Monk: Case Closed

Before Monk, hardly anybody gave a second thought to the USA Network. Unless you wanted to watch the dog show or reruns of Law & Order, there was really no other point in tuning in. But since this “little show that could” won rave reviews from critics, earned Emmy nominations and wins for its star Tony Shalhoub, and helped usher in future quirky detective shows such as Psych, USA has completely revamped its image.

However, all good things must come to an end and now it’s time to give Monk a proper send-off. In order to do so, though, the writers split the finale into two dramatic, edge-of-your-seats episodes once again featuring intense and heartfelt performances from Tony Shaloub (is that another Emmy I hear calling your name?).

The great mystery at the heart of Monk has always been the murder of his wife, Trudy. All clues brought up dead ends and there was never a clear motive. It turns out, though, that the answer was always right under his nose- or on his bookcase, I should say.

Part 1 of Monk’s grand finale opened up with a scene twelve years earlier at home where Monk and Trudy have just gotten back in from a night of caroling. It’s surreal to see Monk actually happy, lively, and… get this… willingly touching people! Yet with all this joyfulness, we can sense that something is bothering Trudy. She’s left a special present under the Christmas tree, but makes Monk promise he won’t open it until Christmas Day.

Later, we follow Trudy as she is in that fateful parking garage and being followed by an unknown man. She runs to the car seemingly for safety, only to have it explode once she turns the key in the ignition.

All this is happening while Monk is with Captain Stottlemeyer at a midwife clinic investigating the disappearance of a nurse, Wendy Stroud. Stottlemeyer receives the call on his old-fashioned cell phone (remember those bricks?!) and the look on his and Monk’s face is just filled with tragedy.

In the present day, Monk is back assisting the San Francisco police department on yet another case. A doctor has been shot and killed at the same exact clinic Monk and Stottlemeyer were at twelve years earlier when they learned of Trudy’s death. Thanks to a partial fingerprint left at the scene, a suspect is quickly identified. Joey Kazarinski turns out to be a hired assassin whose mysterious boss admits to having killed Trudy. Because of this, he needs Monk dead also now. He cannot have him on his trail. Kazarinski successfully manages to poison Monk through his cleaning wipes before he’s cornered by the police in an intense chase scene at a train station, but then is involved in a freak accident when he’s pummeled by a train. Whatever answers Kazarinski might’ve been able to offer the police are now gone.

This is when Monk decides it’s finally time to open Trudy’s gift and to his shock, it’s a tape. This is where part 1 ended and part 2 picked up. On this tape, Trudy explains to Monk that she had an affair with a married law professor before they had ever met. The professor is now a judge – Ethan Rickover. She became pregnant, but the baby girl died shortly after birth and Trudy never had the chance to see her. In the days before her murder, Rickover had called Trudy to meet with him, and she’s scared of what he might do. Hence why she made the tape.

Armed with this information, it doesn’t take Monk long at all to put all the pieces together. Rickover had both the nurse and Trudy killed for fear that word of his affair would leak and cause a scandal when he ran for judge. More recently, though, Rickover planned the murder of Dr. Nash who had only just discovered his big secret when going through medical files. In a stand-off with Monk, Stottlemeyer, Randy, and numerous other police, Rickover decides to take his own life, but not before leaving Monk one last clue: “Take care of her.”

That her just so happens to be Molly – the daughter Trudy believed to be dead, but was put up for adoption by Rickover. She is now twenty-six years old and a movie critic for a Bay Area newspaper. Her and Monk’s first meeting is overwhelming. She’s as kind and pretty as Trudy was, and accepts Monk instantly. They get along like two peas in a pod and Monk feels as if he’s known her forever. Although he makes up for their lost time together by snapping over 600 photos; it’s nice to see that some things never change!

All in all, it’s exactly the finale Monk fans could’ve hoped for. Monk finally gets the closure he’s wanted about Trudy’s death and gains something along the way: another gift from Trudy, her daughter. His sense of excitement and “joi de vivre” is back similar to the way it was twelve years ago. In fact, when he nonchalantly announces to Natalie that he’s going to the movies with Molly, it brings a stream of tears to her eyes. It’s just too good to be true that Monk could be doing something so normal.

On the one hand, I can’t help but wonder if Monk must be kicking himself for not opening Trudy’s gift sooner. He could’ve solved her murder twelve years earlier, connected with Molly much sooner, and spared himself a lot of grief. On the other hand, though, I can understand the sentimental approach to it being Trudy’s last gift to him. What does everyone else think? Did this finale live up to your expectations?

Season 8, Episodes 15 & 16: Mr. Monk and the End Parts 1 & 2 (originally aired November 27 and December 4, 2009)

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Photographs courtesy of NBC Universal and Hopper Stone