieu and is credited at the end of the episode as part of the main cast.
  • When Angela Abar talks to Topher in his room, he is holding a purple stuff animal that looks an awful lot like Ozymandias’ a genetically engineered red and black-stripped lynx named Bubastis. The stuffed animal is purple, which closely resembles the 2009 film's version of the animal. This may very well be a hint that exotic, genetically engineered animals are more accessible in the Watchmen universe.
  • The hat Looking Glass is wearing has the logo of the Tulsa Tornadoes, which was a professional soccer team from Tulsa that played for just one season – in 1985, when the graphic novel takes place. This may not account for anything other than a cool nod to soccer fans, or it may be a hint that in Watchmen’s version of America soccer is a much more popular sport.
  • "You're My Thrill" by Billie Holiday plays in the car with Laurie Blake, Angela Abar, and Dale Petey. The same song plays when Nite Owl II and Laurie save people from the apartment fire in the original series. Also the line of the song is, "Where's my will?", a reference to Angela and Laurie looking for Will Reeves.
  • According to Laurie Blake, a thermodynamic miracle is “the sciency version of ‘it’s all connected, man!’” She says her ex-boyfriend used to talk about these miracles all the time when he wasn’t distracted by quarks. This is a clear reference to Doctor Manhattan, who not only worked with subatomic particles, but used the term thermodynamic miracles to describe astronomically unlikely events – such the nature of Blake's existence, and by extension humanity’s existence.
  • When talking to Angela Abar about her past, Laurie Blake says she believes that people who wear masks are driven by trauma. Then Dale Petey recounts the story of how Laurie was traumatized by discovering that the Comedian, the man who sexually assaulted her mother, was actually her father.
  • Lady Trieu has a domed vivarium that mimics the climate and surroundings of Vietnam, even in Tulsa. This echoes the domed vivarium in Karnak that Adrian Veidt had in the original series.
  • The episode confirms that Adrian Veidt is actually imprisoned somewhere for many years and that he's not responsible for the clones. This would mean that each time he's seen eating cake, it’s been one year later.
  • The drugs Will Reeves is taking could be the same kind of drugs Bian is hooked up to an IV for. They might be responsible for the dreams she's having, ones that seem more real than normal dreams (judging by how her feet hurt while she's awake). This dream seems to be a reference to the United States invasion of Vietnam and how the Comedian would destroy entire villages and have the people there walk to the next town.
  • There is a motif of eggs throughout the series. The first time we meet Angela Abar, she's cracking eggs. The second episode features Will Reeves eating a piping hot hard-boiled egg, and then ends with the song, "Egg Man" by the Beastie Boys. This episode opens with a shot of an egg stand and Lady Trieu is discussing Katy Clark's non-viable eggs while using an egg timer. Angela cleans up the eggs in her hideout, handles an acorn (essentially a tree egg) at the Cultural Museum, then makes eggs with Cal. Not to mention the frequent mentions of ancestry.

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Screenshots[]

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ve Watchmen (TV series)
Season 1
01. It's Summer and We're Running Out of Ice • 02. Martial Feats of Comanche Horsemanship • 03. She Was Killed by Space Junk • 04. If You Don't Like My Story, Write Your Own • 05. Little Fear of Lightning • 06. This Extraordinary Being • 07. An Almost Religious Awe • 08. A God Walks into Abar • 09. See How They Fly
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