{"id":7434,"date":"2019-11-06T13:00:01","date_gmt":"2019-11-06T21:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=7434"},"modified":"2019-10-28T12:06:37","modified_gmt":"2019-10-28T19:06:37","slug":"mark-watches-monster-episode-22-lunges-trap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2019\/11\/mark-watches-monster-episode-22-lunges-trap\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Monster’: Episode 22 – Lunge’s Trap"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the twenty-second episode of Monster<\/i>, Detective Lunge sets a trap that works too<\/i> well. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Monster<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I truly, TRULY never know what I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m going to get with each episode. I basically just said that, but I need to say it again, because HOLY SHIT. WHAT. Oh my god, this was so stressful? But one thing I like about this is how it works as a devastating demonstration of confirmation bias. Lunge believes so fully that Johan is an alter ego of Dr. Tenma that any evidence to the contrary gets twisted into supporting his belief. Tenma is nice and kind? It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s part of his sick M.O. Tenma is investigating \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Johan\u00e2\u20ac\u009d? He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just trying to find new victims. So, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s with this in mind that Detective Lunge spends this episode not only setting up a trap to catch Dr. Tenma, but proving to himself that the latest murder is just a copycat murder. AND LORD, DOES HE EVER LEARN THE HARD WAY HOW RIGHT AND WRONG HE IS.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what is complicated about this! I get why<\/i> Lunge thinks he is right. He has a phenomenal ability to both put details into context and to get into the mind of a criminal. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen the former throughout his appearances on Monster<\/i>, but the latter is a new<\/i> thing, one that manifests as he visits the crime scene for the murdered Jopps family. He figures out the murderer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s movements, yes, but establishes a key fact that differentiates this murder from the ones that Johan has been committing. (And, of course, he doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t believe Johan is real.) It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s that arresting shot of Lunge looking in the mirror at himself that provides the missing piece: the killer saw themselves and their victim reflected back at them. And I adored that when Dr. Tenma later followed the same steps, he had the same exact moment reflected back at him.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a powerful moment that helps remind the audience that these two men are on parallel, reflected paths. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just that at the moment, Lunge doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t realize it. He still sees Tenma as his adversary, as the thing he must achieve, as the end goal to this entire case he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been working on. There is no reflection here in his perception: there is just a fucked-up murderer who seems to taunt him to his face. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also easy to see how Lunge\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s confirmation bias works when he ends up being right about LITERALLY EVERYTHING ELSE. As predicted, Dr. Tenma does<\/i> take the bait and shows up at the EXACT house he thought he would. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just that Tenma\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s motivations<\/i> are the differing element here. Lunge was also right about the Jopps\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 murder being done by a copycat, and he was spot-on to put pressure on the nephew, who had a ridiculously credible motive. Because it WAS the nephew, and he discovers that when the nephew STABS HIM IN HIS SIDE. (What a shitty way to discover your instincts and deductive skills were correct, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all.) Looking at the unfolding events this way\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 yeah, I get it. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s nothing here that truly proves that Tenma isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t exactly what Lunge thinks he is. He was right about everything else; what possible sign is there that Dr. Tenma is telling the truth, particularly in that context?<\/p>\n

And yet, we still see Tenma\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s unbreakable moral code at work here. He can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just leave Lunge to bleed out and die in the street, so he sticks the man IN HIS CAR without restraining him because this is what Tenma does<\/i>. He is an awful<\/i> criminal\/fugitive because he repeatedly does things that will easily get him caught! IT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S SO DAMN PURE. And even when Lunge threatens to shoot him, Dr. Tenma doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t back down. He saves Lunge\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s life. That might be enough for most people to begin to question their theory, but Lunge is, by the final shot of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Lunge\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Trap,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d still convinced that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s got the right person. Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, when is he going to find out the truth? How<\/i> is he going to discover it???<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Lunge\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Trap\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":"