The setup is not bad but things get kind of silly at the end, and this episode also contains annoying side characters such as a shyster and a homicidal truck driver.
The environmentalist is threatening to sue a developer over construction of a mall on a site, the only place where an endangered species occur. So the developer offs the environmentalist, puts him in the seat of his car, which he puts in his dump truck and drives off intending to dump the car onto the highway to make it look like a road accident.
But he passes Adrian Monk and his assistant, Natalie, who is driving; in the backseat is the assistant's daughter, Julie, who has to pee really badly (another annoying subplot, which nevertheless becomes relevant to the plot later).
The car is dumped as planned and it causes a pileup. Monk goes to examine the accident and notices several things that are off, including that he never noticed the car passing him (having OCD, Monk is able to notice every detail in his surroundings). He tries to raise these concerns to the state police sergeant but is gruffly ignored.
Meanwhile, the murderer has noticed that his phone is the wrong one; in an extraordinary coincidence, it is the same exact model as the one owned by the man he murdered. So he goes back to the scene of the crime to try to get the phone back, which he does by. Killing a paramedic and taking his uniform. But he is ordered by the police sergeant to see to Natalie first to treat a sore wrist she sustained when she braked hard to avoid a collision with the pileup. Monk notices things wrong about this man too including, most importantly, that the man's phone rings, yet he doesn't answer it. Monk also sees that the call is coming from "E. G. G".
Monk takes Natalie's daughter to try and find a potty, which he does when he finds the tour bus of the band Korn (who were popular around 2004 when this episode aired). While Julie is in the bathroom, Monk learns from members of Korn that the murdered man was an eco-activist who was a member of the Environmental Guerrilla Group, which Monk quickly realizes is what 'E. G. G' stands for.
He attempts to tell the cops again but is not only ignored but handcuffed to the inside of a cop car. But he somehow convinces Natalie to investigate the perp's dump truck. However, the perp proceeds to drive off with Natalie still in the truck. Monk tells the police but they continue to ignore him.
The sergeant finally notices the corpse of the slain paramedic and believes Monk's story. He pursues the perp, with Monk in the passenger seat. The perp notices Natalie in his truck and tries to dump her. But Monk, armed with the cop's gun, manages to shoot the fuel line of the truck, causing it to stop. The cop then arrests the perp. The end.
Okay, so if the nutty part isn't already evident, I'll highlight it. The cop pursues the perp but never puts on his siren. Nor does he ever radio for backup. Somehow it makes more sense to this policeman to let a civilian use his gun to shoot the fuel line of the truck.
Meanwhile, the perp is aware he's being pursued by a cop but doesn't seem to care. And he is attempting to murder somebody in broad daylight, on a busy highway, and in full view of the cop. He also sees Monk in the passenger seat, which probably means Monk has convinced the cop; also that the body of the paramedic is found. The cop must know the license plate as well as the name emblazoned on the side of the truck. What is the murderer's plan at this point? Where is he planning to go? He's not some shady underling; he's the owner of a construction company. So where can he possibly hide? The behavior of the criminal possibly makes even less sense than that of the cop.
Just kind of a lame resolution to an episode that was not great in the first place (imho). Plus there are the aforementioned annoying side characters like the shyster and the truck driver who threatens to kill Monk because he reported her dangerous driving; somehow she knows this because her supervisor played the recording of Monk's call back to her (which I'd bet is not something that actually happens in real life). Also, I guess this woman should just be allowed to drive like a maniac? Neither of these characters or subplots add anything meaningful to the episode. Then the there's the subplot about Julie needing to pee, which does lead to the revelation about what EGG stands for but, meh. How about finding a bush? Finally, there's a truly awful Korn song that plays when Monk is in the tour bus to add to the general discontentment.
This episode also misses the presence of Stottlemeyer and Disher.
2 out of 3 found this helpful.
Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink