Monk

               I miss Monk.  For years it was one of my favorite shows.  Every Friday night I was excited to watch a new episode and see what Detective Adrian Monk was up to.  The series ended over a year ago, and while I like the way it ended, I am still sad to see it gone.  Thankfully there is a local channel that plays the reruns.  I do not know how many times I have seen each episode, but I still sit down and watch, ready to enjoy.
                Monk is a detective, a genius detective, who sees things no one else does.  While this is great for solving crimes, it does not come without some difficulties.  Compulsions and phobias abound.  From touching things to being afraid of milk, these traits prevent Monk from being as efficient as he could be.  This is where the assistants come in.  The series began with Sharona who actually started out as his nurse.  Part way through the series, Sharona moved to New Jersey and Natalie becomes his new assistant.  She does great things in making Monk a better person.  While Monk definitely drives his assistants crazy, he also causes a lot of stress for the two police officers he works with most closely, Captain Leland Stottlemeyer and Lieutenant Randy Disher.  At the beginning of the series they could not stand working with Monk, but by the end Monk, Natalie, Captain, and Randy have a great camaraderie that was really nice to watch.        
                That is just the characters!  The mysteries are a lot of fun too.  Most, if not all, are murders.  It is absolutely fascinating to see Monk pick up the tiniest of things and solve the case.  He always solves the case.  Sometimes it takes him a little while, but he gets the bad guy in the end.
                At first watch, Monk may come across as very self-centered.  Actually, he is.  What makes him endearing from the start is his absolute devotion to finding the person who killed his wife.  It is the one case he cannot solve.  As the series goes on, Monk’s heart and caring does come out.  Much of this is brought on by Natalie, at least in my opinion.
                Watching Monk is still an event for me, despite the reruns.  I am very grateful they are still on.  It shows someone must love the show as much as I do.

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