Review of Monk: Series 3

Introduction

Adrian Monk (Tony Shalhoub) is a Private Investigator with a difference. He has Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, exacerbated after the death of his wife in a car bombing. Monk was an active police officer at the time with a remarkable record for solving crime, but lost himself in grief and isolated himself in his house for three years.

Monk now has an assistant, Sharona (Bitty Schram) who assists him cope with day to day activities and also helps him in his investigations consulting with the police force in his native San Francisco. Monk is retained on a consultative retainer by his old Watch Commander, Captain Leland Stottlemeyer (Ted Levine), who recognises that there is no-one either on or off the force with the detection skills that Monk possesses. Stottlemeyer is partnered by Lieutenant Randall "Randy" Disher (Jason Gray-Stanford), a somewhat naïve and bumbling character who invariably barks up the wrong tree.

For season 3 I was given only one disc to review and so my scores are based purely on content seen. This disc contained four episodes.

Video

Picture is generally good but appears a little grainy in places.

Audio

Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack that is more than adequate. Randy Newman’s theme tune more than fits the feel of this series too.

Features

Cast Favourites – a 5 minute piece with members of the cast picking out their favourite Monk moments.

Conclusion

Modern detectives all seem to have a quirk of sorts, no longer able to be simply straight-laced, but this is the first attempt I’ve seen of a detective with a serious medical problem. It’s a little odd, but it just works. It helps that Tony Shalhoub seems to have been born for this role, he is simply magnificent, but I think it also helps that while murder is at the core of each story, the whole thing is essentially played for laughs.

Monk is a quirky guy who displays a complete lack of rationale about things ‘normal’ people wouldn’t pause for a second over; straightening signs, standing up items in someone’s fridge, unable to complete sentences due to noise interrupting (this latter is a gem in Mr Monk Takes Manhattan).

Comedy plays a big part of it and most of the main cast are involved, the only one seemingly spared is Sharona. Monk obviously is the main protagonist with his OCD triggered over some of the most innocuous things, but Stottlemeyer and Disher also provide plenty of comedic moments. It’s a sign of the quality of the writing that you can be caught up in the mystery presented to Monk and the gang whilst simultaneously roaring with laughter. To be honest, I’d rate Monk on a par with Due South for it’s ability to tackle a genre so well but still leave you laughing.

Shame I couldn’t see more…