Mr. Monk and the Election - S3-E15
Question: At the school debate, behind the two candidates there is a picture drawn. The picture looks to me like the Honeymooners apartment - is it?
Mr. Monk Takes Manhattan - S3-E1
Question: When Monk took the train I was confused as to where they were going to? It seemed to me they left downtown Brooklyn on a train going further into Brooklyn, not Manhattan?
Question: Did the creators of the show draw inspiration from Taggert and Rosewood of Beverly Hills Cop to create Stottlemeyer and Disher? They seem to be like them to me.
Question: If Monk is afraid of germs, then why does he keep touching things that could possibly have germs on them like parking meters or books?
Answer: That's the thing about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. It's not something rational. He just has to touch things like that. It's not something he can rationally think through. However, since part of his disorder includes an obsession with cleanliness, he also has an assistant walk around handing him wipes periodically. It's like when he gets a cold and uses both a humidifier (because that's what you use when you're congested) and a dehumidifier (to counteract the effects of the humidifier). He may spout rationalizations after he does something, but his compulsions exist outside of any rational thought whatever.
Mr. Monk and the Genius - S7-E2
Question: When Stottlemeyer is informed of Linda's death, why did he throw his coffee mug out the window?
Answer: Stottlemeyer was already upset after the phone call. He was trying to get "Kevin" (who would have to be a judge, but no further character information is given) to issue a restraining order with no evidence of needing one, except that Adrian Monk said she needs one. Kevin said he would need to "sleep on it." So it's clear they've been trying to provide protection and unable to get the results they need, which seems to be based on no one trusting Monk the way Stottlemeyer does. He's just angry that they failed to protect Linda despite all their work. Although it does feel like a scene was cut, or altered, from the show that shows the futile attempts to protect Linda which built up to his outrage.
Answer: While walking upstairs in the victims house randy starts messing with his out of place tennis shoes. When he gets upstairs to monks he has on other shoes. Could have to do with the expensive rug.
Mr. Monk and the Garbage Strike - S5-E2
Question: Why would it have been political suicide if it was discovered that Mayor Nicholson was secretly meeting with Cusack to end the garbage strike? If anything, if the people found out that they were meeting to find a way to end the garbage strike, wouldn't that have made everybody happy considering how much garbage was piling up all over the city?
Answer: The two men are trying to work out a secret deal between them without involving the union, which means the workers' interests aren't being represented and defeats the whole purpose of a union. The mayor would lose labor's support and Cusack's union troubles would just be starting.
Question: Is it ever stated (in-universe or otherwise) if Natalie has a second job, or how she can afford everything, including all her new cars (I've seen her in at least 5 new cars, including an Audi)? She's always complaining she's broke, even after it's revealed she's a Davenport. But she also claims she doesn't take money from them. Plus, she's always trying to get Monk to pay her and/or pay her the full amount she's owed.
Answer: Through the entire show, I don't recall her ever mentioning another job. The two explanations I had for being able to afford those cars, was there might have been a life insurance policy after her husbands death (or Mitch left her quite a bit after he died). The other may have been she had accepted some money from her family willingly or unwillingly asked for it. But in truth, I would imagine it was for product placement in the show. Most shows like Monk tend to keep the characters moderately wealthy or financially healthy, so they can insert products or items for the characters to use. Phones, food items, cars etc.
Answer: In one of the episodes it shows her going back home and that she came from money. Her parents are wealthy. Maybe that is the answer.
But in the show after it's revealed she comes from money, she states she doesn't take money from her parents, despite still visiting them.
Mr. Monk and the Class Reunion - S5-E6
Question: In this episode, Monk discovers that Kyle intends to murder his wife Dianne and then make it look like suicide. Why would he do that? I've watched the whole episode and still can't figure out the reason.
