Monarch: Legacy Of Monsters - General Discussion

[BetterButter]

 

[AnimeMania]

The first two episodes of the 10 episode "Monarch: Legacy Of Monsters" TV Series will stream on November 17, 2023 on AppleTV+. This series is based on a number of monster movies from Legendary Entertainment, starting with Godzilla (2014), then Kong: Skull Island (2017), Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019), Godzilla vs. Kong (2021), and the soon to be released Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (April 12, 2024)

Following the thunderous battle between Godzilla and the Titans in 2014 that leveled San Francisco, and the shocking revelation that monsters are real, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters tracks two siblings following in their father’s footsteps to uncover their family’s connection to the secretive organization known as Monarch. Clues lead them into the world of monsters and ultimately down the rabbit hole to Army officer Lee Shaw (played by Kurt Russell and Wyatt Russell), taking place in the 1950s and half a century later where Monarch is threatened by what Shaw knows

A dramatic saga – spanning three generations – reveals buried secrets and the ways that epic, earth-shattering events can reverberate through our lives.

Kurt Russell as Lee Shaw, older and filled with secrets.

Wyatt Russell as young Lee Shaw, an Army officer in the 1950's, who is tracking Titans in hopes of discovering their origins

Anna Sawai as Cate Randa, a former schoolteacher and a G-Day survivor. She travels to Japan to settle family affairs but instead uncovers a family secret. Tired of running from her problems, she is determined to find answers.

[Rumor: Cate and Kentaro might be brother and sister.]

Ren Watabe as Kentaro, an intelligent, creative and curious young man who has yet to find his own path. He will embark on a quest to learn more about his revered yet mysterious father and discover his own talents in the process.

Kiersey Clemons as May, an American ex-pat with a roguish exterior that she uses to protect herself as well as others. Whether it be deciphering a code or finding the loophole, she is always three steps ahead of everyone around her.

John Goodman as William "Bill" Randa (reprising role from Kong: Skull Island movie), a senior official in Monarch and in charge of the expedition to Kong's home island.

Anders Holm as young Bill Randa, a researcher at Monarch in the 1950's.

Mari Yamamoto as Keiko, from the 1950's.

Elisa Lasowski as Duvall, an expert operative with unwavering confidence in herself and her skills. She also possesses a wry sense of humor, which she uses to guide her less field-oriented colleague.

Joe Tippett as Tim, an office drone who dreams of secret agent adventure. His overconfidence gets him in trouble in the field, but he is determined not to fail his organization. 

[BetterButter]

 

[Anduin]

Looks good. But if I ran a covert operation, and I found people snooping around, my first thought would be to recruit them. Threats, imprisonment, no. Lead with the carrot, only turn to the stick if absolutely needed.

[AnimeMania]

[BetterButter]

 

[Sakura12]

I saw the first episode of this show at NYCC, I enjoyed it. I look forward to watching the rest. 

[AnimeMania]

[AnimeMania]

Monarch: Legacy Of Monsters   November 17, 2023    AppleTV+ 

Episodes 1-2   Titles and Descriptions 

S01.E01: Aftermath

Cate travels to Japan to get answers about her father and uncovers a shocking secret. Keiko, Lee, and Billy pursue a theory about Titans.

S01.E02: Departure

Monarch closes in on Cate, Kentaro, and May as they try to track down a key individual. Keiko, Lee, and Billy stumble on a major find.

[Anduin]

So far, I like it. I still think Monarch is going the wrong way though. If Tim had said, "Look. I work for Monarch. You might have accidentally found something we lost. If you can return it, I can shake some money out of my bosses." Or, "I can answer a few questions you probably have about this." Or, "Do you want a new job?" Bloody anything would be better than the approach he took!

Side note on Tim, he looks distractingly like Alan Tudyk. Anyone else see that?

Hey, Matt Fraction! Long time Marvel writer, moving up into a business with better pay and recognition. How dare he? For shame. Etc.

I like Cate. Maybe it's because my first crush was Princess Leia, I've always liked somewhat spiky young women.

The retirement home is the Village from The Prisoner. Nice work.

