RECAP: Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Season 2 Episode 1

Created by Chris Black and Matt Fraction, Monarch Legacy of Monsters Season 2 Episode 1 marks the return of Apple TV’s Monsterverse series. Titled “Cause and Effect,” the episode picks up immediately after the events of last season, with our characters running for their lives and Kong destroying everything at the Monarch base. He smashes through everything, and the group comes face-to-face with another Titan.

At the end of Season 1, the timelines converged, with Colonel Lee Shaw (Kurt Russell) and Dr. Keiko Randa (Mari Yamamoto) meeting in the hollow world, Axis Mundi, with her granddaughter, Cate Randa (Anna Sawai), and her friend, May Olowe-Hewitt (Kiersey Clemons), in tow. But to be saved, Shaw had to stay behind. When they return to the surface for the family reunion, Cate’s brother, Kentaro (Ren Watabe), and her father, Hiroshi Randa (Takehiro Hira), are there to greet them. But, so was Kong. 

Having been disappeared for so long, “Cause and Effect” continues with a distorted look at what Keiko is going through now that she is on the surface. She’s being poked and prodded, and as she runs away and outside, she realizes that she is on a ship for Outpost 18. That’s when Cate meets her and tells her that this, Monarch, is her legacy. 

Monarch Legacy of Monsters Season 2 Episode 1 picks up exactly where Season 1 left off.

What happens next is one of the larger lore dumps of the episode, even if it isn’t meant to be. With Tim (Joe Tippett) and Director Natalia Verdugo (Mirelly Taylor) arguing in the situation room, Tim says that they are on Skull Island, but more importantly, that they are on that island with Kong’s permission (read: Kong just leaves them alone). But that permission is only granted so long as Monarch doesn’t stir the pot. 

This small part of the episode establishes a connection to the Monsterverse’s Kong: Skull Island and also draws the audience’s attention to just how much Keiko, Cate, and May’s return has affected the world around them. But even when Kong has followed them in the past, he’s let them work. So what caused the attack now? That’s the question that Monarch Legacy of Monsters Season 2 Episode 1 is going to have to answer.

But while Monarch focuses on figuring out Kong, Keiko just wants to get Lee back. Despite the Miura family being reunited,  Monarch Legacy of Monsters Season 2 Episode 1 continues to tell a split timeline story. Only this time, it’s through Keiko’s memory, not just one timeline waiting to meet another. This means that we get to see Lee, Bill Randa (Anders Holm), and Keiko all together again.

The strongest part of Monarch Legacy of Monsters Season 1, Bill, Keiko, and Lee, remains the strongest part of “Cause and Effect.” Period storytelling, expertly designed sets, and perfect costuming draw the audience into the trio’s quest to discover a Titan that is also a sea serpent. 

Set in Latin America, not on the coast of Japan or in the United States, Monarch Legacy of Monsters Season 2 Episode 1 continues to add to the global story of the Monsterverse. When Bill gets too excited and takes a picture at a clear remnant of Titans, the bar in Santa Soledad, Chile that they walk into becomes a problem, with a young Lee Shaw (Wyatt Russell) breaking up the sure-to-be fight. 

Much like last season, Monarch Legacy of Monsters Season 2 Episode 1 continues to pick bad times to jump between the timelines. When we make it back on the ship, Kentaro and Cate meet. He explains what’s coming next for Cate, tests, and more tests.  But when she pleads to go save Lee and Kentaro denies it, the series establishes a third timeline in its Season 2 story: Lee, in Axis Mundi. 

Cate Randa’s dedication to Lee Shaw is the guiding light of “Cause and Effect.”

Where Cate is basically okay after only two years in Axis Mundi, Keiko is in the medical bay being monitored as she acclimates. Cate visits Keiko and talks with her father, Hiroshi. He begs to return to Axis Mundi to save Lee, and despite his initial protests, her father comes around and agrees to head there with her. 

But the mother and daughter aren’t the only ones who came back. Despite May’s character receiving the least amount of development in Monarch Season 1, Monarch Season 2 Episode 1 tries to add more depth. This happens primarily through Apex’s Brenda Holland (Dominique Tipper) talking with May, whom she calls Corah Mateo. Brenda was behind the mission to save May, and now, May can be the key to Apex’s advancement and their goal to live with the Titans. 

While the secrets behind May’s employer have finally been answered, when she meets with Cate on the deck of the ship. Here, the two share obvious chemistry that weighs heavily between them after a romance began to spark last season. That said, with such a long break between Season 1 and Season 2, it’s hard to admit that the tension between them was hard to pin down at first. 

Still, when May shares that Apex offered her a seat for her code, the shift in tone is apparent, as Cate pushes her agenda forward to rescue Shaw. And with Hiroshi saying that he will go with her, not “no,” it seems like that will be one of Season 2’s overarching goals.

Even if Cate doesn’t entirely trust her father, Apex, or Monarch, it’s here that Cate and May decide to go rescue Shaw alone, without Monarch’s approval. All May has to do is keep Tim busy, so the Randas (including Kentaro) aren’t spotted on the security footage, and make it back to their boat before the Randa clan leaves. Mo

Monarch Legacy of Monsters Season 2 Episode 1 continues with Cate, Hiroshi, Kentaro, and May taking a boat, making it to Skull Island, and attempting to rescue Lee. The lush location of the Island is every bit as well executed as in the other times we’ve seen it. And the monsters are even more terrifying. The thick jungle setting and the flying monsters they encounter along the way put them face-to-face with danger and leave them with no real way to protect themselves, so they just have to hope they’re not seen.

The past is still the most compelling part of Monarch Season 2 Episode 1.

