Apple TV+ released the first two episode of their new Monarch: Legacy of Monsters series last week, tying in with Legendary’s Monsterverse films in some pretty significant ways, but does it truly live up to Godzilla’s legacy so far?
The pilot episode, titled “Aftermath”, makes a good start for the series, focusing primarily on the human characters rather than the Titans, which is a bit of a change compared to the films, where humans have been more of a support role rather than the main focus. We are quickly introduced to Cate, played by Anna Sawai, who is a survivor of the 2014 attack on San Francisco, otherwise know as G-Day in the series, as she travels to her father’s homeland of Japan to settle some affairs after his apparent death. Soon after arriving, she discovers he had a whole second family living in Japan that he never told her about, which leads to introduce our second protagonist Kentaro, played by Ren Watabe, and his mother Emiko, played by Qyoko Kudo.
In an attempt to find out their dad’s hidden lives, Cate and Kentaro manage to bury the hatchet long enough to find a secret safe in their dad’s office, which contains a case with the Monarch logo emblasoned upon it. Eagle eyed viewers may notice that it was the same case we see William Randa, played by John Goodman, reprising his role from Kong: Skull Island, throw into the sea during a scene at the beginning of the episode. The siblings swiftly attempt to decrypt the files with help from Kentaro’s ex, a programmer named May, played by Kiersey Clemons, which sends an alert to Monarch.
During the episode, we do also get a couple of flashbacks to 1951, where we see Monarch employees Keiko, played by Mari Yamamoto, Billy, played by Anders Holm, and a young Lee Shaw, played by Wyatt Russell, as they discover a clutch of giant insect eggs in an abandoned nuclear power plant in Kazakhstan. As they try to escape after the eggs hatch, we end on Keiko getting swarmed by the insects and falling into the darkness below, her fate unknown.
So, what do we get in regards to the Titans this episode? Well, we get a giant crab vs giant spider fight in the beginning, with William Randa trapped under them, which looks like it happened during the events of Kong: Skull Island. We also see a new perspective on Godzilla’s accidental destruction of the Golden Gate Bridge, which also includes the rather dark sight of a schoolbus full of kids falling into the river below as Cate watches in horror, unable to save them.
In my opinion, I am liking how Monarch: Legacy of Monsters plans to explore the shady Monarch organisation more, as well as introducing new humans and Titans. The immediate clash between Cate and Kentaro does pull me out of the episode a little as Cate doesn’t immediately explain why she’s in Kentaro’s apartment and starts just taking things off of walls, but it’s nice to see the siblings move on after she does explain and start to work together to try to figure out just who their dad really is. The introduction of Kaiko, Billy, and Lee back in 1951 is done pretty well in my opinion, if a bit short. Overall, I’m excited to see what happens next in the series and if it links Godzilla to Godzilla: King of the Monsters a little better.
To answer the question from the beginning, does it truly live up to Godzilla’s legacy so far? At the moment, we can’t really say yet, but the first two episodes do a lot of heavy lifting in regards to story as well as establishing new characters and new Titans. Come back for the episode two review on The Toku Source as we delve deeper into the Legacy of Monsters!
What did you think of episode 1? Got any theories about Cate and Kentaro’s dad? Let us know in the comments below!