Answer: You can hear Kyle talk to his "mistress" on the phone when he is at the ice cooler in the hotel, thereby making it clear he has an "extramarital" affair, thereby outing his motive to get rid of the wife who brought the money into the marriage...plus her life insurance, supposedly.
Answer: When Dianne was in college, she had attempted to commit suicide and even wrote a suicide note. Dianne saved the note this whole time and Kyle had found it. If Kyle killed Dianne and made it look like a suicide, the suicide note would be authentic (rather than having to try and forge a suicide note that could be proven to be fake). This is why Kyle arranged for specific activities to occur that seemed odd to Monk, the dog having the same name, the missed pass that broke the glass, etc. These were all mentioned in the original suicide note.
How did Mr Monk know about the suicide note?
Because Dianne told them about it, Stottlemeyer went to talk to her when he found out she sent a wreath for Kathrine (the woman killed at the beginning), and Monk was there at that time. Dianne said Kathrine saved her life when she was depressed in college, and she had even written a suicide note.
Answer: It speaks for your character that you cannot relate to his reasons. But he wants her dead, because he is having an affair and since all their money is coming from her father and his high paying job is also not his gain but another grant of her father he would very likely loose everything if he divorced her for another woman. And as the other answer mentions already he sees his opportunity to get away with it by re-enacting the circumstances as described in her 25-year old suicide note.
Question: In many scenes, Monk will reach out and touch something with one finger. What is he doing? I thought at first he was straightening things, but he touches things that don't move too.
Chosen answer: Occasionally, people with advanced OCD's are possessed of an uncontrollable urge to simply touch various things, or press their nose/lips/etc. against them. It's no more or less sensible than the other behaviours the syndrome causes. See David Sedaris's essay "A Plague of Tics" for an hilarious look at it.
Happy Birthday, Mr. Monk - S8-E9
Question: At his birthday party, Monk realises that Pressman is the murderer and when he looks at his ice cubes, he sees that they are square while everybody else's is round. He then realises that the poison was in the ice cubes and now his ice cubes were filled with poison. Why would Pressman try to kill Monk? He never did anything that gave Pressman the indication that he was on to him. All Monk did was want his self-cleaning vacuum fixed.
Answer: When Natalie and Monk took the vacuum cleaner to Pressman, Pressman asks about the cases they're working on, and after Pressman mentions the janitor cases, Natalie says that Mr. Monk always says "it's a work in progress" when he's close to solving the case. Pressman was afraid Monk would figure out the connection of the two cases soon.
Mr. Monk Goes to the Ballgame - S2-E3
Question: What did the guy mean when he said "Girls can't eat fifteen pizzas"? I fell asleep before the end and missed the reruns.
Answer: It was the license plate of the killer's car. GCE-15P.
Mr. Monk Visits a Farm - S5-E14
Question: Why doesn't Disher feel at all sad that his uncle has just died?
Answer: He was close to his uncle (he mentioned working with his uncle every summer when he was a boy), but the main events of the show happen over a month after the uncle's death.
Chosen answer: I got the impression that he really hadn't known this particular uncle very well.
Question: How exactly does Monk afford to pay Natalie? Would he still get a pension after being discharged for psychiatric reasons? Is it ever mentioned (in-universe or otherwise) if he's independently wealthy or something? On several occasions Natalie tried to get the department to pay Monk more and tells Monk he can't afford things at times or his check will bounce, like he's broke.
Answer: Like a certain Poirot, he is paid by the case and thus has a lot of cases = lots of income.
Answer: He gets paid by the city on a case by case basis, and she gets paid out of that.
Answer: He would have received a disability check, suffering from a mental illness qualifies you, the same as a physical injury, but would be limited to his therapy and living expenses.
Except he would be limited in what he could earn to receive payments and that wouldn't be enough to pay a full time employee.
Question: Why aren't there any more Monk reruns on TV after the 5 day marathon last Dec? I can't find a show anywhere.
