The show began to grow long grey whiskers. What can you do to sustain a concept like Monk over seven years. While there are moments of entertainment, they rest on the plot, not the characters. Monk is a given. Trudy is a given. Insensitivity is a given. Here, the plot doesn't hold up very well. One thing that is never in question. Given the circumstances, would a jury be able to render a guilty verdict on such frivolous evidence? This one stretches that reality again.
7 Reviews
Very funny episode, one of my favorites. The "stupid" receptionist is great.
chipe7 June 2009
Warning: Spoilers
I thought "Fights City Hall" is one of the best written and most enjoyable "Monk" episodes. I have replayed it many times to my delight. (Some spoilers here.) On the negative side:
(1) I didn't care for Monk acting like a helpless jerk protesting the demolition of the garage, especially after he admitted that he probably didn't overlook any clues, having revisited the garage about once a week! Ye, Gads! (He could have taken pictures of the garage wall if he wanted to savior the memory.) As a lot of fans have mentioned lately, we see too much of Monk as a ridiculous slapstick caricature, but fortunately not too much of that is in this episode.
(2) The murdered German tourist bit was a complete waste of time. It could have been taken out with no loss. It had nothing much to do with the planning or commission of the crime, nothing to do with clues and solving it.
(3) Monk is celebrating his victory after the second vote on the garage; then the clues suddenly dawn on him. OK, fine. Then, magically, two (courthouse?) cops happen to have been standing by, listening intently, ready to arrest the guilty newspaperman.
(4) nit picking to end all nit picking: at the start of the episode (when Monk is chained to the garage), Monk tells the councilwoman that one reason the garage shouldn't be demolished is that there might be clues there as to the Trudy murder case. So the councilwoman says she never realized that, so orders the demolition halted and a new council vote on the matter. But that is ridiculous: Monk knew about the first council vote and had to be there to make that obvious argument, which the councilwoman had to hear. On the other hand: the councilwoman halting the demolition and arranging a new vote is certainly needed for the episode story to take place.
(5) the crime and solving parts were no great shakes, but they hardly ever are in "Monk" episodes. What was here is serviceable enough. It is mainly the humor, situations and characters that we appreciate, and they were here in abundance.
(6) I'm irate that the promos for this season finale blatantly lied to us. The promo spends a lot of time showing Monk protesting the imminent destruction of the garage (he chained himself to it) where Trudy was murdered. Monk pleads "... my wife died here," which is immediately followed by the announcer's "and then you won't believe what he finds." All lies. He found nothing.
On the positive side, the episode is a nice, compact, very humorous, well-written yarn that sticks to his solving the case and the garage vote, not to Monk's peculiarities. What I liked are the acting, characters, humor, and good pace. A lot of effort went into writing this episode; they sure aren't coasting to the end of the series. Here are some favorite funny scenes, so many you may wonder how they fit all this into 40 minutes of show time:
(1) Monk, who is chained in the garage and is chanting the old radical protest "Hell no, we won't go," implores Natalie to join in the chant because if he was chanting alone, the "we" part "wouldn't make any sense."
(2) Harold trying to find the name of Monk's therapist: Natalie spits out her drink when Harold mentions the alarm and "Dr. Bell."
(3) Natalie corrects the receptionist that the day is not Friday, and the stupid receptionist replies "Who told you that?"
(4) Monk, exasperated by the receptionist, asks if there is someone else he can talk to, and the receptionist points to Natalie!
(5) the whole hot dog warehouse scene was a riot -- talk of hiding the missing councilwoman in the hot dogs while Randy is eating one, the government forced them to put meat in quotations ("meat"), doctors being unable to figure out the cause of the hot dog czar's frequent chest pains (he was constantly eating the hot dogs!), etc.
(6) Monk unable to get past putting up even one of 1000 posters because the poster and/or the pole are uneven.
