Warning! The following contains spoilers for the Monarch episode “Not Our First Rodeo.” Read at your own risk!
The secrets are piling up on Monarch, and between the murder in the flash-forward, the coroner revealing the toxicity results behind Dottie’s death, and the big secret that the now-deceased matriarch took to her grave, fans might’ve forgotten about the massive one that just came back up in the latest episode. Kayla, Gigi Roman’s wife, recently found out she’s pregnant with a baby following an affair with her brother-in-law, Luke Roman. This week brought some fresh developments on that situation, but what we learned only raised more questions on how this drama will be resolved.
Luke was in the hospital after sustaining an injury during a bull-riding accident, and while it seemed like Kayla originally left the waiting room so that Gigi and her sister Nicky could hash out the latest drama revolving around Nicky performing one of her mother’s unreleased songs before Gigi had the chance, she had something else in mind. Nicky entered Luke's hospital room to see Kayla at his bedside, then later confirmed that he also now knows the big secret: Kayla is pregnant with his child. When Nicky asked Luke how he felt about that, he said:
Happy. Scared? I don’t know, I’m on a lot of morphine.
Nicky assured him they’d “figure it all out” once he’s out of the hospital, but his response alone already suggests that there may not be a simple solution to this Monarch mystery. When Nicky first asked Kayla how far along the pregnancy was, it seemed like the implication was Nicky might discreetly schedule Kayla for an abortion so that she could terminate the pregnancy before Gigi learned of her wife’s infidelity. The fact that Luke is happy makes it sound like he’s planning on this child being a part of the family, which obviously, would mean this secret would have to come out.
As mentioned, Gigi is seemingly completely unaware that Kayla was cheating on her with her brother. Now, it’s looking like outside of the patriarch Albie (played by country music star and friend of Blake Shelton Trace Adkins), she may be one of the last people to find out that her own wife is pregnant with a child that would technically be her nephew. I can’t see that going over well with her.
As heartbreaking as this may be for Gigi, it’s a trope that the best country albums are rooted in heartbreak and tragedy. (Just look at our list of some of the top country movies as evidence.) As it stands right now, she’s the black sheep of the family whose already-famous sister sabotaged her new singing career, and has her wife cheating on her with her brother. I’m just saying – if there’s any upside to this completely awful situation, it's that she has a ton of material for an album that fans would love to hear.
In either case, I originally just assumed Monarch would find a way to write the pregnancy away before Luke and Kayla’s infidelity is discovered, but this latest episode has me thinking otherwise. Of course, there’s still a long way to go in this season, so we’ll just have to wait and see how things play out and get a better sense of what this talented cast is capable of when their characters really get twisted up in some drama.
Monarch airs on Fox on Tuesdays at 9:00 p.m. ET. This new series is making waves this fall season, but it’s not the only show worthy of attention. Check out the 2022 TV Schedule for a rundown of what all is coming over the next couple of months, and what other shows will be worth watching.