Answer: There are so many TV shows in syndication now, that not all old series can be regularly shown. It also depends on ratings. A TV channel will not continue running a show if it does not garner enough viewers for them to charge higher prices for advertising time. Often channels show different series in cycles, so it may well be that Monk will be on again in the future.
The entire series is available on Amazon Video. That's where I discovered it and am now a major fan.
I am on season 6 started from 1st on Apple.
Monk is currently airing weekday afternoons on Cozi TV.
Answer: It's on Heroes and Icons channel every day at 3 and 4.
Answer: It is available to stream on Peacock now.
Answer: You can watch it on the air channel Heroes and Icons, H&I. It's on Thursdays 10:00 am to 7:00 pm.
Question: Just how effective can Dr. Kroger be if Monk's been seeing him for ten or more years?
Answer: Given Monk's state of mental health and that Monk's been able to continue to function as well as he does, pretty effective. Therapy isn't about "fixing" someone, it's often about helping the person be able to accept themselves. Some people need regular therapy as part of their life. Even a regular person who doesn't get into all the antics Monk does can be in therapy for decades. A few years ago, TV host Billy Bush revealed he had been seeing the same therapist for 30 years.
Answer: Imagine how much worse Monk would be *without* regularly seeing a good therapist.
Mr. Monk and the Election - S3-E15
Question: Mr. Monk, given all his quirks, is apprehensive to enter the voting booth and even comes back out due to his anxiety. My question is; do you have to be in the booth to vote? He had a paper ballot and there was no voting machine inside the booth. I saw a table and chairs in the background, so if Monk chose to, could he (or anyone) fill out the ballot at the table, in the open?
Answer: Yes, with a paper ballot, Monk (or anyone) can choose to fill it out at the table as long as they are not concerned about the lack of privacy.
Mr. Monk and the Employee of the Month - S3-E7
Question: When Mr Monk is talking to the two male incompetent employees (I forget their names), one of them said that "two guys came out of nowhere and started pounding on me". Having seen the rest of the episode, it didn't explain why they did this. Does anyone know?
Answer: They appeared from out of nowhere is referring to them appearing from under the van i.e. the sewer. And beating him is to scare him from future hangouts in the parking lot so that he would not recognize them as they'd leave the sewer again.
Chosen answer: The 2 men that beat up the guy were working with the other girl. They beat up the guy to try and either discourage him from getting the employee of the month or just scare him off altogether.
Mr. Monk Bumps His Head - S4-E11
Question: The man who crashes through the beekeeper's fence and purposefully gets himself stung claims that he was drunk. Later that day, he is back at work. In Australia, where I live, drunk driving is a big enough offence to put you in jail, but the man is never put in jail. Is this a mistake, or are American laws more lenient?
Answer: He wasn't actually drunk in the episode and without solid evidence of drunk driving he would not be placed in jail. Also this was a small town where this individual was "important" so the community police would have to have their "ducks in a row" before taking him in on drunk driving.
Chosen answer: Depends on where you are, your blood alcohol level. Also, having not seen the episode, was he actually drunk?
Mr. Monk and the Leper - S5-E10
Question: At the end, when the doctor is pulling Monk up, the camera pans down well past Monk's feet, but was there a reason for that? Was there something on the cliff side the audience was supposed to see? It felt like the camera was about to linger on the weeds growing out, but then the camera angle cuts back to Monk's feet. Was there something I missed, or was it just bad/odd camera work?
Answer: From an editing background, I think it was likely to cover up the shot once Monk is being pulled up. The shot was panning down, and they likely extended the shot in the editing. The fact he was pulling up Monk with one hand is very tough to do, so they may not have had a clean shot of him pulling Adrian onto the ground. Additionally, it may have not looked right so cutting to the shot panning for a couple more seconds before showing Monks shoes would likely fit the time it would take to pull him all the way up.
Answer: Notice also that in the opening credits scene when he is touching parking meters her also wipes his hand on his clothes each time he does it.