(7) Dr. Bell mentions that an assistant could vote for the missing councilwoman. Monk, amazed, stands up. Dr. Bell tells Monk to sit down. Monk says "I think you are a genius." Dr. Bell says, "OK, you can stand."
(8) Monk romancing the receptionist to get her vote: waving the flowers about and sitting on her desk, hesitating to pay $3 for her hot dog, meeting the vendor again and saying "it's a pleasure to see you again" while making quotations marks with his fingers, Monk promising not to tell the receptionist's child (20 years later) that she ate hot dogs during her pregnancy, Monk asserting that the kids don't need a playground -- they could use their imagination and play in the garage, and best of all: the receptionist complains that the councilwoman should have warned her upon hiring her that the councilwoman would likely soon disappear, that she should have mentioned it on the employment poster.
(9) the love nest, cheerleader and French maid costumes/roommates , and the drawer.
(10) Monk is elated when the journal is found. He says "this is all I need." Stottlemeyer and Randy beam, thinking he solved the case, but Monk only thinks of using it to convince the receptionist to vote his way.
(11) Harold's prayer that the murder of the councilwoman be personal or random, not a vendetta against the city council.
(12) Monk's lengthy tantrum, calling the woman a dolt who was only hired for her "pee," and the receptionist then changing her vote.
(13) Harold finally finding the name of Monk's therapist, Dr. Bell -- "see you in the waiting room."
(1) I didn't care for Monk acting like a helpless jerk protesting the demolition of the garage, especially after he admitted that he probably didn't overlook any clues, having revisited the garage about once a week! Ye, Gads! (He could have taken pictures of the garage wall if he wanted to savior the memory.) As a lot of fans have mentioned lately, we see too much of Monk as a ridiculous slapstick caricature, but fortunately not too much of that is in this episode.
(2) The murdered German tourist bit was a complete waste of time. It could have been taken out with no loss. It had nothing much to do with the planning or commission of the crime, nothing to do with clues and solving it.
(3) Monk is celebrating his victory after the second vote on the garage; then the clues suddenly dawn on him. OK, fine. Then, magically, two (courthouse?) cops happen to have been standing by, listening intently, ready to arrest the guilty newspaperman.
(4) nit picking to end all nit picking: at the start of the episode (when Monk is chained to the garage), Monk tells the councilwoman that one reason the garage shouldn't be demolished is that there might be clues there as to the Trudy murder case. So the councilwoman says she never realized that, so orders the demolition halted and a new council vote on the matter. But that is ridiculous: Monk knew about the first council vote and had to be there to make that obvious argument, which the councilwoman had to hear. On the other hand: the councilwoman halting the demolition and arranging a new vote is certainly needed for the episode story to take place.
(5) the crime and solving parts were no great shakes, but they hardly ever are in "Monk" episodes. What was here is serviceable enough. It is mainly the humor, situations and characters that we appreciate, and they were here in abundance.
(6) I'm irate that the promos for this season finale blatantly lied to us. The promo spends a lot of time showing Monk protesting the imminent destruction of the garage (he chained himself to it) where Trudy was murdered. Monk pleads "... my wife died here," which is immediately followed by the announcer's "and then you won't believe what he finds." All lies. He found nothing.
On the positive side, the episode is a nice, compact, very humorous, well-written yarn that sticks to his solving the case and the garage vote, not to Monk's peculiarities. What I liked are the acting, characters, humor, and good pace. A lot of effort went into writing this episode; they sure aren't coasting to the end of the series. Here are some favorite funny scenes, so many you may wonder how they fit all this into 40 minutes of show time:
(1) Monk, who is chained in the garage and is chanting the old radical protest "Hell no, we won't go," implores Natalie to join in the chant because if he was chanting alone, the "we" part "wouldn't make any sense."
(2) Harold trying to find the name of Monk's therapist: Natalie spits out her drink when Harold mentions the alarm and "Dr. Bell."
