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Monk - General Discussion

Meredith Quill

By Meredith Quill
in Monk

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christie
christie

Count me in with everyone who didn't like the resolution of Trudy's murder. It was compltely out of the blue. I find that whn tv series have arcs that extent over a few seasons the results are usually

Annber03
Annber03

And I have officially worked my way through the entire series :)! Woo! What an entertaining ride-it's been a fun couple months discovering this show. I can see where some of you here had a few quibble

joanne3482
joanne3482

With Monk & The Red Headed Stranger, we do get that really nice scene at the very end with Monk and Willie playing "Blue Eyes Crying In the Rain" at Trudy's grave. I really, really liked that part

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LexieLily

LexieLily

More updates on the movie, courtesy of TVLine. Looks like all of the Core Four will be back, as well as Trudy, Dr. Bell and Molly.

Quote

Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie will find Monk returning to solve one final, very personal case involving his beloved stepdaughter Molly, a journalist preparing for her wedding.

Me personally, I would have liked it better if Monk's "one final, very personal case" was about Julie's wedding. We saw Monk's relationship with Natalie and with Julie over the course of the series and Julie's teenage years. We barely knew Molly.

And besides, it'd be cruel if Molly got murdered too, ten years after Monk solved Trudy's murder.

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andromeda331

andromeda331

1 hour ago, LexieLily said:

More updates on the movie, courtesy of TVLine. Looks like all of the Core Four will be back, as well as Trudy, Dr. Bell and Molly.

Me personally, I would have liked it better if Monk's "one final, very personal case" was about Julie's wedding. We saw Monk's relationship with Natalie and with Julie over the course of the series and Julie's teenage years. We barely knew Molly.

And besides, it'd be cruel if Molly got murdered too, ten years after Monk solved Trudy's murder.

Yeah, I get why they'd want to go with Molly but she's character we've never seen and know nothing about. Julie would make sense because we've seen them together for years. Even Benji's wedding would make sense he spent a lot of time with him.  Had they introduced Molly a lot sooner it would make sense. They didn't and it's hard to get excited for a relationship we've never seen. 

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LexieLily

LexieLily

28 minutes ago, andromeda331 said:

Had they introduced Molly a lot sooner it would make sense. They didn't and it's hard to get excited for a relationship we've never seen. 

I don't know that Monk and Molly would have kept in touch over the years, honestly, not enough for her to be thought of as his "beloved stepdaughter." Monk might think of Molly that way but I'm not sure the feeling would be reciprocated.

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andromeda331

andromeda331

17 minutes ago, LexieLily said:

I don't know that Monk and Molly would have kept in touch over the years, honestly, not enough for her to be thought of as his "beloved stepdaughter." Monk might think of Molly that way but I'm not sure the feeling would be reciprocated.

I think she probably would have called him a few times a year but probably not much. She doesn't really know him. She's grown, has parents and a boyfriend. She really doesn't need Monk.  I can't see Monk really thinking of her that way either. He didn't raise her. Also, she's a journalist like Trudy, even though she writes movie reviews that might still be too hard for him to be around Trudy's daughter who's also a writer. That's really what he'd see her as I don't know if Molly would like that very much.  

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fishcakes

fishcakes

I'm glad the case in the revival will be about Molly because it builds on the finale episode, which I know there are mixed feelings about, but I loved it. They had to end the series with Monk solving Trudy's murder, and it would have been a letdown to me if her murder was just because of a story she was working on or one of Monk's cases. There had to be some emotional payoff that made all his trauma worth it, and I think finding the daughter that she never got to know is pretty wonderful. Especially since they had mentioned a couple of times during the series run how Trudy had wanted them to have a baby, he had resisted because of his own childhood, and he regretted that they hadn't.

Mostly, I'm glad the revival will be about Monk. I don't dislike Natalie, but I would not enjoy them building the revival around her and Julie, and this is only partly because I read all of the terrible books which all could have been titled "Natalie et al. and the Case of the ..."

