Hit-Monkey season 1, episode 2 recap: Bright Lights, Big City

Episode 2 of Hulu and Marvel’s Hit-Monkey begins like this: After Hit-Monkey wiped out two dozen elite soldiers on the mountain, a lone survivor mentions a monkey (Fred Tatasciore) as the culprit, to the dismay of seemingly corrupt General Kato (Eijiro Ozaki). The angry General insists that “monkey” must be a codename.

Meanwhile, we get reacquainted with Hit-Monkey himself, as his spirit human and formerly earthly assassin, Bryce (Jason Sudeikis), narrates and offers advice to the Hit-Monkey. As a cute little bit of commentary, Bryce suggests that he’s the Slimer to its Venkman (a Ghostbusters reference, if you weren’t aware).

Bryce and Hit-Monkey end up on top of a train, and things remain complicated as Bryce is not able to leave the spectral realm. The train enters Tokyo, and Hit-Monkey enters with style, with slick shades and a backpack.

Elsewhere, we learn that Lieutenant Ito (Nobi Nakanishi) has a new partner named Haruka (Ally Maki), who notes that Ito took a bribe and it damaged his career. Ito also promises he is going to kill whoever killed his previous partner, establishing that he’s the vengeful sort.

Hit-Monkey vs. the “Fish Lady”

This story doesn’t shy away from the action, as Hit-Monkey only briefly snoops around Tokyo before promptly getting into brutal combat with a woman known as “Fish Lady” (Jeanne Sakata), inside her criminal underground fish processing factory. Initially, Hit-Monkey gets gassed by her.

The monkey is tied to a conveyor belt, at risk of being shredded by some terrible saw blades. Fortunately, our hero escapes from the straps before he hits those spinning blades.

Then, in swift retaliation, Hit-Monkey slaps her with a fish, causing her to lose composure, and she loses part of her arm in some machine! After some truly manic and brutal chase scene moments, Hit-Monkey knocks her onto another conveyor belt and she gets sliced right in half!

Bryce tells the monkey to grab all of the old woman’s cash, which it does, putting the money (much of which is now blood-stained) in a duffel bag. Moments later, Hit-Monkey gives some of the bloodied money to a hotel clerk, then heads to its room and rests in a hot tub, probably in remembrance of the hot springs at its original mountain home.

Bryce mildly complains about having not much to do but awkwardly watch the monkey relax (perhaps to music from Hit-Monkey composer Daniel Rojas?).

Don’t kill pigeons!

In the next scene, Akiko Yokohama (Olivia Munn) is understandably still upset that her politician father, Ken (Keisuke Hoashi), got shot and killed while campaigning. Akiko successfully suggests Ken’s running mate, Shinji Yokohama (George Takei), run in Ken’s place.

Meanwhile, Ito and his new partner investigate the death of the old Fish Woman, while the shifty General also shows up at the crime scene. (Obviously, he’s not there by sheer coincidence.)

Bryce tells the monkey to enter Takahara’s funeral (which, again, doubles as Shinji Yokohama’s campaign event) through the backdoor. Mrs. Takahara (Sakata) gives a speech about her dead husband, but that’s not the most interesting scene here.

Hit-Monkey ends up tracking Yakuza assassins after one kills a pigeon with a throwing star. However, some bratty kid distracts from the monkey’s mission (reminding us that even Hit-Monkey faces semi-realistic obstacles).

Can spirits spy? Also, Hit-Monkey gets even more style

Next, General Kato speaks to a man, and Bryce tries to eavesdrop. However, Bryce can’t get the whole conversation, as he is spiritually tethered to the Hit-Monkey and gets dragged away. On the bright side, Hit-Monkey dresses up in a fancy suit, with Bryce’s help, further reminding us this is a crazy, sexy, cool monkey indeed.

Also, it seems Akiko’s uncle’s speech goes well. Fortunately, Shinji avoids any direct assassination attempt during his speech, but Hit-Monkey ends up tearing some Yakuza faces off at the event.

The monkey’s violence results in a shootout as no one blames the monkey, and instead they blame each other and get into some gangster s**t. Hit-Monkey himself shoots several goons and saves Akiko from one.

The monkey also kills General Kato by pushing him into an oncoming bus! Splat!

A monkey revealed

After those moments of carnage are over, Hit-Monkey rides away under Akiko’s car Cape Fear-style, presumably with Bryce not far behind. However, the plot gets more complex as Haruka and Ito see surveillance footage of Hit-Monkey in action.

For them, the implausible will be made plausible. The question is, what will they do now that they’ve seen this monkey’s antics?

What are your thoughts on Hit-Monkey? Let us know in the comments!