{"id":7438,"date":"2019-11-13T13:00:06","date_gmt":"2019-11-13T21:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=7438"},"modified":"2019-11-03T17:05:43","modified_gmt":"2019-11-04T01:05:43","slug":"mark-watches-monster-episode-25-thursdays-boy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2019\/11\/mark-watches-monster-episode-25-thursdays-boy\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Monster’: Episode 25 – Thursday’s Boy"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the twenty-fifth episode of Monster<\/i>, two university students become obsessed with the secretive life of a wealthy man they work for. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Monster<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Trigger Warning: For mention of abuse and discussion of suicide<\/b><\/p>\n

What the fuck, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all? I have no idea what this new twist\/story thread means, but I WAS NOT READY FOR THIS. Monster<\/i> has done similar introductions like this, where the beginning of an episode seems unconnected from the larger narrative. So, on that front, I was<\/i> prepared for this. I figured this would somehow tie into what we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d seen, but lord. Now I remember that there was the theory put forth that Johan was setting out to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153erase\u00e2\u20ac\u009d his past because he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d found a family (and relative stability). This seems to suggest that at least part of that is true???<\/p>\n

But before I jump ahead into Johan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s apparent life as a law student (THAT SEEMS DELIBERATELY EVIL, HOLY SHIT), I wanted to discuss Karl and Lotte, who I suspect we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to see a lot of while the story remains in Munich. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re curious characters, particularly Lotte, but they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re also just good<\/i> people. And I think that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the point. Neither of them know what they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re getting involved with, and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s especially the case with Karl, whose attempt to connect with his birth parents hasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t left him terribly jaded. He has had what sounds like a challenging life, moving from one foster home to another, often because of abuse. What we see of him on the show, though, is kind. Considerate. Maybe a little eager for validation. I think he really<\/i> wants to win over Mr. Schuwald and feels self-conscious about his reading ability.<\/p>\n

In every respect, though, these two students feel pretty normal, and by that, I also mean that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re unattached to the greater nightmare. AT LEAST I THOUGHT THEY WERE. How would their lives intersect with Dr. Tenma or Johan? I assumed if it was with anyone, it would be with Tenma. He was<\/i> headed to Munich. But as someone who was adopted, I was intrigued by Karl\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s attempt to connect with his potential father. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s interesting to me that Karl has this odd sense of pride around Mr. Schuwald. He suspects that this is his father because his mother told<\/i> him as much, but\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 is that even true? That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what makes this such a bizarre and intriguing story. What if Karl is operating with bad information? What if Edmund Farren was correct, and Schuwald was<\/i> his father? WHAT IF THEY WERE BOTH RELATED? Whatever the truth is, when Lotte and Karl follow Schuwald, they discover that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been visiting a sex worker to pay her out of guilt<\/i>. Schuwald knows that the mother he screwed over has passed away, and this is what he does to alleviate what he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s feeling. And if Karl really is his son? HE\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S RIGHT THERE. Once a week!!! GOOD GOD.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I admit to being shocked by Edmund\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s suicide, and I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know how important that is to the story at hand. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hard to focus on that both because I have so little information and<\/i> because the reveal of Friday\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s boy was so upsetting. But this is also Monster<\/i>. This show is so methodical and intentional that I have to believe this isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t a coincidence or else I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m going to be in TROUBLE.<\/p>\n

So how fucking long has Johan been attending this school??? How long has Lotte known him? Does anyone suspect he isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t who he says he is? I have a million questions, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, and I just want to point out one really cool thing. If you change the music and the context of everything around it, Johan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s appearance here looks exactly<\/i> like when an anime introduces a super hot, mysterious character. I feel like that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s intentional, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so fucking disturbing. Lotte might think<\/i> he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s that kind of person, but THE AUDIENCE KNOWS BETTER. Oh god, this is going to be a lot, isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it? We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve so little time with Johan, and he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s about to be front and center. RIGHT?? h e l p<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Thursday\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Boy\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":"