I am really interested to see how Tony Shalhoub is going to play this. He's such a great, subtle actor and you can see in the finale episode how Monk changes ever so slightly once the murder is solved and after he meets Molly. He's still himself, but lighter somehow. He even walks differently. I think revival Monk has to reflect this, but if he's not still as sad and destroyed as he was, there are going to be people who hate it.

On 3/14/2023 at 5:22 PM, Door County Cherry said:

Here's the video with the confirmation.  

I watched this last night and it's a good interview. I was stuck by how frail he looks though. He's thinner and even more soft-spoken than before. I wonder if this is residual effects from Covid.

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shapeshifter

shapeshifter

2 hours ago, fishcakes said:

I'm glad the case in the revival will be about Molly because it builds on the finale episode, which I know there are mixed feelings about, but I loved it. They had to end the series with Monk solving Trudy's murder, and it would have been a letdown to me if her murder was just because of a story she was working on or one of Monk's cases. There had to be some emotional payoff that made all his trauma worth it, and I think finding the daughter that she never got to know is pretty wonderful. Especially since they had mentioned a couple of times during the series run how Trudy had wanted them to have a baby, he had resisted because of his own childhood, and he regretted that they hadn't.

Okay. This👆 make sense. 

I guess Natalie will talk to Julie on her her phone once or twice, and we'll only see and hear Natalie's side of the conversation.

Since Bitty isn't mentions but Jason Gray-Stratford is, perhaps Randy and Sharona parted ways? And since Melora Hardin is mentioned, I guess there will be Trudy flash backs???
I'd rather she play Trudy's cousin or something.

I wonder if this is in part an opportunity to restart Traylor Howard's career? 

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Bastet

Bastet

1 hour ago, shapeshifter said:

Since Bitty isn't mentions but Jason Gray-Stratford is, perhaps Randy and Sharona parted ways?

I've always hoped she came to her senses about five minutes after the finale, and no one asked Randy about Sharona when the cast did that in-character COVID video, so, yeah, I figure that dumb idea, at least, has been corrected, even if they're still going with this Molly dreck.

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andromeda331

andromeda331

7 hours ago, Bastet said:

I've always hoped she came to her senses about five minutes after the finale, and no one asked Randy about Sharona when the cast did that in-character COVID video, so, yeah, I figure that dumb idea, at least, has been corrected, even if they're still going with this Molly dreck.

I hope so. I can't see those two ending up together.

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Bastet

Bastet

14 hours ago, LexieLily said:

If the story is surrounding Molly's wedding I hope we'll get to see or at least mention of Trudy's parents.

It'll be pretty ridiculous if Monk is somehow part of her life but her biological grandparents aren't, so, yeah, they'd better be mentioned.  It would be nice if they appeared, although they might need to recast Trudy's mom, as the actor doesn't seem to be working anymore (whether that's by choice or not, I have no idea).  Bob Gunton is still working, though.  He's so embedded in my mind as memorable bad guys, especially in Matewan and The Shawshank Redemption, I thoroughly enjoyed seeing him as a good guy in this series. 

I found the relationship between Monk and his in-laws quite sweet, and when the dad thanked Monk for his help and Monk replied "Thank you for Trudy" I teared up.

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chessiegal

chessiegal

22 minutes ago, fishcakes said:

I'm watching Mr. Monk and the Birds and the Bees and I love so much his sex talk with Julie. "All of your dreams will come true, but they don't have to come true this weekend. Now stop crying and let me out of here."

The writing is so good on this show. I watch that episode just to watch the stunt guy jump off the pier. 

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fishcakes

fishcakes

36 minutes ago, Gramto6 said:

Nice to see the gang again! But @fishcakes I think Randy does show his age too. I think he was young on the original so it stands to reason he has not aged as much, but I can see it in in. 3#, #7,  and #9 for sure.

