Summary
Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Moviethankfully brought back one of my favorite things about theMonkshow. One of the best TV procedurals of its generation,Monkran for eight seasons and delivered hundreds of cases in which Mr. Monk would defy all odds and solve the most difficult cases.Mr. Monk’s Last Case’s endingeven teased that Adrian will now work on cold cases that no police detective could solve, although it’s unclearwhetherMonk2will happen.
TheMr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Moviecast featured a lot of familiar faces and delivered a nostalgic reunion. The movie was set in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and explored its impact on Adrian. The film also revisited Molly, Trudy’s daughter, who was now about to get married. Sadly, Molly’s fiancé was killed just before the wedding. BothAdrian and Molly knew who did it and needed to prove how they did it.
Mr. Monk’s Last Case Continued Monk’s Killer Reveal Trope
Monk was more about “how” than “who.”
Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Moviemakes it clear right from the start thatGriffin was murdered by Rick Eden, a billionaire whose involvement in the death of his business partner was being investigated by Molly’s husband. TheMonkmovie even shows that Rick Eden killed his parent and made it seem like it was an accident. Between the flashback sequence and the conversation between Eden and Griffin short before the latter’s death, I knew exactly who the killer was a few minutes into the film.Mr. Monk’s Last Casewas about proving how he did it.
By focusing on how they did it rather than who did it,Monkset itself apart from other crime shows from the same era.
This is something thebestMonkepisodeswould do – reveal at the start who the killer was and have Adrian do everything in his power to prove how they did it. One of Mr. Monk’s catchphrases was“I don’t know how he did it, but he’s the guy,”a concept that set the tone for the original show.Monkwas often not a whodunitbut rather a show about Adrian Monk not letting guilty people get away with it just because they were smart. I’m glad that theMonkmovie did not overlook such an important detail about the show.
Monk’s Killer Identity Reveals Made It Different From Other Procedurals
Monk was not a traditional whodunit.
By focusing on how they did it rather than who did it,Monkset itself apart from other crime shows from the same era. WhileMonkwas not the first TV procedural to often reveal the killer’s identity in the first few minutes of the episode, the series used this trick very well. Adrian dreamed of becoming a police detective again and did not always have a lot of courage or confidence. However,whenever it came to facing the killer and proving they were guilty, Adrian never backed down.
Monk 2’s Story Is Too Perfect Not Happen After Mr. Monk’s Last Case’s Sequel Setup
Whether a new Monk film will happen remains to be seen, but Mr. Monk’s Last Case’s ending perfectly sets up a sequel for the Monk reunion movie
I always liked it when the character who was clearly guilty challenged Adrian by saying“You have no proof.”Mr. Monk could see details, patterns, and clues no one else could, which is why it was always so satisfying seeing him prove how the killer did it. Some episodes ofMonkwere indeed in the whodunit format, but I always preferred the ones where proving something was more important than finding who had done it.Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Moviecontinued this tradition by having Adrian expose Rick Eden only at the end, even though he was obviously the killer.
Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie
Cast
Considered the conclusion to the beloved comedy crime-solving series, Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie sees the titular character return along with several other prominent cast members. In the film, Monk finds himself stuck in the middle of a big case directly related to his stepdaughter, preparing to marry.
