Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, Episode 1.06: Terrifying Miracles

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters: Terrifying Miracles

In “Terrifying Miracles,” “Monarch” spreads its subplots all over the place before focusing back on the important stuff. In 1955, Keiko and Bill Manda head to Japan, where a scientist has invite a gamma ray simulator that can communicate – or attract – Titans. Lee Shaw follows them, only to discover that Godzilla is very much still alive. In 2015, Rogue Monarch agent Michelle – apparently the sister of Juliette Binoche's character from 2014's “Godzilla” – frees Lee Shaw. They track down Cate, Kentaro, and May in San Francisco before getting back on the trail of Hiroshi Manda. They find him in Algeria, where he's working with a gamma ray simulator. Monarch is close on the group's tails though, after May began informing to them last episode. They arrive in Africa just as the King of the Monsters reawakens. 

The previous “Godzilla” TV show, the anime “Godzilla Singular Point,” was one of the most dispiriting watches in my recent memory. That program frequently sidelined the giant monsters everyone watching wanted to see in favor of some of the most impenetrable technobabble I've ever had the displeasure of sitting through. “Monarch,” in spite of all its flaws, hasn't sunk quite that low... However, there's a moment in “Terrifying Miracles” that started to give me “Singular Point” flashbacks. The Monarch agents find Hiroshi's apartment and start to reason out the map Kentaro and Cate discovered last episode. This leads to a lengthy conversation about satellites and gamma rays. Thankfully, the episode stopped just before my eyes completely glazed over. Yet the fact that the writers felt any of this shit was relevant to explain really exposes the weaknesses of this show.

Even if “Monarch” doesn't get quite that ponderous about justifying its sci-fi bullshit, the show still has far too many subplots. The first half of “Terrifying Miracles” is about getting everyone in place so that, ya know, the story can actually begin progressing. After five episodes of chasing shadows, Hiroshi and his kids actually get a good look at each other. This occurs at the same time Godzilla pulls himself from the Earth, just in time to clip through the antagonistic Monarch agents chasing the good guys. The fact that Cate and Kentaro are immediately separated from their dad minutes after finding him again is incredibly annoying... Yet “Monarch” is still actually moving forward in a meaningful way, instead of yanking on all of our metaphorical dicks.

Unavoidably, the facts of the matter remain that the fifties set scenes about Monarch's origins are way more interesting than the 2015 plot. This episode shows that there's some romantic tension between Keiko and Lee. I'm not all that invested in that, though Wyatt Russell and Mari Yamamoto's chemistry did sort of suggest it already. Either way, the storyline actively devoted to pursuing monsters is what the entire show should've been about. Most importantly, the MonsterVerse series continue to show the right mixture of awe and terror whenever Godzilla is on-screen. Even if he, once again, doesn't actually do much in this episode, just his appearance is made into an event. There's also a cute shout-out to the Showa era “Godzilla” films during this flashback. 

Being the kind of show it is, the minute “Legacy of Monsters” starts to get good, it immediately goes right back to focusing on the shit nobody cares about. The final minutes of the episode is devoted to petty squabbling among the heroes. May's dishonesty is brought up, that character continuing to be a festering tumor on this show. Hopefully, now that Godzilla is awake and active again, and the Randa kids have located their dad, “Monarch” can finally turn into a worthwhile show. Instead of devoting itself to one tease after another. [6/10]