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Monk Season 4 thread (1 Viewer)

Joseph DeMartino

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I thought the same thing - and I think that would have been more interesting than the story they did do. :) Still, this one was more of a flat-out comedy episode than most of them, and the comedy scenes more than made up for a plot that was - not so much weak as routine. (This is the second time this season that I've seen a series episode that seemed to be setting up a much more interesting story than the one it ended up telling, and the second time that others on the HTF made the same assumption I did. The first was an episode of The Inside where I was sure the murderer was going to turn out to be a child, instead of the much more obvious candidate, the child's father.)

BTW, apropos the earlier discussion about the opening crime getting more graphic - am I the only one who backed up that first scene and watched the shooting in slow motion to see exactly where that guy was hit the first time? For a second I thought that gunmen was really being gatuitously sadistic. ;) (Nice to see Paul Ben-Victor playing one of his patented Brooklyn wiseguys. He was always fun to watch as wannnbe hood Steve Richards on NYPD. And the always terrific Richard Libertini as the shrink - who also made a memorable Blue appearance.)

Regards,

Joe
 

Parker Clack

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One of the great things about this show is that they take you in what is an obvious direction and end up with another direction, even it is weaker than what you would expect, the beauty is that is never really ends up being what you thought it would end up being. Last week's episode was another example of just that.

Personally I thought they were going to go with something along the lines that Monk got so drunk on his small sip of wine that he imagined the rest of the events happening and someone else giving him the "this is what happened" line.

Parker
 

Inspector Hammer!

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WOW! Tonight's episode just tore my heart out for a while there when I thought that Trudy really was alive!

I teared up a couple of times, and even though it turned out not to be true
, seeing Adrian emotionally destroyed got to me...hard, because he was making improvments, and now he's, by his own admission, pretty much back to square one again. :frowning:

It was an amazing episode IMO, and Natalie is proving to be quite the good crime fighter in her own right. The one who came off the worst was Randy, he was completely insensitive toward's Adrian and toward's Trudy's parents
, then when he found out that he wasn't "the man", he threw a little hissy fit. This was the first time that I truly disliked Randy.

Very emotionally upsetting episode, both for us the audience and for Adrian, he didn't need this, a particularly cruel move on the part of the writers. :frowning: But man, did it make for some awesome television!
 

Joseph DeMartino

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Amazing. This show just keeps getting better and better. And the writers solved the "problem" of Monk making so much progress that it threatened the premise of the show. A set-back followed by a slow recovery seems likely.

While I started the episode thinking things couldn't possibly be what they seemed to be when "Trudy" accidentally killed the old man instead of doing it in cold blood to get the key
I began to wonder. I also wondered how they were ever going to write their way out of it if that was the case.

I was also surprised when they had the fake Trudy get shot and then die in Monk's arms. That set up what I found to be the most emotionally affecting line of the night: "You really loved her. I'll tell her."

The episode was an almost perfect blend of comedy and drama, with even some of the most serious moments being undercut a second later by comedy, and some of the funniest involving real emotion. Yes, Randy does come off as a jerk in the episode, but he's also something of a kicked puppy desperately eager to please and starving for approval. So the "You're the Man"/"I love you man" exchange worked so well in part because that's exactly what Randy really wanted to hear from the captain. He actually isn't any more insensitive in his blind eagerness to live up the what he thinks is the captain's new-found respect for him than Adrian is in his own self-absorbtion, but we're predisposed to like Adrian, so we're more forgiving of him. (Could anything be less compassionate or more funny than Adrian's chat with the widow at the cemetary? That may have been the perfect Monk scene. It encapsulated everything that makes the show work.)

As the episode went on I thought, "Do they know that this isn't the season finale? What are they going to do to top this?"

Now I can't wait for find out.

Regards,

Joe
 

Linda Thompson

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Ditto to everything John and Joseph just said...this episode was terrific!

I have come to totally love Natalie, and this episode showcased some of the major reasons why. Long-time fans...consider how this episode would likely have compared if Sharona were still in the mix. Nothing against either the character (Sharona) or the actress (Bitty)...but this was SO much better, IMO.

And, as Joseph mentioned, this episode provides a very timely "reset" for the character's development, but I believe that, with this particular setup, Adrian can eventually come out even stronger and better than if he had NOT encountered this major bump on the road to his recovery. He has now...quite literally...faced his worse nightmare, and lived through it, albeit with a degree of setback. The writers are now free to take that degree to any level they choose, and have it be believable.

