The scene in which Monk stalks Winston Brenner through his apartment with nightvision goggles parodies the scene where Jame Gumb (Ted Levine) stalks Agent Clarice Starling through the basement of his house. For "Mr. Monk and the Blackout", the scene is the reverse of how it is in The Silence of the Lambs (hero stalks the villain in the episode, as opposed to the other way around)