Mr. Monk Is Up All Night

Best Episode of "Monk" ever. Very well written, complicated plot line. The story is set in San Francisco in the wee hours and the action takes place in a funky bar, a train station, an alley way, a cab stand, a closed and gated little coin shop,the utility room of a very ordinary little restaurant, in a newspaper delivery truck, and along the dark streets of a city closed up for the night. More plot-driven than the typical "Monk," with less emphasis on the main characters quirks though the quirks exist in relationship to the action. There is a definite film noir feel to it and has the archly drawn characters that the genre is famous for.

Thank you to you all who participated in this masterpiece either by writing, acting, directing, including you guys who set up cables for the lights, or those who prepared snacks for the team to eat, or those who checked the air pressures of the tires of the vehicles that were used in the shots and it doesn't mind if you hadn't checked the air pressures at all. To everyone whoever took part, big or small. Great teamwork. Great output. You made me cry. Thank you all. Thank you.

Following a chance meeting with a woman whom he's certain he has met before, Monk (Tony Shalhoub) is unable to sleep. After several slumberless hours, Monk decides to go for a nocturnal walk...only to see the same woman again. Shortly thereafter, Monk witnesses a murder during a botched drug deal, but when he is unable to prove that anything actually went down, it is assumed that he is imagining things because of sleep deprivation. Things get curiouser and curiouser when the so-called murder victim turns up alive. Thus, Monk finds himself in mental overload as he not only tries to solve a murder that may have not been a murder, but also figure out the identity (and significance) of that ubiquitous "mystery woman".

When Monk witnesses a shooting, he does everything he can to bring the bad guys to justice, but the evidence isn't there. This all takes place as Monk takes a walk, suffering from insomnia. There are so many factors and there are so many wonderful twists and turns, I have decided it is the bet episode I have personally seen. It also has a touching conclusion. There is a great subplot with Randy wearing Captain America pajamas. Stottlemeyer has some great lines.

Monk is walking down a busy San Francisco street when he encounters a Hispanic woman appearing to be in her mid 40s. There is nothing unusual about her appearance. Suddenly Monk takes off in the crowd, pursuing her. But she is lost to him in the sea of people. Monk suddenly gets insomnia from constantly thinking of this woman. He tells Dr. Kroger he hasn't slept in three days. Kroger asks him if he could somehow be attracted to this woman, and oddly Monk doesn't disagree.

Monk decides to take a walk one night, hoping to get tired enough to finally sleep. While on his walk he sees the same woman he has been obsessing about again. She is a taxi driver. She doesn't hear Monk call out to her and she drives off. He takes chase for awhile, but finally gives up.

When he does give up he finds himself in an alley where three people are emerging from a vehicle and going into the kitchen of a restaurant. His cop instincts take over and he wonders if he is seeing some kind of crime in progress. He peers through the window to the restaurant kitchen and sees an argument take place, one of the men claims to be a cop. One of the other two men shoot him, apparently killing him. Then both of the two men run away. Monk calls the police, but Stottlemeyer and Disher find the restaurant kitchen tidy and in order and there is no body. What goes on here with both of these mysteries? Watch and find out.

This episode of Monk deviates from the normal formula as it mainly takes place on the streets of San Francisco at night. It's mainly Monk chasing down leads or having leads just fall into his lap as he wanders the streets. It's got the style of a film noir from the 40s. And it has an ending that both explains everything and is heartwarming.