(3) Natalie corrects the receptionist that the day is not Friday, and the stupid receptionist replies "Who told you that?"
(4) Monk, exasperated by the receptionist, asks if there is someone else he can talk to, and the receptionist points to Natalie!
(5) the whole hot dog warehouse scene was a riot -- talk of hiding the missing councilwoman in the hot dogs while Randy is eating one, the government forced them to put meat in quotations ("meat"), doctors being unable to figure out the cause of the hot dog czar's frequent chest pains (he was constantly eating the hot dogs!), etc.
(6) Monk unable to get past putting up even one of 1000 posters because the poster and/or the pole are uneven.
(7) Dr. Bell mentions that an assistant could vote for the missing councilwoman. Monk, amazed, stands up. Dr. Bell tells Monk to sit down. Monk says "I think you are a genius." Dr. Bell says, "OK, you can stand."
(8) Monk romancing the receptionist to get her vote: waving the flowers about and sitting on her desk, hesitating to pay $3 for her hot dog, meeting the vendor again and saying "it's a pleasure to see you again" while making quotations marks with his fingers, Monk promising not to tell the receptionist's child (20 years later) that she ate hot dogs during her pregnancy, Monk asserting that the kids don't need a playground -- they could use their imagination and play in the garage, and best of all: the receptionist complains that the councilwoman should have warned her upon hiring her that the councilwoman would likely soon disappear, that she should have mentioned it on the employment poster.
(9) the love nest, cheerleader and French maid costumes/roommates , and the drawer.
(10) Monk is elated when the journal is found. He says "this is all I need." Stottlemeyer and Randy beam, thinking he solved the case, but Monk only thinks of using it to convince the receptionist to vote his way.
(11) Harold's prayer that the murder of the councilwoman be personal or random, not a vendetta against the city council.
(12) Monk's lengthy tantrum, calling the woman a dolt who was only hired for her "pee," and the receptionist then changing her vote.
(13) Harold finally finding the name of Monk's therapist, Dr. Bell -- "see you in the waiting room."
Fighting for Trudy
TheLittleSongbird25 September 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.
As a season finale, "Mr Monk Fights City Hall" is a well done one if not quite an example of "going out with a bang". Most of it was executed very well and it is one of the better Season 7 episodes (which saw great episodes like "Mr Monk and the Genius", "Mr Monk and the Lady Next Door" and "Mr Monk Makes the Playoffs", and "Mr Monk and the Magician" and disappointments in "Mr Monk Falls in Love" and particularly "Mr Monk Takes a Punch") but it did feel like something was missing.
There are a few things that would have made "Mr Monk Fights City Hall" better. It would have been better if Monk's motivations for investigating the murder weren't so callous, selfish and cruel which generally is uncharacteristic for him. Also if the vacationing couple story line actually felt like it served a point, one does sort of question the necessity of it, that a couple of clues didn't come out of nowhere and made more sense and that the killer wasn't revealed so early (not unusual for 'Monk', but this episode would have benefited from a later reveal).
However, there are also several things that make "Mr Monk Fights City Hall" a delight. It is certainly one of the funniest episodes of the later seasons, especially everything regarding the hoot of a receptionist, the hot dog warehouse scene, the posters, the assistant for missing council woman scene between Monk and Dr Bell and Harold trying to guess the name of Monk's therapist and Natalie's reaction. "Mr Monk Fights City Hall" has its emotional side too, with the naming of the playground being very sweet and poignant and while Monk's objection to the demolition was in a way somewhat extreme once one knows the significance of his objection (obvious from the start) it is easier to understand.
It has a pretty good mystery, not as simple or as obvious as some Season 7 episodes and isn't convoluted or side-lined. It at least grabs you and makes one think, with some of the most satisfying crime-solving and deductions of the season. It just needed a later reveal and if they were to have the vacationing couple murder story at all more needed to be done with it.
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.
