I've had my review of the preview of the two-part season finale of "Monk," and now that the second part is over, I can finally write about it.
I had not been more excited for a "Monk" episode since Season 2. I found out that my expectations were halfway met. I am glad that at least I wasn't completely let down.
The first episode started out slowly but quickly picked up the pace in the second half. It starts out looking like the two episodes are going to delve deeper into the Trudy mystery plot of the series. Monk appears to have lost his even-tempered (if it were odd, it wouldn't be Monk) nature completely. We saw a glimpse of this when he cut off the morphine of a dying man involved in Trudy's murder. In this episode, all signs point to yes that Monk shot the six-fingered man that the audience has waited three seasons to meet. What the audience saw wasn't much. We saw his face, heard his voice, realized he was useless, and we got excited to see some justice served for the sake of Trudy... no matter who did it. We almost hope that Monk did it. Deep inside though, we know that it is simply not in Monk's nature to kill for the sake of Trudy. Trudy would never support that, and he will always want to do right by her. We also learned this from the Season 3 premiere episode. Aside from this information we learn... nothing about Trudy's murder. BIG LETDOWN. For anyone else that was really looking forward to more pieces of the puzzle, I feel your disappointment. We have only gotten the corner pieces of this thousand-piece puzzle, and I know I'm beyond frustrated that it's taken six whole seasons just to get here.
Enough about the woman's life we thought would be finally put to rest. I now move on to the man that brought Trudy to our attention-Adrian Monk, the man on the run. As if Monk hasn't been through enough, he's now the number one and only suspect for the murder of someone who was involved in his wife's death which consumes his life. If Monk wasn't Monk, he'd be the guy. The problem: he's the only one who can redeem his name. The transformation from decorated police officer to a fast-paced, tangerine blurb through the forest in chains diminishes Monk's credibility further.
The first episode escalates so much that if you miss the end (which I did due to TV/VCR issues) WOW. Stottlemeyer and Monk have a confrontation on a foggy pier. Gunshots are exchanged. BANG! Monk falls off the pier and then... A WEEK?! A WEEK?! I'm almost glad I didn't get it on tape because the anxiety might have killed me before the second part premiered.
The second episode has a very strong start. We're dying to know what happened to our possibly dead hero. We see Monk and Stottlemeyer meet on a beach alone. Monk has safely swam to shore and awaited further instruction from Stottlemeyer (the only other person besides Monk to know about Monk's bulletproof vest and his plot to stay hidden until more is found out). After nearly six straight seasons of the same suit, we see a Monk that dresses down in jeans and works on cars to keep himself out of trouble. (This does lead, however, to Natalie finding out his scam because being Monk, he can't stop being Monk forever as he solves a case undercover and it goes in the newspapers.)
The second half of the second episode let me down to the point where I really don't want to count on watching "Monk" again. The character Dale the Whale is brought back for the third time in the series. The first time the character was presented in the second episode of the series, I thought that he was one of the most dynamic, well-chosen characters in all of television history. His character including lines, presence, actor selection was perfection. He was everything confident, conniving, mastermind, truly evil, twisted, witty, and just happens to be obese and filthy-rich (the filth is from the consistent blackmailing). Adam Arkin used his voice and tone to take body language (which wasn't possible as a morbidly obese man) and portray it with what he said. The makeup and wardrobe was just right. They didn't force any fake fat added to the face to subtract from facial expression or presentation of lines. His body was a bigger than America's obsession with Britney and covered with fine silk and satin to establish taste and cover the bother of anything having to look like real body part subtleties.
When Tim Curry revived the role in the Season 3 premiere, I was shocked at the injustice that he brought to the role. I've always thought that Tim Curry could do whatever he wanted and succeed. I was wrong. He brought an unwelcome goofy, untrue-to-character persona to Dale that didn't do the original justice at all. After that performance, I never wanted to even hear about my favorite "Monk" character ever again (unless, of course, Adam Arkin came back to do some serious damage-control on the part). Something more disturbing happened this episode. Yet another actor (Ray Porter) attempted and failed the part falling into similar holes that Tim Curry had. It's too frustrating to go on much longer. Basically the case against Monk had little to do with Trudy and had to do with putting Monk and a governor in jail. I'm tired of the useless Dale the Whale plot lines. The character has been beached. Let's stop poking him with a stick, writers. It's enough.
Both episodes kept up with a mostly serious tone, and they have a special feel to them. The jokes that they had might have been fewer, but they were also richer and not just cheap shots at Monk's OCD. My favorite part was when Monk (who we've seen in the series is the worst liar in the world {Trudy said so herself}) come up with the alias Leland Rodriguez and solve a murder case while undercover as a car washer. When Stottlemeyer hears about the alias and the case (after his hard work to keep up the appearance that Adrian Monk had died and the real Adrian Monk was in hiding), he states, "Now that's just stupid." There's a certain quality to the line because Adrian Monk the genius slips up in obvious ways to the people who know him best during a high-stress situation. What comes out is something simple, funny, and breaks up the drama for just something that hits just right.
All in all, the truest of the "Monk"y qualities were in the middle. Action and drama packed with questions and answers. These two episodes don't give a whole lot of hope to the future of "Monk," but the series has made it this far so who knows what will happen.
It's a jungle out there...
