MONK - A GIFT AND A CURSE (Monk (TV Series))

Member Name: marksouth

Product:	Monk (TV Series)
Date:	18/03/09 (141 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Witty , charming , engaging

Disadvantages: Tears behind the laughter

Monk is a detective series broadcast in the U.K. by the BBC and on the Hallmark Channel .

First broadcast in the States in 2002 this series , set in San Francisco , follows the life of Adrian Monk , former police detective and OCD sufferer , in the aftermath of his wife`s death in a car bomb . Something of a queer fish before the awful loss , Monk descends into a complex world of fears and phobias as his damaged soul tries to impose order and control onto a world that he knows to be mad . There would be something cruel about the laughter some of his hang-ups cause ( and there are , literally , hundreds of them ) were it not for the fact that the audience ( and the main supporting characters) care for Monk and can acknowledge the absurdities caused by his condition without losing sight of the person who is suffering the condition.

Each episode has Monk using incredible powers of observation and deduction to solve a baffilingly-complex case - something like Sherlock Holmes solving an Agatha Christie plot . Usually these aremurder stories and the murders can be disturbingly graphic in a series whose primary focus is the cerebral solution of crime puzzles ( the way in which a murder was disguised as a savage dog attack still makes me feel queasy). If you like Agatha Chritie -style conundrums with a dash of whimsy you`ll probably like these stories.

However , the true strength of the series lies in the character of Monk and the main supporting characters . Monk is refreshingly-free of the usual American TV syndrome of making people with illnesses virtual saints incapable of doing or saying wrong , as though their conditions have purged them of all human fault . Monk is tremendously mean with money ( his assistants often have to pester him for owed wages ; he once tried to bribe a doorman with three dollar bills and , when spurned , he upped the bribe to a whole four dollars ) and he is tremendously jealous of another psychiactric patient who Monk sees as a rival for the attention of his therapist . It is this parsimony and jealousy which makes him far more human than you would expect in such a series.

Similarly , his relationship with Captain Leland Stottlemeyer , is a strength of the show . In the earliest shows Stottlemeyer is shown as the stereotypical cop who begrudges the appearance at crime scenes of Monk who is often asked to help by the mayor . His lieutenant , Randy Disher , is played as a straightforward stooge .

However , these two quickly develop into much more interesting characters ; Stottlemeyer begins to actively seek Monk`s help and it is revealed that he was a great support when Monk`s wife was killed . This gruff and tough policeman is shown to care deeply about Monk and it is that affection he feels for Monk that makes him a much richer character .

Disher , on the other hand , becomes odder by the episode to the extent that we as the audience wonder how SFPD keep him on the payroll and yet deny Monk a return to the ranks . Even Disher himself is allowed an awareness of his unsuitabilty for police work ; at times he has left the force to become a rock singer ( unsuccessfully) and a pig farmer ( also unsuccessfully).These two subvert the usual dynamics of cop shows and keep a sense of freshness and oddness in the series.

Monk`s condition is so extreme that is virtually impossible for him to interact successfully with the world outside his sadness . It is because of this that he has had two assistants during the series - Sherona and Natalie .

Sherona was his nurse in the times immediately after his wife`s death and , when we meet her in the first series , she has become his carer ( carrying a never-ending supply of wet wipes for Monk`s use when he`s had to shake hands with someone or touch something dirty or touch something he thinks might be dirty or may have been dirty at one point). Her corkscrew hair blazes like her temper - she`s a tough New York broad and she neither dotes on him or smothers him but she does care for him. That she was such a strong character added to the strength of the series - it isn`t just about Monk , his entourage are also lively , off-beat and could comfortably carry plot-lines by themselves.

His next assistant , Natalie , was added in the third series when contract disputes led to the departure of the actress Bitty Schram ( Sherona) . It took some time for both the actress and the writers to know what to do with Natalie - initially she was TV-bland and vanished alongside the stronger characters . In later series she has developed a low-key strength that allows her to have become a happy fit .

Another enjoyable aspect of the series is the appearance of the guest stars - no. no, no ,come back! - I know what you`re thinking - we`ve all seen those vomit-inducing guests spots that arecheesier than a kilo of Cheddar - Monk`s guest stars are often FUNNY. They appear without fanfare and , if you don`t know who they are , it does not spoil your enjoyment of the show ; if you do know who they are then it`s just more fun . Perhaps my favourite guest was Alice Cooper as an antique-chair-cveter (this only happened in the traditional explanatory sequence and Monk`s detective mojo was NOT working when he fingered Cooper for the job.

Ultimately it is the constant sadness at what Monk has lost that provides the series its greatest strength. Although he has on occasion he has tried to find the person responsible for the death of his wife the series has never turned into a revenge quest . Instead , in small incidents and general observations , we are able to see what grief and loss has done to an individual . There is a perpetual sense of loneliness surrounding Monk , alone when with others , alone in the way he sees the world . He is not the stereotypical brave cop but he is a brave man ; each day he gets out of bed to face a world which terrifies him and which he must face alone.


Tony Shelhoub acts the part of Monk and has done so with notable success garnering Golden Globes and Emmys for his work . His physical acting brings humour to Monk`s predicaments but his eyes show the howling loneliness inside his mind.

There have been seven series of Monk broadcast so far and it has been announced that the eighth will be the last . It is said that the mystery of who killed Trudy Monk will be solved - I hope that some way is found for this damaged soul to find some comfort and contentment by series end.

Summary: A clever detective series that engages the brain and the heart