Let's see. Keiko and Bill's son is Cate and Kentaro's dad. And he went into the family monster investigation business. He also went into the two family business. Going to be interesting to get the deal with that. Too much love in his pants, or something else? I'm not sure how two families could help, maybe by picking holiday spots in both nations spheres of influence? For that matter, he might not be dead after all. Now, whatever he had, Monarch wants back. Did he actually steal anything? Or was it data he collected on them? I expect this to be cleared up sometime in the next few weeks.

[peridot]

I liked what I have seen so far.  One thing that caught my attention in the first episode - the cab door automatically opened and closed.  Is that actually a thing?

I really liked the slice of life of Godzilla alerts and everyone being on their way after the false alarm.  I can't even imagine living like that.  Of course, there's always that guy who thinks major events are hoaxes.

It was surprising to see that a secret family was living in the Tokyo apartment.  If I was Cate's mom, I would be pissed that my daughter was in another country and kept hanging up on me.

I know in the movies people knew about Monarch, but I guess the show is set before hand?

[SeanC]

15 hours ago, peridot said:

I know in the movies people knew about Monarch, but I guess the show is set before hand?

This is set right after Godzilla's initial appearance.

Kurt Russell's character is looking quite spry for a 90-year-old, though this is a sci-fi property, so there could obviously be any number of explanations for that.

[Sakura12]

I'm also curious to know who Kentaro's and Cate's dad cheated on first. Their ages could probably help them with that. Unless they are supposed to be the same age. 

Also Tim you did and said all the wrong things to help your case. Now they will never trust you. 

May's backstory should be interesting since she knows how to get fake passports. This show is set where only the San Francisco Godzilla attack has happened. Which is why some can believe its a hoax.

I guess they also showed us some scenes from a future episode at NYCC because they were not in the second episode. 

[Ottis]

My biggest impression after the first ep is what a bunch of entitled, pouty brats. The Tokyo son is closest to actually intelligent and asking good questions while US daughter pouts and stomps off. Yep, your dad had a secret family. Want to know more? I would. Also, computer ex-gf is extra pouty.

Meanwhile, exploring scientist Scooby gang is trying hard to look cool and dysfunctional while wearing masks to prevent … radiation? That makes no sense. Also, Bill is channeling Bill Paxton hard. I swear he even said a line from Aliens, though it wasn’t “game over man!”

The best part is how the society has incorporated monsters into daily reality. Though what exactly were the soldiers going to do when pouty daughter freaked out in the shelter? Who cares if someone runs around during a Godzilla visit?

Less family drama, more monsters.

 

Edited November 22, 2023 by Ottis

[AnimeMania]

S01.E03: Secrets and Lies

Shaw leads the team on a dangerous mission to Alaska in search of Hiroshi. Keiko, Lee, and Billy present their findings to General Puckett.

Premiere Date: November 22, 2023    AppleTV+   

[peridot]

I'm not a fan of Cate so far, she's being shitty to people for no reason.  I'm surprised that Shaw was able to walk around so long after cutting off his anklet.  It looked like the cameras were aware it was removed, but the alarm didn't go off until some time later.

Keiko and Bill were being extremely naive when they tried to ask for government funding.  I can't believe Keiko ran over and tried to disrupt the bomb!  This was right after WW2 and she probably would have been killed or imprisoned if she jeopardized the mission.  I shook my head at her tears at the end.  If we suddenly face some huge monster, the rational thing would be to destroy it before it causes a lot of damage.  The beach where they were waiting for Godzilla was gorgeous though.

I hate that the co-pilot was killed!  He seemed like he would be a good, quirky partner for Shaw.  The monster looked pretty interesting.

[Sakura12]

Yeah Kate is annoying with her not wanting answers. She survived a monster encounter and saw Monarch, you'd think she'd want more answers then anyone. If it were me I'd really want to know why my dad needed two families in different countries. 

I'm thinking some at that holding facility was helping Lee. That's why it took a bit for them to respond. 

Is there time travel involved because there is no way Kurt Russell is 90. If there is I'm guessing grandma Kieko is still alive. That's is probably who the dad was looking for. 

