A big show featuring big monsters deserves a big finish and as Monarch’s second season comes to a close we’re set for a final showdown that at an appropriate scale; but as we wrap things up in the Monsterverse (until next years Godzilla × Kong: Supernova, at least) has Monarch’s second outing been up to snuff up until now?
While there’s undeniably been some teething issues as our cast of characters have tracked Titan X during her erratic world tour, the fact that it’s all leaning to toward a “Monarch show” rather than a show with Monarch in it has almost come to fruition and despite a couple of dead episodes and a frustrating use of Godzilla, it’s been a stronger season overall. However, fight night is upon us and after narrowly dodging a blast of Godzilla’s burning ray, Titan X is now flexing her tendrils in anticipation of her next bout – ladeez and gentlemen, place your bets because the tentacled Titan is about to square off with the King Of Skull Island with time itself apparently hanging in the balance.
Everyone has converged on Skull Island as Isabelle Simmons and Kentaro Randa enact her crazy plan to try and co-opt the time warping effects of Axis Mundi for their own ends. But while she wants to offer up the funky, rainbow-coloured portal as some sort of fountain of youth, Kentaro only wants to use it to try and resurrect his dead father who once, a couple of years ago, spent some time in Axis Mundi himself. However, the main obstacle standing in their way is a big, hairy, chest-beating one who goes by the name of Kong.
Using neural implants to violently ramp up an already angry Titan X (don’t forget, Simmons also arranged for her egg to be stolen), the hope is that the hysterical Titan will kill Kong in single combat and leave Skull Island unprotected so the gateway to Axis Mundi can be exploited wholesale without a giant angry ape stocking his nose in.
Rushing to set things right, as always, are the Monarch crew who have to free Titan X from her mind control, retrieve Cate and Kentaro from Isabelle’s goons and somehow get Titan X to return to Axis Mundi with her egg. But when Kong and Titan X start flinging haymakers at one another, the group have to split in order to achieve their awesome itinerary. With Shaw on portal duties and Keiko risking life and limb to rescue Cate from being in the worst place imaginable (directly between the rampaging Titans), Tim and May race to shut down the neural implants that’s driving Titan X so wild.
But once the events on Skull Island pass, can things ever be the same for the group in the aftermath of Kentaro’s betrayal? While Monarch reshuffles itself to adjust, Shaw seems to be on the trail of a particularly destructive Titan known by the intimidating nickname of the Fire Demon – better known as… Rodan.
While you may be tempted to think that I’ve been swayed to give this finale a five star review purely on the basic of its central fight (which admittedly is a banger), there’s a very strong argument for “Where We Belong” being some of the best hour of Monsterverse content that’s ever existed. I won’t lie, I was smarting at the fact that marketing had been stretching the true quite a bit in regards to the treatment of Godzilla (barely a cameo, truncated fight scene) and King Kong (we were led to believe that the season would be more Kong orientated only for the mighty monkey to mostly be a no-show), but for all the bumps in the road, Monarch’s sophomore outing ultimately ends just as strong as it started. With all the pieces already in place, the episode has ample room to maneuver and finally figures out how to compress those human and Kaiju plots into one, satisfying whole that doesn’t just have the actors staring blankly at a greenscreen.
Much like episode one, the Jurissic Park vibe is immense as jeeps tear through the jungle as hefty creatures loudly exercise their rope-sized vocal chords, but better yet, everyone has their part to play to keep the momentum flowing, even when Kong is breaking out lefts and rights on his shrieking opponent. Keeping everyone busy – and more importantly, useful – is key as as a result, the show’s probably the most out and out fun it’s been since it’s inception. However, finally breaking out from the spiral of whinging they’ve been locked into are Cate and Kentaro as they finally choose their sides after a season-full of complaining. Proving that whining is essentially oxygen for him, Kentaro sticks with his brooding resolve to do whatever it takes to bring back a past version of their father thanks to the timey wimey weirdness of Axis Mundi. However, while he doesn’t quite go full Anakin Skywalker, the fact that he doesn’t return to the Monarch fold is pretty telling – but it’s Cate who finally comes into her own. Belatedly showing more guts, focus and determination in a single episode than she’s show the entire show, her journey from PTSD suffering Titan survivor to full blown Kaiju whisperer may genuinely be the character come back of the year. Better yet, the sequence where Kong and a super charged Titan X fight is made all the more dynamic by the fact that not only is Cate stuck at ground zero as giant fists and tentacles smash all around her, but Keiko is rushing to her rescue in a jeep as she tries to negotiate her way through the brawl. It’s absurdly thrilling and pound for pound may actually be a top three setpiece for the entire franchise.
Even the wrap up ends up being remarkably touching as Cate guides Titan X back to Axis Mundi as she dangles out the back of a helicopter like the Kaiju messiah and Shaw has a legitimately moving reunion with his younger self thanks to the aforementioned quantum chicanery that comes from accessing the portal. It’s a fitting goodbye to Wyatt Russell (who’s getting his very own spinoff) and some nice closure to the whole Shaw/Keiko arc, but while the episode brings its season home with thrills, spills and moments that succeed on forming a lump in the throat, the final hurdle it has to overcome is setting up what comes next.
Simply put, we now have the Monach set-up we’ve always been hoping for with Cate, Keiko, Tim and May forming their own mini-taskforce to track down and apprehend Kentaro before him an his nefarious girlfriend break time. However, the big news comes from an extended prologue that follows Shaw as he does some monster hunting of his own. Who does he find? None other than Toho favorite Rodan, who technically is making his Monsterverse debut at his appearance here is set before his fiery emergence in Godzilla: King Of The Monsters. The fact that Monarch is now free to resurrect other classic Godzilla monsters is truly thrilling, especially as there’s a lot of ground still to cover before we catch up with the 2019 and a whole lot of Titans to reintroduce.
Monarch steers it’s second finale in to land with results so impressive, it makes you almost forgive the times when the season relied too heavily from some bad habits it picked up from season one. With an entire world of Titans still to uncover and our characters now firmly sworn into the titular agency, the future of Monarch looks suitably majestic.
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