Monk (TV Series) Mr. Monk Goes to a Fashion Show (2006) User Reviews

Monk Helps Out A Different Kind Of Inspector

[ccthemovieman-1 · 9/10 · 6 December 2006]

I love the opening to this. Monk is buying a shirt, his normal, customary shirt. Monk looks for "Dennis," his normal salesman but it seems Dennis has quit because some unknown customer was driving him nuts. Hmm. Anyway, Monk wants the same size, the same print - and - won't accept the shirt unless the little tag inside the shirt says "Inspected by No. 8." He knows "Inspector 8" is the best.

The salesman finds one that matches all of the criteria but there is a flaw in the shirt. Horrified, Monk winds up going to the place they make and inspect the shirts and tracks down "No. 8" to see what's wrong. He's right; there is something wrong. "Maria," the inspector, is extremely upset because her son Pablo was accused of a murder he didn't commit (so she obviously can't focus on her work.). Monk would prefer she just focus on her work so he can get his perfect shirts, but Natalie talks him into investigating the case.

This episode has a big-name guest star, Malcolmn McDowell, who plays snotty fashion designer "Julian Hodge." Monk and the crew go behind-the-scenes of high fashion modeling to find out if Maria's son is innocent. Along the way, Natalie's 13-year-old daughter Julie gets a taste of modeling.

This was a very interesting story with a neat twist at the end.

Monk and the world of fashion and modelling

[TheLittleSongbird · 8/10 · 7 August 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.

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

Viddy Well Little Monky, Viddy Well

[TheFearmakers · 8/10 · 23 November 2020]

Now Ted Levlne, mostly known for playing a psychopath in a classic movie (Silence) gets trumped by a more famous actor who played a psychopath in an even more famous (or infamous) cult film, Clockwork Orange, that being Malcolm McDowell, as a villain who enjoys being a villain, unlike many other Monk killers that we don't see much of: McDowell, and Andrew McCarthy before him, are more like Columbo villains that goad Monk and enjoy their badness and rudeness.

Another Great Episode

[maxwell19596 · 10/10 · 19 July 2012]

For the last month I have been doing a massive Monk Marathon. In fact the first DVD season set for a series I ever bought was Monk Season 1. I was watching on USA until the end of season three. I quit watching then, and said "oh I'll buy the sets, but never seemed to. So thanks Netflix streaming I started at the beginning, and I'm up to this episode, and the show continues to maintain such a great standard of quality. From writing, to production, it remains one of the best series to be on TV. Spoiler Alert I love this series...lol What's really funny is recently I checked on IMDb to see what all of the cast has been up to, and saw where Emmy Clarke who played Natalie's daughter has grown up to be quite the looker. While watching this episode during the scene at the beach I thought boy if Emmy had been older she could have played one of the supermodels, and just then Malcolm Mcdowell starts taking pictures of her, and wants to hire her to model. I guess the writer noticed the same thing. Anyway kudos to all involved, and I will write another review later in this great series here on the oh so lovely IMDb!

Malcolm McDowell is Malcolm McDowellish

[safenoe · 8/10 · 3 April 2020]

Malcolm McDowell chews the screen here is a murderous fashion designer who will do anything to get his own way, and yes, even murder. Natalie's daughter has a larger role in this episode, who captures the eye of McDowell's fashion designer. Yes, quite ominous. But thankfully Monk manages to solve the murders in his trademark style. I still miss Jeff Beal's Monk theme, although the instrumental version of Randy Newman's theme that sometimes plays at the end is more bearable than the vocal version that plays in the opening. Still, I always chuckle when I recall Will Sasso's impeccable impersonation of Randy on MAD TV.

Modeling Clay

[Hitchcoc · 7/10 · 29 March 2020]

Monk wears the same shirt every day. When he realizes that Shirt Inspector #8 is doing a poor job, he sets out to see what is wrong with her. It leads to discovery that her son is in prison for the murder of a fashion model. All the evidence seems against him but Monk immediately realizes otherwise. The remainder of the show involves encounters with beautiful models.

I love Natalie, just not here

[soughtforscores · 3/10 · 20 February 2022]

I never do scathing reviews like this, but this was too horrifying. Natalie did the right thing in the end, dragging her idiot daughter off the stage in front of everyone in spite of the embarrassment because of the danger. But even considering allowing her to be sexualized and treated like that by a creepy old guy as he insults her and touches her is unbelievable. She only reacts when she's told the guy is a murderer and still doesn't tell her daughter. What kind of mind does she have that she thinks that is in any way okay? And what kind of 13-year-old girl likes being insulted and touched by an old guy so much that she's willing to run away from home to go through it all again? The creep factor is intense, and Natalie is intensely stupid. She chose not to tell her daughter why she refused instead of just telling her someone had been killed and she didn't want Julie anywhere near the scene. That would have been enough. I cannot emphasize enough how irresponsible and idiotic both Natalie and Julie are, but at least Julie is just a kid, if a completely unnatural and immature kid.