Traylor Howard is down-to-earth and sympathetic, Jason Gray-Stanford is amusing even when a goofball and Ted Levine plays the loyal but frustrated boss character with his usual adept comedic chops. The characters are in character on the whole, with Monk not being a caricature or being over-reliant on the comedy. Disher is still a daft goofball, evidenced in the hot dog scene, but at least not an annoying one. Tim Bagley is always great value as Krenshaw and Stanley Kamel's replacement Hector Elizondo is proving all the time to be a worthy one.
Writing is funny, thoughtful and poignant, with Monk's quirks never exploited or over-the-top.
Visually, the episode is slick and stylish as ever. 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, well done but for a season finale something was missing. 8/10 Bethany Cox
As a season finale, "Mr Monk Fights City Hall" is a well done one if not quite an example of "going out with a bang". Most of it was executed very well and it is one of the better Season 7 episodes (which saw great episodes like "Mr Monk and the Genius", "Mr Monk and the Lady Next Door" and "Mr Monk Makes the Playoffs", and "Mr Monk and the Magician" and disappointments in "Mr Monk Falls in Love" and particularly "Mr Monk Takes a Punch") but it did feel like something was missing.
There are a few things that would have made "Mr Monk Fights City Hall" better. It would have been better if Monk's motivations for investigating the murder weren't so callous, selfish and cruel which generally is uncharacteristic for him. Also if the vacationing couple story line actually felt like it served a point, one does sort of question the necessity of it, that a couple of clues didn't come out of nowhere and made more sense and that the killer wasn't revealed so early (not unusual for 'Monk', but this episode would have benefited from a later reveal).
However, there are also several things that make "Mr Monk Fights City Hall" a delight. It is certainly one of the funniest episodes of the later seasons, especially everything regarding the hoot of a receptionist, the hot dog warehouse scene, the posters, the assistant for missing council woman scene between Monk and Dr Bell and Harold trying to guess the name of Monk's therapist and Natalie's reaction. "Mr Monk Fights City Hall" has its emotional side too, with the naming of the playground being very sweet and poignant and while Monk's objection to the demolition was in a way somewhat extreme once one knows the significance of his objection (obvious from the start) it is easier to understand.
It has a pretty good mystery, not as simple or as obvious as some Season 7 episodes and isn't convoluted or side-lined. It at least grabs you and makes one think, with some of the most satisfying crime-solving and deductions of the season. It just needed a later reveal and if they were to have the vacationing couple murder story at all more needed to be done with it.
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.
Traylor Howard is down-to-earth and sympathetic, Jason Gray-Stanford is amusing even when a goofball and Ted Levine plays the loyal but frustrated boss character with his usual adept comedic chops. The characters are in character on the whole, with Monk not being a caricature or being over-reliant on the comedy. Disher is still a daft goofball, evidenced in the hot dog scene, but at least not an annoying one. Tim Bagley is always great value as Krenshaw and Stanley Kamel's replacement Hector Elizondo is proving all the time to be a worthy one.
Writing is funny, thoughtful and poignant, with Monk's quirks never exploited or over-the-top.
Visually, the episode is slick and stylish as ever. 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, well done but for a season finale something was missing. 8/10 Bethany Cox
Trudy lives on
safenoe2 September 2020
You can feel Monk's emotion as he fights to preserve Trudy's memory, amidst a missing councilwoman and the intrigue behind it. The drama is reminiscent of local politics that mask controversies. I still haven't warmed to Randy Newman's opening theme.
Season 7: Barely hangs together with some good episodes but an equal number of awful ones and the rest all so-so
bob the moo1 March 2009
Monk returns for a seventh season and proves that without doubt the decision to end the show after the next season is perhaps the best one. Season 5 was awful, season 6 was an improvement and season 7 is essentially showing how difficult it is to make a winning formula work over as long a run as this. Let it be a warning to similar shows like Psych because now even when Monk is hitting formula bang on the money, it perhaps doesn't provide the joy and sense of fun that it once did. This is understandable because it isn't fresh and it is not easy to make "the same thing" feel different once you've done it so many times.
