Season 4 of Monk is upon us — well, upon the blog, because it aired 18 years ago and I’m only just catching up — and, since I’ve approached the three previous seasons in slightly different ways, let’s mix things up again and rank the sixteen episodes here from worst to best, eh?

The fourth season overall improves on the tone and quality of season 3, with the stronger episodes here not necessarily relying on a strong mystery to sell themselves and the weaker ones setting, on the whole, a higher standard than what I would consider the lesser entries which preceded them. There’s also less leaning into one-note jokes, with much more acutely-observed humour and the one joke that relies on repetition (“No idea?”) actually striking me as pretty funny probably because it’s only used once in the entire series.

The central performances show again the sort of great chemistry that really seels this format, with Tony Shalhoub on superb form as the eponymous OCD-afflicted consultant detective and Ted Levine and Jason Gray-Stanford supporting him excellently as the police officers who deal with him. Traylor Howard’s Natalie Teeger is also there, but in fairness to her she’s given much less to do than she was in season 3 — slightly ridiculous when you consider that she’s only in the second half of that — and she plays her slightly thankless role as Monk’s assistant very well given what little is required of her.

The ten writers do a range of jobs (one of the hands on the tiller of the worst episode also wrote the best…), and my approximate rankings — correct at time of publication — would be:

16) ‘Mr. Monk Goes to the Dentist’ (4.15, o.b. 10th March 2006)
[Scr. David Breckman and Tom Scharpling; Dir. Jefery Levy]

Thoroughly below par stuff, with Randy (Grey-Stanford), while under sedation, witnessing his dentist (John Favreau) killing a man. The mystery is undercooked, the resolution comes about because of sheer happenstance, and there’s no reason for the majority of what transpires. Mystery of the week shows are always going to struggle at times, but the thinness of this, coupled with the medical torture of the finale, couldn’t have left me much colder.

15) ‘Mr. Monk Goes to a Wedding’ (4.7, o.b. 19th August 2005)
[Scr. Liz Sagal; Dir. Anthony R. Palmieri]

A wedding in Natalie’s wealthy family is the window-dressing for a minor mystery that does well to not make too much out of its slightness. The biggest difficulty for me is how little of it makes sense — how, for instance, could the criminal have stood up to the rigorous background checks when they can’t even get the details right themself? It’ll try to hide these things behind lazy emoting, but the second you subject this to any scrutiny it simply doesn’t work.

14) ‘Mr. Monk and the Captain’s Wife’ (4.12, o.b. 27th January 2006)
[Scr. Jack Bernstein; Dir. Philip Casnoff]

A not-terribly-baffling mystery intersects with Stottlemeyer (Levine) believing that his wife (Glenne Headly, wasted) is having an affair. Lots of conclusions are jumped to, lots of jokes are dragged out past the point of working, and things are so thin that we really should resolve it early but don’t. I imagine you’re supposed to have all the feelings about the ending, but the Stottlemeyer marriage has always been difficult to invest in — and hardly seems worth saving.

13) ‘Mr. Monk Goes to a Fashion Show’ (4.10, o.b. 13th January 2006)
[Scr. Jonathan Collier; Dir. Randy Zisk]

A superbly, uniquely Monkian conceit gets us started on a tale of wrongful conviction for murder, with high fashion coming under the microscope. Malcolm McDowell is on tepid form as a cliche designer, but at least this episode goes to the effort of reminding our protagonists how thin some of their leaps are…only to then resolve itself with what must surely be the thinnest development in the series, a lazy false dichotomy. Nice to see Scott Adsit outside of 30 Rock, though.

12) ‘Mr. Monk Goes to the Office’ (4.4, o.b. 29th July 2005)
[Scr. Nell Scovell; Dir. Jerry Levine]

An intriguing setup — why shoot one man and only break the hand of a second? — gets squandered on a tedious middle section which takes in far too much bowling for there to be enough plot to go around. The answers to the central question don’t feel quite right, either (was the guy just sat there…all day?), even if it is nice to see Shalhoub doing such great work in exploring Monk’s insecurities. Distinct filler, this, but you really appreciate the skill in the central performances.

11) ‘Mr. Monk Gets Drunk’ (4.5, o.b. 5th August 2005)
[Scr. Daniel Dratch; Dir. Andrei Belgrader]

Recalling John Dickson Carr’s radio play ‘Cabin B-13’ (1943) and Cornell Woolrich’s ‘All At Once, No Alice’ (1940), Monk is the only one who remembers meeting a guest staying at a vineyard. What’s happened is pretty clear on account of the opening scene, so this feels like it’s treading water, and the mystery is resolved without the clever ideas which betoken the best of these. But Shalhoub’s drunk acting is superb, and it’s always nice to see Paul Ben-Victor getting work.

10) ‘Mr. Monk Gets Jury Duty’ (4.16, o.b. 17th March 2006)
[Scr. Peter Wolk; Dir. Andrei Belgrader

A chance to try something new — have Monk collaborate with the other members of a jury — is only partly utilised as things go very slightly 12 Angry Men (1957). Of course, the real story here is the arrest and handover of a drugs kingpin (Carlos Gomez), and the structuring which puts this in the background is perhaps the most interesting thing going on here. No terribly interesting ideas, nothing that makes it feel esecially Monk, it’s…fine.