I don't see it at all! I did see a photo of him with a beard a while back and it had a lot of gray in it, but he just looked like a prematurely gray 35-year-old to me. I think he's got that Dick Clark/Bob Costas thing going on, where he'll look young until he's 75 and then age all at once.

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Bastet

Bastet

Even though the reunion movie doesn't sound good to me (I think the only ones I've ever liked are the "Menopause Years" Cagney & Lacey reunion movies, but the last one of those was terrible, too), when the series popped up recently as a recommendation on Prime, I figured I'd commence a re-watch since, other than a few episodes here and there, I haven't seen this since its original run.

Wow.  This is not a show I can binge-watch.  Once a week with Adrian being selfish and inconsiderate, Sharona being an embarrassing idiot when it comes to men, Stottlemeyer failing to pick up on things any rookie should spot, and Randy being Randy was nice, because they all had good qualities, too, and worked well together.  But after a few episodes in a row, I can't stand these people and have to take a break.

So it's going to take me quite some time.  I'm up through my very favorite episode, "Mr. Monk and the Three Pies", where we meet Ambrose. 

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chessiegal

chessiegal

My favorite episodes are "Mr. Monk and the Kid" with Tony's wife Brooke Adams in it, and "Mr. Monk and the UFO", which I find hilarious and, we get to see the famous Vasquez Rocks that Hollywood loves.

I usually watch 6 hours a day of this show on weekdays, 3 hours on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, then 3 hours on COZI. There are some episodes I can't watch again for whatever reasons, but I just love Tony. He absolutely owns the role. I'm looking forward to the reunion movie.

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fishcakes

fishcakes

1 hour ago, chessiegal said:

My favorite episodes are "Mr. Monk and the Kid" with Tony's wife Brooke Adams in it

I love Mr. Monk and the Kid, but my favorite appearance by Brooke Adams is in Mr. Monk Visits a Farm, as the local sheriff who keeps brazenly flirting with Adrian. The scene where she wants to square dance with him and he says he can't because he's married never gets old for me.

Sheriff: Where's your wife?
Monk: She's dead.
Sheriff: To be honest, I've got mixed feelings about that. On the one hand, I'm sorry for your loss. On the other, [pulls him out to the dance floor] here we go!

She's so great there, but the way he says "she's dead" is hilarious. He has a way of making things funny when they shouldn't be.

And the flirting reminds me that I also love how appealing Monk became to Natalie in Mr. Monk Goes to the Bank when he was wearing the security guard's uniform. I would never, ever ship Monk and Natalie, but I got a huge kick out of how him in a uniform was really doing it for her lol.

1 hour ago, chessiegal said:

I usually watch 6 hours a day of this show on weekdays, 3 hours on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, then 3 hours on COZI.

I own the series, so if I'm playing my copy, then I actually watch it, but when it's airing on COZI, I mostly keep it on as background while I'm doing something else. I do get sucked in a lot though because every other one has me going, "oh I love this one!"

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Bastet

Bastet

Is Danny Bonaduce connected to someone with the show?  Because plays himself in the episode with Gary Cole as a Hugh Hefner type and then he's referenced in the one where Kenny wins the lottery (Kenny takes a call from him at the end).

I barely made it through the episode where Sharona's ex comes back.  Not only was he a bad husband, he's utter shit as a father.  But when he waltzes back into their lives after SIX YEARS without seeing his son (or providing any financial support), by THE NEXT DAY she's telling Monk he's changed and, basically, it's all good.  Then after just a couple more days, she agrees to move back to Jersey with him.  (And has her whole place packed up just a few more days after that; the timeline of that episode is ridiculous all around.)  Only when she finds out he wants them back so his rich uncle will think he's reformed and start giving him money again does she pull the plug.

Seeing it made me angry all over again that when they wrote her out, they did it by putting her back with that louse.

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Bastet

Bastet

(edited)

Ugh, the one where the world's stupidest law student sees her grandma get kidnapped and then returned because what they wanted was the antique chair she was sitting on is dumb.  And I get really angry at episodes like that one where it's advocated for Monk to be reinstated.  Are you kidding me?  The number of times he screws something up because of one of his umpteen obsessions/fears is astounding, and just this far into the show he has several times come within mere seconds of getting someone killed because of that. 

