User Reviews

Sara Silverman returns as Monk's biggest fan. She pushes and shoves her way into his private life. She sees Natalie as a foe and that leads to some sparks. This time the plot is acceptable and the solution to the murder worked for me. There are some choice scenes that are based on an undying love for the world's "greatest detective." And that song!

'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.

Season 6 gets off to a solid start with "Mr Monk and His Biggest Fan". There are better episodes of 'Monk', but it does its job of entertaining and provoking thought very well. It is a little lacking in the mystery, which is paced well and engaging enough thanks to the procedural aspects and how it's all deduced but it was slightly frustrating that it took longer for the characters to solve a crime that was easily solvable to the viewer very early on. Am aware it's not the first or last time for 'Monk' that the mysteries are obvious but this was one of the more notable examples to me.

Once again, Stottlemeyer was underused and, despite Ted Levine being good as always, was barely memorable.

Not that it was so distracting that it out-shadowed all the good things. The highlights of "Mr Monk and His Biggest Fan" are the chemistry between Monk and Marci and the character of Marci herself. The chemistry between the two is pure comic genius with so many inspired exchanges (like in the final summation), while Marci is often hilarious and gives the episode so much verve. She is somewhat annoying, but for Monk's biggest fan it was intentional and necessary to show any tension in Monk's annoyance for her, creepy too, again effective considering her role in the episode. Sarah Silverman plays her very well, and her chemistry with Natalie shone just as much too, where one really understands Natalie's concern and how she reacts to Marci.

Character moments-wise, it's all the exchanges between Monk and Marci that shine, as well as the monogrammed wipes, the final summation and with the troll dolls. Disher is good fun here too and is not the stupid or childish character we saw in some episodes of Season 5.

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.

Natalie is down to earth, sympathetic and sassy, also being sensitive to Monk's needs and quirks which Traylor Howard does well bringing out. Jason Gray-Stanford and Ted Levine are good as usual as Disher and Stottlemeyer despite not being used well. The supporting cast are solid.

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 wry humour, lovable quirkiness and tender easy-to-relate-to drama is delicately done, particularly the last one. The quirks are sympathetically done and never exploited or overdone.

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. Oh and a good job is done with the different opening credits sequence to accommodate the changes made. The episode is made with a lot of slickness and style as always.

Altogether, promising and entertaining Season 6 opener, let down by the too obvious mystery and lifted by Marci and her chemistry with Monk. 8/10 Bethany Cox

When Marci sings her song "Adrian" to Monk always makes me smile. Love the series but the Adrian song is my fav.

And just like the previous review....the Adrian song is my favorite part of the whole series! This episode is so much fun. I highly recommend it.

This would have been a decent episode. But for some reason I dislike the ending, where Sarah Silverman's character decides she no longer wants to be Monk's biggest fan, which doesn't make any sense given how this is retconned in the one hundredth episode where her character is suddenly Monk's biggest fan again. It makes no sense. Also F. Murray Abraham ? I don't understand how he's suddenly the next obsession, unless it's some sort of Amadeus reference, but they don't explain it. All in all there is a decent episode here up until the very end.

This used to be one of my favorite shows, but now while I am viewing it again, I cannot help reevaluate it. Monk is unfortunately not as good as I remembered it to be. It began to slide starting with the season four episode "Mr Monk and the Big Reward." Season five was fairly mediocre, with the last two episodes being especially poor. The first episode of season six is quite bad. Considering the episode was written by the series creator, the motivation of Marci does not make much sense. Through most of the show she is Monk's biggest fan and then near the end, she abruptly turns against him. This is a television series that seems to have lost its way.