'Watchmen' Episode 8 Trailer Teases An Unconventional Love Story, And Damon Lindelof Talks About That Game-Changing Reveal

Damon Lindelof and his writing staff dropped another bomb in this week's episode of Watchmen, proving once again that this series is appointment viewing and must-see television that's unlike anything else this year. Take a look at the trailer for next week's episode below, and read Lindelof's comments about last night's game-changing revelation. Spoilers ahead. 

Watchmen is heading back in time once again in its next episode, flashing back to Angela Abar (Regina King) and Doctor Manhattan (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II)'s courtship in the wake of last night's mind-bending discovery that Manhattan has been living in Tulsa as Angela's husband Cal for years. In a flashback, the demi-god superhero shows his sure-fire strategy for locking down a first date – use the fact that you don't experience time like everyone else to explain that you've always been in love with someone! – and it seems to charm Angela. But back in the current timeline, a firefight breaks out in the Abar's front yard when the Seventh Kavalry comes for Cal/Manhattan (Calhattan?). Remember, that smug son of a bitch Joe Keene (James Wolk) wants to destroy and then become Doctor Manhattan, taking that power for his own nefarious purposes. The last few seconds of this trailer seem to suggest that Keene may succeed in that mission – or at least the "destroying the current Doctor Manhattan" part.

Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Lindelof knows that there's an awful lot of ground left to cover – but he's confident he and his team stuck the landing. "Considering episode seven's ending, it would appear we have some explaining to do," he said. "...If I were watching the show, I'd be starting to panic that we can't possibly bring this all together in just two more episodes. So, uh...don't panic?"

As for how he landed on the idea of Cal and Doctor Manhattan being one and the same, Lindelof explains that it was one of the earliest ideas they had in the writers' room:

"I started this whole journey from the perspective of a fan — what would I have to see in a television show daring to call itself Watchmen? Dr. Manhattan was near the top of that list. But even higher was that we needed to tell a new story with a new character at the center of it. Once we landed on Angela Abar as that center, the new rule became that any legacy characters we were using (Veidt, Laurie and Hooded Justice) could only be used in service of Angela's story...she was the sun, everyone else needed to be orbiting around her. So how could Dr. Manhattan, a man with the power of God, be in service of Angela's story as opposed to the other way around? Based on his past (and all the tropes of Greco/Roman mythology), the answer was intuitive...love. We knew this relationship could only work if Manhattan took the form of a human, and so, the idea of Cal was born. And yeah, it came early. Almost from the jump."

Head over to THR to read the rest of his comments about the episode, including casting Yahya Abdul-Mateen II in such a key role.

Watchmen airs Sunday nights on HBO.