{"id":7484,"date":"2020-02-21T13:00:07","date_gmt":"2020-02-21T21:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=7484"},"modified":"2020-02-20T16:40:03","modified_gmt":"2020-02-21T00:40:03","slug":"mark-watches-monster-episode-53-determination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2020\/02\/mark-watches-monster-episode-53-determination\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Monster’: Episode 53 – Determination"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the fifty-third episode of Monster<\/i>, Tenma takes a huge risk, and Eva relives the past. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Monster<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This show truly is going to keep me guessing right up until the end, isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it? Because at no point did I ever anticipate that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be watching Tenma orchestrate a ridiculous complex PRISON BREAK. He is in prison! This plot is genuinely happening! AND IT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S ONLY GETTING WORSE BY THE SECOND.<\/p>\n

The Offer<\/b><\/p>\n

Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, the remainder of Roberto\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s conversation with Tenma was too much??? I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m still struggling to understand it, especially since I assumed that Roberto and Johan would want Tenma stuck in prison, taking the rap for Johan. But after threatening Eva\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s life, Roberto says that Tenma would benefit from Eva\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s death, too, then lays out an entire scenario in which Tenma gets out of prison and is free. I just\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6. what the fuck??? Why? Did he think he could appeal to Tenma\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s selfish side? Was this all just to toy<\/i> with him? ROBERTO TERRIFIES ME.<\/p>\n

Milch\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Promise<\/b><\/p>\n

It took me a moment to realize that Milch was telling Tenma that his escape attempt would be in five days. That being said, I absolutely do not understand the conversation that Milch had with his lawyer, whose name is never said aloud. Whose boss was he referring to? What circumstance is Milch in that he has \u00e2\u20ac\u0153people\u00e2\u20ac\u009d to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153sell out\u00e2\u20ac\u009d? What secret is he keeping? Oh my god, who are Helene and Gustav? Does Milch have a family on the outside??? WHY ARE THERE STILL SO MANY SECRETS ON THIS SHOW?\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m gonna fight y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Confession<\/b><\/p>\n

I get his motivation now, but even if that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the case, I love that we see how Tenma\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s confession has affected other characters. Initially, yes, I was perplexed. It seemed like such a strange and reckless decision! Actually, it still<\/i> is, because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not like Tenma has any experience ESCAPING FROM PRISON. Still, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s with someone who has the nickname, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Escape King.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d That feels like a good thing, but the episode ends before we ever see what it is that Milch has planned.<\/p>\n

So instead, I want to focus mostly on the other characters. Understandably, Tenma\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s confession is completely shocking to literally everyone, including the investigators. And I imagine that Tenma, being so close to all these cases, was able to craft a convincing confession, too. But this act has upended the lives of Dr. Reichwein, who is convinced of Tenma\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s innocence, as well as Verdeman. After all the work these two men have done, Tenma just went and confessed to it all? So I get why Dr. Reichwein\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s reaction is what it is. None of this makes sense, so Tenma had to have been tortured in order to confess something like that.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Verdeman who takes it most personally. This episode gives us confirmation that Tenma\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s lawyer DOES believe that he is truly innocent, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m guessing that Verdeman is certain that Tenma is so without hope that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just confessed to get this over with. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s my theory based on the breakdown that Verdeman has outside of Eva\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s room. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve already learned why Verdeman is so motivated as a defense lawyer, and we also know that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s long struggled with the concept of good and evil. He always wants to believe the best in others specifically because the state refused to offer the same grace and patience to his father. And standing outside of Eva\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s room, he has a similar struggle: Is Tenma actually<\/i> innocent of the crimes he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s accused of? Is it irrational for him to hold out hope for that? Again, Verdeman goes back to his father: his father had<\/i> to be innocent. Will he ever know for sure? Most likely not, and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s where faith comes in. This whole job is one giant exercise in faith, and Verdeman is ready to commit to proving that Tenma is innocent, too.<\/p>\n

Eva, however, starts at the opposite end before she eventually comes around to changing her mind. Tenma\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s confession undoes her in a completely different way. Like Verdeman, she is a character defined by her past. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s spent so long obsessing over what she no longer has, so much so that she refuses to help Tenma so she can enact a bizarre punishment on him. What \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Determination\u00e2\u20ac\u009d does so brilliantly is show how Eva constructs an image of Tenma in her mind that often differs from reality. When she tells Verdeman about what kind of person Tenma was, she leaves out a couple damning details about herself. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s only after the confession that Eva relives the moment and accepts her own cruelty that she relents.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Perhaps this is the first step in a longer journey, and maybe Eva will be able to come to terms with her own cruelty. It might be too little, too late, but I believe that she finally intends to testify on behalf of Tenma. EXCEPT NOW ROBERTO KNOWS AND IS HEADED STRAIGHT FOR HER. Great. Great!!! Can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t this show just leave me ALONE!!!!<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Determination\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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

– You can now pre-order my second YA novel, Each of Us a Desert<\/i>, which will be released on September 15, 2020 from Tor Teen!<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong>
\n– 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":"