Being a Hapa (half-Japanese) myself where everyone can tell I'm mixed especially other Asians. I'm always getting "you're half something", I'm wondering why they cast a full Japanese actor to play Hiro. Unless the mother is like the son and has multiple lovers. 

Still haven't seen the clips they showed us yet.

[tomsmom]

The second episode is not translating the Japanese for me! Anyone else have that problem?

[zapper]

15 minutes ago, tomsmom said:

The second episode is not translating the Japanese for me! Anyone else have that problem?

nope, i saw translations during the escape from the compound. 

unrelated to translations: never take "did you get collision insurance" as anything but a warning.

---------------------------------------------

different thought, forum merged my two subsequent posts...

so if Keiko was killed by monster millipede things as she was being pulled up the rope, then when did her son (Kate's two family dad) get born? I did not get the impression that Keiko and Billy had had their son by the pit scene, so did she survive? We are led to believe she didn't but we haven't seen any scenes of Billy and  Shaw in a time without Keiko.

Edited November 23, 2023 by zapper

[AnimeMania]

38 minutes ago, zapper said:

different thought, forum merged my two subsequent posts...

The forum will sometimes do that if the two posts occur within a certain time frame and nobody else has posted between your posts.

[Anduin]

8 hours ago, zapper said:

so if Keiko was killed by monster millipede things as she was being pulled up the rope, then when did her son (Kate's two family dad) get born? I did not get the impression that Keiko and Billy had had their son by the pit scene, so did she survive? We are led to believe she didn't but we haven't seen any scenes of Billy and  Shaw in a time without Keiko.

I got the impression he was born before. I know they show the years on screen, but I haven't been paying attention. Is there time between meeting and death for a kid?

Sloppy move, not making all gates out of steel. You can still panel them with wood after.

Not a big fan of that general. On the one hand he means... fairly well. On the other, he's never heard of reconnaissance? One of the oldest bits of advice in the book is know your enemy. I hope he finds out that big G can resist nukes. That'll make him change his tune. Or he'll go for the bigger hammer approach.

Monarch. Set up to eliminate kaiju, turned into... what? Just monitor them and keep them harmless? Or control them and turn them against your enemies. That seems more likely.

The plane was old enough not to have a proper, or at least working, attitude gizmo? I suppose he didn't have time for a better plane, after he went and bought all the clothes. I liked May's headsock.

Edit! Aha, the wiki has a timeline. Bill met Keiko in 1952. They married and had Hiroshi in 1959, but also that's when it looks like she died. Of all the times not to be a stay at home parent, huh?

But you know what would be funny? If those critters try her, but she tastes bad. She emerges heavily nibbled, but alive. And annoyed at the others for not getting her up. Is that funny to anyone else?

Edited November 23, 2023 by Anduin

[MrWhyt]

On 11/23/2023 at 3:58 PM, Anduin said:

 

The plane was old enough not to have a proper, or at least working, attitude gizmo? I suppose he didn't have time for a better plane, after he went and bought all the clothes. I liked May's headsock.

 

my thought was that the instruments got zapped and the bottle was a backup. There is no way that plane wasn't equipped with a attitude indicator, there was also no way that it flew from south korea to alaksa on one tank of gas.

[Anduin]

2 hours ago, MrWhyt said:

my thought was that the instruments got zapped and the bottle was a backup. There is no way that plane wasn't equipped with a attitude indicator, there was also no way that it flew from south korea to alaksa on one tank of gas.

Yeah, that makes sense. But considering we're dealing with impossible kaiju, maybe fuel efficiency is a lot better in the Monarch-verse? Or they stopped off in some backwater airstrip in Russia.

[Diapason Untuned]

 

On 11/17/2023 at 5:17 AM, Anduin said:

So far, I like it. I still think Monarch is going the wrong way though. If Tim had said, "Look. I work for Monarch. You might have accidentally found something we lost. If you can return it, I can shake some money out of my bosses." Or, "I can answer a few questions you probably have about this." Or, "Do you want a new job?" Bloody anything would be better than the approach he took!