And, I like Disher, despite all the flaws in the writing of the character (NOT in the acting), so I chose to try to view this episode's events in a "big picture" sort of way. Randy has ALWAYS, from the pilot (when he was listed as Lt. Deacon, instead of Lt. Disher) wanted NOTHING more than the acceptance and approval of his hero/idol Stottlemeyer. He is the eager beaver, the overly-enthusiastic puppy who only wants to please his master, and in doing so always manages to try just a little too hard, and go just a little too far, and he has to be reined in. Sometimes, he has to be swatted with a rolled-up newspaper, as happened last night. Like the puppy, he may sulk and whimper for a bit (the hissy fit), but he'll eventually realize that everything that Stottlemeyer does (TO him, or FOR him) is for his own good.

Stottlemeyer, I believe, is like a father figure to Randy. We already know that Randy doesn't have a dad, so I think he's looking for THAT from Stottlemeyer as much as he's seeking the professional approval. And, I think that Stottlemeyer realizes all of this, and handles things accordingly, even when doing so involves a bit of "tough love". (Remember the Vegas episode, when Randy got in over his head gambling?)

Much of Randy's silliness is attributable to a bad case of growing pains...both professionally and personally.

I do wish that the writers would pull back from a lot of the Barney Fife boob-level incompetence, though...it just doesn't fit. It serves neither the character, specifically, nor the show, in general.

Stottlemeyer is a good cop, and it shows; he has more than earned his rank, and, actually, should probably be ranked even higher (as the character has specifically lamented on numerous occasions). His professional standing is very believable, and very believably portrayed.

Randy, on the other hand...hah! NO ONE pulling some of the stunts which he has consistently pulled would have been promoted to the rank of Lieutenant.

Andy Taylor put up with Barney's incompetence, but nobody ever got killed in Mayberry. In Stottlemeyer's world, where his very life often depends on the skills, training, judgment and common sense of his back-up/partner/sidekick, he simply would not stand for such nonsense. He'd have been dead a LONG time ago.

Example:

No real cop...much less a Lieutenant...would have accidentally switched guns as Randy did in the "Panic Room" episode, nor handed a supposedly empty gun to someone else without checking it, ESPECIALLY knowing what that other person was going to be doing with it. Nor would a real cop have accepted it under those conditions, without checking it, but the writers skirted that...and attempted to uphold Stottlemeyer's credibility...by having Stottlemeyer at least ASK about it. But, ONE of them should have checked. Neither one did, but the writers actively made a point of trying to make Stottlemeyer appear blameless, while making Randy out the fool, yet again.


This is one aspect which the writers REALLY need to get a handle on, and rectify...soon. Maybe have somebody close (Natalie? Julie? Monk? or even Stottlemeyer himself?) be injured or seriously endangered as a DIRECT RESULT of Randy's incompetence (totally impossible for him to escape the blame or have it smoothed over for him), and let it play out and have it stand as a permanent turning point for the character. Granted, it would make for a very heavy episode, but this incompetence has got to go. It's not even comic relief...it's just out-of-place nonsense.

Randy could still make mistakes, of course...he's only human. But, those mistakes need to be a LOT more realistic, and a lot LESS buffoon-ish. He needs to stop being a cartoon, and finally become a real character. As it stands now, he's very little more than a very-poorly-weilded comedy prop. And, the blame for that lies totally with the writers. I like the actor (and I feel sorry for him, having to play this character as written), and I know that the character could become a very valuable addition to the show, instead of the ridiculous liability which it has been allowed to become.

Sorry for the long post/rant...


Edited to remove a brief comment about an erroneous conclusion which Patrick subsequently helped me to view in a much more correct context.
 

Inspector Hammer!

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Yeah, I hear you guy's about Randy, those issues weren't lost on me, but whatever negative emotion I had towards him last night, rest assured that they were momentary only and i'll be right back to liking him next week. :emoji_thumbsup: I was actually more irritated with his ill-timed comments about exhuming Trudy's body right in front of Adrian.

And yeah, I suppose the writers did need to find a way to set Adrian back again, still, it was very difficult seeing him lose it like he did. :frowning: I cannot remember the last time I cared so much about a tv character. I didn't even laugh during his exchange with the woman in the cemetary, because I just found nothing funny about the situation and what he just endured.

For Monk fans, last night's episode was sheer nirvana!
 

Patrick Sun

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I didn't see Monk recoiling from Natalie's touch at the end as a negative thing, but that Monk was simply ticklish, and reacted so.
 

