REVIEW: ‘Monarch: Legacy of Monsters’ Episode 6 — “Terrifying Miracles”

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Episode 6, “Terrifying Miracles,” is the most interesting episode of the series so far. This is so true that I’m starting to yearn for a series that only took place in the past. The acting ability of Wyatt Russell and Wyatt Russell as Dr. Keiko Miura and Lt. Lee Shaw is phenomenal, and their chemistry is sublime. But more importantly, in the past, the series directly connects to the post-WWII era in which Godzilla was originally created and the fears he embodies. The episode opens with Keiko experiencing racism. She is “one of the good ones.” Even more so, as she dances with Shaw, the eyes of the white couples in the room are on them; the only other people of color make up the band playing the music, and their dance becomes a push against everything around them.

Despite everything in the series screaming a romance between Keiko and Bill Randa (Anders Holm), Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Episode 6 shows that it’s Keiko and Shaw who are really in love. Their connection and steadfast commitment in a room that says they shouldn’t be together, even silently, is wonderfully handled. Still, their romance is secondary to one thing: Monarch. There isn’t a real love triangle forming between Bill, Keiko, and Shaw. It’s something more complex. Keiko and Shaw feel like they have to choose between Monarch and the people they can protect with it or their own desires.

In this episode, we also find ourselves on Monster Island with a Japanese scientist tracking gamma radiation and using it to communicate with Titans below the water’s surface. Yes, it adds to the lore, but it also puts Japan at the center of Titan discovery and advancement. The developments on Monster Island set the stage for the rest of the season both in an interpersonal way and regarding what we know about Monarch.

The intimate look at the past is the series’ best asset. There is emotion and drive, and its position in history makes it wonderfully interesting. However, the strength of the past is beginning to tug at my investment in the present. With Monarch now involved more largely in the narrative, the ensemble cast in the present has become large, and at points, it begins to buckle, existing to deliver exposition as the series approaches a large reveal around Hiroshi Randa (Takehiro Hira).

As the past transitions out, we find ourselves in the present again. Only we’re with the elder Shaw escaping Monarch custody with the help of, well, Monarch agent Duvall (Elisa Lasowski). He is the only person who can track a new Titan emergence, leading him to the desert, but only after being reunited with the Randa siblings and May (Kiersey Clemons).

While the focus of the last few episodes has been Cate (Anna Sawai) and Kentaro (Ren Watabe), this episode is one dedicated to Shaw. More specifically, his role in Monarch as a dissenter is vital to how the group dynamics in the past and present shift. Shaw has emerged as an axis that the series moves around, the Randas tethered to him through his love of their grandmother, and their progress is only possible because of his military experience and place in Monarch history.

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Episode 6 also brings forward some of the best visuals since Episode 3 for the kaiju, I mean Titans, that many show up to the series for. Godzilla makes a roaring appearance in both timelines. One in the sand and one in water, and both are larger than life, capturing his mythic scale against people around him. As everyone looks on with fear in both the past and present, Keiko looks in awe and joy. Although, it may not just be fear in Cate’s eyes. As the production value continues to rise and Godzilla comes back into focus, the most interesting of any Titan, there is a path for a larger connection between humans and monsters.

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Episode 6 has more implications beyond romance as Monarch switches hands and Shaw’s past mistakes come into focus. The best episode of the series, “Terrifying Miracles,” is substantial in how it makes you feel for its characters and reminds me of what I was smitten with the series in the first few episodes.

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Episode 6 is streaming now on AppleTV+ with new episodes every Friday.