Monster – episode 73
February 1, 2006 on 9:26 pm | In Monster | 5 Comments“The Landscape of the End”
Monster is about to come full circle. A deceptively quiet episode of monochromatic proportions. You do not get to choose how you will die; Johan will choose how you die, and when.
You bet there are spoilers!
As Tenma and Poppe prepare to help Lunge, they find Wim behind them … when they turn to lead him away, they see Johan standing across the street, asking Tenma to shoot.
Well, what an episode. Johan was much less chatty than I had hoped, but I was not really surprised that he had little to say other than “shoot me”, which he didn’t even vocalise at first. The first half of this episode was almost entirely in black and white, with only interruptions from the drab red of blood.
I really don’t know what else to say about this; Johan had an other-worldly look about him, that made me wonder just how long it’s been since he and Tenma last came face to face. Nina telling Tenma that he did the right thing was good, but both of them looked so empty. I entertained a fear that Tenma would be put away. The Landscape part was quite thrilling, and once more gives justification for certain parts of the OP; I don’t really feel sympathy for Roberto, but at least I got to see tears in rain.
Poppe’s words to Nina in her childhood are nothing short of confusing; it is difficult to forget seeing people die all at once. I really can’t see what Poppe was aiming at. Consumed by love, he still went too far. The twins were beyond breaking point, and he was largely instrumental in their breaking. Now I suppose I’ll never know.
On a rather less significant note for the overall story, it was sweet to see the Hennichs getting along. I suppose that if your marriage can survive a town wide massacre, it can survive anything.
I shouldn’t be surprised that the final confrontation was so understated, but … I am. Once you get rid of all of Johan’s supporters, all you’ve got is Johan. He wanted only one thing, and from only one person; I suppose he wasn’t open for discussion.
5 Comments
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
Powered by WordPress with Pool theme design by Borja Fernandez.
Entries and comments feeds.
Valid XHTML and CSS. ^Top^
That was the best ending of an episode ever o.o I was just like “holy shit.”
I have actually grown a huge liking for Johan through all of these episodes. I was so glad to see he was still alive.
Is that…wrong? o_o lol
Comment by Liz — February 3, 2006 #
I think you couldn’t really tell whether Roberto shed a tear or whether it was just the rain. I didn’t really like the “twist” at the end. Tenma went so far to get there. I didn’t understand his reasons for what he did and did not do at all. Sure, you could call him a true believer in human rights but in this purely fictional case you can see and count how many people would still live if Johan had been eliminated or at least been caught a long time ago. Tenma should have brought some hand cuffs if he was ever serious.
Comment by Chris — February 6, 2006 #
That’s the beauty of tears in rain.
The point of Tenma was that Johan had tried to drive him to become the monster, but Tenma was not capable of going through with the act.
The idea of Johan was a goal: one that, when reached, is revealed to be just another human. That Johan was shot by the drunkard (although how he got his aim right, I’ll never know) is significant because it’s the opposite of the revelations of episode 74.
The “children protection instinct” kicked in, which is quite possibly an ultimate sign of humanity. Killing “for the good of the land”, as Tenma meant to do, is a lofty ideal but not really defensible. As Grimmer realised of Poppe, some people have to live.
It’s exactly like the anime cliché of the dying villain realising that he was wrong to want to kill everybody, because people are all right after all. Except, mercifully, Monster never verbalised that.
Comment by Alex — February 9, 2006 #
One thing which bothers me about Johan asking Nina or Tenma to shoot him (which happens several times in the whole series) is his timing… What exactly is his purpose in that?
At first I thought he simply wanted to erase his presence from the world, which would explain why he asks his sister to kill him at that moment, after shooting the Liebert couple in the beginning of the series. He does this finger-to-the-head gesture again in the burning library, and then once more in episode 67 when in the ruins with Nina, and then again in this penultimate episode.
All in all, i don’t manage to make that fit too well with the picture-book story the monster in Johan’s head is supposed to come from, and with the constant allusions about name and identity (contrary to the fact that Johan kills his successive foster parents, whose meaning is quite clear).
Another intriguing thing is Runge’s explanation to the police that the incident in Ruhenheim is “mostly” due to Roberto’s actions, seemingly minimizing Johan’s responsibility in the matter. Can it be imagined that fanatics such as Roberto or the right-wing party earlier are more monstrous than the monster itself and are responsible for a large part of the bloodshed all along?
Anyway, if anyone who reads this has any clear idea of the plausible successive states of mind and objectives of Johan, especially in regard of his suicidal tendencies and parallels with the picture book, I’d be glad to discuss that.
Comment by niot — May 31, 2006 #
Hello..I want to address the actions of investigator Runge when he told the police about Roberto being the main mastermind behind the killings. Runge knows that Johann is the one who pulls all the strings. But, police don’t believe in masterminds of crimes killing people for the sake of creating “The Perfect Suicide” as it is irrational and the logic is unjustified. This in my view is why Runge takes the initiative of telling the police that Roberto is the one who did it as his experience with him at the hotel(mind you, no malice there, I’m sure) and his credible position as a police officer will be the proof of his claim credible and this will not cause anymore trouble. This is my own personal view. You don’t have to believe it. I was just saying. Thanks. Hope we can discuss some more
Comment by Psycholinguist — January 22, 2008 #