Lindelof opted to open the pilot on the 1921 Tulsa race massacre, an event that he became aware of after reading "The Atlantic" article "The Case for Reparations" written by Ta-Nehisi Coates in 2014. Lindelof, curious as to the massacre, found there was very little information about it, and strove to learn more.&lt;ref name="IGN 2019/10/21"&gt;&lt;/ref&gt; Many aspects of the plot center on the legacy of the graphic novel and the event. This was around the time that he had been approached again to write for the "Watchmen" series, and felt the massacre and its implication for the alternate reality's present would provide an equivalent factor that the Doomsday Clock had been for the original comic series, and used racial conflict as a central element of the series. He believed it would also help more people learn about the 1921 event, and made sure it was represented accurately, including the representation in how aerial attacks were used to bombard the Greenwood district.