Went in with low expectations, but was completely surprised by the first episode. I think they've done a great job of making it contemporary and powerful. Right off the bat, it is triggering a whole bunch of people, for political reasons, and I think that is exactly as it should be. It got review bombed at Rotten Tomatoes immediately, for being "too political".
The beginning of the episode, highlighting the 1921 Tulsa race riot, was amazing. It seems that a whole lot of people did not realize that historical moment was not fictional. Instead, they used that history as a setting that seems to parallel the Superman origin story, with the baby being saved from the chaos.
The Rorschach-inspired 7th Kavalry seems like a really interesting spin on how Alan Moore was perplexed by the phenomenon of misguided admiration for the Rorschach anti-hero character. Here, it has turned into a political movement, with certain parallels to contemporary real-world US political factions. I think that is primarily what is fueling a bunch of the online vitriol, but this is exactly what I feel a good Watchmen follow-up should do.
I'm also really liking where the show seems to be going with the Redford presidency. In the original, we had the 5-term Nixon presidency, and now we get the 30-year left wing liberal government, showing how either political side could go just as badly without term limits. Robert Redford is utilized as the Democrat version of Reagan. We saw a poster with Redford in the background, and I'm wondering if they might actually get Redford to play the role.
I was worried about Lindelof as well, but found his letter to the fans compelling. With the first episode, at least, I feel he has certainly delivered something quite good, with a ton of potential. Eager for episode 2!