Damon Lindelof, the creator of HBO's Watchmen, revealed why the series' first (and possibly only) season ran for nine episodes.
"The original plan was to do 10," Lindelof told Collider. "And, then, I think around the time that we had written the scripts for four and five, and understanding what episode six was going to be—and six needed to happen exactly when it happened in the season, in our opinion—that we felt like once six ended, that we were closer to the ending than we were to the beginning. Six didn’t feel like a mid point. It felt like, we now know everything that we need to know to move into the endgame. And, every way that we looked at it, it felt like if we were going to do seven, eight, nine and ten, one of those episodes was going to be filler. And I was like, ‘We’re just not doing the filler episode. We know exactly what we need to do in our endgame. It’s time to start doing it. I don’t want to stall.’"
Episode 6, "This Extraordinary Being," features Angela's memory trip after taking Will's Nostalgia pills. It's during this episode that she sees all of her grandfather's memories, including his transformation into the first vigilante, Hooded Justice, and the true intentions of the Cyclops organization. This was a pivotal moment in the series, as it revealed Will's part in Judd Crawford's murder.
Additionally, Lindelof mused that with Watchmen being such an "odd" show, it seemed natural to buck the trend of other premium cable network series.
Developed by Damon Lindelof, HBO's Watchmen stars Jeremy Irons, Regina King, Don Johnson, Tim Blake Nelson, Jean Smart, Louis Gossett Jr., Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Tom Mison, James Wolk, Adelaide Clemens, Andrew Howard, Frances Fisher, Jacob Ming-Trent, Sara Vickers, Dylan Schombing, Lily Rose Smith and Adelynn Spoon.