{"id":7429,"date":"2019-10-28T13:00:42","date_gmt":"2019-10-28T20:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=7429"},"modified":"2019-10-21T14:26:10","modified_gmt":"2019-10-21T21:26:10","slug":"mark-watches-monster-episode-18-five-sugars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2019\/10\/mark-watches-monster-episode-18-five-sugars\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Monster’: Episode 18 – Five Sugars"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the eighteenth episode of Monster<\/i>, Nina reunites with someone who helped her. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Monster<\/i>.<\/p>\n

I want to take a moment to talk about the narrative structure of this show thus far, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s something I speak about at the end of the video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Five Sugars.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m getting a sense of why<\/i> this show is 74 episodes long, at least because I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m seeing how the show is willing to take us down detours that seem unrelated at first. But each of these \u00e2\u20ac\u0153slower\u00e2\u20ac\u009d episodes packs an emotional wallop, and each of them are vital to developing the characters or the story as a whole. Without \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Five Sugars,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d for instance, I wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t truly get a sense for how much Nina has struggled with the mission she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s given herself. This is an episode about how the past haunts both Mr. Rosso and Nina, but also about how Nina recognizes this! Her decision to leave Mr. Rosso after six months was entirely based on her reluctance to ask him to return to his own past.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And even though we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re probably never going to see Mr. Rosso again, his character is so fleshed out and complicated. IN JUST TWENTY MINUTES! That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an achievement of craft, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, and it made \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Five Sugars\u00e2\u20ac\u009d feel like a short story stuffed inside a longer serial narrative, and I am a HUGE fan of stories that operate like this. Because Mr. Rosso accents Nina\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s story, while getting one of his own. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an incredible tension throughout this, in part because\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 well, this is Monster<\/i>. Granted, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m only 18 episodes in, but I already have a feeling how this operates. Oh, something nice is happening? IT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S GONNA GET DARK REAL FAST. However, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s another reason this is tense, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s because of the unknown. Who is this man, and why does he know Nina so well? Why was she in Frankfurt all those years ago, and was it really just to find a job? Nothing in this show is innocent, and appearances are rarely what they seem on the surface. So why do this? Why take this detour down memory lane?<\/p>\n

Thus, an anticipation grows as the episode plods forward. This is not a fast-paced episode at all, but I think it couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have been. We needed that slow build, that slow undressing of masks and facades, so that we could be brought to the devastating conclusion. We are introduced to Mr. Rosso\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s happiness first, both in the initial days of his meeting with Nina and in his reunion with her after she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s questioned by the police. He seems so happy<\/i>, so serene, so completely fulfilled with the person he is. Nina herself even seemed quite delighted to be around him, pointing out his quirk of putting five sugars in his coffee, something he still keeps up. Still, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a contrast; Nina is on a different path, and she can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t stay in Frankfurt with this friend, and the show leads us to believe that this is the dynamic at play. Nina is not who Mr. Rosso thinks she is, and she can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t possibly return to being that person again.<\/p>\n

Except the brilliance of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Five Sugars\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is that THIS ISN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T WHAT IS HAPPENING AT ALL. The first real sign that something is off doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t come until the halfway mark. The portrait of Nina\u00e2\u20ac\u2122a life working at Mr. Rosso\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Italian restaurant seemed so idyllic, though now, in hindsight, even the most banal scene is dripping in context and terror. Like the scene where Nina is trying to cook pasta and she learns how unbalanced she is, only for Mr. Rosso saying that it only takes more training. Both of these concepts are part of the motif that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s actually<\/i> at play. And it was when Nina revealed that she was taking shooting lessons\u00e2\u20ac\u201dones that were deeply triggering to her and the murder of her adoptive parents\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthe cracks start to form. Oh my god, when Mr. Rosso paused after Nina told him the truth of why she needed the afternoons off? NOW I KNOW WHY. Oh my god, how long did he truly suspect that Nina wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t who she said she was?<\/p>\n

The final five minutes of this episode\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 fucking hell<\/i>, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. Like I said on video, I appreciate how meticulous Monster<\/i> can be. So many details were broadcasting the truth to me, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all tied up when we find out why Nina actually sought out Mr. Rosso: because she suspected he was a professional hitman who escaped any accountability, and she wanted him to teach her how to cool. Just like that, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re brought back into the nightmare of Johan and Nina\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s determination to kill her brother. But Mr. Rosso\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s story is stunning and deeply upsetting all on its own. In the flashback to his final assassination attempt, we see the man he spoke about: the one who was rich with experience and wealth, but who had no real appreciation for life. (Both living<\/i> life and the life of others.) The motif of taste is used repeatedly throughout, both to signify Mr. Rosso\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s lack of connection with the world around him and<\/i> to give him the realization of this reality. It was as simple as watching his target put five sugars in his coffee. That one act broke through the compartmentalization he enacted and the brainwashing he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been subjected to.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This person was human. With a whole life. Who appreciated the taste of five sugars in his coffee.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And it all leads to that gut-punch of a final line. Mr. Rosso doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t offer to teach Nina his skills, and she decides to move on to pursue her mission differently. But he does offer one bit of advice to her: if she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to kill someone, she better learn to forget the taste of sugar. She will have to stop seeing people as people, with full, vibrant lives. Will that be a challenge for her in regards to Johan? Maybe not. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not sure. But god, that line is so HAUNTING, isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it?<\/p>\n

WHAT THE HELL IS THIS SHOW.<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Five Sugars\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n

– The paperback edition of my debut, ANGER IS A GIFT, is now OUT!<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong>If you’d like to stay up-to-date on all announcements regarding my books, sign up for my newsletter<\/a>! DO IT.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"