Back in the past, Monarch Season 2 Episode 1 heads back to the bar. They debate what the mounted specimen is, they drink, and when Bill gets asked to dance by the bartender, Lee and Keiko start talking. The couple that should have happened, Keiko asks Lee about his dating life. She tells him that he needs to settle down and get married, get his picket fence, cookouts, and kids. 

The chemistry between Keiko and Lee is so thick you can cut it with a knife. Mari Yamamoto and Wyatt Russell’s performances offer a tenderness to each other that hangs in the air, as does a bit of remorse. We know that Keiko loves Bill, but we also know that she loves Lee too. The friendship between the three of them remains as strong as the love triangle, even if Bill is essentially oblivious that he is in one. 

As Keiko and Lee have their heart-to-heart, Bill is talking about the sea on the dance floor. Unfortunately for him, the more information he gets, the more it’s clear that the residents of the island won’t be offering help. The sea creature mounted on the wall is their religion, but that’s all he knows so far. 

While the whole of Monarch Legacy of Monsters Season 2 Episode 1 is good, the strength of the past continues to overtake the present timeline. Even though Yamamoto’s performance as Keiko Randa is now in both, it’s hard not to want to stay in the past.  

When Keiko is finally up and about on the ship, Tim meets her. Calling her doctor, Keiko has a moment when she realizes she’s really in a different time and is respected. While Keiko feels out of her depth on the ship, Tim assures her that she is what Monarch has been missing. 

As they review the security footage to find out what happened and why Kong attacked, Keiko spots something. The sea creature from the past timeline. It’s running with the people, and for Keiko, it’s clear that Kong was trying to defend his island. Only Monarch doesn’t know what to do. 

Now back on the island, Cate and her family (plus May) encounter a sleeping Kong. It’s a display of the special effects and production value for Monarch Season 2, but not much else. When the group makes it back to base, they immediately get to work to try to fix the ship that helped save them from Axis Mundi. 

Finding a way to rescue Lee Shaw is only a part of the importance of the storyline on the island. The other part is about Cate confronting her father. She pushes him to figure out if he left her and her mom because he didn’t love them.

The answer is somehow harder to stomach; he left because he found Emiko (Qyoko Kudo), a woman that he didn’t have to lie to or hide from. The anger that Cate shows is palpable, as is the realization that their bond is much more broken than she thought. While Cate and Hiroshi fight, May and Kentaro are attempting to restore power in the abandoned Monarch base. And of course, they’re attacked by a monster. 

Monarch Season 2 Episode 1 continues to double down on the Randa family drama.

The danger in Monarch Legacy of Monsters Season 2 Episode 1 never stops, regardless of which timeline and which characters we are following. And that remains true as we see Lee in Axis Mundi, face-to-face with a boar. This brief scene stands out as one of the most visually beautiful in the episode.

The dead trees, the boar, the lights in the background, Axis Mundi, for all of the danger is gorgeous. And, surprisingly, the Randas have gotten everything ready to save Shaw, which will limit the time we have to see Axis Mundi. 

Cate’s dedication to saving Lee Shaw is astounding. The implicit trust she has in him is the strongest element of the first season, given how much she distrusted him at the start of the series. But Shaw is the only person around her who hasn’t lied. More importantly, he saved her instead of letting her go.

With Monarch Legacy of Monsters Season 2 Episode 1 jumping between characters every few minutes, it’s hard to stay entirely engaged while watching “Cause and Effect.” It starts to jumble the timeline, but unlike last season, all of the elements have already come together. 

Cate sends the ship back in the rift so that Shaw can come back. In the past, the trio are learning about the Titan of the sea. And Lee is making it to safety, well, relative safety. As Lee attempts to leave Axis Mundi in the shuttle, a giant tentacled Titan erupts from the rock.

We don’t have a clear view of it until Lee looks out the window and leaves through the rift. However, so does the Titan. A small scurrying monster that we saw from the past timeline has jumped into the ship, and Lee is attacked, but he still makes it out, even if he’s fighting for his life in close quarters. 

In Monarch Legacy of Monsters Season 2 Episode 1, the entire premise of this second season has been defined. Large conflicts have been handled, and the new big bad has emerged. Lee is saved. Keiko is alive. The Randas are reunited. And, well, Kong is pissed. Despite running to the ocean to try and stop the Titan, and thus keeping with the trend of being a protector from the larger Monsterverse films that take place canonically after the series. But as expected, he can’t stop the new Titan. 

Apple TV’s Monarch Legacy of Monsters Season 2 Episode 1 quickly resolves last season’s problems to begin something new.

At first, it was hard not to be frustrated with the breakneck speed at which “Cause and Effect” moves. The first season of the series was bogged down entirely by how bloated the cast became and the difference in quality between the past and the present. So coming into Monarch Season 2 Episode 1, seeing many of the bad habits from last season replicated made it a tedious watch. 

That said, Monarch Legacy of Monsters Season 2 Episode 1 pays off by wrapping up the many strands of the series to focus on what it needs to. Now, with only two points of interest in the series’ storytelling, the past and the present, my excitement for the series has grown. And more importantly, Keiko and Lee are together again. 

Overall, this premiere episode of Monarch Legacy of Monsters Season 2 is a good start. With enough exposition to get audiences up to speed, an escalated rescue mission, and a storyline that condenses by pulling everyone into one place, I can’t help but be excited for what’s next. 

Monarch Legacy of Monsters Season 2 is going to be all about the new Titan, and that focused angle is what can help make this sophomore season stronger than the first. Yes, even if the past timeline is still the better of the two we see in the series. 

Monarch Legacy of Monsters Season 2 Episode 1 is streaming now, exclusively on Apple TV with a new episode every Friday. 

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