Mr. Monk and the Wrong Man

Due to tenuous DNA testing, a horrible man is let out of prison after 14 years. Monk was the arresting officer, He goes into a guilt filled funk, trying to atone. The way things eventually get sorted out is so easy to predict. After all, Monk is able to be Monk because he is literally infallible. Without that, he would probably not make it from one day to the next. There are some funny scenes at a church wedding.

The initial scene is a woman hearing screams from next door. She walks over to the house, goes inside, and finds a grisly murder scene and the wall safe blown open.

Fast forward 14 years to today and Monk and the woman we saw in the first scene are at a parole hearing for the man convicted of killing the couple, Max Barton. A parole hearing for a guy only fourteen years after being convicted of a double murder??? But I digress. Monk is speaking about the horror of the crime scene when in walks somebody with some news. Max Barton has been exonerated of the crimes - The DNA evidence at the scene has been analyzed and it does not belong to Max.

Monk is devastated. The one thing he had confidence in - his instincts concerning solving murders - has now been proven lacking, and worse he has cost an innocent man 14 years of his life. He tries to make it up to the guy - He finds his ex-wife who divorced him while he was in prison, he gets Max a job - but still his confidence is shot. And Max is, at the very least, not a very nice person. He loafs unapologetically on the job Monk got him and uses the fact that Monk feels guilty about the situation to manipulate him. Meanwhile the murder case where Max was originally convicted has been reopened. Will the real killer be caught? Watch and find out.

On the humorous side, there's not one but three homages to the interrupted wedding scene from The Graduate, and Disher is reveling in the fact that he had nothing to do with Max Barton's wrongful conviction - For once he wasn't the screw-up because the case was made years before he was even on the police force.

'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.

As far as Season 6 goes, "Mr Monk and the Wrong Man" is in the better half. Not quite classic 'Monk' like the previous episode "Mr Monk and the Daredevil" was, but a great episode all the same. It could have done with more flashbacks to see how Monk investigated and how he solved the crime initially, just to see how he worked and deduced and came up with what he thought was the solution and to see where he went wrong. Also to see how he changed since Trudy's death compared to before. Disher's repeated line "it wasn't me" also got repetitive and annoying.

However, "Mr Monk and the Wrong Man" does have some lovely character moments. Really could see and feel Monk's guilt and desire to put things right, Max's understandable anger and bitterness towards Monk and Monk's self-loathing. Disher and Stottlemeyer have a funny moment involving Stottlemeyer wanting Disher to work on a case. Natalie is as sympathetic and sassy as ever. The characters are true to their original selves, though Disher does come close to being too much of an idiot.

There are some amusing moments and the odd quirkiness but it's the emotion and drama that takes centre-stage and it's very movingly done.

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.

Jason Gray-Stanford, Ted Levine and Traylor Howard are on typically good form, while Tim DeVarn is quite excellent as Max.

Writing-wise, 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.

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. The episode is made with a lot of slickness and style as always.

In summation, great. 9/10 Bethany Cox

I'd love to have something good to say because Monk is one of my favourite shows. But what was that?

Looked more like a parody than anything else!

The script, the dialogues. No suspense. And nothing made sense.

I mean ok, it was a good idea: Monk making a mistake and convicting the wrong guy. But they completely ruined it. Deep lack of humour.

And basically....who is this guy? That wasn't Monk. A whole episode, and the script writers had completely forgotten Monk's character, fears and OCD.

I cought myself being really bored watching this episode and it actually made me uncomfortable. Especially the wedding scenes! I couldn't believe what I was watching.