Monk (TV Series) Mr. Monk and the Other Detective (2005) User Reviews

Nothing Super, But Decent Start To New Season

[ccthemovieman-1 · 8/10 · 25 November 2006]

A jewelry store owner is a little early in opening his shop and looks harried. It turns out "Peggy" is being held hostage and the owner cleans out a good bit of his store and then meets the perps at their waiting car outside. The owner demands to see "Peggy," who turns out to be his dog! A mall security guards senses something is wrong, sees a man with a hooded face mask on and orders him out of his car. The man does so, calmly takes his mask off and then shoots the cop. He then gets back in the car, rolls down the window and shoots the store owner and his partner drives off.

Minutes later, we see Capt. Stoltemyer, Monk, Natalie and a bunch of cops all around the crime scene. Monk won't go near the dead body because there is so dog poo nearby. A disheveled little guy drives up in a beat-up car, says he's a detective (he is but a poor one and nothing but a pain in the ass," according to the captain.) However, within minutes he (Jason Alexander of "Seinfeld" fame) begins making these incredible observations, deductions and looks like a genius, much to the befuddlement of the onlooking Mr. Monk. What's going on here?

It gets worse as the mousy detective, with his mom cheering him on, just about solves the whole thing. "He's cheating," repeats Monk, over and over, but even Monk is having his confidence ruined as this fake keeps impressing everyone. How does he figure out how the man is cheating?

In all, nothing super but a good episode and a solid start to the fourth season.

Jason Alexander is in his element

[trudyr_1999 · 9/10 · 19 July 2022]

No one does a lying weasel better than Jason Alexander--one of his famous lines as George Costanza is "It's not a lie if you byou believe it." He did a great job as a George-like character, Marty Eels--a weasel, but you feel sorry for him. The Monk cast was great as usual. Tony Shalhoub did his usual good job of showing Adrian's insecurity, but then he was a big enough man to show some compassion to Eels at the end.

Seinfeld returns, well sort of

[safenoe · 7/10 · 18 March 2020]

Here Jason Alexander makes a guest appearance as a washed-up detective, who seems to know way more than he should about a double murder. How does he know? Well, Monk eventually uncovers the plot and solves the murder. Good to see Jason still making appearances after the massive success of Seinfeld. It's hard to believe this episode was filmed 15 years ago! Monk lives on!

Quality control

[jotix100 · 9/10 · 9 January 2010]

A jeweler is seen arriving early to his store. He is in a hurry to get jewels and diamonds as ransom for the bandits that have kidnapped his precious Yorkshire terrier. When things go badly in the parking lot, a guard comes to the scene and gets shot. The kidnappers take the jeweler away to another area and kill him eventually.

Enter the SFPD to investigate the case. Monk has been called to assist the police. As he is going over the site, another man, also a private investigator, Marty Eels, arrives in the scene. He is amazing in the way he is putting the clues together. Stottlemeyer, as well as the rest of the force in the scene, are surprised in Marty's reconstruction of the case. Monk is not impressed; he has figured the other P.I. must be cheating and he is there to make sure he unmasks the competition.

The case is almost solved for Monk as he waits for a car rental operator. Having been put on hold, he starts discussing with Natalie how he is going to drive to a university. Natalie is trying to scare him from going, when a voice is heard telling Monk there is a much shorter and safer way to go. Monk realizes Marty has prior knowledge of the heist from an unexpected source: his own mother!

This episode was directed by Eric Laneuville, and written by Hy Conrad, a frequent collaborator to the series. This is a fun installment that features the genial Jason Alexander as the P.I. that wants to capitalize on inside information. The excellent Dana Ivey plays Marty's mother. Tony Shalhoub excels with his tics and facial gestures to give an edge to this incredible detective, Adrian Monk. Ted Levine, Traylor Holland, and Jason Gray-Stanford are on hand also.

Very Nicely Done

[Hitchcoc · 8/10 · 23 March 2020]

The wonderful Jason Alexander plays the perfect foil to Monk's idiosyncratic character. He show up at the scene of a crime and immediately begins to do the impossible. Monk is flummoxed by his skills (which have no causality). Monk begins to drop into depression because he is seeing himself as Number 2. Like so many sitcoms, it doesn't matter that he has solved numerous crimes in the past. Anyway, it's a good beginning to Season 4.

Too much Eels, not enough Monk

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 3 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.

The first episode of Season 4, "Mr Monk and the Other Detective", is good fun but falls short of being great. It does suffer somewhat from having too much focus on the other detective Marty Eels and not enough on Monk. Jason Alexander does play him very well and provides a few amusing moments, but the character's overuse and his at times whiny personality unbalances things a little. Especially when a huge part of the appeal of 'Monk' is Monk's deductions and observational methods. There are moments where that happens here, but not enough.

Eels' methods of deductions are entertaining and fun to watch if a little on the ridiculous side, it was not that hard to figure out that Monk was right all along and how he did it. Stottlemeyer and Disher are underused here as well.

Natalie however really shines in "Mr Monk and the Other Detective", more so than her previous appearances. Particularly in the tense climax where she plays a crucial role. She is settling in well, her chemistry with Monk is sparkling even more, her personality is starting to become more differentiated and more interesting, she's useful and the two characters function very well together. She has a down-to-earth-ness, sensitivity and sass that makes one warm to her as well as being more sympathetic to Monk's issues. Traylor Howard is doing just fine.

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.

Alexander does a good job, despite the unbalanced focus the episode has. Dana Ivey is excellent as his mother. The mystery is engaging if on the predictable side and there are some nice character moments like the session with Dr Kroger and Monk wanting to drive to school.

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. The quirks are sympathetically done and never exploited or overdone.

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, pretty good but could have been better. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Jason Alexander Rides Again

[stratus_phere · 6 January 2018]

It was actually a bit sad watching this. After years as one of the stars on one of the greatest shows on TV, seeing "George Costanza" playing a two bit detective on a single episode of a lesser show is disheartening. I know others were rooting for Monk. But I was rooting for Jason Alexander. His neurotic humor is much funnier than Monk's obsessive annoyingness.

Also, it's totally nuts that there would be a person monitoring every single "on hold" call. Companies would, instead, make those workers actually answer the phones as customer representatives. I've worked the phones before, and there is a single manager that handles 40-50 call handler employees. The manager can listen in on a single call at a time, but certainly doesn't have time to listen to all of them. Why on earth would they? If they had that time on their hands, they would answer the phones. Puh-lease.