Monster ep.10-11

June 27, 2004 | 0 Comments

Well, I may as well write about the latest two episodes in this entry in case the site does go down very soon. I'm glad to see that unlike the last episode, these two episodes are well-written and tightly directed. These episodes have so many hints of future plots and at the same time, they still managed to make me care about the peripheral characters that appear in both episodes. I am always delighted by this series' ability to startle me with a particular scene or revelation. And as usual, the series does this by showing the sort of unspeakable acts that humans can do to others or to themselves. It's good to be reminded from time to time that when humans do this kind of acts, they indeed become quite similar to monsters in fairy or horror tales.

Episode eleven begins by showing a new character who, at a glance, looks like a human personification of Bugs Bunny. The man, Heckel, turns out to be a small class thief who often ransacks the house of people who already passed away. In this case, he decided to break into the house of a recently murdered assemblyman called Springer. When he's about to enter one of the rooms, however, Heckel feels a bit uneasy but he decides to shrug the feeling away. Unfortunately for him, Tenma turns out to be standing behind him holding a gun. Before they can talk much, however, they hear a police siren and the two decide to run away from the scene. Heckel eventually realises that Tenma is the man being chased by the police due to his involvement in the murder of the assemblyman. Because of this, he offers Tenma to work with him healing wanted people in exchange for information on who murdered the assemblyman.

Heckel then proceeds to take Tenma to an apartment complex and tells him that he's been watching the killer just in case he wants to blackmail him for some cash. Tenma decides to go inside the apartment and finds that the person in question looks a bit depressed and to top it off, he's holding a gun while sitting in his chair. After a while, Tenma manages to find out from the man that he indeed, murdered the assemblyman because of Johan's instruction. Johan, however, is actually known as Erich these days and had been considered by the assembly and his wife as their own son. At any rate, this man seems to be quite disturbed because from his confession, it seems Johan didn't need to convince him that much to involve him in the murder of the assemblyman. Johan simply agreed with this man that destroying the sunflower garden to make a parking space is a cruel thing to do and therefore he asks him to eliminate the family.

Anyway, before Tenma leaves the place, the man asks if Tenma is indeed the 'Dr Tenma' that Erich/Johan keeps talking about. If he is, then Tenma should check out the message that Johan left in the study room of the murdered assemblyman. The man then proceeds to pull the trigger of the gun and blows his brains out to a messy end. Tenma and Heckel then go back to Springer's house and when they get to the study room, Tenma immediately finds a message left for him. It's a rather creepy message which basically says "Dear Dr Tenma, Look at me, Look at me, the monster inside of me is growing bigger". It feels as if Johan asks his 'father' to be proud of him. Things don't get any better for Tenma because later on he finds out that Heckel has sold him to a wanted terrorist who wants him to heal the terrorist leader. Upon reaching the destination, however, Tenma refuses to heal the terrorist leader even when he is threatened with a gun.

Elsewhere, Heckel is also being threatened by other gang members. It seems that unless he can return their money, Heckel is going to be in trouble. That is why when Heckel sees a public announcement advertising a money prize for anyone who can find the two terrorists, he decided to give the police a call. Back to Tenma, after hearing the wounded man's delirious speech, Tenma can't help but feeling sorry for him and ends up treating his wound. He, however, tells the other terrorist that the wounded guy still has to be taken to a hospital and proceeds to carry the guy out of the room despite the threat from the other terrorist. However, when the two got outside, they hear the police sirens closing in. Feeling indebted, the terrorist tells Tenma to run away because he finally realises that Tenma is actually a fugitive as well. Before Tenma left, however, the terrorist asks Tenma why a good guy like Tenma helped someone like him. Tenma simply answers that it's because the guy is still a human being.

Episode 11 begins with Tenma investigating the estate that was owned by the Lieberts. Tenma manages to get some information from the real estate agent that there is a former East German Department of Commerce official that Tenma can talk to in regards to the twins that the Lieberts adopted. Anyway, after talking to the person in question, Tenma finds out that the Lieberts adopted the twins from an orphanage located on Kinderheim 511. However, upon finding the location, Tenma realises that the place is in a burnt down condition. A conversation with a local woman, however, gives Tenma another lead. Apparently, a man called Hartmann used to work in the Ministry of Health and this person can probably give Tenma some more information about the circumstances surrounding the burnt down orphanage. On his way towards the man's address, Tenma encounters a young boy who has injured his hand. Being the kind person that he is, Tenma decides to treat the kid's wounds.

Anyway, upon reaching Hartmann's residence, Tenma is informed by Hartmann that he became the foster parent of many children who have lost their parents when the wall that separated East and West Germany came down. Apparently he does this until the kids are adopted or could live on their own. Hartmann also admits that he's actually a foster parent of one of those kids right now. He believes that the kids are better off living with him than when they were in the orphanage. Hartmann then reveals that Kinderheim 511 was actually a special orphanage that falls under the jurisdiction of both the Ministry of Health and Welfare and Ministry of Home Affairs. Apparently special orphanages are not just orphanage for any kids who have lost their parents. These orphanages were created for kids with criminal records or those whose parents committed political crimes while trying to escape or kids whose parents were charged with treason or espionage indictment.

It's because of those reasons these children were treated inhumanely and were discriminated by their supposed caretakers. The government told everyone that these children were going to be taught on how to adjust to their new surroundings. But in reality, they were treated as criminals. To make things worse, the directors and educators actually acted in opposition to their supposed profession. They often confiscated and sold packages that were sent to the children. In general, Hartmann believes that fear and violence controlled the orphanages. That is until an incident occurred on day. Hartmann tells Tenma that while he doesn't know much about the twin sister since she was placed under another orphanage, he knew a lot about her brother, Johan. Strangely, upon the mere mention of Johan's name, Hartmann's hands start to tremble as if he suffers from Parkinson's disease.