Season 7 does hit formula though and for fans this will be good news. OK it is not "new" but we still have some great episodes here, the one in the submarine being one of my favourite ones and a good example of when the writers stick to formula and find a way to make feel fresh (shame that episode also has some of the worst "backdrop painting" I've seen for quite some time). There are also a good crop of "solid" episodes that do the formula but don't make it feel as fun and fresh as it once did. Again, this is perhaps fine after such a long run and I wasn't too upset by that and still enjoyed those even if a lot of them are pretty contrived in how they make the plot happen.
The ongoing problem sees us back in "season 5" territory where there are some weak episodes that are caused by the way the plot is made to happen. So much effort is put into the making the plot work that it stands out and takes away from the fun of Monk being Monk. Similar to Randy inheriting a farm, this time we get things like Stottlemeyer becoming a monk, only for about 30 minutes and only to make a plot work. Likewise we have the usual ones where the formula is changed just to try and make it feel fresh. These ones mostly stink the place up as we get "average" ones like Monk falling in love but also awful ones, specifically the one where Monk acts like a child due to hypnotism or some other rubbish. Oh, or the one where he "has ANOTHER brother" but really I should have seen this coming since the first episode sees Monk moving house just to set up a simple gag/plot. The show just about still has enough wit and charm about it to keep the fans happy though but the weaker episodes test even that loyalty. It doesn't help that it frequently wheels out the spectre of Trudy when it needs to make things a bit more serious or to create a plot for an episode. At one point her death felt like a part of the show, then it started to feel like a bit of a plot device, now it feels like nothing other than a plot device. This has come about of years of using the death rather than making it part of the life of Monk this will hurt them because undoubtedly Trudy's murder will be pulled back into the final season but I suspect it is too late and its misuse and non-use has done the damage now.
The cast struggle because of things like this weak episodes, no development, a lack of quotable lines and so on. Shalhoub perhaps deserves a bit more criticism for the quality since he has claimed a producer credit but in terms of his performance he always does what is required of him and his actual performance is s good as the material allows him to be (which is not that great as praise goes I agree). Howard continues to be OK but she is a bit bland for the majority of the season with only one or two episodes giving her a bit of colour in her character. Gray-Stanford is starting to get a bit too daft, he has some good lines but when his material is weaker he tends to overplay. Levine steps down in quality here and he seems a little tired at times, like he is going through the motions but not putting too much effort in. Elizondo steps into Kamel's shoes and does more of the same, with the submarine episode the only one where he is really well used.
Overall Monk retains some of what made it popular and it has managed to sort of stop things getting worse after a terrible season 5 was followed by a rocky season 6. However, it is hard to escape the feeling that it is all being held together. The occasional good episodes are matched by an equal number of awful episodes and the rest are so-so at best. This is not really the way to retain an audience. I will of course return for season 8 but on the evidence of the last three seasons, things do not look good and it will be lucky to make it to the finish line before the wheels totally fall off.
Season 7 does hit formula though and for fans this will be good news. OK it is not "new" but we still have some great episodes here, the one in the submarine being one of my favourite ones and a good example of when the writers stick to formula and find a way to make feel fresh (shame that episode also has some of the worst "backdrop painting" I've seen for quite some time). There are also a good crop of "solid" episodes that do the formula but don't make it feel as fun and fresh as it once did. Again, this is perhaps fine after such a long run and I wasn't too upset by that and still enjoyed those even if a lot of them are pretty contrived in how they make the plot happen.
