Mr. Monk and the 12th Man

I love monk. The series is awesome and entertaining. My wife got Mr all of the episodes for Christmas.we are noto season 2 and stumble onto this gem. The interview with Ian is perfectly timed and acted. I have been laughing and giggling about it for 2 days now. Bravo. I would love to find out the guys name who plays ian. I recognise his face but can't place the name. He was terrific. One of those scenes that I will always laugh at, lime the boards in the face of Chevy Chase in Christmas vacation or the golf scene by w.c. fields. Truly classic.

I'm a huge fan of Monk (a bit of a latecomer, having only started with season 1 recently). This is a bit of a problematic episode and I felt bad for Lauren Tom, an acclaimed American actress who was forced to adopt a stereotypical Chinese accent as Mrs Ling, who is the dry-cleaner nemesis of Monk. Thankfully there was no stereotypical kebab owner with an exaggerated Arab accent I guess for Monk (who himself is Arab-American) to contend with.

There's much mystery in this, as we wonder who is the 12th Man. It's not to do with cricket, but something more legal. Jerry Levine, who guest stars as the deputy mayor and Sharona's love interest, is also one of the directors of Monk. I don't think Jerry is related to Ted.

The usual comedy and mystery. Natalie was definitely better than sharona but this one is one of her best eps. Well worth watching.

When a toll booth operator is killed in a weird way, Stottlemeyer calls Monk and Sharona to help him. Monk learns that this is ninth victim with unsolved murders and apparently none of them has anything in common with the others. Meanwhile Sharona's boyfriend Kenny Shale will run for the next mayor election, and she is fawned by every police officer. Soon a woman is murdered in a movie theater, becoming the tenth victim. Monk sees the same calendar from an insurance company on the photos of three victims and decides to stake out the owner that is returning from a travel. When the killer murders the man and Monk is not capable to stop him, he sees that all the victims were jurors in a trial. Randy Disher arrests the twelfth juror, Tommy Zimm, believing he is the serial-killer, and finds a frozen finger and photos of a frozen woman in his home. Kenny summons the press to use the moment for winning votes showing the suspect, but Monk tells Stottlemeyer that he solved the murder, and the captain decides to wait.

"Mr. Monk and the 12th Man" is a great episode of "Monk" despite the title song. It entwins comedy and crime as usual, but this time without the exaggerations that sometimes happen. The guy with a pipe in his head is certainly the funniest moment of the show. Sharona's reaction when she learns what Kenny thinks about her opinions is also hilarious. The reason why Stewart Babcock stars his crime spree is great. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Monk e a Décima Segunda Vítima" ("Monk and the Twelfth Victim")

SFPD thinks they have a serial killer on their hands when eleven people of completely different walks of life are killed by different methods. Even Monk is stumped by all of this, until he realizes that such diversity in a group of people is usually found in a jury. It checks out that these folks were on a jury. It was a civil case against a homeowner, and the jury found against him and for the plaintiff. But the insurance company paid the claim so it's not like the homeowner would have reason to hold a grudge. The surviving twelfth juror looks like a suspect - he had a human finger in his freezer! But Monk doesn't think that he's "the guy" because he had no motive to turn against his fellow jurors. What goes on here? Watch and find out.

In a subplot, Sharona is dating Kenny, the deputy mayor, who is considered a possible candidate for mayor the following year. Everybody is playing up to her because of this association, hoping to get in good with the deputy mayor. Disher, though, is just jealous and shows resentment. It turns out though that Kenny is not exactly the answer to her maiden's prayer.

On the humorous side, Monk frustrates his dry cleaner, Mrs. Ling, with his crazy demands and exacting standards, making her no longer want Monk as a customer.