Warning! The following contains spoilers for the Monarch episode “About Last Night.” Read at your own risk!
Monarch delivered a lot of reveals in “About Last Night,” but only one of them left me wanting more by the time the episode ended. Albie, played by country music star and Blake Shelton’s bestie Trace Adkins, finally learned that Catt Phoenix, the mother of Ava Phoenix, is his child. Viewers got to see their first meeting as father and daughter, and I can’t help but feel a bit disappointed by how it all went down.
I’m not as disappointed as I was that Kayla and Luke successfully hid their illicit affair from Gigi, but I’m disappointed all the same. Let’s break down what happened in the scene, and why I was left feeling like there should’ve been more to it.
How Albie Learned Catt Was His Child
Albie went into this episode with the intel that Dottie killed his mistress Rosa in a barn fire decades ago, but had a daughter somewhere out in the world. Albie recognized Rosa’s necklace around Ava’s neck, and quickly put two and two together that Catt is the daughter he had with Rosa all those years ago.
Later in the episode, Albie met with Catt in a diner and she confirmed his suspicions. She also confirmed that Rosa was indeed as dead as advertised after making an off-handed comment that she never met Rosa like Albie did. After a bit of awkwardness, Catt finally revealed what she wanted from him and the Roman family. Catt explained that she didn’t want anything beyond his support of Ava’s music career.
Given that Ava was signed as an artist to the music label before all of this, it wasn’t hard for Albie to grant that request. Monarch later showed that Albie landed Ava some studio time, and even took some time out of his own schedule to record a song with her. It’s unclear if this was for Ava’s studio album or Albie’s upcoming album, but Catt seemed pleased all the same.
Why I Expected More From The Episode
For weeks, we’ve heard Catt make remarks to Ava that the Roman family would get what was coming to them. Hell, even in last week’s episode we saw how much she openly disliked the entire family and seemed intent on harming them. Then, we have this big reveal, only for Catt to ask for absolutely nothing but that her daughter get a record deal she might’ve gotten anyway at a later date.
Monarch built up Catt to be a major antagonist and it seemed like she had some grand plan to bring this family to its knees. In reality, the Roman family seems plenty good at making trouble for themselves, especially when they’d sooner murder someone than call the police. Meanwhile, all Albie did after their conversation was give Ava some studio time and she’s pleased?
It’s possible that Monarch is saving Catt’s big plot for an episode down the road, but it was bizarre how this episode played out. I’m hoping we see her plotting in the future because Martha Higareda is great as Catt, and maybe one of the best in this cast when she’s showing the character’s less composed side.
Monarch airs on Fox on Tuesdays at 9:00 p.m. ET. Anyone wishing to catch up may do so with a Hulu subscription, or by catching up on your cable or streamer’s on-demand service.
