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Before talking about this week’s episode, I would like to remind all our regular readers to check out our Monk/Psych Prize Giveaway. It’s free to enter but you only have till January 23rd, 2009 to get your entry in.
In this week’s episode Monk tracks down a missing bike. Yeah I know, you wouldn’t think a stolen bike would mean a whole lot but after Monk gets shot trying to track down the bike you know that the bike was the key to the entire case. So as to not spoil things for those who haven’t seen the episode, I will wait till after the break to discuss the rest of the episode.
After Natalie ends up helping a man steal a bike (she didn’t know he was stealing it), Natalie feels bad and vows to help the bike owner (the CEO of a biotech firm). Monk doesn’t want to take the case but Natalie forces him into it by cashing in her karma chips from everything she has done for him in the past. They investigate the bike robbery and Monk ends up getting shot in the leg by the bike thief. Monk is his crabby self about being shot and he takes all his grief out on Natalie who is already upset that she put Monk in the position to get shot. For the rest of the episode, Monk is in a wheelchair with his leg in a cast. He ends up making Natalie do everything for him since he blames her for what happened.
After Monk is shot the police take the bike robbery seriously. They investigate the bike further and decide something must be unique about the bike for someone to go out of their way to steal it and then shoot Monk when he got too close. When the bike thief ends up dead, things become all the more serious (obviously someone is serious if two people end up shot over a bike).
Monk ends up figuring out the case while making Natalie’s life miserable. It turns out the biotech CEO’s partner arranged the whole robbery. Along with the bike was a lock that used a combination. Since the CEO was too lazy to remember two combinations he used the same combination that he used for his safe, also for his bike lock. The partner had the bike stolen so she could get the combination from the lock and then steal their research from the CEO’s safe. She could then sell it and make all the profit herself. Natalie and Monk eventually end up catching the partner but in the process Natalie ends up shooting Monk in the other leg. At least both of Monk’s legs now “match”.
Overall I thought this week’s episode was solid. The jokes after Monk was shot started off pretty well but I think they got old by the end of the episode. I didn’t mind how upset and angry Monk was at the beginning of the episode since he was shot. The show took his anger a little too far though in my opinion. He just became cruel to Natalie by the end of the episode (I want to know why she still works for him). This really stopped the episode from being as funny as it could have been.
While I thought they took Monk’s anger a little too far, I was actually surprised by the case. Monk hasn’t had a great case in a while. While this week’s case wasn’t great, it was at least challenging for once. In my opinion Monk mysteries have become too easy lately especially since I can usually pretty much solve the case within a half hour. For some reason I couldn’t solve this week’s case until about ten minutes left in the case. Maybe that was because the show didn’t go the obvious route for once.
Other favorites about the episode:
- Monk’s obsession with the square tomato. A square tomato must be a miracle for Monk. I wonder what he wants to be square next.
Quotes:
Monk: “I was getting a little worried about the world.”
Monk (about the square tomato): “You’re doing the Lord’s work.”
Monk: “It’s the perfect sandwich.”
Monk: “You can taste the symmetry.”
Monk: “You’re paid semi-regularly.”
Your Thoughts: What are your thoughts on the episode? Did you think the episode took Monk’s anger too far? Did you think the case was actually challenging for once? What food do you think Monk would like to be made into a square next?
Photo Credit: USA Network.com
Hello. Read with interest what I consider your very fair minded review of the “Whells” episode, especially noting your rhetorical question of why Natalie stays with him for he has been abusive to her in previous episodes as well.
Regrettably the writers have been silent on the “whyness” of her staying but having her shower him with kisses may be their devious means of hinting that she might hold unspecified feelings for him that have not been vocalized
If such is not the case, then I would have called Sharona to come back and quit a long time ago.
KF