Mr. Monk Gets Stuck in Traffic

The environmentalist Steve Marriot is summoned by the constructor Ray Galardi to discuss about the lawsuit opened by Steve. Out of the blue, Ray kills Steve with a bar, puts him inside his Beetle and stages a car accident in the highway with his truck. Meanwhile, Monk, Natalie and Julie are returning to San Francisco in the same highway after watching Julie's game of hockey. There is a traffic jam caused by the accident and when Monk sees the scene, he realizes that Steve Marriot was murdered. Monk tells the highway patrol officer Parnell to keep the crime scene, but he doesn't listen to Monk. Meanwhile, Ray notes that has mistakenly switched cellphones with Steve and returns to the place where the accident happened. He kills one paramedic to assume his identity and reach the Beetle to replace the cellphone. Monk notes that he is the killer but is cuffed to the police car by Parnell. How will Monk convince the officer that he is right?

"Mr. Monk Gets Stuck in Traffic" is another funny episode of this series. There are flawed scenes in the plot, such as Volkswagen Beetles do not have air conditioning, or the reception of cellphone in that area of mountains that sometime works, or the chase in slow motion of the truck by the trooper and Monk in the police car, but they are irrelevant details. The best scene is the cars accident on the road. The funniest scene is Monk telling Julie that the metal band The Korn has spelled their name wrongly in the bus. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Monk Fica Preso no Engarrafamento" ("Monk Gets Stuck in the Traffic Jam")

'Monk' has always been one of my most watched shows when needing comfort, to relax after a hard day, a good laugh or a way to spend a lazy weekend.

To me, "Mr Monk Gets Stuck in Traffic" is one of the best episodes of Season 3. It is a change of pace episode, and it's a welcome one. It is not the most exciting episode, then again being stuck in traffic is a tedious endeavour especially when it's heavy and it is kept afloat by the character moments. One does miss Disher and Stottlemeyer, but one doesn't mind since it gave more of a chance to get to know Natalie and Julie, they would not have been able to do anything considering the amount of traffic there was and they probably needed a break after featuring heavily in "Mr Monk Gets Cabin Fever".

One really relates to Monk's situation here, anybody would if they were stuck in heavy traffic and found it very hard to deal with. Despite not being able to drive for medical reasons, it's hard for me not to be uncomfortable when in traffic, especially when it's hot and stuffy and even listening to music, reading a book or your siblings messing about next to or behind you doesn't make you feel any better.

Natalie may come over as slightly abrasive at times here, but her personality is starting to differentiate more and she has a down-to-earth-ness, sensitivity and sass that makes one warm to her as well as being more sympathetic to Monk's issues. She proves useful, and her and Monk's roles at the end are something quite special. Traylor Howard is continuing to do well considering the less than ideal circumstances behind the scenes with Sharona and Bitty Schram abruptly leaving. One gets to know Julie more as well, she is a funny and likable character played appealingly by Emmy Clarke, and love her chemistry with Monk.

As said many times, one of the best things about 'Monk' has always been the acting of Tony Shalhoub in the title role. It was essential for him to work and be the glue of the show, and Shalhoub not only is that but also at his very best he IS the show. Have always loved the balance of the humour, which is often hilarious, and pathos, which is sincere and touching.

"Mr Monk Gets Stuck in Traffic" boasts some very nice character moments, mainly to do with Monk's quirks and observational abilities that come to the fore more than usual this season. Garrett is hilarious and never on the wrong side of annoying and the murder is a clever and quite brutal one. The climactic scene is just fine, and Monk and Julie's chemistry and exchanges particularly stand out, very funny and sweet. The only small fault is the killer being too quickly introduced.

It's not just the cast or story though. Another star is the writing, which is also essential to whether the show would be successful or not and succeed it does here. The mix of hilarious wry humour, lovable quirkiness and tender easy-to-relate-to drama is delicately done. The quirks are sympathetically done and never exploited or overdone.

Visually, the episode is shot in a slick and stylish way, and the music is both understated and quirky. While there is a preference for the theme music for Season 1, Randy Newman's "It's a Jungle Out There" has grown on me overtime, found it annoying at first but appreciate its meaning and what it's trying to say much more now. Oh and a good job is done with the different opening credits sequence to accommodate the changes made.

Overall, wonderful. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Both "Monk" and "psych" suffer from the same implausibility -- Adrian Monk and Shawn Spencer are adept at noting details the officers and detectives around them should have no trouble spotting -- but don't.

"The Rockford Files" is also implausible. PIs rarely, if ever, get involved in significant crimes -- especially not week after week. But "Rockford"'s gritty/cheap ambiance, and its sharp writing, made it a classic that neither "Monk" nor "psych" will ever be.

Which is not to say that "lesser" series can't occasionally reach "Rockford" level. This episode does. An apparently simple event -- a car crash that causes a pileup -- is the starting point for Monk's analysis that reveals it wasn't an accident, but murder. Naturally, the Highway Patrol doesn't believe him. (It would have been even better had it been edited so that the audience learns what actually happened as Monk is investigating. But that type of non-linear presentation is asking a lot from casual TV viewers.)

An excellent change of pace for a formulaic series.

Students of drama will note that this episode obeys Aristotle's three unities -- time, place, and action.

If someone thinks this is a perfect tv episode, they should seriously be banned from IMDb.

Monk spends half torturing a child, not letting her pee. The plot is predictable and obvious as usual.

I agree that Tony S is a fantastic actor and he always delivers, but it doesn't cover for the overall bad writing, which is lazy and fits sitcoms much more than drama-comedies.

At this point, this show has used every trick, it's all repetitive and overly focused on Monk's always-changing set of disabilities. No one behaves in any rational way, they're all mildly incompetent, except Monk, who is both completely incompetent and solves everything, still with zero proof, just story telling.

Mond, Natalie, and her daughter get involved in a pileup on the highway, caused by a murderous land developer. It is filled with some great scenes, from the pileup itself, to a rock band, to a female truck driver who wants to kill monk for reporting her bad driving. It is also a bonding moment with Natalie who only sees Monk as selfish.