Linda Thompson

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I went back and watched it again, and you are DEFINITELY correct. That puts a whole different (and much more light-hearted and optimistic) spin on the ending, and I like it much better.

I had turned away from the TV for a moment when I first watched the episode, and I thought she had touched him on the shoulder or the back of his arm.

Thank you! :)
 

Parker Clack

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I thought that was the crowning moment on the whole episode and the difference between Sharonna and Natalie. With Sharonna she might have hugged Adrian but Natalie dealt with his setback with a whole other approach and that was to give him a little goose at the end. Both Natalie and Monk share the loss of a spouse and like he said when she asked him how he knew she was really dead.."I could still feel the pain from my loss. It never goes away.." and she says "No it doesn't!" Monk realizes the extra something that Natalie brings to his life and has a deep trust in her that is both on the surface, that he shows to her and us, and internal that only his reactions to situations reveal. He kids with her more.

My one thing I wish is that they would let him back on the force. He could do exactly what he is doing now but with a badge and uniform. I think it would go a long way in helping him resolve his past trauma. Right now he doesn't feel like he has a real identity. As a cop he did. Give the man his badge back.
 

Inspector Hammer!

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I don't think that Adrian is quite ready to be reinstated to the force, he still has problems in two key area's, driving (he doesn't drive himself anymore) and handling a firearm, plus his OCD is a huge obstacle.

His tendancies prohibit him from performing the way a police officer should, like the one episode where he failed to stop a suspect who ran right by him because Adrian was afraid to touch him, as a result, Captain Stottlemeyer got shot.

Adrian's not ready yet, but i'm with you, Parker, I hope he eventually does get there.

EDIT: Thinking about it more, what they COULD do is give Adrian the rank of Detective, he could still do his stuff and he wouldn't really have to see any action, I think that he could do that. No hard street assignments, just crime scene work and help solving cases.

I would like to see that happen for him at least, Lord knows he needs something to boost his spirits again, especially after the blow he suffered this week.
 

Parker Clack

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That is what I meant. How about just making him a detective, badge and all. Natalie could drive him but I believe it would go a long was in helping him make his OCD a bit less overwhelming for him. It would give him a feeling of belonging to a "family" again and would go a long way in lessening his OCD. It is less when he is "working" a case.
 

Joseph DeMartino

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Of course if Adrian were reinstated it would be at the same rank and position he held when he was left. (Which presumably was a medical or disability retirement.) He'd be a detective, just a he was. It isn't like he'd have to start again as a rookie street cop and work his way up. (I don't know how the L.A.P.D. works, but in the N.Y.P.D. a detective is the same rank as a patrolman, they just have different duties.)

Monk still has a uniform (and would still need one if he went back) because even plain clothes detectives can be put back in uniform for special details requiring more "visible" manpower (the cops on NYPD Blue got stuck with parade security once) and ceremonial reasons including promotions, decorations and funerals.

I agree that realistically speaking, he isn't ready. Until he's much closer to being genuinely cured he's too much of a liability - in every sense of the word. Using him as a consultant puts a little daylight between him and the city in case he gets somebody hurt or does something to get sued. (Not much, but enough to probably make the city a little less vulnerable than if he were actually on the payroll and out on the street with a gun and a badge.) I don't think we're going to see such a development until the last season, or perhaps the last episode. (And boy, do I ever hope that this is one of those shows that chooses to end while the ratings are still strong and works toward a real ending that resolves the various character arcs, and not one that hangs around that one extra year or two, runs out of steam and is cancelled mid-season or during the hiatus after a season-ending cliffhanger.)

Regards,

Joe
 

Johnny Angell

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So what's up with Monk's scheduling? My tivo automatically recorded "Mr. Monk Goes to a Wedding" last night. The description looks like a new episode, but I thought new ones only come out on Friday's.
 

GordonL

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It's bad guide data which caused the auto-record. You'll need to manually record Friday's episode.
 

Randy Tennison

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That had to be one of the best lines ever on tv. To see the emotion of that scene was amazing. That's what keeps this series going, rather than the crime solving.
 

Keith I

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The last scene of "Mr. Monk Goes to a Wedding" also was a nice touching end and it gave Natalie a little of the spotlight instead of Monk.
 

Parker Clack

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Yeah, I was bummed when I recorded what I thought was "Mr. Monk Goes to a Wedding" and it was an old episode but then I realized it wasn't Friday yet so I know when I get home in the morning this new episode will be waiting for me.
 

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