While I agree that some points stretch our credibility (how was body moved so quickly and without any evidence left behind), I really like the unique elements of this episode: A different side of Sharona, Monk with a new (and very funny) nurse, and more scary than other episodes.
9 Reviews
Sane or insane?
TheLittleSongbird28 July 2017
'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.
While not one of my favourite 'Monk' episodes, "Mr Monk and the Girl Who Cried Wolf" is still very good and its change of pace (being much creepier and more thriller-like with a touch of horror than the show's usual quirkiness) is refreshing. It also is notable for the introduction of Harold Krenshaw and being one of Sharona's last appearances. It is not deserving of the low score it's got on TV.com, to me that is inexplicable and implies that it is one of the show's worst episodes when to me it isn't.
Stottlemeyer (apart from the garage scene with Monk), Benjy and Trevor are pretty much wasted here and Sharona being found and tracked down so quickly by the "apparition-like dead man" did border on the absurd later. Varla is occasionally a character that comes across as overblown, though most of the time she's funny and has some good lines.
Bitty Schram gives one of her best performances of all her appearances on 'Monk' as Sharona, one really feels for her though we don't question her sanity as much as the other characters do. Emma Caulfield gives one of Season 3's best guest performances, Stanley Kamel is a sympathetic presence and Tim Bagley makes a potentially annoying character entertaining.
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?
"Mr Monk and the Girl Who Cried Wolf" has one of the better mysteries of Season 3. It entertains but is one of the strongest and most unconventional of the season and the show, with a thriller-like element and also a sense of horror. The first appearance of the person haunting Sharona is hard to forget and is a strong contender for the most terrifying of 'Monk'.
It's not just the cast or story 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 mostly deft. Monk's OCD is portrayed entertainingly but also sympathetically, it doesn't feel overdone and it is not exploited.
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, very good and a solid attempt at doing something different. 8/10 Bethany Cox
While not one of my favourite 'Monk' episodes, "Mr Monk and the Girl Who Cried Wolf" is still very good and its change of pace (being much creepier and more thriller-like with a touch of horror than the show's usual quirkiness) is refreshing. It also is notable for the introduction of Harold Krenshaw and being one of Sharona's last appearances. It is not deserving of the low score it's got on TV.com, to me that is inexplicable and implies that it is one of the show's worst episodes when to me it isn't.
Stottlemeyer (apart from the garage scene with Monk), Benjy and Trevor are pretty much wasted here and Sharona being found and tracked down so quickly by the "apparition-like dead man" did border on the absurd later. Varla is occasionally a character that comes across as overblown, though most of the time she's funny and has some good lines.
Bitty Schram gives one of her best performances of all her appearances on 'Monk' as Sharona, one really feels for her though we don't question her sanity as much as the other characters do. Emma Caulfield gives one of Season 3's best guest performances, Stanley Kamel is a sympathetic presence and Tim Bagley makes a potentially annoying character entertaining.
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?
"Mr Monk and the Girl Who Cried Wolf" has one of the better mysteries of Season 3. It entertains but is one of the strongest and most unconventional of the season and the show, with a thriller-like element and also a sense of horror. The first appearance of the person haunting Sharona is hard to forget and is a strong contender for the most terrifying of 'Monk'.
It's not just the cast or story 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 mostly deft. Monk's OCD is portrayed entertainingly but also sympathetically, it doesn't feel overdone and it is not exploited.
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, very good and a solid attempt at doing something different. 8/10 Bethany Cox
My Current Favorite Monk Episode
scottschada@yahoo.com9 October 2023
This Monk outing has everything. The ever confident Sharona has completely "lost it" as she is convinced she is losing her mind. As such, she needs to take a break, including an appointment with Monk's therapist, which is good, because she says she was fine until she met him.
This leads to her asking her friend from writing class to take over for her in assisting Monk for an unspecified period. The initial meeting and dialogue between these two is priceless comedic writing, although it does seem to rub some folks the wrong way, as being unnecessarily cruel to the emotionally unwell Adrian Monk. I think its a matter of "oil and water not mixing" and makes for some great laughs. We all know Monk can take it; he has been doing it all his life. I think that behind the smart aleck persona of Neicey Nash there is someone with a heart, although her own needs clearly come first. As another reviewer has said, she wants him to learn to "man up". Sharona really doesn't know her very well if she sends this particular woman to care for Monk, although she needed someone to take over immediately.
Regardless, you will be glued to the TV to find out what's going on in this episode, and to make sure that Sharona and Monk come out okay. There's no question that nothing will ever destroy the Neicey Nash character. A hugely entertaining Monk from beginning to end, even if you have to suspend your disbelief a bit to fully enjoy.
This leads to her asking her friend from writing class to take over for her in assisting Monk for an unspecified period. The initial meeting and dialogue between these two is priceless comedic writing, although it does seem to rub some folks the wrong way, as being unnecessarily cruel to the emotionally unwell Adrian Monk. I think its a matter of "oil and water not mixing" and makes for some great laughs. We all know Monk can take it; he has been doing it all his life. I think that behind the smart aleck persona of Neicey Nash there is someone with a heart, although her own needs clearly come first. As another reviewer has said, she wants him to learn to "man up". Sharona really doesn't know her very well if she sends this particular woman to care for Monk, although she needed someone to take over immediately.