A better tactic would be to simply tell her that she has classified materials and might go to prison if he doesn't return them.

It was also dumb that they let Kentaro go in his room alone.

 

On 11/22/2023 at 3:53 PM, peridot said:

I shook my head at her tears at the end.  If we suddenly face some huge monster, the rational thing would be to destroy it before it causes a lot of damage. 

It's not as though the thing suddenly showed up in New York. It was minding its own business and they deliberately killed it.

 

On 11/22/2023 at 9:28 PM, Sakura12 said:

Is there time travel involved because there is no way Kurt Russell is 90. If there is I'm guessing grandma Kieko is still alive. That's is probably who the dad was looking for. 

The show acknowledged it with a tongue in cheek joke about good genes.

[AnimeMania]

S01.E04: Parallels and Interiors

The team is left stranded in the frozen tundra after a narrow escape. Kentaro reflects on his relationships.

Premiere Date: December 1, 2023    AppleTV+   

Frost Vark

[Anduin]

There was some kind of subtext going on in Kentaro's flashbacks. I could tell that much, but not what. Someone else want to decode what they were really talking about and how it related to the rest of the episode? As a side note, I look forward to checking the wiki in a few months, when all this is laid out in linear order.

Outside that, I like that Tim's boss is the reasonable type who actually listens to her people. Too often we're treated to cackling villains who are utterly sure of their own genius, you wonder why they have people in the first place. Maybe just to order around and deliver exposition to. I suspect that she likes to think of herself as reasonable. Maybe a little means justify the ends.

Put your hood up, Kurt Russel! You're doing well for an old guy, and I agree you have nice hair. But there's a point where it just looks dumb.

My bet, next week will be mostly 50s flashback. Gotta keep from giving away too much story in one go.

[AnimeMania]

[Ottis]

This fourth ep reminded me of the worst of Lost. You would be following an at least mildly interesting story, and then suddenly we would be tossed to “one year ago” and a ridiculous flashback to a fight with a spouse or parent. It would be boring and overwrought and eventually we would get back to the interesting story, after wasting 15 minutes. I hope this isn’t a sign.

Edited December 7, 2023 by Ottis

[Anduin]

1 hour ago, Ottis said:

This fourth ep reminded me of the worst of Lost. You would be following an at least mildly interesting story, and then suddenly we would be tossed to “one year ago” and a ridiculous flashback to a fight with a spouse or parent. It would be boring and overwrought and eventually we would get back to the interesting story, after wasting 15 minutes. I hope this isn’t a sign.

I didn't watch much Lost, and that might be why. Yeah, I care more about the forward story than the backstory.

[Ottis]

3 minutes ago, Anduin said:

I didn't watch much Lost, and that might be why. Yeah, I care more about the forward story than the backstory.

The producers of Lost did it because of the cliched "we care more about characters." Lost took off during the first season due to the mystery of the island and the "smoke monster." I think the people behind the show were caught unprepared, and so fell back to "character." They started talking about that as season two approached, and then for years they would give back story on each survivor on the island, a ridiculous and annoying process that reached its zenith with an entire ep about how one guy once got a tattoo.

Anyway, Monarch already has an interesting present. And there are ways to let us know about past relationships today without going to the "X years ago" well. I should check to see if anyone on the Monarch show staff worked for Lost.

I'm not sure what Kurt Russell was trying to do with the aviation fuel. The monster would feed on it. Was it supposed to explode, and that would be bad? How would he know?

[Anduin]

1 hour ago, Ottis said:

I'm not sure what Kurt Russell was trying to do with the aviation fuel. The monster would feed on it. Was it supposed to explode, and that would be bad? How would he know?

I think he wanted to explode the fuel in the monster's face. Blow its head off, maybe. At least injure it and make it run away.

[AnimeMania]

S01.E05: The Way Out

Cate’s painful memories of G-Day come flooding back as she treks through the ruins of San Francisco with Kentaro and May.

