Monarch Legacy of Monsters S01 Finale. Spoilers

     By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues

Photo copyright Warner Bros

So after nine weeks of very up and down episodes, does the finale deliver any hope at all for those who have stuck with it?

I came away from this finale feeling like it was a wrap up of this season’s threads and a stepping stone to a new series. If nothing else, the stunning final shot may well guarantee a second season for the excitement alone.

I cannot fault the performances here as the Lee and Keiko storyline wraps up as they find each other once again. Once again Kurt Russell shows what a brilliant actor he is when he makes first contact with Keiko who has not aged a day while he is an old man. I don’t think he has really had the chance to show off his skills until now. Their interaction is captivating and you can feel the pain of lost love.

Keiko has used Doctor Suzuki’s homing device to send a gamma signal that she is still alive and ready to be rescued. She is devastated at how much time has passed and that her son grew up without her and that William is dead. Again we get a nice cameo to the John Goodman scene from episode one. His message was for his son, Hiroshi (although I still think Lee was the real father).

I said last time there was too much going on to resolve in the last episode and I was right but they manage it while openng the door to a new playscape. Using the calling device and Lee’s old probe ship that plunged him 20 years into the future, they draw Godzilla to them and the bat monster from the battleship episode. I was expecting a lot more monster wise as Godzilla in the previous episode seemed to be heading to what we thought were other Titans fizzled out. Human wise they have wrapped things up as Kentaro manages to reconcile his with Dad in a way while Tim quits Monarch aware that Keiko is alive and well.

There is no spectacular monster slamdown to speak of to really be honest but needless to say I knew the escape pod would end with Lee dying to get his beloved home. But is he really dead? Wouldn’t he have been caught up in the wake that propells the probe home? Surely it works both ways as they all fell down and lived so why not up? I’m not counting Russell out of the show just yet if it gets a second season.

The Randas are reunited (and even Kentaro’s mom manges to get the chance to tell her husband to politely fuck off) but the pod has landed them back but two years into the future. Kentaro, Tim and Hiroshi now work alongside Brenda, May’s super rich nemesis Brenda head of AET and doing what Monarch didn’t. As a storm rages overhead Kentaro says a lot has changed in the last two years. They flee underground as the base locks down.

From the trees and out of the storm comes King Kong. He roars and the screen goes black.

Now that alone was enough to make me sit up and wonder is this part of the New Empire movie? But if we go to a second show, there can be no more of this family drama dragged out to unbelievable lengths and a lot more monster madness. There has been a lot of missed chances in the first season and tear your hair out with frustration moments.

Yet despite myself I want to see what happens now with Kong on the scene. To the writers and producers, learn from your mistakes and deliver what fans want, nay, deserve from a show with this title.