The ongoing problem sees us back in "season 5" territory where there are some weak episodes that are caused by the way the plot is made to happen. So much effort is put into the making the plot work that it stands out and takes away from the fun of Monk being Monk. Similar to Randy inheriting a farm, this time we get things like Stottlemeyer becoming a monk, only for about 30 minutes and only to make a plot work. Likewise we have the usual ones where the formula is changed just to try and make it feel fresh. These ones mostly stink the place up as we get "average" ones like Monk falling in love but also awful ones, specifically the one where Monk acts like a child due to hypnotism or some other rubbish. Oh, or the one where he "has ANOTHER brother" but really I should have seen this coming since the first episode sees Monk moving house just to set up a simple gag/plot. The show just about still has enough wit and charm about it to keep the fans happy though but the weaker episodes test even that loyalty. It doesn't help that it frequently wheels out the spectre of Trudy when it needs to make things a bit more serious or to create a plot for an episode. At one point her death felt like a part of the show, then it started to feel like a bit of a plot device, now it feels like nothing other than a plot device. This has come about of years of using the death rather than making it part of the life of Monk this will hurt them because undoubtedly Trudy's murder will be pulled back into the final season but I suspect it is too late and its misuse and non-use has done the damage now.
The cast struggle because of things like this weak episodes, no development, a lack of quotable lines and so on. Shalhoub perhaps deserves a bit more criticism for the quality since he has claimed a producer credit but in terms of his performance he always does what is required of him and his actual performance is s good as the material allows him to be (which is not that great as praise goes I agree). Howard continues to be OK but she is a bit bland for the majority of the season with only one or two episodes giving her a bit of colour in her character. Gray-Stanford is starting to get a bit too daft, he has some good lines but when his material is weaker he tends to overplay. Levine steps down in quality here and he seems a little tired at times, like he is going through the motions but not putting too much effort in. Elizondo steps into Kamel's shoes and does more of the same, with the submarine episode the only one where he is really well used.
Overall Monk retains some of what made it popular and it has managed to sort of stop things getting worse after a terrible season 5 was followed by a rocky season 6. However, it is hard to escape the feeling that it is all being held together. The occasional good episodes are matched by an equal number of awful episodes and the rest are so-so at best. This is not really the way to retain an audience. I will of course return for season 8 but on the evidence of the last three seasons, things do not look good and it will be lucky to make it to the finish line before the wheels totally fall off.
This is one decent "episode"
dmcreif13 November 2010
Warning: Spoilers
There are parts I don't like in this episode, but what I really like is the entire business about the "hot dogs." See, they are required by law to put "meat" in "quotes," and hence it is easy to make fun of "that".
Another of my favorite moments is when Harold is trying to guess Monk's therapist's name, and when he says "Dr. Bell," Natalie spits in his face.
This episode does kind of make season 7 end on a little bit of a less cheerful note, in contrast to other seasons. But it is made up for with the brilliant other episodes of the season. A little bit more humor would have made up for it, but it's still good.
Another of my favorite moments is when Harold is trying to guess Monk's therapist's name, and when he says "Dr. Bell," Natalie spits in his face.
This episode does kind of make season 7 end on a little bit of a less cheerful note, in contrast to other seasons. But it is made up for with the brilliant other episodes of the season. A little bit more humor would have made up for it, but it's still good.
Level B5
ctomvelu-121 February 2009
Monk lobbies to keep a parking garage intact that the city wants to convert to a playground. The reason: it's where Monk's wife was murdered 11 years before. He needs to make certain a sympathetic councilwoman votes against the playground, but she mysteriously vanishes and it is up to her newly hired assistant to stand in for the missing lady and cast the deciding vote to keep the garage intact. Only problem is, the assistant is a ditz and Monk must sweet-talk her into doing his bidding. A vacationing couple is found murdered early in the episode and Monk decides their fate is intertwined with that of the missing councilwoman. The killer is revealed way too early. Otherwise, a tricky and bittersweet episode. And a final goodbye to Trudy, or at least I hope so. Eleven years (seven in reality) of this is enough. Time for Mr. Monk to find a new wife.
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