REVIEW: ‘Monarch: Legacy of Monsters’ Episode 5 — “The Way Out”

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters changed course last week by focusing on as close to the present as possible and expanding May and Kentaro’s roles in the story. In Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Episode 5 , we see the trio of Cate (Anna Sawai), Kentaro (Ren Watabe), and May (Kiersey Clemons) head to San Francisco, released from Monarch custody, and still on the trail of revealing Hiroshi’s (Takehiro Hira) secrets. A smaller episode, when judged against the rest, this one is all about the characters.

We see the impact of Godzilla on San Francisco and the human toll of watching a kaiju, a Titan, rip through a city. The skyline is damaged, and the Red Zone is an uninhabitable part of the city, cordoned off by the military. As an audience, the deserted city gives us a window into Cate’s life. The girlfriend she lost, the children she was unable to save, and the mother who desperately wanted to save Cate from losing her life to grief. The series has strayed from its set path of jumping back and forth between the beginnings of Monarch and instead is looking to dissect the lives of everyone before G-Day with Cate at the center.

The emotional flashbacks add layers to Cate’s cold personality with a level of loss that we just don’t see in other characters. As Cate, Kentaro, and May explore the Red Zone to find Hashiro’s office and the secrets inside, the scenes will transition to Cate’s past. A bike in the road in front of the school she used to teach at catapults the audience into a moment where Cate had to decide on whether she should get on a bus to chaperone children or not—a choice that has clearly impacted who she is in the present day. The flashbacks, however, don’t detract from the exploration of a deeply unsafe Red Zone. If anything, the way flashes of the past cut in like a bubbling panic attack helps raise the tension of the situation as the scenes play out.

As we learn about Cate and her past, the parallels with her father pull her into perspective. She hates her father because she is her father. She hates the choices her father made because she made similar selfish ones. This one episode manages to pull all of Cate’s personality into perspective and make her character more than just the stoic and slightly frustrating one she was in the previous episodes.

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Episode 5 also expands on what is happening with the titular organization in the present. Is it good? Is it bad? Shaw believes the latter, and as a founding member who believes that Monarch is wrong, he’s treated as a criminal, although the audience doesn’t know much else initially. The series doesn’t leave the organization behind as it begins to flesh out its characters. Again, the series uses clever delivery of the younger Shaw against the older, with Wyatt Russell‘s visage in an image projected on a wall laid over an Older Shaw played by his father, Kurt Russell. It may be a bit, but it’s one that doesn’t get old, particularly with the weight that Shaw carries as the last remaining member of the founding Monarch members. These moments make it clear that he carries the guilt of the past with him.

The Randas’ search for their father’s past and their connection to Monarch is as engaging as the introduction of new Titans that has happened in each episode. While the series pales compared to Godzilla Minus One in emotional impact (outside of Episode 3), it builds to something bigger, layering answers and backgrounds to characters to build investment. Now, halfway through the season, you have to ask when it all starts to come to fruition.

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Episode 5 is a smaller episode. The only real Titan we see is in Cate’s flashbacks of G-Day, the day that Godzilla came ashore in San Francisco. Instead, the focus is on the scale of the fallout, not the monster himself. How people rebuild their lives after loss is a big part of the series. As the Randas discover that their father isn’t really dead, the resolve they build to find him bonds them tightly, while this leaves May on the outside looking in on some conversations. That said, this is by design as she finds herself pulled to the allure and stability of Monarch and finding her way back home. 

There are still a lot of questions in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Episode 5 that need answers, but thankfully, nothing feels forgotten or sidestepped at this point. Instead, we’re seeing emotional weight be built up with new revelations in order to give audiences a future that means more than a big monster roar, which I can respect.

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Episode 5 is streaming now on AppleTV+, with new episodes every Friday.