A cop who's paralyzed by having to make a decision, any decision?!  No.  The consultant who does his thing at the crime scene is all the city should assume liability for.  This man should not have a badge and a gun, and Stottlemeyer was absolutely right in that reinstatement hearing we saw to praise his gifts but say he's not ready.  I don't think he'll ever qualify to return to the force, but, then again, I don't remember how he progressed over the course of the series.

Then comes the one where Karen is critically injured in a car crash and I can't stand Stottlemeyer in that one.  Put that dick-slinging energy away, dude; your fear doesn't justify it, and those male avenging stories are so damn tired.  (Also, why in the world - other than for the wacky hijinks TV demands - do they make Monk take the Stottlemeyer boys out to lunch when no one else is available rather than having him take Benjy to the dentist and Sharona take the boys?  He and Benjy have a nice relationship, and he can go somewhere else while Benjy gets his teeth cleaned [since Monk is probably afraid of dentists].)

Thank goodness that's followed by the one where Monk and Sharona have to pretend to be married to go to the couples counseling weekend in order to investigate the guy Randy's mom married.  I love when Sharona says people are never going to believe they're married and Monk says, "We have nothing in common and I annoy you all the time.  Why wouldn't they believe it?"  And it's always nice to see Jane Lynch.  I like at the end when she assures them they can make it work, and they confess they're not really married, causing her to explode with relief.

Almost done with season two ... I can't believe the Sharona period is almost over already!  I didn't realize it was that early in the show (I didn't watch from the beginning, so saw a lot of things out of order in syndication).  I like Natalie, too, and think they did quite an impressive job making that transition, but I'm not ready to say goodbye to her yet.

Edited by Bastet
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andromeda331

andromeda331

(edited)
On 6/2/2023 at 6:09 PM, Bastet said:

Is Danny Bonaduce connected to someone with the show?  Because plays himself in the episode with Gary Cole as a Hugh Hefner type and then he's referenced in the one where Kenny wins the lottery (Kenny takes a call from him at the end).

I barely made it through the episode where Sharona's ex comes back.  Not only was he a bad husband, he's utter shit as a father.  But when he waltzes back into their lives after SIX YEARS without seeing his son (or providing any financial support), by THE NEXT DAY she's telling Monk he's changed and, basically, it's all good.  Then after just a couple more days, she agrees to move back to Jersey with him.  (And has her whole place packed up just a few more days after that; the timeline of that episode is ridiculous all around.)  Only when she finds out he wants them back so his rich uncle will think he's reformed and start giving him money again does she pull the plug.

Seeing it made me angry all over again that when they wrote her out, they did it by putting her back with that louse.

I absolutely hate what they did to Sharona in that episode. There's no way she would ever forgive him for what he did to them let alone that fast. She should have been suspicious of him from the start and then go off on him when she realized she was right. Then they write her off by remarrying him? What? There's no way that would happen. Also, they already had the perfect from the episode with Monk's father-in-law, Sharona's not there because she had to go take care of her mother. That was perfect for Sharona. She is a nurse they could have either had a "goodbye" episode where Sharona returns to pack up and leave or have them say her mother had a relapse.  They didn't need to come up with such a horrible reason that Sharona would never do.

Edited by andromeda331
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fishcakes

fishcakes

Sharona's return in season 8 wasn't too flattering to the character either. When Monk started to suspect that her uncle was murdered, she wanted him to forget about it so that she could still collect the civil settlement from the country club for his supposed accident. It wasn't as horrible as it could have been since she didn't know the uncle that well, but still made her look pretty callous. That whole episode was kind of nonsensical though since they had Sharona flying out from New Jersey saying she was her uncle's only family, conveniently forgetting that her sister Gail exists and presumably still lives in San Francisco.

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