{"id":7501,"date":"2020-03-16T13:00:19","date_gmt":"2020-03-16T20:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=7501"},"modified":"2020-03-09T13:27:02","modified_gmt":"2020-03-09T20:27:02","slug":"mark-watches-monster-episode-63-unrelated-murders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2020\/03\/mark-watches-monster-episode-63-unrelated-murders\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Monster’: Episode 63 – Unrelated Murders"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the sixty-third episode of Monster<\/i>, THIS IS TOO MUCH. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Monster<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Trigger Warning: For discussion of manipulation<\/b><\/p>\n

I feel safe enough at this point to declare that Monster<\/i> is going to go down as perhaps the most complicated show I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve ever covered for Mark Watches. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so well designed for this episodic format, and I can see how the manga must have basically done the same thing. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve had so many \u00e2\u20ac\u0153tangents\u00e2\u20ac\u009d from the main narrative, but they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve all proven to be related to the main story, building up the characters and their motivations. So, once again, as \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Unrelated Murders\u00e2\u20ac\u009d took me on a journey that provided what was promised by the title, I figured that at some point, I would find out why<\/i> we were spending time with Rheinhard Dinger and Detective Weisbach.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been like sixty episode since we last saw Weisbach, so I confess that part of the reason this was so effective was because I just plain forgot him. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been a long time since he was onscreen! There are quite a few characters from the early arc of the show who I probably couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t recall, too. So, as Weisbach interviewed Rheinhard Dinger, I just let it all play out. I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really have a theory as to how it would intersect with the main timeline. Dinger seemed truly unrelated to anything. His MO as a murderer didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t match up with previous plots; he didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seem to know anyone that we did; and I couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t figure out if perhaps Weisbach retiring was important? WHAT DETAIL WAS I SUPPOSED TO PAY ATTENTION TO?<\/p>\n

All of them, it turns out, because Johan manipulated Dinger into BECOMING a murderer. That<\/i> is a pattern we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen time and again. Johan is a serial killer who not only commits murders himself, but compels people through manipulation to do it for him, which confuses investigators. And it clearly did in this case! Multiple serial killers broke their standard modus operandi for Johan, and it has perplexed authorities the entire time. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ridiculously brilliant as a means of escaping suspicion, since it makes it virtually impossible to tie those crimes to a single person. But this isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t exactly new information. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve already met quite a few people who have been manipulated by Johan into murdering people. (Though is this the first time Johan got to someone BEFORE they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d murdered and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153liberated\u00e2\u20ac\u009d them? The whole language surrounding Dinger is so goddamn eerie, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all.)<\/p>\n

The reason that this episode RUINED me is because it fills in crucial gaps in the timeline of this show. Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, Dinger was the person who Johan and Nina found AFTER ESCAPING THE HOSPITAL AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SHOW. They were still in their pajamas!!! It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the very case that Weisbach worked on eleven years prior! Even back then, Johan was already manipulating people. He saved Dinger from being arrested after Dinger was caught trying to murder someone. And he did it by lying to the police, the first step in a LONG pattern of manipulation. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s chilling to watch it, especially as the animation here does WONDERS to convey Dinger\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s emotions as he talks about Johan. You can tell there is not just understanding here, but a reverence<\/i>, as if Johan is like a holy figure to Dinger. To him, it makes absolute sense to see a name drawn in the sand in a sandbox in a random park and know that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s supposed to kill that person. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s absurd and horrifying to us, but there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a relationship dynamic here that feels perfect<\/i> to Dinger.<\/p>\n

Well, not just to Dinger. When the episode switched over to Dr. Guillen\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s POV, I knew exactly what was about to unfold: these \u00e2\u20ac\u0153unrelated\u00e2\u20ac\u009d murders would all suddenly be very<\/i> much related. Again, it also helps that this answers questions about things Johan has done in the past. How many of the murders on Monster<\/i> did I assume were Johan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s doing, but were actually committed by people Johan manipulated? It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a terrifying and creepy thought, obviously, but y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, the implications of all this leave me even more disturbed. How many serial killers did Johan track down? How was he able to get them all to a single park outside of Frankfurt? Why that<\/i> park? And then there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the big question posed by the end of the episode: What the FUCK is Johan trying to do? There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still a part of me that believes he is trying to erase his past, and each of the victims were a roadblock or evidence. But it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s clear that it is not a coincidence that everyone is converging in the same city. Johan is manipulating events once again, but I still don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know his master plan. AT ALL. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even have a grain of a theory!!! What the fuck is all this!!!!!<\/p>\n

I do want to go back to my original point, though. I really love how deeply complex this storytelling is. By giving space for this to unfold in multiple locations, across various timelines, and to dive into all the unseen ramifications of people\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s actions, Monster<\/i> feels like a living, breathing world in a way most other stories don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t. Did Johan anticipate other people finding links to all his crimes? Maybe not, and maybe it is because Johan devalues human life so much. Perhaps he can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t imagine someone like Weisbach, literal seconds away from his retirement, pursuing a case that haunted him for eleven years. He probably didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t expect Dr. Guillen and Weisbach to cross paths, either. But the world of this show is massive, and it allows for storytelling like this episode. Whew, I love it SO MUCH.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Unrelated Murders\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":"