9) ‘Mr. Monk and Little Monk’ (4.8, o.b. 26th August 2005)
[Scr. Joe Toplyn; Dir Robert Singer]

A dual-timeline story sees Monk untangle a murder in the present day while his younger self gets to the bottom of a theft while in the eighth grade. The modern motive doesn’t make a lick of sense, but it’s one of those enjoyably weird Monk ideas that you’re willing to forgive, and the past mystery is actually pretty smart. The only problem I have with either is the false assumptions (c.f. fingerless gloves = bikers) required to join the dots. Fun, but flawed.

8) ‘Mr. Monk Stays in Bed’ (4.3, o.b. 22nd July 2005)
[Scr. Hy Conrad; Dir. Philip Casnoff]

A dead pizza delivery man, a missing superior court judge, and our detective has the flu. Only Monk could weave these disparate events into something approaching a cogent plot, but at times it feels a little thin — with various comedic elements dragged out to often too great length. The plot is clever, and resolved as a result of one of those extended jokes, but it’s solidly mid-tier stuff given how damn good this show can be at its best. Also, the foley work in the denouement is infuriating!

7) ‘Mr. Monk and the Other Detective’ (4.1, o.b. 8th July 2005)
[Scr. Hy Conrad; Dir. Eric Laneuville]

A strong series opener, in which previously hapless private eye Marty Eels (Jason Alexander) suddenly proves to be a genius when it comes to tracking down the perpetrators of a jewellery store robbery. The ‘hostage situation’ which opens the episode is a great throwaway joke, and Eels’ insight is explained away very cleverly. Kudos, too, for resolving that mystery with ten minutes to go rather than trying to spin it out beyond its natural length. Ends on a lovely note, too.

6) ‘Mr. Monk Bumps His Head’ (4.11, o.b. 20th January 2006)
[Scr. Andy Breckman; Dir. Stephen Surjik]

Finding himself in a small town with amnesia, Monk is taken in by a lonely woman (an excellent Laurie Metcalfe) who claims he is her husband. The mystery is (deliberately, no doubt) easily solved, but certain actions are hard to reconcile until a very clever moment of realisation, clued ahead of time with a very sure hand. All told, another very good example of how confident writing lends itself to mixing up the formula, and proof that mystery alone needn’t be the only reason to watch.

5) ‘Mr. Monk and the Secret Santa’ (4.9, o.b. 2nd December 2005)
[Scr. David Breckman; Dir. Jerry Levine]

A festive episode that demonstrates how, when well-written, Monk can still make a thin criminous plot into great TV. We’re a third of the way in before there’s even a crime, and the solution won’t fool anyone who’s watched this show in any volume, but it’s all great all the way through: Levine has some superbly understated moments, the essential message is emotional without being saccharine, and the mystery would make a clever short story you’d remember for a long time.

4) ‘Mr. Monk and Mrs. Monk’ (4.6, o.b. 12th August 2005)
[Scr. David Breckman; Dir. Randy Zisk]

The revelation that Monk’s wife Trudy (Meloria Hardin) might have faked her death has massive implications, especially as Monk is just beginning to come to terms with his grief over losing her. This episode goes to show just how much it’s possible to be invested in this series despite its variable quality, and the low-key revelation of what’s happening is well-judged, as are the closing moments which invest what’s gone before with a genuine sense of impact. Good stuff.

3) ‘Mr. Monk and the Big Reward’ (4.13, o.b. 3rd February 2006)
[Scr. Tom Scharpling and Daniel Dratch; Dir. Randy Zisk]

A $1,000,000 reward sees Monk and a motley selection of private investigators competing to find a valuable diamond, while the police must content with a woman who keeps turning up and confessing to minor infringements. A genuinely clever episode which, while containing one development I didn’t follow, builds to an excellent payoff. Shows how well this setup can mix in various ingredients to a satisfying stew when done well.

2) ‘Mr. Monk and the Astronaut’ (4.14, o.b. 3rd March 2006)
[Scr. David Breckman and Joe Toplyn; Dir. Randy Zisk]

We know that superstar astronaut Steve Wagner (Jeffrey Donovan) killed the ex-lover whose tell-all memoir was due to wreck his career, but somehow he’s made it appear that the murder happened while he was orbiting the Earth. The method is absolutely brilliant and the tone of just about every scene is perfect. Sure, the detection requires a few leaps…and a couple of key oversights…but that’s a pretty regular feature here, and when it allows things as clever as this it’s very hard to mind.

1) ‘Mr. Monk Goes Home Again’ (4.2, o.b. 15th July 2005)
[Scr. Tom Sharpling; Dir. Randy Zisk]

The return of Monk’s brother Ambrose (John Turturro) allows not just for some magnificent throwaway humour (“I’m not surprised, Mike Gordon wrote that one…”) but also goes to show that, with good writing delivered by good performers, it’s possible to do emotion well without it overflowing into mawkishness. A good minor mystery, too, with candy being stolen from trick-or-treaters being spun up intelligently and humorously (c.f. the pigeon) into something much more sinister.

~

Monk on The Invisible Event

1. Season 1 (2002)
2. Season 2 (2003-04)
3. Season 3 (2004-05)
4. Season 4 (2005-06)
5. Season 5 (2006-07)