Regardless, you will be glued to the TV to find out what's going on in this episode, and to make sure that Sharona and Monk come out okay. There's no question that nothing will ever destroy the Neicey Nash character. A hugely entertaining Monk from beginning to end, even if you have to suspend your disbelief a bit to fully enjoy.
M. Night Shyamalan or David Lynch would have had a field day with this episode
safenoe26 February 2020
Warning: Spoilers
A genuinely creepy episode, kind of like the Shining for prime time TV, with visions of a dead person ("I see dead people") or Twin Peakish images that freak poor Sharona out. Thankfully Monk comes to the rescue. All credit to the writers for crafting a fanciful tale that grips you to the very end. Emma Caulfield appears, although she's credited as Emma Caufield. Perhaps there was a typo in the credits. Everything is not what it seems in this fine episode of Monk.
Gaslight Serenade
Hitchcoc12 March 2020
Sharona keeps seeing a man with a knife in his chest and a screwdriver shoved in his ear. But when she goes for help, the guy is gone. The amazing thing is how he could do this without leaving residue behind. With Monk's uncanny abilities, it seems unlikely and that's why I had to take a couple points off. Also, when Sharona has one of her classmates take over her "Monk job," the woman has no understanding of the man's afflictions. She is loud and really tiresome. Please don't bring her back again!
What's worst, annoying characters or an asinine mystery
snickzella25 June 2022
First off, I like Niecy Nash, she is a really good actress, but what did they do to her here. Never have I seen a usually funny, charismatic, and kind actress play one of the most annoying character that I have ever seen and is so out of place in the entire Monk universe, that I can't even believe this is still the same show. Not only that the mystery and plot make absolutely no sense. Sure gaslighting mysteries can work. However, it doesn't here. The murderers were just a couple having an affair, and the woman wanted her husband dead, why steal the idea from someone and gaslight them, when you could have just killed him regardless. This isn't the last monk to have such a dumb and asinine plot, but I really wish it would have been.
I agree with other reviewers
jpapanone30 April 2020
Great episode for Bitty/sharona...and i liked the creepiness of this episode.
I liked Niecy on Reno, but this character is terrible... but she doesn't show up significantly until about 40 minutes in.
So...i get through the majority of the episode, and then Niecy shows up. So... can i take her for the last 20 minutes of the episode? Depends on my mood. This episode and the one with the chimp are the 2 episodes that I'm most likely to skip and not watch again.
So...i get through the majority of the episode, and then Niecy shows up. So... can i take her for the last 20 minutes of the episode? Depends on my mood. This episode and the one with the chimp are the 2 episodes that I'm most likely to skip and not watch again.
Somehow Both Too Crazy and Too Predictable
patrickwesterveltus12 April 2021
Warning: Spoilers
I'm a big Monk fan, and I think most episodes of Monk are at least decent. This episode is no exception, but only barely.
It's not a particularly good one. I'm used to a little bit of contrivance in Monk, I get it. But you're telling me that Sharona, a shrewd detective's partner, didn't notice people going in and out of her house for weeks? And that a killer who wants to murder her husband is going to use the very, very specific method from a student's short story, but avoid that student's suspicion by making her think she's going crazy? It's all a bit too much, and they never even fully explain how her partner in crime does such wacky things and then instantly disappears, along with (almost) all trace of them nigh-instantaneously.
But this episode isn't just too out there, it's also too boring. As an audience member, you're 90% sure that Sharona isn't going crazy, someone is doing something to her. And on top of that, once her teacher pretends not to see what's going on, it all falls into place almost too easily. I'm no super sleuth, most of the time that I watch Monk I don't know how they did it until it's explained, but this one was way too transparent.
There are things to like. Sharona's actress is great in therapy, Monk dealing with the other patient is funny, the domino scene put a big smile on my face, and seeing Monk with another nurse is entertaining. But this is definitely one of the weaker episodes of the show.
It's not a particularly good one. I'm used to a little bit of contrivance in Monk, I get it. But you're telling me that Sharona, a shrewd detective's partner, didn't notice people going in and out of her house for weeks? And that a killer who wants to murder her husband is going to use the very, very specific method from a student's short story, but avoid that student's suspicion by making her think she's going crazy? It's all a bit too much, and they never even fully explain how her partner in crime does such wacky things and then instantly disappears, along with (almost) all trace of them nigh-instantaneously.
But this episode isn't just too out there, it's also too boring. As an audience member, you're 90% sure that Sharona isn't going crazy, someone is doing something to her. And on top of that, once her teacher pretends not to see what's going on, it all falls into place almost too easily. I'm no super sleuth, most of the time that I watch Monk I don't know how they did it until it's explained, but this one was way too transparent.
There are things to like. Sharona's actress is great in therapy, Monk dealing with the other patient is funny, the domino scene put a big smile on my face, and seeing Monk with another nurse is entertaining. But this is definitely one of the weaker episodes of the show.
Doesn't Sharona have a cell phone?
riclin53542 November 2021
It seems to me after the second time seeing that mystery body, she should have just snapped a picture of it on her cell phone so she had something to prove she actually saw something.
I've grown to really like Sharona's character, but this really shows her range. My husband and I just started binging the series on Amazon Prime during quarantine for Covid 19. I'll be disappointed whe she leaves, but I've seen good reviews for her replacement.
I've grown to really like Sharona's character, but this really shows her range. My husband and I just started binging the series on Amazon Prime during quarantine for Covid 19. I'll be disappointed whe she leaves, but I've seen good reviews for her replacement.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
