TV Verdict

On Friday night, December 4th, former detective Adrian Monk will don his signature brown suit for the last time. After eight seasons of hand-wiping, criminal-catching goodness, one of TV’s best shows (and most memorable characters) is going off the air. Perhaps the most impressive thing about USA’s Monk is that it lasted as long as it did. When it debuted back in 2002, hour-long cable series weren’t as prevalent or highly regarded as they are now. Pay channels like HBO were getting into the highbrow TV market, but for everyone else, it was pretty much networks or nothing. Now, thanks to shows like Monk and the growing importance of web media, networks have lost their stranglehold on content and we viewers are better off as a result.

That’s why I’m happy to have the chance to give Monk the send-off it deserves. There are a lot of police procedurals on the air these days—some, like USA’s own Psych, inspired by Monk’s quirky cop formula—but none of them will ever replace creator Andy Breckman’s obsessive compulsive detective series.

Like its central character, very little has changed about Monk over the years. This final season has been as funny, clever, and satisfying as ever. Fans may have a preference between assistants Sharona and Natalie, and we can all agree that the death of Stanley Kamel (who played Monk’s therapist Dr. Kroger) was a huge loss for the show, but through it all Monk never missed a beat. You can point to the writers or the talented actors for the show’s success—all of whom deserve credit— but I doubt I’d be writing this farewell if it weren’t for the title character, brought to life by the brilliant Tony Shalhoub. Adrian Monk stands alone among flawed television detectives. Lollipops, weird pets, and glass eyes may be quirky, but they’re nothing compared to being afraid of just about everything—including heights, dust, hippies, and milk. And yet, every week Monk manages to overcome his phobias, compulsions, and disorders to solve the crime and catch the guy. Inspiring? Sure. Great TV? Absolutely!

This final season has been a mix of standalone mysteries and episodes that tie into the show’s overarching storylines. Monk was reinstated to the police force, Captain Stottlemeyer (and possibly Randy Disher) found true love, and Bitty Schram made a guest appearance as Monk’s original nurse/assistant, Sharona. Good fun all around, but they were only appetizers for the main course: the two-part finale that answers the most important question of all—who killed Trudy Monk?

Like the Gilligan’s Island shipwreck, or the alien abduction of Samantha Mulder, the murder of Adrian Monk’s beloved wife Trudy is the reason this show exists. Her murder destroyed the already fragile detective, leading to a psychiatric discharge from the San Francisco PD. Twelve years later, it remains the only case he’s never solved. Although the Trudy Monk murder arc was mostly ignored in the latter seasons, the writers are making up for it now with the all-Trudy-all-the-time grand finale. It’s a fitting final case, and if “Mr. Monk and the End, Part I” was any indication of where things are going, I expect a jaw-dropping series capper on Friday. (By the way, if you missed part one, don’t despair. USA is showing it again right before the finale.)

Spoiler warning:

If you haven’t seen “Mr. Monk and the End, Part I,” skip ahead to the last paragraph. You’ll thank me later. For a show that has built itself as much around comedy as crime, Monk seems determined to end the show on a serious note. Beginning with a sequence showing Trudy’s murder in excruciating detail, and ending with our hero poisoned by an assassin and with less than a day to live, I’d say all bets are off for the final hour. Will Adrian Monk actually die? Probably not. But I can’t wait to see him solve his own attempted murder, uncover the truth about what happened to Trudy, and have to decide whether or not to exact revenge against Coach’s Craig T. Nelson.

I’m a little disappointed that the key to solving Trudy’s murder has been sitting on Monk’s shelf since the day she died. I have a tough time believing that Monk wouldn’t have opened a gift his wife put under the Christmas tree on the morning of her death, especially when she made such a big deal about keeping its contents a secret. I’ll let the show slide with the explanation that not opening the present was a way for Monk to keep Trudy “alive,” but only because I’m a fan, and because after eight years we’re finally going to get the answers we’ve been waiting for since the series pilot.

Whatever happens in the last episode, it doesn’t change the fact that as of Saturday, Monk will be no more. My wife and I missed the first five or six seasons, catching up with them on DVD and watching the last few seasons live. We saw a whole lot of Monk over a relatively short period of time. It’s that good. The show isn’t perfect (there’s a predictable flow to many of the mysteries), but it’s a lot of fun and I’m going to miss it. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Monk isn’t finished yet. We still have one last hour of germaphobic fun ahead of us, with earth-shattering revelations and a Randy Newman song written especially for the finale. And I’ll be right there watching. Maybe I’ll even vacuum the living room beforehand in tribute. I’m sure that’s something both Monk and my wife would appreciate.

Here’s a clip from the final episode