Mark Watches ‘Monster’: Episode 16 – Wolf’s Confession

In the sixteenth episode of Monster, help me. HELP ME. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Monster.

Trigger Warning: For discussion of fascism, xenophobia

WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING ON THIS SHOW.

Nina

I just… lord, this was so SAD. Nina’s conversations with Ayse were haunting, and the echo effect given to the voice performance made it all the more chilling. To Ayse, Nina was her only connection to the outside world, the only possible light in a dark, dark tunnel. They were both being held by white supremacists, but for Ayse, a Turkish woman, this situation had a much more frightening connotation. These men did not see her as a full person. And maybe they didn’t think of Nina that way either, given that she was, after all, just bait to these people, a means of luring out Johan for their own purposes. But Nina didn’t have the same fear as Ayse did. Her own community might be wiped out if the group succeeded in setting that fire in the Turkish district, and her newborn child would probably die along with many, many others. 

So Nina does what she can to reach across that divide, to give Ayse hope, and then she has to listen to the woman be killed by one of the Professor’s men. It’s a gut punch, a terrible fate for this poor woman to experience. (There are a lot of orphaned people in Monster, aren’t there?) And it’s because of this that Nina rushes out to try to save Ayse, only to discover that literally everyone is dead. NO EXAGGERATION. Everyone we met and saw in the last episode is dead. And of course it was Johan, who swooped in and murdered EVERY FUCKING MEMBER OF THIS ORGANIZATION. But not just because of a potential disinterest; he left a message for Nina, one that she must understand better than anyone else. Why that building? Does it hold meaning for them? WHO DOES SHE DISCOVER ON THE ROOF???

Dieter

You know, once you divorce this plotline from the context of the show, it’s ABSURD. A child who is an orphan is being trucked around Germany to track down a serial killer by an ex-surgeon who also just told him to jump out of a car, run back to Frankfurt, and warn the Turkish community that they’re about to be firebombed. 

That is… a lot. But I get why Dieter has attached himself to Dr. Tenma, and within the logic of Dr. Tenma’s mind, I get why he didn’t want Dieter to go to Wolf’s mansion! But seriously, this kid and Heckel just got captured by NEO-NAZIS. Sooooooo???? Maybe Dr. Tenma’s not that great at this whole child welfare thing??? 

Wolf’s Confession

WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING. Hi, please tell me why Johan is so fucked up. I MEAN… that’s part of the mystery of his character, isn’t it? General Wolf touches ever so briefly on “finding” Johan and his sister, but the story takes an absolutely terrifying turn, one I’m still struggling to understand. So I want to start with Wolf’s admission: that he allied with the neo-Nazis as a means to an end. As I said on video, WHAT A WHITE THING TO DO. Like, what sort of life do you have that you can ally with FASCISTS and BIGOTS??? And is that worth it? Well, if you’re white, I suppose so, but the goal of General Wolf was… what? What exactly did he want here? 

I get my confusion, though. It’s not until the end of the episode that Wolf’s intentions are clear, and prior to this, we’re introduced to the massively upsetting mission that Johan has been on since he was a child. Do I understand it? NO, I DO NOT. Did Johan recognize that General Wolf did not have pure intentions for him? Is that why he said that WILD fucking line to him? Because I truly cannot get over his response to being asked how he was feeling. “You will know soon how I feel.” And with that, Johan then dedicates his life to murdering literally anyone who is connected to General Wolf, an act that isolates him so completely that the stress of it all ages him. Why??? Why isolate him? Why strip him of so many people who knew him that he feels like he doesn’t even know who he is? (Which is a fascinating psychological concept. Are we who we are because of the people who are in our lives? If they were stripped away, would our sense of self erode like it did for General Wolf?)

Anyway, by the end of the episode, we discover that General Wolf just wants this nightmare to be over, and he hopes that Dr. Tenma is the one who can truly kill Johan. How much does General Wolf know about Tenma’s past with Johan? I still have a major concern of my own, too. Is Dr. Tenma actually capable of killing Johan? He keeps saying he is, but that’s not the same as actually doing it. So will he find the courage to do so when the time arrives?

I am truly so goddamn unprepared for Monster. I have so much more to go, too!!! Which worries me. What other horrible things are waiting for me?

The video for “Wolf’s Confession” can be downloaded here for $0.99.

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