‘Monarch: Legacy of Monsters’ Recap – ‘The Way Out’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Ren Watabe, Anna Sawai and Kiersey Clemons as Kentaro Randa, Cate Randa, and May Oloewe-Hewitt in Episode 105 of ‘Monarch: Legacy of Monsters’ – ‘The Way Out’. (Photo Courtesy of Apple.)

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Five of ‘Monarch: Legacy of Monsters’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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It wasn’t that long ago, that our discussions of the magnificent Apple TV+ series, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, spotlighted something quite special about the series. In that, this is the ultra-rare monster story that showcases what the world might look like after a major attack by a Kaiju. Something so many miss out upon, since they fade to black and roll the credits after Godzilla is done leveling a coastal city or beating the hell out of another Kaiju. But here, we’ve come to learn that such an event would change how humanity functions and navigates the day, and it would also impact lives in a manner that we don’t think about all that often, as evidenced by the next episode of the show.

But before we dive too deeply into what else might change, we do need to take a minute and discuss how ‘The Way Out’ focused upon why Shaw was eager to escape and try and help an old friend’s family. For he spent a lot of time with the Deputy Director in that Monarch facility in Alaska and while there, he spoke at length about how Monarch… got everything wrong. That they were an organization of inaction and did nothing to prepare the world for G-Day and other attacks to come and that even those in the field now, made no point to properly study and/or comprehend the nature of the Titan. Giving rise to real danger and well, Shaw basically wanted action from this organization. Which did finally give us an idea of his motivations and well, what Monarch doesn’t do in this world. 

However, while Shaw hammered Monarch for their laziness, Cate, Kentaro, and May found themselves headed to San Francisco. Because it was obvious now that dear old dad was alive and perhaps his files there offered something worthwhile regarding his whereabouts. Which brought about a homecoming for Cate, and a bevy of emotions. Because she was back with her mother, and had to drop the bomb about Kentaro to her, and all she could do when she stepped into the ruins of what was once a proud and bustling American city, was remember the days leading up to G-Day, and the horrors of G-Day and how deeply that impacted her emotionally, and how it outright left her with PTSD. Ergo, humanity would indeed suffer from such afflictions post attack, because of the horror of it all and the reality that their lives would never be the same. 

But once she was guided away from the pain of the past and of her own selfish mistakes, since she hurt hearts before the world changed… we were able to see what was left of San Francisco, and it was… devastated and filled with looters and on shaky ground since foundations were badly damaged by the fight. Which was equally as incredible to explore since most stories in this vein don’t return to the scene of the Kaiju attack, and thankfully… dad’s office was a-ok, and while there weren’t any new files to be found, the group did come to realize that he coded everything and Kentaro figured out the code he embedded in a map, and may have ascertained his current location. Giving rise to hope for them to find dear old dad and leaving us to wonder… if that map features more.

After all, he is following a path that features some kind of dangerous Titan event, since San Francisco was on his coded map, and G-Day destroyed it. He went to Alaska where there is some kind of venting of energy and a Titan. So, is this really breadcrumbs to find him or is he leading everyone into a massive Titan event that he’s tracking? And this is a more dangerous venture than expected? Time will tell of course, but in the interim, we need to celebrate one smart tale. One that spoke to how disasters do indeed produce hard trauma, and how we don’t discuss the lasting impact from them, and of course, it gave us some incredible backstory regarding Cate and informed us she’s looking for redemption for her own mistakes and that really did make for an amazing story. One that truly hammered home that the human condition will be as big of a focus for this show as the Titans that now roam the Earth. Until next time.

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