History Recap / MonkS7E9MrMonkAndTheMiracle

* TwistedChristmas: Willie T. was murdered on Christmas.

Meanwhile, Stottlemeyer has come in to work even though he's very ill, suffering terrible back pain. Then he goes to a pharmacist, [=McCloskey=] (Michael Badalucco). Stottlemeyer inquires about a crucifix on the wall. [=McCloskey=] says it was installed by his former partner, a churchgoing man who then embezzled thousands of dollars from the pharmacy and vanished.

The pharmacist and his girlfriend are running a scheme in which they give out placebos instead of actual medicine. If the pharmacy clients visit the miraculous fountain, [=McCloskey=] will break into their house and replace the placebo with the appropriate medicine. [=McCloskey=] wants the fountain to be thought of as miraculous so that the church doesn't replace it with classrooms or anything else. The construction crew would find the body of [=McCloskey=]'s former partner, leading the police to determine that the man was murdered.

* DisposingOfABody: The killer was trying to keep the fountain where it was, as its planned destruction to make room for monastery classrooms would have exposed the dead body of his business partner.

* ChristmasEpisode: Monk puts up a cardboard cutout of a Christmas tree, rather than an actual Christmas tree. Weirder than AluminumChristmasTrees.

* PursuedProtagonist: In the opening scene, Willie T, the homeless man with a case of HeKnowsTooMuch, interrupts his friends’ drunken caroling to say that someone is chasing him across town. He then sees his pursuer in the distance and races away, later being found dead in a junkyard.

* CassandraTruth: The trigger of the plot. When Willie T. runs off saying someone was going to kill him, his friends laughed it off, believing he was paranoid, only to find out he was telling the truth when his body is discovered the next day. The three hobos are so guilt-ridden for not believing him that they go to Monk and hire him.

* MedicationTampering: Part of Owen McCloskey's scheme. He would swap out the medicines of his clients with placebos that did not help them with their problems, or even exacerbated them. He then painted an image of the fountain on people's doors. Once he learned a client had drunk from the fountain, he would give them actual medicine, thus "curing" them.

Of course Monk is unwilling to step out of the car; he views the crime scene through binoculars. Even so, he's able to determine that the bums' friend was already dead when he was stuffed into a broken refrigerator. Monk goes to the police station and easily convinces Disher to have the medical examiner review the case.

* CassandraTruth: The trigger of the plot. When Willie T. runs off saying someone was going to kill him, his friends laughed it off, believing he was paranoid, only to find out he was telling the truth when his body is discovered the next day. The three hobos are so guilt-ridden that they go to Monk and hire him.

* CassandraTruth: The trigger pf the plot. When Willie T. runs off saying someone was going to kill him, his friends laughed it off, believing he was paranoid, only to find out he was telling the truth when his body is discovered the next day. The three hobos are so guilt-ridden that they go to Monk and hire him.

* ChristmasEpisode: Monk puts up a cardboard cutout of a Christmas tree, rather than an actual Christmas tree. Weirder than AluminumChristmasTrees.

* UnprocessedResignation: averted, Stottlemeyer tries to convey his resignation through Monk. Stottlemeyer actually writes a letter of resignation with a fountain pen on fancy paper at the monastery, and also gives up his badge. But once Monk and Natalie tell Stottlemeyer that the miraculous fountain is a hoax perpetrated to cover up a murder, Stottlemeyer returns to the police department like nothing happened. Presumably Monk never relayed Stottlemeyer's resignation to the police chief.

* BadassMustache: Disher tries to grow one like Stottlemeyer's ("comes with the job," he says), but it looks more like a PornStache. Meanwhile, Stottlemeyer shaved off his own mustache at the monastery.

* UnprocessedResignation, averted: Stottlemeyer tries to convey his resignation through Monk. Stottlemeyer actually writes a letter of resignation with a fountain pen on fancy paper at the monastery, and also gives up his badge. But once Monk and Natalie tell Stottlemeyer that the miraculous fountain is a hoax perpetrated to cover up a murder, Stottlemeyer returns to the police department like nothing happened. Presumably Monk never relayed Stottlemeyer's resignation to the police chief.

! This episode contains examples of the following tropes:
* Disher tries to grow a BadassMustache like Stottlemeyer's ("comes with the job," he says), but it looks more like a PornStache. Meanwhile, Stottlemeyer shaved off his own mustache at the monastery.

The pharmacist and his girlfriend are running a scheme [[spoiler: in which they give out placebos instead of actual medicine]]. If the pharmacy clients visit the miraculous fountain, [[spoiler: [=McCloskey=] will break into their house and replace the placebo with the appropriate medicine]]. [[spoiler: [=McCloskey=] wants the fountain to be thought of as miraculous so that the church doesn't replace it with classrooms or anything else. The construction crew would find the body of [=McCloskey=]'s former partner, leading the police to determine that the man was murdered.]]