We see burglars breaking into a home being interrupted by a woman with a gun. They overpower her because she's afraid to actually shoot when they approach her. (People-do NOT jump a burglar pointing a gun if you do not intend to use it. It can wind up being how they kill you, particularly if they only wanted to steal before you threatened their lives.) This is what happens here--the woman gets killed in a struggle. Before rushing away, the burglars stop to spray paint a painting on the wall.
We then see a visitor to Monk's who wants to hire him to find out who killed her housekeeper-that's who was killed. It turns out she is a former junior high classmate of Monk's-one he was shyly fond of at the time. For us viewers, it turns out that this episode is really a vehicle for us to see a 13-14 year-old Monk, very shy, of course, trying to get up the nerve to ask this girl, Sherry, out.
Young Monk (Grant Rosenmeyer) did a fine job of seeming much like the Adrian we know. In the frequent flashback scenes, we see how he helped Sherry out of trouble at the time when she was accused of stealing bake sale money. Monk also has to deal with a bully who torments both he and Sherry. We get one scene of Monk being dropped off at school with his mother appearing to help us understand some of his quirks that we know with things she says.
Trying not to give away important points, I'll just say that both "crimes" that Monk solves had no other real suspects for us to consider, and only the method for the one crime was sort of a mystery, while the purpose of the other crime was really out of the blue. At the big "Here's what happened" scene(s) we switch back and forth between the young Monk school theft case, and the adult Monk dead housekeeper case that it was a bit unsettling. I didn't mind some switching...I just felt like they jumped back and forth a bit too much.
The junior high theft seemed odd in that the bulky lunchbox where the money was kept was stolen instead of just the contents that could easily be placed in one's pocket. In fact, there was a reason for this, although it too seemed implausible because of a few factors. As to the modern-day crime-while the motive was understandable, it seemed like a real long shot for the perpetrator to have gone to this much trouble for. I would think that person would have tried some other, legal, way to accomplish his goal.
The crimes were not all that clever, nor were the clues Monk found that helped him solve them. This is really just a way to show us Monk as a young teen. I think the best Monks are the ones where how the crime was committed or how Monk figured out whodunit involves some really clever observations and deductions. Others seem to praise it for showing the younger Monk, but what seems to be missing is the question of what did we learn about him we didn't already know or suspect? I cannot give it a really high score simply because so many episodes are better. It was some fun seeing our hero as a teenager. I give it a 7.
We then see a visitor to Monk's who wants to hire him to find out who killed her housekeeper-that's who was killed. It turns out she is a former junior high classmate of Monk's-one he was shyly fond of at the time. For us viewers, it turns out that this episode is really a vehicle for us to see a 13-14 year-old Monk, very shy, of course, trying to get up the nerve to ask this girl, Sherry, out.
Young Monk (Grant Rosenmeyer) did a fine job of seeming much like the Adrian we know. In the frequent flashback scenes, we see how he helped Sherry out of trouble at the time when she was accused of stealing bake sale money. Monk also has to deal with a bully who torments both he and Sherry. We get one scene of Monk being dropped off at school with his mother appearing to help us understand some of his quirks that we know with things she says.
Trying not to give away important points, I'll just say that both "crimes" that Monk solves had no other real suspects for us to consider, and only the method for the one crime was sort of a mystery, while the purpose of the other crime was really out of the blue. At the big "Here's what happened" scene(s) we switch back and forth between the young Monk school theft case, and the adult Monk dead housekeeper case that it was a bit unsettling. I didn't mind some switching...I just felt like they jumped back and forth a bit too much.
The junior high theft seemed odd in that the bulky lunchbox where the money was kept was stolen instead of just the contents that could easily be placed in one's pocket. In fact, there was a reason for this, although it too seemed implausible because of a few factors. As to the modern-day crime-while the motive was understandable, it seemed like a real long shot for the perpetrator to have gone to this much trouble for. I would think that person would have tried some other, legal, way to accomplish his goal.
The crimes were not all that clever, nor were the clues Monk found that helped him solve them. This is really just a way to show us Monk as a young teen. I think the best Monks are the ones where how the crime was committed or how Monk figured out whodunit involves some really clever observations and deductions. Others seem to praise it for showing the younger Monk, but what seems to be missing is the question of what did we learn about him we didn't already know or suspect? I cannot give it a really high score simply because so many episodes are better. It was some fun seeing our hero as a teenager. I give it a 7.