Premiere Date: December 8, 2023    AppleTV+   

[Anduin]

Oh, Cate. She really is a mess, isn't she? But hey, it looks like cheating runs in the family!

Tamlyn Tomita. Yes. I saw her way back in the pilot of Babylon 5, didn't give her a second look. But then in Picard, and now here. She's aged well.

Outside of that, I normally like a good ruined city. But this time I just wasn't really feeling it. I sort of wanted to play Fallout 4 instead. And ripping the map down? There could have been other valuable information on that. Either take it down gently or take photos first. And Africa? Just a small place, they'll wander around and find it easily. At least give us one particular nation!

I looked up the coordinates. 31.467371, -2.764634 . West Algeria, just south of a body of water called Djorf Torba. But I shouldn't have to do homework for a show about giant monsters!

[Anduin]

Further thought, Shaw was right. Letting monsters just fight it out was a bad idea. There should have been a backup plan. I wonder if that's why Hiroshi did... whatever he did. Monarch had no plans and didn't want to listen, so he went rogue. We'd better get some answers soon.

Finally, Djorf Torba Dam, Algeria.

[Ariah]

I’m currently liking the show, but I enjoy the 50s flashbacks and Shaws storyline in general much more than the Randa kids.

They are both annoying and, though technically workings adults, behaving like bratty teenagers. 
The only younger character I’m interested in atm is “May”. 
Can we just focus on Shaw past and present, please? 

[peridot]

I'm glad they showed the aftermath of San Francisco.  I didn't really think about the fact that San Francisco is already so unstable with the frequent earthquakes, that the destruction from the MUTOs would absolutely destabilize the infrastructure further.  I was surprised that nobody was wary about going up into a tall building on unstable ground. 

I just shook my head that the siblings started singing loudly right after they were almost caught by the military.

It was interesting to see how messed up Cate was.  It seems like Cate's mom suspected there was an affair going on, but did Kentaro's mom feel the same?

Damn it May!

[EtheltoTillie]

Has May been working secretly for Monarch all along?  Is this the reveal?  The earlier clue I now realize is that she posted that small signal that got picked up by Monarch, supposedly a test.  But maybe she was knowingly sending them the signal.  

[Ottis]

Am I missing some background? Why is the show spending so much time on the Randa kids, the fact the dad had two families and various peoples’ reaction to it? In a show about Godzilla and monsters? I don’t care if he had a cult and a compound with a harem. Move on.

So a large part of damaged SF has been cordoned off and there is no effort to clear and rebuild it? Is there a reason for that?

I feel like this show has a backstory I don’t know, because the way people are acting makes no sense to me. Isn’t there an effort to find and prepare for more monsters? How many are there? What actions help? What do they want? How does humanity thrive in a world with these creatures?

Stop with the flashbacks about “who loves me.” 

[Rambler]

Mother: "Be very careful and don't let the military see you or you will be shot on sight as looters."

Kentaro: "Hey I got a great idea! It's so dark here, let's wave our flashlights all around and start singing at the top of our lungs. I’m sure no one will see us."

May: "Are you crazy? STFU you idiot!"

Cate: "What a great idea! I think I'll start singing too!"

I'm with May on this one. After that I'd be like "Hello Monarch, get me the F away from these two morons as fast as possible!"

[AnimeMania]

S01.E06: Terrifying Miracles

Shaw finds an unlikely ally within Monarch as the team has a harrowing run-in. Keiko and Lee grow closer while at a military ball.

Premiere Date: December 15, 2023    AppleTV+  

[Anduin]

I'm not so big on interpersonal drama. I just have a low threshold for that kind of thing. Yeah, of course Lee has a thing for Keiko, she's the only woman with a name in this time period. On the bright side, the modern era is better. But he should have stayed for the presentation, maybe relied on radio reports from the field crew. OTOH, he was clearly kept on the inside for many years. He wasn't shipped off for the Village until Hiroshi was grown and running around in the field himself.

