Monkseason 1, episode 1, “Mr. Monk and the Candidate” opened with one of the show’s most tragic lines and set the tone for what the titular character was going to be like. WhileMonkwas a hilarious series full of funny and clever moments, it was also a very bittersweet story in whichTony Shalhoub’s characteralways felt like he was missing something. Monk’s wife had been murdered before the events of the show, and that was the only case in his career that the genius detective had failed to solve.
Monk had shown signs of OCD as a child, as confirmed by theLittle Monk webseriesthat followed Adrian and Ambrose as kids. However,Trudy’s death caused Adrian to develop severe symptoms as well as social anxiety.This led Adrian to lose his badge and spend most of his time at home before he found a new job – a private detective. While Adrian found great success as a P.I. and worked with the department in several cases, his life would never be fulfilled before he found out what exactly happened to Trudy.
“If You Call That Living” Was Such A Tragic Line To Open Monk With
Monk Was Referred To As A “Living Legend” By One Of The Cops
Monk’s first episodeopens with a couple of police officers and forensic scientists watching Adrian Monk study a crime scene as he tries to remember whether his stove was left on or not. The crime scene was more packed than it should be because every police officer around wanted to see Monk in action. While this was the first episode of the show,Monk had been a private detective for a while now.His reputation preceded him, for better or worse. Monk’s skills as a detective were as famous as his other traits.
AlthoughMonkwas always careful not to make fun of a mental health condition and preferred to value the fact that Adrian continued to work solving cases despite no longer being a member of the force, most characters had reservations about Monk’s style. At the end of the five-minute opening scene,one of the police detectives says that Monk is a“living legend,”to which the other one responds“If you call that living.”The show immediately cut to another scene, but that line continued to echo throughout the entirety of Monk.
Adrian Monk Was Never Really Happy For Most Of The Show
Adrian Only Found Closure In The Monk Finale
The sad reality about Adrian Monk’s character is that he was never really happy for most of the show. Adrian loved his wife more than anything, and the fact he was never able to find out who was behind her murder took a huge toll on him. Even though Monk sought professional help and had three or more therapy sessions every week, his treatment advanced very slowly.Monk’s OCD was tied to his trauma regarding Trudy, not to mention how much Adrian valued his job as a police detective, a position he no longer had.
Monk 2: Is It Happening? Everything We Know About The Mr. Monk’s Last Case Sequel
Tony Shalhoub’s beloved detective returned in Mr. Monk’s Last Cast: A Monk Movie to great fanfare, but will there ever be a Monk 2?
There were a couple ofMonkepisodes, including the first one, in which Adrian did everything he could to rejoin the force. While he came close to it a few times, it never worked.Without closure for Trudy and never getting his old job back, Adrian had nothing in his life but the cases he would solveevery week. This is something that David Ruskin, the actor who wanted to play Monk, quickly understood after spending some time with Adrian. Monk was a tragic character, and the show never shied away from it.
Monk Living Through His Pain Made The Character Even Better
Adrian Monk Never Stopped Helping People
Adrian not finding closure and never getting to become a police detective again during the show makes the character rather tragic, but it’s also the reason why he is so special. Even thoughMonk was usually in pain and had many ghosts to face, including but not limited to the Trudy case and his relationship with Ambrose, he never stopped helping people. Adrian Monk lived through the pain so that he could use his gifts – or curse, according to himself – to help other people find the closure he never did.
At the end ofMr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie, Adrian seemingly decides to come out of retirement to work as a consultant for the police department on unsolved cases.
Monk did say that the cases he solved were never enough to fill in the hole left by Trudy’s unsolved murder, but that never stopped him from showing up to a new crime scene every week. Adrian would also face his worst fears whenever someone was in trouble, as seen when he got into the sewer to rescue Sharona. Interestingly, even though Adrian found the closure he needed in theMonkfinale by solving Trudy’s case and showing signs of progress in his treatment, he preferred to remain as a private detective and never rejoined the force.
Monk
Cast
Starring Tony Shalhoub as Adrian Monk, Monk follows the titular detective, a private investigator with OCD who helps solve crimes with the San Francisco Police. On the side, he also investigates the death of his wife, who was killed by a car bomb. Bitty Schram, Traylor Howard, Ted Levine, and Jason Gray-Stanford also star.
