'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.
There may be better episodes and mysteries in Season 4 and of 'Monk' in general than "Mr Monk Goes to a Fashion Show", but for one watching 'Monk' for entertainment, good character moments and a way to just unwind "Mr Monk Goes to a Fashion Show" does its job very well. The mystery itself is another one that is too easy to figure out, there is a twist that's pretty neat and quite interesting but wasn't that much of a surprise and there could have been a few more clues and suspects to stop the story from being as predictable and too easily-too-early solvable as it turned out to be.
Perhaps more could have been done with Malcolm McDowell's character Julian Hodge. A fun and suitably loathsome character (especially in his treatment of Natalie which saw some wonderfully scathing lines), played perfectly and to the hilt by McDowell who specialises with these types of characters and villains so the role couldn't have suited him more ideally, that isn't quite meaty enough at the same time. Some of how he behaves and motivations could have been explored with more depth and his thinking that Disher should try out was a potentially interesting angle that sadly didn't go very far at all.
However, the look of the world of fashion and modelling was an interesting one (though it is hardly the first detective show to do it), while it is a far from novel it was good to show that something that looks so glamorous on the surface is less than glamorous behind the scenes. Lovely to see more development on Julie (charmingly played by Emmy Clarke), who rocks the catwalk and looks great in all her outfits as you can see with Hodge taking an interest in her.
Natalie is down to earth, sympathetic and sassy, also being sensitive to Monk's needs and quirks which Traylor Howard does well bringing out. Stottlemeyer and Disher have some good moments too, and Ted Levine and Jason Gray-Stanford are great.
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'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 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.
Character moments are another star, full of hilarious, thought-provoking and sweet moments. Just a few examples are Monk's discomfort in seeing nudity, his ignorance of bulimia, Disher's surprisingly philosophical answer to Natalie remarking how sad models look, the whole stuff with Monk's shirts, Hodge's treatment and observations of Natalie, the dismissal of the cellist's alibi, Monk driving the salesclerk nuts, the roommate investigation and Monk playing off against Hodge (an opponent worthy of him even if a little under-explored).
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. Oh and a good job is done with the different opening credits sequence to accommodate the changes made.
Overall, not quite great, and it would have been with a better and less obvious mystery, but very good due to the character moments mainly. 8/10 Bethany Cox
There may be better episodes and mysteries in Season 4 and of 'Monk' in general than "Mr Monk Goes to a Fashion Show", but for one watching 'Monk' for entertainment, good character moments and a way to just unwind "Mr Monk Goes to a Fashion Show" does its job very well. The mystery itself is another one that is too easy to figure out, there is a twist that's pretty neat and quite interesting but wasn't that much of a surprise and there could have been a few more clues and suspects to stop the story from being as predictable and too easily-too-early solvable as it turned out to be.
Perhaps more could have been done with Malcolm McDowell's character Julian Hodge. A fun and suitably loathsome character (especially in his treatment of Natalie which saw some wonderfully scathing lines), played perfectly and to the hilt by McDowell who specialises with these types of characters and villains so the role couldn't have suited him more ideally, that isn't quite meaty enough at the same time. Some of how he behaves and motivations could have been explored with more depth and his thinking that Disher should try out was a potentially interesting angle that sadly didn't go very far at all.
However, the look of the world of fashion and modelling was an interesting one (though it is hardly the first detective show to do it), while it is a far from novel it was good to show that something that looks so glamorous on the surface is less than glamorous behind the scenes. Lovely to see more development on Julie (charmingly played by Emmy Clarke), who rocks the catwalk and looks great in all her outfits as you can see with Hodge taking an interest in her.
Natalie is down to earth, sympathetic and sassy, also being sensitive to Monk's needs and quirks which Traylor Howard does well bringing out. Stottlemeyer and Disher have some good moments too, and Ted Levine and Jason Gray-Stanford are great.
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'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 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.
Character moments are another star, full of hilarious, thought-provoking and sweet moments. Just a few examples are Monk's discomfort in seeing nudity, his ignorance of bulimia, Disher's surprisingly philosophical answer to Natalie remarking how sad models look, the whole stuff with Monk's shirts, Hodge's treatment and observations of Natalie, the dismissal of the cellist's alibi, Monk driving the salesclerk nuts, the roommate investigation and Monk playing off against Hodge (an opponent worthy of him even if a little under-explored).
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. Oh and a good job is done with the different opening credits sequence to accommodate the changes made.
Overall, not quite great, and it would have been with a better and less obvious mystery, but very good due to the character moments mainly. 8/10 Bethany Cox