Review of Monk: Series 4

Introduction

Obsessive Compulsive detective Adrian Monk arrives for his fourth series.

Mr Monk & the other detective - Monk is upstaged at a murder scene by another detective who seems to know exactly what is going on. How does he do it?

Mr Monk goes home again - Whilst Monk is investigating the death of a butch security guard with his own gun by a nerd, he receives a phone call from his who hasn`t left the house in 30 years after being grounded. Dad`s coming home…

Mr Monk stays in bed - Natalie investigates the mysterious death of her pizza delivery boy after the Police decide that their priority lies with a missing female Judge. Monk is bedridden with a cold, so Natalie has to juggle nursing and investigating by herself.

Mr Monk goes to the office - Monk goes undercover in an office after a stockbroker is assaulted and has his right hand broken, with Adrian finally becoming popular and getting his own `gang`.

Mr Monk Gets Drunk - Monk visits a vineyard to celebrate his wedding anniversary and gets drunk on a sip of wine, leaving Natalie bewildered with his story of a missing guest that no-one else recalls seeing.

Mr Monk And Mrs Monk - Adrian seems to have made a breakthrough and letting go of the memory of his dead wife when Natalie discovers that Trudy may have faked her death and is still alive and involved in a murder.

Mr Monk Goes To A Wedding - Monk and co. discover Natalie is part of a family toothpaste dynasty when she manages to wangle Lt. Disher to become her `date` for a family wedding. Monk and Stottlemeyer get to go too after Disher is involved in a hit and run.

Mr Monk and Little Monk - An old school friend comes to Adrian to solve a mystery of a defaced painting that left her housekeeper dead, prompting memories for Monk of High School.

Mr Monk and the Secret Santa - Monk is invited to the police Christmas party where a detective is killed by his secret santa gift from Captain Stottlemeyer.

Mr Monk Goes To A Fashion Show - Monk`s quest for the perfect shirt leads him to a heartbroken factory inspector whose son has been imprisoned for the murder of a model.

Mr Monk Bumps His Head - Monk gets mugged by someone attempting to con him with false information about his wife`s murder, and ends up in a small town without his memory and married…

Mr Monk and the Captain`s Marriage - Stottlemeyer loses his cool at a crime scene and gets into a fight with another cop who says he is sleeping with the Captain`s wife. Monk reluctantly follows Karen to see if Stottlemeyer`s concerns are valid…

Mr Monk and the Big Reward - Money is tight for Monk and Natalie, so his assistant persuades him to investigate the case of the missing Cromwell diamond for the $1 million reward money.

Mr Monk and the Astronaut - Monk has his work cut out to prove that astronaut and national hero Steve Wagner killed an ex-lover whilst also in space.

Mr Monk Goes To The Dentist - Monk and co. are investigating an armoured truck heist when Disher goes to the dentist. He swears he sees his dentist kill a man whilst under sedation and quits when no-one takes him seriously.

Mr Monk Gets Jury Service - Monk is chosen for jury service and what looks like a quick hit to the other jurors looks like becoming a long painful process when Monk is the only one to go against the majority.

Video

Not really that much to say about the picture. It`s recent broadcast quality, that should be enough.

Audio

Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack that is more than adequate. Randy Newman`s eclectic theme tune more than fits the feel of this series too.

No subtitles, this is becoming an annoying feature of Playback titles.

Features

Behind The Scenes - blink and you`ll miss it.

The Writing Process - a bit longer than the other featurette but doesn`t really give you that much of an idea of what happens other than a group of writers put down some events on a individual cards and then mix them up to come up with the basis of a plot outline.

Conclusion

This season kicks off with the introduction of new assistant Natalie (Traylor Howard), replacing previous co-star Bitty Schram in what seems to be a disagreement over money, according to the word on the streets. Natalie has a different style, more deferential and more of a child minder looking after a young child, but she fits in perfectly. I liked Bitty Schram, but felt her character was a bit too pushy, if you know what I mean (not that Monk`s character didn`t need a push, just it seemed a bit too forceful at times).

The quality of the writing is as superb as ever. There are some cracking plots to look forward to in this series, and a masterful piece of storytelling when Monk find himself bedridden with a cold early on, his bed surrounded with all manner of devices and concoctions (humidifiers AND dehumidifiers going at the same time). Clearly his OCD can be dispensed with to a degree, such as when Monk finds himself working in an office, but the writers will still find something that affects him.

Ted Levine is as masterful as ever, I love him in this role. I also really like Jason Gray-Stanford`s portrayal of Randy Disher, and I know this is a source of irritation to some people. Yes, he`s a police lieutenant and yes, he`s a bit thick, but this is TV and you have to allow some suspension of disbelief. I`m not a fan of people who can`t watch something because they find it too unbelievable as let`s face it, most TV is unbelievable to a degree; for me, it`s either good or it isn`t. Disher`s quirks are part of the overall package.

What I find a real shame is that no-one at the Beeb has the balls to put a show like this on at peak time, instead hiding it away on Saturday afternoons when there`s no-one around to watch TV. Much as it now pains me to say it, but I trust five to handle good US TV shows more than any other terrestrial channel.

Monk is a gem, long may it continue.