Mark Watches ‘Monster’: Episode 24 – Of Men and Dining

In the twenty-fourth episode of Monster, Eva makes a deal with Roberto that quickly goes awry. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Monster. 

There are two plots at work in this episode, and since the show has such a short run time, I felt that the stories in “Of Men and Dining” were a little rushed. But this was also a direct continuation of the previous episode, too, and it addressed the bizarre connection between Roberto and Eva. Both are characters who see people as means to an end. And in this specific case, they were using one another! Roberto wanted more information on Johan, and that included the photos that Eva took out of her photo album. I find it interesting that yet again, we didn’t get confirmation that Eva actually gave them to Roberto. Is that true here? The deal the two make is that Eva will give up the photos, and Roberto will lead her to Dr. Tenma.

It’s not lost on me that these are also two people fueled by their obsession with someone else. Roberto wants everything and anything on Johan; Eva wants Dr. Tenma. So did they make an exchange? I don’t know! But I think that Roberto’s violent rejection of Eva is also due to the fact that he miscalculated. He thought Eva’s obsession with Dr. Tenma would result in her murdering him, and then he wouldn’t have to do it himself. I understand in hindsight why I was so confused by what had actually happened here, too. Roberto shot her off screen, so I started wondering if this was all a ploy by Eva to get Dr. Tenma to pay attention to her. He does have a long history of helping people who are injured, even if it puts him at a great risk. So it kinda made sense that she would do something that ridiculous in order to reach Dr. Tenma. 

And while all of this is going down, we find out that Dr. Tenma has continued treating criminals (or ex-criminals) who need care but can’t go to hospitals. So, Heckel got his way, right? At least partially. It’s certainly a means to an end, a way for them to make money as they move from city to city. But in the midst of this episode is an arresting moment where the unnamed ex-syndicate member reflects on what a poor, meaningless life he has led. I poked a little fun at it while watching because… wow, way to bring the mood of the dinner down! But it’s also such a revealing epiphany. Here was a man devoted to the accumulation of money. And for what? What did he have to show for it? His entire family was murdered in front of him. Where was all that money? The prestige? Did he have any friends? His bodyguard was the closest thing to a friend!!!

It goes beyond this, too. The experience here of the four of them around the dinner table is one that was absent from the ex-syndicate member’s life. He didn’t share over a meal; he didn’t have meaningful discussions; he never talked about difficulties in a context that would have allowed him and his colleagues to respectfully resolves their differences. Is there a greater meaning here for Dr. Tenma? I thought maybe this was a subtle commentary on the obsessive path Tenma was on, but I can’t ignore all the meaningful experiences Tenma has had since he started to go after Johan.

Anyway, THEN EVERYTHING IS CHAOS. Eva is shot, she fully believes Tenma won’t come save her, and then she starts saying some DARK shit while Dieter is lookout. Holy shit, that whole bit about Tenma getting arrested and then spending the rest of his life locked up so he can regret dumping Eva? WHAT THE HELL. Regardless of this, Tenma STILL saves her life. Eva doesn’t get what she wanted, and Tenma, Heckel, and Dieter move on to Munich. But I don’t think this is remotely the last we’ll see of Eva. She’s too obsessed to give up. 

The video for “Of Men and Dining” can be downloaded here for $0.99.

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