Monk
RevisitingMonk15 age after the series finale reveals some interesting Sojourner Truth about the show , from how it cover Sharona ’s exit to whether its pillowcase - of - the - hebdomad formula ever became too repetitive . Monkran for eight seasons , in the first place airing from 2002 to 2009 . Tony Shalhoub and thecast ofMonkrecently reprize their office forMr . Monk ’s Last casing : A Monk Movie , a Peacock original film that revisited the beloved detective 14 years after the event of the show . Monkis one of the greatestdetective TV showsof all metre and has senesce surprisingly well .
Crime shows where the investigator has a crotchet or a thingummy are nothing raw and stay to be part of the TV landscape . However , Monktook things to the next grade by making its titular character extremely relatable despite his Sherlock Holmes - corresponding deducing ability . Monkwas also a very comic series , with Shalhoub ’s performance steal the show every time . Monkis as good as ever in 2024 , but some aspects of the show stand out on a rewatch .
7Monk Was A Formulaic Show With Very Repetitive Episodes
Almost Every Episode Of Monk Was The Same
Monknever tried to be more than just a detective procedural , which had positives and negatives . On the one hand , mystery lovers and buff of the likes of Arthur Conan Doyle or Agatha Christie could relish Adrian work out one originative causa every calendar week . Monkrarely had two - part episodesor overarch storyline , meaning thatAdrian and his friend were dealing with new characters and hanging around in a different location every installment . This overture was the basis for the show , but it gravel very insistent sometimes . As absorbing as Adrian was , watch over the same episode every calendar week could get boring .
Monkwas nominated for 18 Emmys and won eight .
From the cold opens showing the offence being committed to the“Here ’s what find … ”moment , almost every sequence ofMonkfollowed a very well - defined whodunit pattern . After the stale outdoors , Adrian would make it at the scene of the criminal offense , be brief about the subject by Leland or Randy , and start speak with the suspects . Monkwould then put things together and realize who did it , which was normally followed by a confrontation with the killer in which they would tell the tec he had no trial impression to back up his claims .
6Sharona’s Departure Is Still Frustrating 20 Years Later
Sharona Was One Of The Pillars Of The Show
Bitty Schram leftMonkin time of year 3due to a contract difference of opinion . The show compose off Sharona by say that Adrian ’s assistant was going to render to New Jersey and remarry her ex - husband . Sharona ’s departure from the level is very abrupt and score the remnant of an earned run average for the show , even though Natalia was a great substitution . Monkwas never the same again without Sharona , a graphic symbol whose active with Adrian was well-nigh impossible to double . Having work with Adrian for years , Sharona had no job calling him out or separate him what he should do .
Leland respected Monk too much to ever talk to him like that , whereas Natalie was a more traditional assistant who treat Adrian as her genus Bos first and firstly . There was a sibling energy between Sharona and Monk that made their relationship uproarious , which was wholly lost once Schram left the show . For those who fell in making love withMonkduring the first three seasons , watching the show after time of year 4 was certainly difficult . That said , the series did get back on its feet and continue for five more great seasons without Sharona .
5Despite Some Flaws, Monk Spotlighted The Importance Of Mental Health
Adrian Monk Was A Layered, Human Character
WhileMonk ’s limning of OCD had flaw , especially with how it was sometimes write as a quirk and part of the detective ’s gimmick , the show did a clean undecomposed job at spotlight genial wellness on television more than 20 year ago . Monknever looked down on Adrian due to his OCD or injury , rather focalize on how the character moved on with his life and found a young style to do his chore despite no longer being a police force investigator .
Stanley Kamel , who diddle Doctor Kroger inMonk , sadly eliminate aside on April 8 , 2008 .
Monk ’s healer – Doctor Kroger and Doctor Bell – were perennial material body on the show and helped Adrian every stride of the agency . installment like “ Mr. Monk Is Underwater ” highlighted how crucial therapy had been for Adrian , to the point he was able to make it through one of the most terrifying experiences of his life because of what he get a line from Doctor Bell . TheMonkmoviealso explore the character ’s genial wellness , even touching on how Adrian , after relapsing on his OCD travel along the COVID-19 pandemic , recruit a stage of severe depression .
Custom image by Yeider Chacon
4Natalie Was A Surprisingly Great Replacement For Sharona
Replacing Sharona Wasn’t Easy, But Natalie Did It
TV shows that put back dear fictitious character often found themselves struggling to introduce a new name that audiences would connect with . From recasts to unexampled lineament , it is no overstatement to say that most times important characters are written out of a show , the replacement just does n’t work as well . This is usually not because of the new character or thespian but only because audiences were already used to the previous one . This is whyMonk ’s replenishment for Sharona working so well is riveting in hindsight .
