User Reviews

'Monk' has always been one of my most watched shows when needing comfort, to relax after a hard day, a good laugh or a way to spend a lazy weekend.

"Mr Monk Goes Back to School" was outstanding and "Mr Monk Goes to Mexico" was very good and an interesting change of pace. "Mr Monk Goes to the Ballgame" continues this high standard with one of the season's stronger episodes. The whole stuff with the GPS tracking announcer system was very clever to begin with but came over as a little silly once the murders happened. The motive for the killings makes one think "they killed for that".

So much works about "Mr Monk Goes to the Ballgame". As said many times, one of the best things about 'Monk' has always been the acting of Tony Shalhoub in the title role. It was essential for him to work and be the glue of the show, and Shalhoub not only is that but also at his very best he IS the show. Have always loved the balance of the humour, which is often hilarious, and pathos, which is sincere and touching. It is remarkable here that right from the first episode to when the show ended that one likes him straight away, even with his quirks and deficiencies that could easily have been overplayed, and also that he is better developed than most titular characters of other shows at this particular stage. Who can't help love Monk's brilliant mind too?

He is very well supported by a sharp and no-nonsense but also sympathetic Bitty Schram, whose Sharona makes for a worthy and entertaining partner for Monk's sleuthing and somebody with a maternal side. There is always a debate at who's better between Sharona and Natalie, personally like both in their own way and consider them both attractive though as of now leaning towards Natalie as the better acted and more attentive of the two. The two are so enjoyable together and the best detective duo of any show in recent years from personal opinion.

As well as Ted Levine, who has fun in a role completely removed from Buffalo Bill, and a more confident with every episode Jason Gray-Stanford. Love the chemistry between the four all the time, especially with Monk and Sharona and the seesaw one of Monk and Stottlemeyer.

It's not just the cast though. Another star is the writing, which is also essential to whether the show would be successful or not and succeed it does here. The mix of hilarious wry humour, lovable quirkiness and tender easy-to-relate-to drama is delicately done but extremely deft, of which some of the funniest writing of the whole show is in this episode. The character moments are such a joy with the principal cast are always.

Loved the naked man stuff, which was hilarious, the "Girls can't eat 15 pizzas" clue and Monk's obsession with acronyms. Appreciated the character development for Benjy, the most developed he's been up to this point in the show. Sharona's running gag was amusing too.

The mystery is very interesting, with lots of surprises that keep coming, things personally much more noticeable and appreciated than on previous viewings.

Visually, the episode is shot in a slick and stylish way, and the music is both understated and quirky. While there is a preference for the theme music for Season 1, Randy Newman's "It's a Jungle Out There" has grown on me overtime, found it annoying at first but appreciate its meaning and what it's trying to say much more now.

Overall, great episode. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Not a bad episode, and Monk is always a pleasant way to pass a rainy day. Here the murder suspect is not obvious from the start, and the plot is quite elaborate. The Michael Jordan autographed basketball faux pas is very funny and gets Monk into a bit of hot water with a sports agent! Hard to believe Monk debuted nearly 20 years ago, a couple of years before Facebook was invented, and four years before Twitter was launched. Monk is timeless, and it would be interesting to know how Mr. Monk would cope with social media.

The wealthy Lawrence Hammond and his wife Erin follow the GPS of his car to a resort and end in a deserted parking lot, where a criminal kills them. On the next morning, Monk and Sharona arrive at the crime scene to investigate the murder of the powerful man. Stottlemeyer and Randall Disher believe that Lawrence was the victim and investigate his enemies, but Monk believes Erin was the victim and Lawrence was a collateral damage. Monk investigates her personal life and finds that she was in love with the baseball player Scott Gregorio, who is close to break the record of the famous player Darryl Grant but was recently attacked by a man with a baseball bat. He contacts Scott, who is deeply affected by Erin's death, and they become friends during the investigation.

"Mr. Monk Goes to the Ballgame" is an episode recommended for fans of baseball. The empathy between Scott and Monk is nice since both are grieving the death of the beloved woman. The scene where Monk erases Michael Jordan's autograph in the football's ball of Grant's agent is one of the funniest scenes in the series. The dispute between Stottkemeyer's son and Benjy is silly. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Monk Vai ao Jogo" ("Monk Goes to the Game")

Stottlemeyer is the coach of a little league team and he cheats the other team to win, something i never expected from a straight laced cop ... this goes to his overall character traits which relates directly why he uses monk to solve cases he can take credit for