A ‘Watchmen’ Writer Responds To Criticisms Of The HBO Series Being ‘Pro-Cop’

One of the more baffling criticisms thrown at HBO’s Watchmen (our third favorite series of 2019) was that it was pro-cop. That’s like watching The Wolf of Wall Street and thinking, “I want to grow up and be like Jordan Belfort,” or believing Rorschach is actually the hero in the Watchmen movie. You’re missing the point.

In an interview with Rolling Stone‘s Alan Sepinwall, Watchmen writer Cord Jefferson answered whether it surprises him that people still the show as being “copaganda.” “It does. I think if you only watched the pilot, you might. But I don’t think there’s any way you watch episode six [“This Extraordinary Being”] and go, ‘That show is pro-cop,'” Jefferson said. He was also asked about how other TV shows portray police officers.

“I don’t think shows like Law & Order and Brooklyn Nine-Nine need to go away, but I think that what we need is more shows like The Wire. More shows that offer a more nuanced perspective of policing,” Jefferson, who’s also worked on Succession, The Good Place, and Master of None (pretty good!), responded. “If more shows like The Wire existed, then it wouldn’t seem like Hollywood was so in the pocket of policing in the way that a lot of people are saying that it is.” Also, no more cop musicals.

We tried that, and it failed. Never again.