Natalie wasMonk ’s assistantfrom seasons 4 to 8 and became an essential part of the show ’s legacy . It is insufferable to talk aboutMonkwithout bringing up Natalie , which is a will to how well her character work . Natalie was cleverly write to be the opposite of Sharonainstead of a new edition of Adrian ’s old helper . It pick out a while before Natalie and Adrian became family line rather than just coworkers , which made their family relationship excitingly different from whatMonkand Sharona had .
Monknever genuinely supercede Sharona , as take in by how thwarted sports fan of the show were that Adrian ’s original assistant did not show up inMr . Monk ’s Last casing : A Monk Movie . However , take care back atMonkafter season 4 , it is safe to saythe debut of Natalie helped the show find a new identity element after Sharona left . Had Natalie ’s lineament not worked , Monk ’s future past season 3 could have been very different and perhaps had n’t lasted as long .
Starring Tony Shalhoub as Adrian Monk, Monk follows the titular detective, a private investigator with OCD who helps solve crimes with the San Francisco Police. On the side, he also investigates the death of his wife, who was killed by a car bomb. Bitty Schram, Traylor Howard, Ted Levine, and Jason Gray-Stanford also star.
3Some Of Monk’s Cases Were Either Too Easy Or Had No Twists At All
Monk Was Not A Traditional Whodunit
Monk ’s premise was that Adrian could puzzle out the cases no one else could , which is why it could be frustrating whenever the caseful of the week was just not that interesting . The show have a bad approach by showing the offence being intrust at the beginning of most episode , meaning thatMonkwas often not a whodunit but rather a “ how they did it ? ” show . There were plenty ofMonkepisodes in which we , the audience , hump who did itbut followed Adrian as he tried to turn out how it was done .
While this was a clever take on the crime procedural genre , it led to a few anticlimactical episode in which there was n’t much to be discovered . Some episodes even show or at least tease at the beginning how the crime was committed , leaving nothing for us to figure out . Watching Adrian issue forth up with his theories was fun , but so was puzzle out the shell alongside Tony Shalhoub ’s fictitious character . ThebestMonkepisodes were the ones that found the rest between tease apart what happen and countenance us figure out the residuum .
2The Most Important Case In Adrian Monk’s Life Was Very Anticlimactic
Monk Did Not Actually Solve Trudy’s Case
The most thwarting panorama of rewatchingMonkis knowing that Adrian never actually solves Trudy ’s causa on his own . cede , “ Mr. Monkand the End ” terminate with Adrian finally bringing justice to the man who had Trudy killed and finding the closure he needed . However , on a skinny look , Adrian did not solve the case . He merely found a tape in which Trudy explained everything , include her account with Judge Rickover . Monk ’s most important case was n’t puzzle out by himbut rather through an outside agent in a very anticlimactic way .
Monk ’s last installment went for a more surprising twist , revealing that the key to solving the case had been at Adrian ’s house this entire fourth dimension .
The fact that there was n’t a proper “ Here ’s what happened ” bit in the series conclusion is very frustrating , even though the resolution of Trudy ’s murder was never go to be do by like just another font . Still , I would have liked for Adrian to find out the truth by himself and only then observe the tapethat could have been used as proof against Rickover . Monk ’s final episode went for a more surprising twist , revealing that the key to solving the case had been at Adrian ’s house this entire sentence – he just was n’t ready to confront it yet .
1The Monk Movie Wasn’t Very Different From Most Of The Show’s Episodes
Mr. Monk’s Last Case Felt Like An Extended Monk Episode
While I lovedMr . Monk ’s Last casing : A Monk Movieand would be intimate to see a continuation , the motion-picture show was n’t too unlike from most of the show ’s episode . Once again , we saw bite of how the law-breaking was put at the origin of the story and bonk without doubt who the cause of death was . TheMonkreunion feel like a groovy extended episode of the show , only with a blanket oscilloscope and more locations . That state , the most interesting departure between the movie and the show is how the former corporate COVID-19 .
Tony Shalhoub ’s beloved detective return in Mr. Monk ’s Last Cast : A Monk Movie to heavy fanfare , but will there ever be a Monk 2 ?
Every singleMonkfan who watch out the show when it primitively aired in the early 2000s or reruns asked themselves how Adrian would have dealt with the pandemic and the quarantine . TheMonkcast even did an online , written reunification in which Adrian ’s friend checked on him in 2020 . The flick work up up on that and evidence how the quarantine affected Adrian ’s mental health . This is arguably the respectable thing about the movie and made up for a not - so - very - special case that was resolve relatively easily by Adrian .
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Cast
star Tony Shalhoub as Adrian Monk , Monk follows the nominal detective , a private police detective with OCD who helps work out law-breaking with the San Francisco Police . On the side , he also investigates the death of his wife , who was kill by a car bomb calorimeter . Bitty Schram , Traylor Howard , Ted Levine , and Jason Gray - Stanford also asterisk .
