Watchmen episode 2: Regina King compares Angela’s KKK discovery to people finding out family member voted Trump

Lead star breaks down the second episode’s disturbing reveal

Regina King has compared her character’s disturbing discovery in the latest episode of Watchmen to American citizens find out their member voted for Trump.

Episode two of the HBO series, based on the Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons graphic novel, was broadcast in the US last night, and featured a scene that saw Angela Abar (King) find a Ku Klux Klan outfit in in the bedroom of her deceased friend, chief of police Judd Crawford (Don Johnson).

Johnson’s character, who is found hanged at the end of the season premiere, is initially presented as a close ally of Angela’s.

King broke down the episode’s big moment with The Independent and new podcast, Watching Watchmen, revealing Angela’s current state of mind about the former chief of police following the discovery.

“I think I felt – in the mindset of Angela – that deep down he has a connection that’s horrible,” King said. ”But, she’s still just hopeful.”

She continued: “I think that whole thing, and how it plays out, is a perfect metaphor or reflection of how a lot of people in America felt when they found out their family members voted for Trump. It was like ‘Woah.’ I can’t just stop loving my family member, but wow, that’s a body blow. So you try to understand it. I think that’s an example of what a lot of people are feeling in America. But, Angela doesn’t have Judd to talk to to make sense of it.”

Watchmen has been praised for its depiction of white supremacy and themes of racism.

King, who told the podcast that Damon Lindelof was the only white person she trusted with the material, praised the episode’s director Nicole Kassell, who is from Charlottesville, Virginia – the place where white supremacist riots took place in 2017.

“At a very early age, [Nicole] high-tailed it out of there as fast as she could,” King said. ”She was a great resource to tap into what that could feel like, and how you walk the line of protecting this beautiful relationship [yet also] have an understanding that you can’t erase all of those horrible things that brought you so close. Because it’s a horrific incident that brought Judd and Angela together.”

Read our review of episode two here.

Watchmen continues weekly every Sunday on HBO and airs in the UK the following evening at 9pm on Sky Atlantic. Listen to new weekly podcast “Watching Watchmen” for thoughts and analysis on every episode – you can subscribe here.