u/snugbdog

I figured I'd revisit the show one last time before moving on and I'd almost forgotten that there seemed to be a lot of foreshadowing that Lee was Hiroshi's actual Father. I did notice that at the time, so was surprised to learn that Hiroshi already existed on account of a previous marriage.

But watching season 1 again, it doesn't really make a lot of sense.

Hiroshi said that Bill abandoned him when he was 11 (1962), which means he would have been born in 1951... which is one year before Keiko meets Lee and Shaw. Except Keiko went to America to study and provide a better life for Hiroshi. So when would she have had the time for that?

It's also unintentionally funny revisiting all of those 'almost' moments between Keiko and Lee in season 1, where they very nearly hook up -- just to remember that she still hasn't told him of Hiroshi yet.

Even funnier, she might be gauging his feelings on children during the ball, but then he makes a pickup line out of it ("Do you know what I love most about kids? Making them") and it works! I'd have an easier time swallowing that if Keiko did not already have a child.

It just feels like the original plan might have had Hiroshi supposed to be Bill's kid, but they would reveal that Shaw was the real father all along. Then they got cold feet, probably rightfully thinking that it would upset the fans.

Was watching Skull Island not long ago and had forgotten that it is implied Brooks was the one who came up with the Hollow Earth theory, which is why Stanton only references Brooks whenever talking about it in KotM.

It's not really a continuity retcon though because you can just come to the conclusion that Randa thought of it first and Brooks thought of it independently later on, often being credited for it because Randa was regarded as crazy.

But it did make me think that even though Randa is remembered as brilliant by those closest to them, Brooks might be the more intelligent of the two.

Billy came up with Hollow Earth theory to explain why these monsters were so hidden. It's even somewhat accidentally as he was inspired by Keiko's throwaway line about a house being bigger on the inside and... ants... because Billy was a slob.

Brooks didn't believe in monsters, but came up with it seemingly on his own. He also has much better common sense and people skills, as he's the one who steps in to save Monarch's funding -- when Bill was floundering. He also just seems like a much more disciplined and grounded individual.

I think a lot of people might regard Serizawa as the smartest, but he behaves more like a philosopher than scientist. He was also wrong about Hollow Earth.

I'm not really familiar with the additional media, like comics, etc. For all I know, someone else takes the mantle of smartest or Brooks goes crazy. But I am surprised he hasn't really been used much, as he pretty much bridged the Kong and Godzilla movies together. I was certain he'd show up in Monarch.

(Spoilers for season 2)

Hiroshi obviously grew up thinking that Bill had abandoned him, either not loving him because he wasn't his blood or that Hiroshi might've done something wrong to drive him away.

Season 2 reveals what Bill's motives were, but also shows that Suzuki was apparently good friends with Hiroshi and that Suzuki maintained contact with Billy up until the late 1960's -- seemingly knowing what Billy's real motives were.

So why didn't Suzuki tell Hiroshi that? That might have helped Hiroshi work through a lot of resentment if he knew Bill at least believed his Mother was alive.

My guesses are

-- Bill never did tell Suzuki his actual motive. When Suzuki told him to stop chasing the family he lost, it wasn't intended to be literal. That said, even if not literal, telling Hiroshi that it had less to do with him and more to do with the loss of Keiko/Lee might've helped him.

-- Suzuki did try to tell Hiroshi, but Hiroshi tends to be a bit of a buzzkill when his Father is brought up, so Hiroshi might've just shut it down pretty fast.

-- Suzuki did tell Hiroshi, but it didn't change anything. Just as Cate's resentment towards Hiroshi was simply an extension of how much she hated herself for her own failings, Hiroshi was doing the same thing to Bill. After all, he had footage of Bill's last recording, showing that Bill did view Hiroshi as his son -- which would debunk one of Hiroshi's fears, but he seems even more hostile towards Bill's memory in season 2 than in season 1.

There are admittedly a lot of blind spots in Hiroshi's life. He seemed to cut off Shaw almost immediately in the 1980's, but Shaw says it had been about 10 years since he last saw him and he knew of Kentaro's existence, so presumably Hiroshi did maintain contact with Shaw for awhile before they had a falling out. I doubt the writers will ever address a lot of it, but I guess it's kind of fun to speculate over lol

(Spoilers for season 2)

Hiroshi obviously grew up thinking that Bill had abandoned him, either not loving him because he wasn't his blood or that Hiroshi might've done something wrong to drive him away.

Season 2 reveals what Bill's motives were, but also shows that Suzuki was apparently good friends with Hiroshi and that Suzuki maintained contact with Billy up until the late 1960's -- seemingly knowing what Billy's real motives were.

So why didn't Suzuki tell Hiroshi that? That might have helped Hiroshi work through a lot of resentment if he knew Bill at least believed his Mother was alive.

My guesses are

-- Bill never did tell Suzuki his actual motive. When Suzuki told him to stop chasing the family he lost, it wasn't intended to be literal. That said, even if not literal, telling Hiroshi that it had less to do with him and more to do with the loss of Keiko/Lee might've helped him.

-- Suzuki did try to tell Hiroshi, but Hiroshi tends to be a bit of a buzzkill when his Father is brought up, so Hiroshi might've just shut it down pretty fast.

-- Suzuki did tell Hiroshi, but it didn't change anything. Just as Cate's resentment towards Hiroshi was simply an extension of how much she hated herself for her own failings, Hiroshi was doing the same thing to Bill. After all, he had footage of Bill's last recording, showing that Bill did view Hiroshi as his son -- which would debunk one of Hiroshi's fears, but he seems even more hostile towards Bill's memory in season 2 than in season 1.

There are admittedly a lot of blind spots in Hiroshi's life. He seemed to cut off Shaw almost immediately in the 1980's, but Shaw says it had been about 10 years since he last saw him and he knew of Kentaro's existence, so presumably Hiroshi did maintain contact with Shaw for awhile before they had a falling out. I doubt the writers will ever address a lot of it, but I guess it's kind of fun to speculate over lol

Spoilers if you haven't finished season 2.

We know that Billy believed Keiko was possibly still alive from the beginning, but we don't know if he thought the same about Lee.

I assume so, but he certainly didn't ever comment on it. While he clearly still loved Keiko in spite of the affair, we have no idea if he held any affection for Lee after learning of it. When Suzuki references him, Bill grows angry, but his anger might not have had anything to do with Lee specifically.