"Monk" Mr. Monk Goes to the Hospital (2007)

User Rating:

8.2/10   

Director:

Wendey Stanzler

Writers:

Andy Breckman (creator)
Jonathan Collier (written by)

TV Series:

"Monk" (2002)

Original Air Date:

2 March 2007 (Season 5, Episode 16)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Mystery | Crime

Plot:

Monk goes to the emergency room with a persistent nose bleed, which he becomes convinced is actually a cerebral hemorrhage, and discovers the doctor he sought out for second opinion, dead on his office floor. |

Plot Keywords:

Doctor | Blood | Nurse | Hospital | Detective

Cast

Tony Shalhoub	...	Adrian Monk
Traylor Howard	...	Natalie Teeger
Jason Gray-Stanford	...	Lt. Randall Disher
Ted Levine	...	Captain Leland Stottlemeyer
Charles Durning	...	Hank Johansen
Dan Butler	...	Dr. David Scott
Liza Lapira	...	Dr. Souter
Svetlana Efremova	...	Nurse Ullman
Rich Hutchman	...	Cardiologist
David Andriole	...	Alex
Angela Hughes	...	Nurse Brady
David J. Lee	...	Intern Collins (as David Lee)
Deirdre Smith	...	Nurse With Blind Man
Jan Munroe	...	Dr. Whitcomb
Janie Haddad	...	Waitress

Runtime:

Germany:42 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Vietnamese

Colour:

Colour

Certification:

USA:TV-PG

Company:

Kaledo Dritte Productions

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Monk finds the "dead" doctor on the floor of the office, it is obvious the actor is still breathing because his stomach rises and falls. Some scenes later doctor is again seen breathing and this time he is also seen blinking his eyes.

Quotes:

Hospital Administrator: [about a possible suspect] Uhm, Lieutenant, that's the geriatric ward. If he's a patient up there, he's at least eighty years old.
Lt. Randall Disher: Well then we'd better move fast.

Season 5: Poor writing kills the normal fun appeal of the formula

A few years ago I wrote a review of Monk generally – not tied to any particular season but just a general review. Season one had been a bit stiff but generally season two onwards saw it have a certain amount of confidence in itself to work the formula with the focus on fun, with characters and stories all supporting this but still being pretty good on their own. As much as IMDb supports it, I never saw the point in doing multiple reviews of every episode in a season because mostly there is not a lot different to say – far less saying it sixteen times a season over several seasons. However now I find myself with something different worth saying, because to me season five is easily the weakest so far.

My partner loves this show and even she would continually complain about this season messing with the formula. To the new viewer, there is not a lot of difference between this seasons and the earlier ones because we still have Monk, solving complex crimes while also struggling with his neuroses. However to those that know the character and the series, season five represents a real drop in the quality of the writing and, with it weak, all the usual stuff parts of the formula diminishes by association. Examples of Monk acting out of character in order to get into situations are all across the season and it does feel like the writers were coming up with the "difficult" situations first and then trying to work backwards with the mystery then also how to get Monk involved. Normally the devices to achieve this are weak and they stand out like sore thumbs to the viewer. The worst example was the episode where Randy retires, inherits a farm and then calls Monk up – it is easily the worst of a bad bunch and only worth seeing to be able to understand what I mean.

The cast are of course stuck with the words and scenarios given them and it is hard to judge them as performers in this season. Shalhoub does his best but he cannot convince in regards some of the action his character is called upon to do. Levine is solid enough but Gray-Standford suffers at the hands of the writers to a greater extent. Howard is good enough, while Kamel has good chemistry with Shalhoub. Thing is, the problem is not with them but rather with the material and, for all their familiarity to the viewer, they cannot polish some of the turds handed them.

I still like Monk enough not to give up on it all – after all, it does still provide much in the way of amusing, undemanding entertainment. However season five does suggest that the formula has run its course and that the writers are really straining for ideas, embracing the ill-fitting and silly as "good enough", assuming that as long as they tick the formula boxes somehow then it will still work. It doesn't and hopefully they will have fixed it by season six.