Crystal “Crystal Clear” Clear

The pilot was thoroughly engaging, extremely well written, beautifully acted with fantastic direction and visuals and I cannot wait for the second episode. I was very impressed with what they have done in picking up from where the original comic book series left off. I don’t like spoilers so never read any press on shows or movies I want to see so I was actually expecting a version of the comic book series, similar to the 2009 Zach Snyder film. This is not that! But the direction they are going in does not disappoint if you love the comic book (or even if you don’t). Straight away you’re pulled in by the devastation of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre which shamefully, many people are still unaware even happened. The timeline jumps to present day 2019 with humankind living in an alternate reality accepting the events that happened in the comic. This gives the TV series so much to play with dealing with the effects of those events but it still has enough ingenuity to differentiate it from the original comic. Several references to the comic are dotted throughout the episode but instead of concern about the Cold War it’s updated to tentative race relations in the US. President Robert Redford has been in office 30 years from the end of the original series and introduces new polarising, policies, most notably reparations to the descendants of the Tulsa Race Massacre. This has created deadly opposition from some leading to the creation of the white supremest group 7th Cavalry who follow the writings of the long dead Rorschach and who violently attacked and killed police officers upholding the laws 3 years earlier. Their reappearance is announced by the murder of an officer and in steps a powerful Regina King as Angela Abraham. An ex-police officer herself who now dons vigilante garbs to hide her identity and fight for justice. Although still outlawed Don Johnson’s police chief, Judd Crawford enlists her help alongside other vigilante heroes to fight together with the police to find 7th Calvary members. Without revealing any spoilers, this first episode was definitely captivating and they have introduced so many pointers to other possible plot directions that you’ll have to rewatch just to check if you missed anything.