WARNING: The following contains spoilers for the first two episodes of Season 1 of The Watch, "A Near Vimes Experience" and "Ook," now available on BBC.
BBC's The Watch definitely pushes the envelope with its dark brand of Brit comedy as Vimes (Richard Dormer) captains a group of cops in a fantasy world where crimes can be committed by certain guilds in Ankh-Morpork. It's caused Vimes to become disenchanted, turning into a drunk, although Constable Carrot, a young whippersnapper raised by dwarves, come in and shakes the crew up.
This starts knocking down sinister dominoes as Vimes realizes his old colleague, Carcer Dun (Sam Adewunmi) is back from the dead. But sadly, as Carcer's quest for revenge takes off, Vimes' crew is dealt a huge blow as a key cop makes a major sacrifice.
This is none other than Sergeant Detritus (Ralph Ineson), a troll whose body consists of rocks and comes off like a hybrid of Marvel's Thing and Korg. All of this is due to Vimes not doing what he was supposed to do decades ago when he should have arrested Carcer. In flashbacks, Carcer was working with Vimes to free young members of the resistance inside prison. Vimes turned on Carcer though, leading to the rebel killing Vimes' captain.
When Carcer and Vimes fought above the Unseen University, Vimes left him to fall into a lightning storm and believed he got fried. Yet somehow, fingerprints and other bits of evidence suggest Carcer is back and hunting down a mysterious grimoire. Vimes is in denial because he thinks it's impossible, but also as he's swamped by guilt.
But it all changes when he partners with Lady Ramkin, a vigilante who wants criminals and guild-members to pay for their sins, and they track Carcer down at an exchange. He uses his bow and arrow to shoot at Vimes, making it seem like he'll be killed at the end of the premiere.
However, in the next episode, per his conversation with Death, the Grim Reaper tells Vimes he's been given a second chance. It turns out Detritus rushed in, taking all the hits as the criminals escape. He dies in Vimes' hands, shocking fans as he's such a key player in the books. He recruited and trained Watchmen, but the series took liberties with these characters. Here, Detritus was a bridge troll who found Vimes years ago after the cop seemingly attempted suicide in a river. Luckily, Detritus rescued him and since then, they decided to work together.
During their tenure, Vimes thought Detritus saved him, but as he dies, the rock-monster thanks Vimes for saving him as Vimes gave him purpose. The Watch seems to be widening the emotional chasm between Vimes and Carcer, former brothers-in-arms. Detritus' death also adds tension to Carrot and Vimes as the former's ambitious forensic style and his orders are what sent Detritus to save his buddy. All that said, the death has helped Vimes, who realizes he needs to forget his alcoholism and honor his fallen comrade.
The Watch is executive produced by BBC Studios' Hilary Salmon (Luther) and Phil Collinson (Doctor Who). The series, which will run for eight episodes, is written by Simon Allen (Das Boot). It stars Richard Dormer, Anna Chancellor, Lara Rossi, Ingrid Oliver, James Fleet, Marama Corlett, Sam Adewunmi, Jo Eaton-Kent, Adam Hugill, Hakeem Kae-Kazim, Ruth Madeley, Bianca Simone and Ingrid Oliver. The Watch airs Sundays at 8 pm ET/PT on BBC America.