Mr. Monk Goes to a Fashion Show

I love the opening to this. Monk is buying a shirt, his normal, customary shirt. Monk looks for "Dennis," his normal salesman but it seems Dennis has quit because some unknown customer was driving him nuts. Hmm. Anyway, Monk wants the same size, the same print - and - won't accept the shirt unless the little tag inside the shirt says "Inspected by No. 8." He knows "Inspector 8" is the best.

The salesman finds one that matches all of the criteria but there is a flaw in the shirt. Horrified, Monk winds up going to the place they make and inspect the shirts and tracks down "No. 8" to see what's wrong. He's right; there is something wrong. "Maria," the inspector, is extremely upset because her son Pablo was accused of a murder he didn't commit (so she obviously can't focus on her work.). Monk would prefer she just focus on her work so he can get his perfect shirts, but Natalie talks him into investigating the case.

This episode has a big-name guest star, Malcolmn McDowell, who plays snotty fashion designer "Julian Hodge." Monk and the crew go behind-the-scenes of high fashion modeling to find out if Maria's son is innocent. Along the way, Natalie's 13-year-old daughter Julie gets a taste of modeling.

This was a very interesting story with a neat twist at the end.

'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.

There may be better episodes and mysteries in Season 4 and of 'Monk' in general than "Mr Monk Goes to a Fashion Show", but for one watching 'Monk' for entertainment, good character moments and a way to just unwind "Mr Monk Goes to a Fashion Show" does its job very well. The mystery itself is another one that is too easy to figure out, there is a twist that's pretty neat and quite interesting but wasn't that much of a surprise and there could have been a few more clues and suspects to stop the story from being as predictable and too easily-too-early solvable as it turned out to be.

Perhaps more could have been done with Malcolm McDowell's character Julian Hodge. A fun and suitably loathsome character (especially in his treatment of Natalie which saw some wonderfully scathing lines), played perfectly and to the hilt by McDowell who specialises with these types of characters and villains so the role couldn't have suited him more ideally, that isn't quite meaty enough at the same time. Some of how he behaves and motivations could have been explored with more depth and his thinking that Disher should try out was a potentially interesting angle that sadly didn't go very far at all.

However, the look of the world of fashion and modelling was an interesting one (though it is hardly the first detective show to do it), while it is a far from novel it was good to show that something that looks so glamorous on the surface is less than glamorous behind the scenes. Lovely to see more development on Julie (charmingly played by Emmy Clarke), who rocks the catwalk and looks great in all her outfits as you can see with Hodge taking an interest in her.

Natalie is down to earth, sympathetic and sassy, also being sensitive to Monk's needs and quirks which Traylor Howard does well bringing out. Stottlemeyer and Disher have some good moments too, and Ted Levine and Jason Gray-Stanford are great.

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.

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 wry humour, lovable quirkiness and tender easy-to-relate-to drama is delicately done, particularly the last one. The quirks are sympathetically done and never exploited or overdone.

Character moments are another star, full of hilarious, thought-provoking and sweet moments. Just a few examples are Monk's discomfort in seeing nudity, his ignorance of bulimia, Disher's surprisingly philosophical answer to Natalie remarking how sad models look, the whole stuff with Monk's shirts, Hodge's treatment and observations of Natalie, the dismissal of the cellist's alibi, Monk driving the salesclerk nuts, the roommate investigation and Monk playing off against Hodge (an opponent worthy of him even if a little under-explored).

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, not quite great, and it would have been with a better and less obvious mystery, but very good due to the character moments mainly. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Monk is usually amazing - but this episode is the worst. First of all, Julie is only 13 and she is eyed by an old man, is he a pedophile? Nathalie is OK with this? I can't imagine she would be happy for Julie to be sexualized like that. The character of the designer is so overdrawn and poorly written, such a cliche. It really is the worst episode of Monk. The designer's studio is frantically filled with models and other people. It all feels so staged, there isn't even a hint of the usual lovely humor the better episodes have. The side story of Monk's obsession with #8 inspector is also odd. Monk does not seem to care about her at all. He wants her back in the sweatshop to inspect "90 or 100" shirts by the end of the work day, is he now working for the shop's management?

Monk wears the same shirt every day. When he realizes that Shirt Inspector #8 is doing a poor job, he sets out to see what is wrong with her. It leads to discovery that her son is in prison for the murder of a fashion model. All the evidence seems against him but Monk immediately realizes otherwise. The remainder of the show involves encounters with beautiful models.

For once, Monk doesn't start with a crime. Instead, Monk is buying a shirt. His first bad news is that the sales person he likes has quit, claiming that there is a customer who always comes in who drove him crazy. Monk doesn't make the connection. The second bit of bad news is that when he gets his shirt, inspected by "#8", it has flaws in it. He goes and finds her and discovers that her son is in jail for killing a fashion model. Since this has happened, she has not been able to concentrate on her work or anything else.

Monk agrees to look at the case file and talk to her son. He finds some inconsistencies, but there is the problem that DNA evidence matching the inspector's son, Pablo, was found at the scene. Further investigation finds that the dead model's employer, Julian Hodge (Malcolm McDowell), is an arrogant jerk with a hot temper. Monk is suspicious, but then there is that pesky DNA evidence. Complications ensue.

I really didn't care for the fashion part of the show - Disher and Natalie are both trying to impress Hodge as though they were a couple of teenagers. Plus Hodge says some pretty cringe stuff sexualizing Natalie's 13 year old daughter, whom he wants to model in his shows. The part with the inspector was touching though. Monk wrote her a letter at some point, praising the quality of her work. She has it in a place of honor near her desk.

This might be the weakest episode of season four, even though it does barely make the grade to a 7/10 rather than a 6/10.