Monk: The Complete Fifth Season

Most cult TV dies pretty quickly, but Adrian Monk has been charming viewers with his quirky detecting for five seasons now. The fifth season occasionally crosses the line into cartoonishness, but overall it's still an entertaining, amusing little detective show... with the world's only OCD detective.

In the opening episode, a movie is going to be made about Monk's (Tony Shalhoub) life and amazing abilities, with well-known actor David Ruskin (Stanley Tucci) as Monk. But Ruskin turns out to be the world's best method actor, as he observes Monk doing his detective work -- and starts to acquire Monk's OCD and personality. Sometimes acting can be TOO good.

But Monk's problems don't cease when he's paralyzed by a garbage strike, and the strike leader is murdered. Other cases include a mysterious electrocution in a gym shower, being blinded by a murderer, a stint as a private eye, a college reunion, a disastrous rock concert, a leper, posing as a butler, a radio host whose wife died while he was on the air, and he competes against technology to find a serial killer.

On the personal front, Monk gets reacquainted with his father, who left the family when he was a child, and he also tries to deal with Dr. Kroger's early retirement, by solving the crime that prompted him to leave. And he helps Randy (Jason Gray-Stanford ) out when the latter inherits a farm -- and a mysterious death.

The fifth season does sag a little in the middle -- the retirement and rocker episodes have Monk's OCD becoming almost cartoonishly comic. But most of the rest of the episodes are quite good, with the typical unsolvable cases, unbreakable alibis, and inexplicable phobias from poor Monk.

Writingwise, there's nothing to complain about -- solid writing, solid plots full of difficult mysteries, and Monk undergoing lots of stress as he tries to deal with his many phobias. The dialogue is top-notch ("There's never hope. I wish I drank. Is it wonderful?"), and the writers allow all the regular characters to shine now and again, including Randy and Stottlemeyer (who have a kind of big-brother/little-brother vibe).

Tony Shalhoub is just amazing here, as Monk tries to navigate the dangers of a dirty, random world. He's absolutely hilarious when poor Monk has to square dance, feed chickens, and single-handedly tries to clean up San Francisco. But he also gives us some truly beautiful moments, such as when we see Monk watching his wedding video, quietly crying.

Traylor Howard continues to give a solid performance as Monk's assistant, while Ted Levine and Gray-Stanford round off the regular cast as the kindly Stottlemeyer and naive Randy. Alice Cooper has a fun cameo, and Tucci is absolutely great as a Monk-impersonator. And Sean Astin gives a glorious performance as a murderous, spoiled rich brat.

The fifth season of "Monk" has a few episodes that are lacking, but most of them are still excellent, suspenseful little mysteries. Definitely worth seeing.

I have always been a big fan of the USA original series, Monk. So when Monk season 5 was released I immediately set out to purchase it and trust me, you will not be disappointed with this season. Season five comes on 4 disks and 16 episodes, including:

Mr. Monk and the Actor:
A famous actor plays Monk in a movie about the obsessive compulsive detective. However, the more he spends time with Monk, the more Natalie grows concerned about how the actor's behavior takes a weird turn. He also gets too involved in a murder case Monk is currently trying to solve.

Mr. Monk and the Garbage Strike:
When a union boss' death threatens to prolong a city-wide garbage strike in San Francisco, it's up to Monk to help end the strike by determining whether the boss' death was suicide or murder. It also is very funny to see Monk try to clean up the city by himself.

Mr. Monk and the Big Game:
Julie and her friends hire Monk to look into the suspicious death of their basketball coach. Monk isnt too sure and soon realizes the case may have one twist even he wouldnt have seen coming.

Mr. Monk Cant See and Thing:
Mr. Monk looses his eyesight after a bizarre altercation with a murder suspect in a fire station. Determined not to let it disable him, he continues on to solve the case.

Mr. Monk, Private Eye:
When Natalie convinces Monk to go into business as a private eye, his first case is a small fender bender that leads to a far more dangerous investigation that involves plenty of twists.

Mr. Monk and the Class Reunion:
Monk attends his college reunion and uncovers a complex murder plot against one of his former classmates. Pretty cool episode in my opinion.

Mr. Monk Gets a New Shrink:
When Dr. Kroger retires after his cleaning lady is killed in his own office, it's up to Monk to solve the case and get Dr. Kroger back to work as soon as possible, or Monk may not make it.

Mr. Monk Goes to a Rock Concert:
Monk goes to a rock concert to look for Captain Stottlemeyer's son and finds himself in the middle of a murder investigation.

Mr. Monk Meets his Dad:
One of my favorite episodes in this season. When Monk's truck driving father rolls into town at Christmastime, Monk joins him on the road, where they stumble across a mystery that even Monk may not be able to solve.

Mr. Monk and the Leper:
A missing millionaire suffering from leprosy comes out of hiding to hire Monk, who soon finds himself in the middle of a murder investigation as well as realizing different stories may have one common, mysterious, factor.

Mr. Monk Makes a Friend:
An easy going guy named Hal bumps into Monk at a grocery store, and the two become fast friends. For the first time in his life, Monk appears to have a buddy. However Hal may not be all that he appears to be...

Mr. Monk is at Your Service:
When Natalie suspects foul play in the deaths of her parents' wealthy neighbors, Monk goes undercover as a butler to investigate

Mr. Monk is on the Air:
In one of the better episodes Monk goes toe to toe with a popular radio shock jock who is suspected of killing his wife.

Mr. Monk Visits a Farm:
When Lt. Disher inherits a farm from an uncle who committed suicide, he decides to quit the police force and start a new life in the country. But Disher soon suspects that his uncle was murdered, so Monk joins him on the farm to investigate.

Mr. Monk and the Really, Really Dead Guy:
When a dangerous criminal named the "Six Way Killer" strikes in San Francisco, Monk has to match his detective skills against the flashy forensic technology of a federal agent as they both pursue the murderer.

Mr. Monk Goes to the Hospital:
Monk goes to the hospital with a bloody nose, but when a doctor in the hospital turns up dead, Monk joins the murder investigation, and soon his own life is in grave danger.

This is definately worth your money. Adrian Monk is awesome to watch and some of the episodes are really very clever and all are completely original. Highly recommended...

Why is it in recent years that the producers of successful television shows frequently allow writers to screw around with the successful formula which gave them a winning in the first place? We are big fans of this series, which we only view on DVD since it is the only way we can get it. We eagerly awaited the fifth season, and have gone through it one episode after the other since we received the set. It was a big letdown compared to the previous four years. There may be more to it, but it seems the major problem is a significant drop in the quality of writing. While our view at this point is that "bad Monk is better than no Monk at all," that's not much of a recommendation. It would be good if the people in charge of this show could clean up their act and get interested in it again, or turn the show over to better handlers. This show could be a cash cow for many more years in the right hands, assuming loyal followers are not driven away.

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