{"id":7490,"date":"2020-03-02T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-03-02T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=7490"},"modified":"2020-02-20T16:43:56","modified_gmt":"2020-02-21T00:43:56","slug":"mark-watches-monster-episode-57-that-night","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2020\/03\/mark-watches-monster-episode-57-that-night\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Monster’: Episode 57 – That Night"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the fifty-seventh episode of Monster<\/i>, Nina revisits her past. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Monster<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Trigger Warning: For trauma, PTSD<\/b><\/p>\n

I feel like this gave me more of the timeline of Nina and Johan, but I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m still left with a million questions. But \u00e2\u20ac\u0153That Night\u00e2\u20ac\u009d works as a fantastic follow-up to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Never-Ending Journey,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d especially since it focuses almost entirely on Nina\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s attempt to finding meaning in her memories. Being in Prague has unlocked so much for her, and yet? She still doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have answers.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This episode opens at the beginning: we see the night that the Lieberts were murdered, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m still left wondering: Did Johan kill them? Or did that mysterious visitor kill them? There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just enough doubt sown to make me consider another explanation. Why did Johan ask Nina to kill him? And why did Johan say that a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153monster\u00e2\u20ac\u009d came to take them away? If Johan murdered his adopted parents, why not murder the monster, too? Was that visitor Franz Bonaparta??? Because clearly he is deeply tied to the experiments at the Red Rose Mansion and the rise of Johan. So\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 maybe???<\/p>\n

But what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s interesting about this is that Nina\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s memories provide the audience with scenes where Johan is\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 nice? Like, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the only way I know how to say it. Johan appears kind and protective of his sister, even if the acorn flashback might have a more unnerving underbelly to it. Did Johan consciously know he was always going to turn into a monster? Which is why he said everything \u00e2\u20ac\u0153belonged\u00e2\u20ac\u009d to Nina? Perhaps I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t quite understand Johan. What if he fought<\/i> his transformation into a monster?\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

SEE? I JUST HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS. How did they escape Prague? Why were they alone when they made their attempt to cross into Germany? At least I have some<\/i> answers here, though they come from Tenma\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s scene with General Wolf, who was last mentioned AGES ago by Hartmann. He did<\/i> say that Wolf was the key to Johan, and now we know why: Wolf was the man who found Johan and Nina and ALSO GAVE JOHAN HIS NAME. Up to that point, he and Nina were nameless, no doubt because<\/i> of what was going on in the Red Rose Mansion. I also think Wolf is correct in assuming that by naming Johan, he \u00e2\u20ac\u0153unlocked\u00e2\u20ac\u009d something in the boy. Johan, as a name, appeared in so many of Bonaparta\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s picture books, and Monster<\/i> is indeed about buried trauma. But there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also been a repeating motif of the power of names, one Wolf understands as he dies, terrified that no one will remember who he really was. What if naming that boy unearthed something Johan had been fighting? And what if this is the reason for Johan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s arson at the Red Rose Mansion? God, what if he hasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t been trying to eliminate his past, but expose<\/i> it? Because those 46 bodies would never have been found if he hadn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t torched the place.<\/p>\n

AND THEN THERE\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S LIPSKY. (Whose name I spelled wrong in the last review.) As far as we know, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the only survivor of the readings at the Red Rose Mansion. The trauma of those readings have guided Lipsky\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s life, so much so that he recreates many of the stories of Bonaparta as an unconscious means of expressing his inner fears. Even when he crafts the story that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s clearly based on Nina, he can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even think of a happy ending. Why? Because he can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t believe in them for himself. It is unfathomable to him to have good things happen in his life. And yet, for the three months or so that Dieter and Nina stay with Lipsky, he has happiness<\/i>. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why he is so immediately depressed once they leave; those two people showed him another way to live. And yeah, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s real sad! I imagine Lipsky has led an isolated life, in part because he has always believed he was unworthy of love after failing to impress Franz Bonaparta.<\/p>\n

So, yes, it kind of makes perfect sense that this was caused by LIPSKY\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S FATHER. But the question remains: Did Lipsky know Bonaparta was his dad, or did Lunge just surprise him with that fact?\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I NEED TO KNOW.<\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153That Night\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":"