Monk is hired by an apparent leper named Derek Bronson, CEO of Bronson Technologies, who supposedly lives in hiding from women (especially his wife) and wants him to retrieve some documents from his home because he wants to prove he's still alive so that his wife Mandy Bronson is not cheated out of her inheritance by her relatives. He supposedly got sick in a ballooning accident west of Guam seven years before - and is not, as is believed, dead in that very incident. But this story hides a lot behind it...
This episode contains examples of the following tropes:
- Big Damn Heroes: Dr. Polanski takes Randy’s car and follows the hot air balloon, which crashes near the ocean. Monk is forced to take his hand or risk losing his grip on the cliff and fall into the ocean.
- Body Horror: "Derek" was able to disguise himself as a leper by having his leprosy scars displayed so well and flailing his right hand like crazy. He also was supposedly so awfully maimed by leprosy that he only presented himself in dark areas (and refused to be looked at by women, as he supposedly was a former ladies' man, conveniently keeping Monk’s less germophobic assistant from getting a closer look). In addition he didn't take the antibiotic that cured leprosy because he was supposedly allergic to it (which, according to Dr. Polanski, actually happens in some cases). In reality this was all to fool Monk, and the dark areas were for Monk to identify him as being Derek.
- Brain Bleach
- After learning that his client was a leper, Monk spent nine hours cleaning up his hand since they shook hands before Monk knew of his condition.
- Natalie spends a long time using mouthwash because she was making out with Dr. Polanski, only to learn he was previously a leper himself.
- A Day in the Limelight: Disher gets a subplot about his former acne and is heavily involved in catching the perp.
- Dead Person Impersonation: "Derek Bronson". The real one had been Dead All Along for seven years.
- Decoy Protagonist: "Derek Bronson", who kickstarted Monk's Mystery of the Week by hiring him, was actually an impersonator. As Monk states, "there is no heart so black as the black, black heart of the phony leper".
- Detective Patsy: Mandy Bronson and her partner hire Monk specifically because they know he is smart enough to prove Derek is "alive", and that his germophobia will keep him from looking too closely at the "leper" to figure out he isn't actually Derek.
- Disposing of a Body: Mandy wanted to do this to the dead impersonator's body by sending him up in a hot air balloon then crashing into the sea (by weighing it down with barbells), but Monk and Natalie catch her in the act. Monk suspects she successfully did the same thing with her dead husband's body.
- Epic Fail: Randy's attempt to steal the picture of him with acne. See it for yourself...
- Hypocrite: Natalie spends the first third of the episode convincing Monk he should take "Derek's" case in spite of him (supposedly) having leprosy, even going to a specialist named Dr. Aaron Polanski who told them it was rare and non-contagious (Monk even wanted to burn his hand in order to get rid of the virus) and that he only saw one case in his whole life. Then she falls for Dr. Polanski, and they date until she discovers that case was himself. Even though he had been fully healed, she starts behaving as Monk would towards Dr. Polanski. By the end of the episode she grows out of it and goes on another date with Dr. Polanski. Monk best sums up Natalie's freak out over Dr. Polanski thusly:Adrian: Where's the woman who's been lecturing me all week about compassion and tolerance?!
- Hypocrisy Nod:...To which Natalie responds:Natalie: Okay, you know what? It’s not funny! You didn’t have your tongue down his throat!
- Imposter Forgot One Detail:
- As pointed out by Monk, Derek was dead/disappeared for seven years, yet the impersonator knew the code of an alarm installed by a company only just founded in 2003, three years before the events of the show.
- "Derek" said he had been living at Camino Island leper colony since 1999, although when Dr. Polanski called they told him it had been closed two years before the events of the show.
- Inheritance Murder:
- Mandy kills the impersonator - her secret lover - while he was playing the piano.
- Monk suspects she also killed the actual Derek.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: When Stottlemeyer and Disher are investigating the disappearance of Mr. Steiner (the man impersonating Derek), the latter starts idly plucking out a few notes on a piano—namely, the first season's theme music. Stottlemeyer then remarks "You know, they don't keep playing the same thing over and over," a subtle joke about the producers changing the theme to "It's A Jungle Out There" in Season Two.
- Literal Cliffhanger: Monk gets into one when the balloon he and Natalie were fleeing from Mandy falls into the sea (fortunately Natalie had safely fallen in the ground with the impersonator's corpse). It was Dr. Polanski who saved him from falling despite Monk's initial hesitation.
- Passed-Over Inheritance: The real Derek left his fortune to his two nephews, who will inherit it once he's declared legally dead after seven years. This is why Mandy starts the whole scheme to fake his return: she wants to maintain control of the inheritance so she can still live off it.
- Rise of Zitboy: When Monk and Natalie go for the first time to Dr. Polanski's office, Natalie immediately notices a photo set of a young Randy Disher with acne hanging on the wall. Dr. Polanski tells them he was actually one of his first patients. After Natalie makes references to the pictures at the police station, Randy goes to Dr. Polanski's office and rips the picture out (as it is adhered to the wall, unlike all the other pictures which are merely hung), leaving a large hole in the wall and knocking down the other pictures.
- Run or Die: Monk at first flees like wild from Derek when he said he was a leper, thinking his leprosy was like this, and then washes his right hand (with which he had shaken hands with Derek) and even tries to burn his hand in order not to get the disease. But, as Dr. Polanski explains, leprosy is rare and noncontagious. As it turns out, "Derek" was neither a leper nor the actual Derek, but an impersonator. After learning Dr. Polanski was himself a leper in his youth, Monk treats him this way when he comes by Monk's house to pick up Natalie, although by then he was healed.
- Theme Tune Cameo: Randy plays a piano version of the first season's theme while investigating the disappearance of Dr. Steiner.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: You just have to feel sorry for Dr. Polanski. He's a genuinely nice person, but when he reveals that he used to be a leper himself, all the characters spurn him like Monk would. In the end, Natalie decides to go on another date with Dr. Polanski, and Julie even shakes his hand because she's not afraid of his past.
- Wham Shot: After Monk secures Mandy's inheritance, we cut to her house...where the non-leprous Derek is playing the piano, revealing that the entire first half of the episode was a con job designed to trick Adrian.
