It was bound to happen. Hot on the heels of last week’s chilling discovery, is there a payoff? As hallucinations abound, you get backstory whether you want it or not. But does this brief timeout for the plot spell doom for the next episode? Come on, who you talking to.
I’m here to geek out with you about Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, specifically Episode 4, “Parallels and Interiors.” You know this season kicked off with a bang. All action, chaos everywhere. But Episode 4, it’s kind of like they took a breather. Or as we call it around here, a filler episode.
We’re mostly hanging out in Alaska this time, with Cate and the crew trying to outrun this massive Ice Titan. And hey, there’s a bit of a romantic detour too, flashing back to May and Kentaro in Tokyo a year earlier.
Now don’t get it twisted. Apple TV+ is still bringing it with the cool visual effects and the soundtrack in their MonsterVerse series, and yeah, there are some neat action scenes. But the whole flashback romance thing? Not exactly edge of your seat stuff. And I kind of missed the 50s vibe from the earlier episodes.
Monarch Outpost Scientist on Your Bingo Card
The episode starts off in Utah, 2015. There’s a lady in the desert, and if you guessed Monarch outpost scientist on your bingo card, you’d be right. Her name is Dr. Barnes, and it looks like she may be on to something big: a radiation spike in Alaska that’s eerily similar to what happened right before G-Day. Seems like it’s connected to our frosty friend up north.
Kentaro Does His Best Jeff Goldblum
Then we’re back to Cate’s storyline. The ice monster’s just trashed their plane and it’s coming right at them. Kentaro does his best impersonation of Jeff Goldblum from Jurassic Park and tries to pull a hero move with a flare gun, giving them just enough time to make a break for a nearby cave. But why do they split up?
Well, they’re safe for the moment. But then May has a bit of a mishap and ends up with her legs drenched in freezing water. She’s freaking out, thinking it’s all over for her.
They’re low on supplies, May’s losing it, and the gang can’t agree on where to go next. Kentaro wants to check out a base he spotted from the air. Only he spotted it.
“You have a brilliant imagination, but now is not the time to use it.”
Lee thinks the coast is a safer bet. So they go their separate ways, with Kentaro heading solo towards the base. Woo, you know he did.
Kentaro on That Rizz
Flashback time. Tokyo, 2014. Kentaro is busy with his art show when he literally bumps into May. What starts as a quirky meet cute quickly turns into a whirlwind. They hit a secret whiskey bar, then it’s back to Kentaro’s studio for some flirting and more. Sorry, children.
Kentaro eventually makes it to his show, leaving May behind, but not without swapping digits. Kentaro on that rizz.
Going in Circles
Back in the present, Kentaro is out in the wild when he suddenly collapses. Meanwhile Cate, May and Lee find themselves back where they started, at Hiroshi’s campsite. Oh, they’ve been going in circles the whole time. It’s all they can do not to give up. They’re trying to keep warm, even burning Hiroshi’s documents for heat.
“Who knows what’s in your dad’s papers? I mean, he could tell us what he was doing here. Theories, discoveries, where he went.”
Let it burn.
The Ice Titan Wants Heat
But seriously, what’s up with the Ice Titan? Lee figures out that this monster is after heat, not them. It gobbles up their campfire and even the heat from the plane’s engines. Lee’s master plan: create a huge bonfire to distract the beast so they can make their escape. What could possibly go wrong?
May, though, is not sure she’ll make it, and tells Cate to leave her. But Cate’s having none of it.
Meanwhile Kentaro, still in the wilderness, has some trippy visions of his dad and follows Hiroshi’s trail to an abandoned base, where he finds some clues that his dad might still be around.
So how do they escape the Ice Titan? Just as Lee’s setting up his fiery trap, the monster shows up early, because reasons and plot. Cate and May bolt, and a helicopter appears overhead. Lee lights up his bonfire and the monster takes the bait.
Surprise, Kentaro’s Already Inside
They all escape in the helicopter, and surprise, Kentaro’s already inside. “Come on, hurry, let’s go!” He managed to call for help, turning into the unlikely hero.
On their way back, Cate thanks Kentaro, who shares his suspicion that Hiroshi might be alive, based on what he found at the base. “Left the mess of shavings behind.”
They land back in civilization, where Monarch’s baddie Tim is waiting for them.
The Verdict
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Episode 4 lands at a solid 7 out of 10 on the Know-It-All Index.
It’s filler. It’s a filler episode. Nothing happens. The lead protagonists literally go in circles. I tend to hate filler episodes for this very reason, except they did a good job. Yes, the backstory and flashbacks are basically exposition machines for God knows what. Maybe Kentaro character development, I don’t know. All in all, the episode kept me entertained, if slow.
Next Week: Reminding Monarch How to Monarch
So what’s going to happen next week? Funny enough, that answer I think comes from the only actual plot-based scene we get this episode.
Dr. Barnes and company put together this massive Zoom call where everyone is talking but no one is listening. So finally your boy Tim, he calls them out. “I thought that we were here to learn everything we can. And I would have thought that a bunch of people who signed up to study giant monsters would be a little bit more open-minded about it.”
Because of Tim’s commitment to reminding Monarch how to Monarch, I think next week the gang gets rolled back into the fold. And my overall prediction is that we’re either going to the base where G is kept, or they’re going to find G. You don’t go to the Great White North for no reason. I think the series is going to fill in the gaps we left open after Godzilla, meaning the first movie.
So what did you think of Episode 4? Do you think things are going to slow down a little bit, or are you also excited for what’s coming? The conversation lives in the comments on the video above.