I think Monarch became run by desk jockeys and lab rats. Collecting data, crunching numbers, looking for patterns, sticking to procedure. But actually doing things? God forbid. Surely there are other rogue field agents out there, and what about similar organisations from other countries? Did the Americans manage to keep a lid on kaiju, even when other secrets leaked out during the cold war? Did the Japanese never find Skull Island in the Pacific? Or was everything quiet on the kaiju front between 1973 and 2014?

After what happened to San Francisco, did no one else start poking around? There should be other people chasing kaiju, either to eliminate or harness for other purposes. The more I think about this show, the more flaws I see.

Given Tim's significance so far, I'm not sure he's dead. Not like we saw his body.

But I did like Godzilla's desert entrance. Nothing like a good old 'that's no moon.'

[MrWhyt]

On 12/10/2023 at 11:55 AM, Ottis said:

So a large part of damaged SF has been cordoned off and there is no effort to clear and rebuild it? Is there a reason for that

dollar dollar bills y'all.

Also: this isnt that long after G-Day, how long did take to clean-up/rebuild after Katrina?

12 hours ago, Anduin said:

Given Tim's significance so far, I'm not sure he's dead. Not like we saw his body.

yeah, he's had too much airtime to be written off in a crash we don't even see.

[peridot]

This show is kind of meandering.  I want it to move forward with the monster side of things.  I wanted to pull my hair out when the older Shaw said I'll explain everything, just come with me. 

It was unprofessional of the younger Shaw to ditch his job so he can play hero to the woman he has a crush on.  What did he think would happen?

[Ottis]

6 hours ago, MrWhyt said:

dollar dollar bills y'all.

Also: this isnt that long after G-Day, how long did take to clean-up/rebuild after Katrina?

yeah, he's had too much airtime to be written off in a crash we don't even see.

I think one character said it had been a year? I don’t recall if Tokyo and SF were hit the same year, but Tokyo has signs up, a campaign and procedures in place. That takes time. In any case, it wouldn’t be finished, of course. But why does it seem to be cordoned off?

[MrWhyt]

13 hours ago, Ottis said:

But why does it seem to be cordoned off?

to prevent looters, disaster tourists, dumbasses who will wander in and get hurt.

Quote

I don’t recall if Tokyo and SF were hit the same year, but Tokyo has signs up, a campaign and procedures in place.

Tokyo isn't hit by Godzilla in the 2014 movie.

[ribboninthesky1]

On 12/15/2023 at 9:08 PM, peridot said:

This show is kind of meandering.  I want it to move forward with the monster side of things.

Yeah, I've enjoyed the films well enough, and I tried to get into this.  But it feels like there isn't enough story here for a TV series. I was kind of interested in 50s Monarch, but Shaw, Randa, and Yamamoto are as dumb as the Randa siblings are in 2015. Guess the Randa siblings came by it honestly.        

[Ottis]

On 12/16/2023 at 12:00 PM, MrWhyt said:

to prevent looters, disaster tourists, dumbasses who will wander in and get hurt.

If a natural disaster happens, unless it happened, say, a week ago, then very soon after it there is work going on. Debris is being cleared, materials are being brought in, might even have local residents wandering in or camping nearby. So, why is it cordoned off like it is radioactive, instead of being worked on like it normally would? There is zero sign of any activity other than guarding wreckage. That doesn't make sense. I admit I don't know the timeline, but it seems unlikely GDay was a week ago.

Edited December 19, 2023 by Ottis

[MrWhyt]

2 hours ago, Ottis said:

 So, why is it cordoned off like it is radioactive, instead of being worked on like it normally would? There is zero sign of any activity other than guarding wreckage. 

we only saw a small portion of the city. It's entirely possible that the reconstruction hadn't reached that point yet. it's also wasn't the point of the story, the episode was about the kids search for/of their dad's office, not the progress of the rebuilding of the city.

[AnimeMania]

S01.E07: Will the Real May Please Stand Up?

May finally faces her past. Duvall and Shaw follow traces of Godzilla and Hiroshi.

Premiere Date: December 22, 2023    AppleTV+

[tired and hungry]

Episode 7 felt like an unnecessary filler tbh. I don't really care for Cora/May's past or her character in general. Her "backstory" has had no relevance to the actual plot or story.