Hartmann tells Tenma that the East Germany Government issued a silence order on the information but he believes that it's all in the past now and he feels like talking about it to someone. When Tenma asks Hartmann what Johan actually did, Hartmann simply tells the good doctor that Johan lead a revolution. Before they can talk further, however, the door to the house is opened to reveal the red-haired boy whose wound Tenma treated not too long ago. The boy, who is called Dieter turns out to be the kid that Hartmann has adopted. However, because of his arrival, both Tenma and Hartmann agree to postpone further conversation about Johan and the orphanage until they can find a better time. However, when Tenma decides to leave Hartmann's residence, Dieter for some reason latches onto his hand, pleading for him to stay back. Tenma is confused about it but Hartmann ends up inviting him for a dinner to please Dieter.

During dinner, Hartmann asks Tenma a favour. Since Tenma is a 'freelance journalist', he wants Tenma to write in his column that the growth of a child depends entirely on the adult raising the child. Hartmann believes that they must lead the child to the 'right' path and only then the children can have their dreams. When Tenma asks Dieter if he has any dream, Dieter simply asks that his dream is to own a soccer ball. Once the dinner is over, Tenma bids goodbye to Hartmann and tells him that he'll call Hartmann tomorrow. As soon as Tenma disappears, Hartmann begins to show his true personality and approaches Dieter with a threatening look. Back to Tenma, while walking on his own in the middle of the street, he sees a soccer ball on sale in one of the shop windows. Being the kind person that he is, Tenma can't help but running to the store to buy the ball for Dieter. He then runs back to the apartment to give it to Dieter. However, upon knocking on the door, he can hear Dieter screaming in pain.

Once he comes inside the house, Hartmann claims that Dieter fell off a chair. However, when Hartmann is away to call the ambulance, Tenma finds out that Dieter's body has been beaten up badly to the point that not only he has black marks all over his body, he also suffers from a broken ribs and a dislocated shoulder. When Hartmann returns, Tenma once again asks how Dieter suffers from this kind of injuries. Hartmann, however, becomes evasive and tells Tenma that he knows Tenma is the wanted doctor. Tenma quickly realises that Hartmann is the one who's been abusing Dieter and pulls out his gun. Seeing that he has no other choice in the matter, Tenma decides to take Dieter away with him so that Hartmann can't abused the kid even more. Hartmann warns Tenma that his action could be considered as kidnapping not to mention it'll make it difficult for Tenma to escape from authorities. Tenma, however, couldn't care less and decides to run away from the place with Dieter.

Along the way, Tenma tells Dieter that he's going to be okay because they are going to the hospital. Tenma, however, assures a frightened Dieter that hospital is nothing to be afraid of and that is why he wonders why Dieter hasn't been to a hospital even though he's hurt all over. Dieter tells Tenma that he's afraid. He believes that the world is full of bad things and he thinks that he has to be strong because of this. Tenma immediately suspects that Hartmann tells this depressing view of the world to Dieter. Dieter confirms Tenma's suspicion when he tells Tenma that the world is in an abyss and tomorrow is pitch black. Tenma, however, kindly tells Dieter that the world is an abyss is a lie, much to Dieter's amazement. He then gives Dieter the soccer ball that he bought for the kid and this seems to cheer Dieter up. Once they got to the hospital, Tenma asks the nurse not to allow anyone except him to pick up Dieter.

Tenma then remembers that Anna/Nina used to live under the wings of another orphanage. After asking around the people on the street, Tenma finds the place and asks the caretaker to allow Dieter to stay at the place. The caretaker seems to be hesitant because she doesn't know Tenma very well. She, however, warms up to him when she finds out that Tenma knows a lot about Anna/Nina Liebert. The woman reveals that she knew a little bit about the twins. Apparently Johan was the one who was going to be adopted by the Liebert but refused to come along unless his sister come with him. The woman also looks a bit offended when Tenma compares her orphanage to Kinderheim 511. Her actions towards a young girl who awakens in the middle of the night seems to confirm that, at the very least, she probably take good care of the kids who are under her care. Eventually the woman ends up telling Tenma that the truth is, Kinderheim 511 was a testing place for the old East Germany.

Impression:

As I said before, these are two very strong episodes for the series. Episode 10 shows that Johan/Erich is very capable to manipulate the people around him to the point that even adults find it hard to resist his 'charm'. He also has this creepy tendency to see Tenma as his own father to the point that he write messages that is designed to mock Tenma but also one that is written in a way that makes it seems as if he wants his 'father' to be proud of him. It's also interesting to see Tenma showing his resolve as well as his compassion throughout all of the tribulations that he has to go through in this episode. His refusal to heal the terrorist even though he was under gunpoint was impressive. But in the end, he remains a compassionate person who decides to help the man simply because no matter what, the terrorist is still a human being.

While episode 10 was impressive, I was far more invested in episode 11. This is mostly because I really like the father/son vibe that Tenma and Dieter gave off in this episode. There's just something that I like about good father figures like Tenma or Iruka from Naruto. Probably because I wish I had someone like them when I was growing up. I also have to admit that I didn't expected Hartmann to be a child abuser. I really thought that he's going to be the breakthrough that Tenma has been looking for all of these times. While I'm not sure if he was telling the truth about the Kinderheim 511 orphanage, what he has said thus far is quite chilling on its own. Because of this, I wonder if he really is afraid of Johan or if he was just faking it to fool Tenma. At any rate, the revelation that the orphanage kids were used as testing facility is very interesting development for this series.

© memento 2003