Monk 1.01

Mr. Monk and the Candidate

Adrian Monk is a former San Francisco Police Detective. He's consulting on one case in Santa Clara and brought back to work on another case. He's something. He as issues. Everything went south for him a few years ago after his wife was killed. He's a germaphobe, he's obsessive-compulsive, he has problems with heights.

He has a nurse, Sharona Fleming, who looks after him. She drives him around and helps him to deal with his issues. 

San Francisco Police Captain Leland Stottlemeyer is forced to bring Monk in after there is an attempt on the life of Warren St. Claire, who is running for mayor. Someone tried to shoot St. Claire. Monk thinks it is connected to the other case he is working on, in Santa Clara. No one else agrees. Sharona thinks Miranda St. Claire is behind the attempt on her husband's life.

It turns out that Monk is right about there being a link to the other case he is working on. It takes a while for Monk, Sharona, and the police to track down the killer but eventually they do. The killer gets away, but they track him down again. Sharona gets taken hostage. Monk saves her despite his issues.

Thoughts

Warren St. Claire is played by Michael Hogan, whom I know best from Battlestar Galactica (2003). He played Colonel Tigh in that series. He was also in the second season of Fargo, although he didn't play a very big role there.

This episode is 80 minutes without commercials, which is longer than regular episode of this series. This episode is frequently broken up into two episodes although on Amazon is is just one.

Monk really can't control himself. He gives into his impulses frequently. The results are frequently humorous. 

I like but do not love this episode. I think it was a little too long. Once all the cards are on the table, once it is clear who all the regular players in the series are, the episode falls flat. It seems a little too formulaic. It seems to rely on the same jokes a little too frequently. There were plenty of opportunities to make the show a little more serious or interesting that were missed.