Well, the first season of Monarch is over, and one thing is for sure: The Fox drama certainly was just that. Monarch lives for drama. It revels in it mostly to the detriment of plot, logic or plausibility. Storylines came and went like wildfire, and epic family meltdowns were resolved within a matter of hours. It never made any sense. And never actually adhered to what would happen in the real world and let its biggest reveals happen either off-screen or in a scene that lasted under 60 seconds.
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The Fox drama went for broke this week, to its detriment
I don't know if I'm alone in letting Monarch drive me crazy, but I want this show to be better than it actually is. The talent and the stories are there, but it's as if they don't know how to deliver them or how to drag anything out. You could argue that because the show doesn't have a second season order yet, that is why the writers were throwing twists and resolutions in as either fan service or executive candy. But as a casual viewer, I was left shaking my head. Gigi had her heart absolutely crushed; went rogue to ruin her family; broke up with her wife; told Nicky to get bent; and then went back on almost all of it within the span of a few hours. (Her breakup is sticking so far, but they share a kid that's not the new baby we see in this episode, so who knows what will happen there.)
FOX
As a fan of both Beth Ditto and of the Gigi character, it's enough to make your head spin. She suffered a massive betrayal that was revealed to her casually by a doctor when the baby she thought was hers was delivered two months early. She doesn't seem nearly mad enough but is also somehow too mad. And she takes it out on Nicky rather than on Luke, who actually slept with Kayla? I wish I knew what drove Gigi more and why she's so darn wishy-washy, even if Albie does constantly preach family above all else. Beyond that, I wish I understood why the show has to move at such a breakneck pace rather than letting everything breathe a little. If Gigi was able to come around to everything, say, a few days later, I might actually believe it was possible. But instead, she flip-flopped over the course of a conversation. And I'm just not buying it. Of course, as we see later in the episode, she's still harboring resentments toward Nicky, some of which are seeded by her catty aunt. That Roman Sisters tour should go well.
Speaking of Nicky: Jamie's big reveal is that he weaseled his way into the family because when he was 3, his dad was killed by a drunk driver he believed to be Albie Roman. He moved Clive's body in an effort to make sure Albie went down for Clive's murder, though how burying him somewhere in a state park would get that done is anyone's guess. (A phone video would have done just as much, if not more.) Though, in working with the Romans, Jamie came to love them, thinking of Albie as the father he never knew and falling in love with Nicky. He also realized, via Nicky, that it was Tripp and not Albie who killed his father. Now, he's hell-bent on seeing Tripp pay. He'll do that later in the episode after Clive's body is found on Tripp's lake house property, a ploy that makes absolutely no sense but somehow involves blackmail and a tip-off call. But for now, Albie's a free man — and one who had said he would kill Jamie — but now wants to hire him to work at Monarch.
Meanwhile, Nicky seems to still love Jamie, even though she should have major trust issues with him. I believe he's in love with her, but he entered her life under false pretenses, and that should be enough to kick him to the curb, no matter how handsome he is. As we learn later in the episode, he's still not being wholly truthful with her, either, as he entered the family in tandem with Catt in an effort to ruin the Romans — no matter what. I always knew Catt was bad news, but she's been so absent the second half of this season that I kind of forgot about her. I wonder if the writers did as well, but maybe they'll find something to do with her next season, should one exist.
FOX
I want to note that this week's finale, which took place on a plane, was so far from reality that I said, "oh come on," about 100 times, from Albie getting arrested mid-farewell concert to the fact that Luke somehow threw together that arena-sized farewell concert (with pyrotechnics, I might add!) in the span of eight hours. No venue could come up with hourly workers in that time, nor a stage, nor permits or whatever. But on Monarch, everything musical seems to have to work at breakneck speed. Take another example, Nicky and Gigi's tour. It leaves hours after McKenzie "McBusinesswoman" offers it to Nicky. And the tour includes one bus for two headliners, an opener, and all their band members, and wardrobe and production. And somehow Nicky shoves evening gowns in a road case despite the last tour having a 20-person band and full production. The fact that Skyler tried to push Nicky's tour back six months and Nicky balked, despite Nicky getting 100 other things out of that Skyfair deal, too, was unbelievable. Monarch has never even attempted to get its music business stuff correct, which is odd, considering two of its stars are actual working musicians. And the finale was, I thought, especially egregious in that sense. This nonsense must stop, or my head will explode.
Fortunately or unfortunately, it just might. As I mentioned, there's still no season two order for Monarch, which means this may be the end of the story for the Roman clan. It might not, as well — the show does better than Call Me Kat starring Mayim Bialik, and that show's in its third season, so it's anyone's guess. Either way, Monarch has been an intriguing, if infuriating, ride so far, and I'm glad that it exists, if only to get a little more country music in the world. After all, who could argue with a show that has Beth Ditto belting out Kelly Clarkson's "Stronger" just minutes before Trace Adkins tackles a rollicking performance of Kacey Musgraves' "Family Is Family"? We're better for hearing those cuts, and the world is better when Monarch is in it.
Random observations:
- Albie's chat with Tatum and Ace was truly nuts. Ace was like, "well it was self-defense," while Tatum balked because her literal dad is literally dead. She might not have loved the dude, but it's still pretty messed up that she's just supposed to be okay with the fact that her grandpa killed and buried him out in the woods somewhere.
- Also, if the entire Roman clan decided to have an "uh oh, what should we do now that dad's going to prison for murder?" chat in the middle of a crowded diner, the fact that literally no one would care, be taking pictures of them, or eavesdropping and sending details to Deux Moi is, in my mind, specious at best.
- Congrats to Luke for getting a job at Skyfair. Your dad seems to hate you, so get out while the getting's good. I thought for a second there that he might end up with Skyler as well, which I would welcome, but it seems she's more into Albie instead, who she says has a "soft caramel center" under his Stetson.
- Jamie told Nicky it's "easier than you'd think" to move a dead, decaying body from one state park to another guy's presumably protected and monitored lake house. I mean, it could be, but it also sounds horrifying and gross?
READ MORE: Hear Trace Adkins' Chilling Rendition of 'Waiting Around to Die' for 'Monarch'
