Watchmen Page #8

SALLY (V.0.) (CONT'D)

Finally got his punchline, I guess. Poor

Eddie.

LAURIE:

Poor Eddie? How can you say that? After

what he--

SALLY:

Laurie, you're still young. You don't

understand how things change as time goes

by.

FUNERAL:
Blake's coffin is carried past Adrian, Dan and Dr.

Manhattan.

LAURIE (V.0.)

Another lesson on time passing. Y'know,

you and Jon should get together and write

a book on the subject.

Sally reaches into a drawer and pulls out the old photo of

the Watchmen, the same one with Blake and Hollis Mason in it.

(CONTINUED)

28

CONTINUED:
(2)

SALLY:

That leaves just two of the old team

left. Me and Hollis Mason.

She stops at Blake in the photo, regarding him.

EXT. CEMETERY - LATE AFTERNOON

SALLY (V.O.)

Eddie was the Comedian. He always thought

he'd get the last laugh.

As the PRIEST speaks, we move down the row of mourners,

stopping at Dr. Manhattan looking thoughtfully into Blake's

GRAVE:

INT. BAR - SAIGON - NIGHT - (FLASHBACK - 1964)

MATCH CUT TO:
Dr. Manhattan. In the night sky, a BURST of

FIREWORKS. Outside, a CROWD of Vietnamese people CHEER.

BLAKE (O.S.)

Fireworks.

A young Blake sits in a derelict Saigon bar, mean drunk. His

face is devoid of his trademark scar.

BLAKE (CONT'D)

You'd think this country'd had enough

goddamn fireworks. If we'd've lost this

war, I think it might have driven us

crazy, y'know? As a country. But we

didn't. Thanks to you.

DR. MANHATTAN

You sound bitter.

BLAKE:

Me? I think it's hilarious.

VIETNAMESE GIRL (O.S.)

Mr. Eddie?

They both turn. A pretty VIETNAMESE GIRL stands in the door.

She's pregnant, just starting to show.

BLAKE:

Fantastic. Just what I need.

VIETNAMESE GIRL:

The war is over now. We must talk.

(touching her abdomen)

About this.

(CONTINUED)

29.

CONTINUED:

Blake SLAMS his glass down. He glares at her, drunk and

dangerous.

BLAKE:

There's nothing to talk about cuz I'm

leaving. I'm gonna forget you and your

horrible, sweaty little country.

He turns away. Her eyes blaze with betrayal and hatred.

VIETNAMESE GIRL:

No. You will remember. You will remember

me and my country forever.

She SMASHES a bottle. Blake turns just as the broken SHARDS

SLASH HIS FACE, slicing him his jagged scar

BLAKE:

You b*tch! My face!

He PUSHES HER into the bar and DRAWS HIS PISTOL--

DR. MANHATTAN

Blake . don't.

BLAM! Blake shoots her; the Girl SLAMS against the far wall.

She drops, dead.

DR. MANHATTAN (CONT'D)

Blake. She was pregnant. You gunned her

down.

Blake turns on him, spitting fury.

BLAKE:

That's right! And you know what? You

watched me! You could've changed the gun

into steam or the bullets into mercury or

the bottle into snowflakes, but you

didn't, did you? You're drifting outta

touch, Doc--I've seen it. Don't tell me

the war got to you.

Blake walks off shouting "Medic!" Dr. Manhattan turns to the

girl's body and regards it, curious. MATCH CUT TO:

EXT. CEMETERY - EARLY EVENING

Dr. Manhattan looking down at Blake's grave. We move down to

ADRIAN:

30.

INT. WATCHMEN HEADQUARTERS - NIGHT - (FLASHBACK 15 YEARS AGO)

BLAKE (V.0.)

This is all bullshit.

Dan, fit and trim in full Nite Owl regalia, attends the

meeting of the "new" Watchmen. Rorschach is there, as is a

teenage Laurie, dressed in her tight spandex costume. Dr.

Manhattan, his age unchanged, stands with his girlfriend

JANEY SLATER, though he casts occasional glances at young

Laurie . who definitely glances back. Dan also pays

Laurie attention, but she is oblivious.

A younger Adrian, dressed as Oxymandias, leads the meeting.

ADRIAN:

What are you saying, Comedian?

Blake, now in his forties, smokes a CIGAR, feet on the table,

a FLASK in hand. The PAPER in his hand reads: "Arab Leaders

Call Dr. Manhattan: 'America's Weapon of Satan."'

BLAKE:

What I'm saying is this whole bringing

back the Watchmen thing is bullshit. It

didn't work twenty years ago, and it

ain't gonna work just because you want to

keep on playing Cowboys and Indians.

DAN:

Maybe we should agree on no drinking at

meetings. Look, Rorschach and I have made

real headway on the gang problem by

pooling our efforts.

Rorschach's voice is quiet, not yet its tortured rasp.

RORSCHACH:

That's true. But something like this

seems too big. Too bureaucratic.

ADRIAN:

Bureaucracies can be effective with the

right leadership--

BLAKE:

And that would be you, right Veidt? I

mean you're the "smartest guy in the

world," right?

ADRIAN:

It doesn't take a genius to see that the

world has problems.

(CONTINUED)

31.

CONTINUED:

BLAKE:

But it takes a roomful of morons to think

they're small enough for you guys to

handle. You people are a joke. You hear

Moloch's back in town and get your

panties in a bunch. You think that

matters?

RORSCHACH:

Of course it does. Justice matters.

BLAKE:

Justice. Hilarious. There's no such thing

as justice.

He stands, moving to Adrian's DISPLAY which outlines the

Watchmen's agenda: GANGS, RACKETEERING, DRUGS. Blake flicks

his ZIPPO and the display GOES UP IN FLAMES.

ADRIAN:

My display .

BLAKE:

Justice doesn't matter, alright? Because

twenty years from now we're all gonna be

dust. Mankind's been trying to kill each

other off since the beginning of time and

now we finally got the power to finish

the job. Ain't nothin' gonna matter when

the nukes start flying, and I promise you

they will. Then Ozymandias here is gonna

be the smartest man on the cinder.

He sneers and walks out. Silence. Uncomfortable in the wake

of truth, the others pack up to go, muttering apologies to

Adrian, but Adrian ignores them, staring at the flames

flickering across his face. He seems more thoughtful than

upset. MATCH CUT TO:

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