I can’t see the show doing anything else that could match up to what they did there, but I will say that even if the rest was shit, it was worth it for that. At first I thought it was sort of antithetical to the premise since Will’s plight was wholly sympathetic, but it makes him sort of the show’s Manhattan. He’s the only “hero”, in this case the only guy whose sense of justice is pure and detached from his ego, but he still loses his sense of self. Do wish we got more interaction with the other Minutemen though, Nite Owl would have been NYPD around the same time and likely aware what his fellow officers were up to, time with Silk Spectre would have made the wife’s sudden departure a bit more understandable for the average viewer, but they said what they needed to say. Lots of little reasons to appreciate that episode thematically and technically.
Forgive me as I've not seen the show yet, but...Hooded Justice is white, wears a hood and has a noose round his neck. Short of calling him KKK Man, I'm not sure what else Moore could have done. So how would turning Hooded Justice into a black guy and ignoring all the obvious parallels to fascism make Moore think "actually, that's fucking great"?
Should prob watch the episode then to fully understand the claim you are addressing. The white skin is explained. HJ was such an insignificant character in the comic that whatever it can be interpreted that Moore was trying to say about fascism with this character that was barely mentioned pales in comparison to what the show achieved with the same template. That it expands on the character’s mystery rather than retcon anything only makes it more impressive to me and I feel like Moore would appreciate what they’ve done there, though likely not the rest of the show.
What I will say about the rest of the show is that it feels a lot more limp and weaker in comparison. Don’t really give a shit about Veidt going on trial with an audience of clones or that trite Lady Trieu character seemingly emulating Veidt’s plan, or even Angela and Laurie uncovering the mystery that the first 5 episodes set up. After what we just saw, it almost makes it hard to care anymore since not only is that going to be, without question, the highlight of the series, but a gay colored man of justice’s pre-WWII struggle with systemic racism and identity is a bit more weighty than the aim of a white supremacist organization who have appropriated fuckin Rorschach’s mask and some corny lady’s sci-fi master plot
EDIT: I’d really like to see a 70’s art house type of noir film set in the same era dealing with the same issues
