Warning! The following contains spoilers for The Masked Singer Season 5's Group B premiere. Read at your own risk!
The Masked Singer switched things up in the second week of Season 5, and it was Group B's turn to strut their stuff and sing their hearts out on stage. The Black Swan, Chameleon, Piglet, and Phoenix were all new to the franchise, but then there's one guy who definitely looked familiar. For some reason, the Fox series has introduced yet another variation of The Monster, though this time around, it's Grandpa Monster.
When I first saw that The Masked Singer would bring in yet another Monster variant, the news hit me harder than the reveal that Phoenix was Caitlyn Jenner. Granted, it took the suggestion by Jenny McCarthy after the Phoenix's performance for Jenner to pop in my mind, but once it was said, the voice was unmistakable. While that was surprising, I still can't get over the fact that The Masked Singer has recreated The Monster's look for the third time, and I want to know why.
The Monster (proper, as I don't count The Squiggly Monster as a true variant) costume has no distinct connection to The Masked Singer in general, beyond the fact that the costume was worn by the show's first winner T-Pain. A Monster would appear again in the series in Season 3 through Chaka Khan's Miss Monster, who finished in 16th place. Now we're in Season 5, and Group B had Grandpa Monster strut out on stage with a walker.
Now, The Masked Singer has done variants on characters before, and tonight's Black Swan was a variant of The Swan. The difference here is that that's an actual animal and makes sense, but The Monster is not, and we keep getting different versions of the same Monster. Are these characters related? Do they come from the same place? I just want it all to make sense, and The Masked Singer hasn't helped me out.
Perhaps the costume is just easy to make, and fans seem to like it? I've also theorized that The Monster is frequently used to create a fandom, and it'll eventually be sold as a plushy or something of that nature. I've been to The Masked Singer store, though, and alas, there's not a Monster stuffie to be found.
The Masked Singer Season 5 has added some depth to the franchise. We've gotten a mysterious clue master chicken, bodyguards who act as assistants to the singers, so why haven't we gotten some lore or story behind the monsters? I just need some form of payoff for this constant recycling of a character. Otherwise, I'll just be disappointed that we didn't get another wild costume like The Pineapple or Robopine. Don't make me seek out fanfiction for this character because I will if I have to.
The Masked Singer Season 5 airs on Fox Wednesdays at 8:00 p.m. ET. Those with ideas on who contestants maybe should check out our thoughts on The Raccoon's identity, and check back all season for other guesses.
