Monk Season 4 thread (1 Viewer)

[Parker Clack]

Yes...another fine episode.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Last night episode was pretty good, it was nice to see Adrian psychologically at ease once again after last week. Just as I predicted, I was back to liking Randy last night, poor guy.

The funniest part for me was when Adrian "recruited" the male stripper, the sight of that guy grabbing his boom box to go to a crime scene just stuck with me long after the show ended.

Natalie continues to amaze me at how much depth the show is giving her, we got to take a peek at her family and witness a tender moment at the end. And, I must say it, she looked so cute in that black dress. :b

I can't believe that next week is the season finale already! :frowning: The writers have got their work cut out for them if they're going to top Mr. Monk and the Little Boy and Mr. and Mrs. Monk, that's for sure.

 

[Steve...O]

Actually, next week is the finale of the first half of the season right? If the past is any indication, they'll be a break of some number of weeks followed by the last 8 episodes of season 4.

As for the episode, aside from the hokey and corny ending (two weeks in a row for such endings), I thought it was one of the better ones of this season. And no, I didn't cheer when Randy got hit (though I was tempted )

The scene at the end where Stottlemeyer was trying to get Disher out of bed and downstairs was well executed and pretty funny.

So far, I'd say S4 was a notch ahead of S3 but still not up the excellent standards of S1 and S2.

 

[CaptDS9E]

Monk wont be back again till January

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

Monk will be back next week, of course. The pattern has been for the show to run 8 or 9 episodes beginning in the June or July and ending sometime in August, and then resume in January with another 8 or so shows for a total of 15 or 16 episodes for the season.

I thought the episode was terrific, the ending just fine (and not nearly as emotional as last week's - which I also didn't think was either hokey or corny), and Natalie continues to be a much stronger counterpart to Monk and much more of a genuine partner than Sharona was.

Regards,

Joe

 

[Johnny Angell]

Randy was more a more interesting character when he had his thing for Sharona. No that she's gone, they've written him into more of a bufoon. He seems out of place now.

 

[Jim Dalton]

One wonders how they can be calm with him carrying a gun.

 

[Johnny Angell]

That's it, exactly. He's far less believable as a police officer than he's ever been and it's not the actor's fault, it's the way they're writing him.

 

[Jim Dalton]

Agreed. Such a waste of a good character to provide additional comic relief. I feel they've purposely been letting Disher get more stupid as time goes on.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

As noted, this is a "mid-season break" episode, rather than a true season-ender, so I don't think they were aiming quite that high. And while I don't think that "Mr. Monk and Little Monk" met that standard, I do think it was a very good episode, and loved the "portait of the artist as a young man" aspect of the show. (Tony Shaloub is only a few years older than I am, so my junior high school was very much like Monk's. )

I can't believe that no one has posted anything on this terrific little episode (with its oddball mystery) until now.

Regards,

Joe

 

[Parker Clack]

Joe:

I loved how they intergraded a lot of little things that he carried over into his adulthood. Like where the line "It's a blessing and a curse" came from. His first use of a wipe.

I really like this last episode a lot as a "portrait of the artist".

Parker

 

[Linda Thompson]

Yes!

This one was definitely a winner in my book.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Anyone notice the $5 bill for the school principal was one of the newer $5 bills that came into circulation within the last decade.

How about Natalie handling a pool cue? I did LOL when Monk was all about cleaning up the glass on the floor in the bar.

 

[Marty M]

My only problem with the flashback is that I thought Adrian's OCD came about as a reaction to his wife's death.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Man, I feel left behind! I'm late watching this weeks, it was a good episode, I loved the two mysteries, one from his childhood and the other in the present, and yes, Natalie with that pool cue was great, I was actually talkig to the screen for a moment there, I said "That's it, girl, don't take any shit!" :b

Marty,
Adrian always had it, but it became crippling for him when Trudy was murdered. And, Patrick, man, you've got some eagle eye's! I find it ironic that in a show that deals with OCD and minute details of crime solving, they made a mistake like that LOL!

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

This came up further back in the thread. I've never thought that Trudy's death caused Adrian's OCD. I only know what I've read in books and on the web (I have a cousin with OCD), but I don't recall reading anything about it being triggered by trauma. It is also fairly clear from Monk's brother and their relationship, and from various references to his childhood that Adrian has always had a degree of OCD, but that it was more-or-less managable. Trudy was part of what allowed him to manage it, she helped ground him. So losing her was not only traumatic in and of itself and enough to cause him to lose some of the ground he gained (as the events of "Mr. and Mrs. Monk" did more recently), it also robbed him of his support system. Trudy herself was the thing that enabled Monk to deal with change and disruptions to his life. When she died it was the greatest disruption imaginable - and Trudy wasn't there to soften the blow. That's why his OCD became so overwhelming he could no longer function as a police detective. But it didn't start there, and I think the show has made that clear over the years, without belaboring the point.

Regards,

Joe

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

Patrick:

I completely missed the five. How could they have missed that in production? With all the period junk they had to collect you'd think they'd have gotten the money right. (OTOH I sometimes spot push button phones in TV shows or movies where they shouldn't exist.)

And yeah - Natalie was great with that pool cue. Remind me never to piss her off.

Regards,

Joe

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

BTW, who was the kid that played young Adrian? I've seen him before on a comedy series that didn't do so good and was cancelled.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

Grant Rosenmeyer played young Adrian. (Hat tip: USA Network's official show site)

Rosenmeyer did indeed star in a sitcom, the evidently short-lived Oliver Beene (which I'd never even heard of.) The show sounds like a cross between The Wonder Years and Malcolm in the Middle.

Regards,

Joe

 

[RAF]

Patrick, You definitely have too much time on your hands.



(Nice Catch!)