Monk finally comes face-to-face with the six-fingered man, Frank Nunn, in a scuffle that ended with the man's death. Monk is accused and forced on the lam, but there's something more sinister lurking in the shadows.
This episode include examples of:
- Anger Born of Worry: Natalie really tears it into both Stottlemeyer and Monk over the two faking Monk's death.
- Brush-Off Walk-Off: Monk gets framed for murder by Dale the Whale during the latter's scheme to get himself pardoned. After solving the mystery, Monk comes to see Dale, who has been stripped of his Luxury Prison Suite as punishment. Dale gives a Breaking Speech about how Monk is in an even worse prison than he is, only for Monk to get the last word by walking away mid-speech.Dale: Come back here! I'm NOT DOOOOONE!
Monk: [quietly, not turning around]: Oh, yes you are. - But for Me, It Was Tuesday: Averted: when Nunn first encounters Monk, he refers to him as "the cop with the wife," meaning he apparently still remembers planting the bomb that killed Trudy, or Dale or one of his associates informed him.
- Chekhov's Gun:
- The only reason Frank Nunn finally shows up after all these years was because of a "job", which proves to be important to the two-parter as a whole.
- Monk is told of a highway worker killed in a hit-and-run a few days prior to his checking into the motel. He finds the driver by accident while working at the car wash, and the reporting of this is how Natalie realizes Monk is still alive.
- Monk's habit of keeping himself clean and his touching all pole-like structures comes into play, as it throws off the scent dogs.
- At the beginning of Part II, the owner of the hotel where Monk is staying mentions that her dog is fitted with a special collar that responds to an electric field, keeping her from running away. During the climax at the parade sequence, Monk notices another dog reacting the same way as the first, and realizes that a similar field is being used to trigger the bomb under the governor's car.
- Cliffhanger Copout: Aside from other things, the fact that it was Stottlemeyer who fired at Monk should clue anyone in that Monk didn't die at the end of Part I. The very first scene of Part II (just past the recap) is Stottlemeyer waiting for Monk at a beach, with the latter revealing that he was wearing a bulletproof vest this whole time.
- The Comically Serious: Monk's defense lawyer, explaining why his client is not a flight risk:I would also like to point out that even if he wanted to flee, my client doesn't drive. He also has an obsessive fear of airplanes... and boats... and trucks... and trains. He's not going anywhere.
- Continuity Nod: Natalie prepares an album filled with pictures of Monk from previous episodes, including that final shot from "Mr. Monk and the Man Who Shot Santa Claus".
- Covered in Kisses: Monk courtesy of Natalie once she finds him in hiding.
- Dirty Cop: Sheriff Rollins is on Dale the Whale's payroll. He breaks into Monk’s apartment to alter Monk’s gun and frame him for Frank Nunn’s murder. There’s also his involvement with killing the governor to help Dale get out of prison.
- Epic Fail: When cornered by Rollins, Monk knocks a drum on its side and kicks it to bowl Rollins over. Monk didn't put too much of an "oomph" behind his kick that the drum just slowly, harmlessly rolled and stopped at Rollins' feet.
- Face Your Fears: For some time, Monk has been troubled by a recurring dream of trying to save Trudy from the car bomb, only to fail. In the climax, Monk finds himself facing his demons when he must save the governor of San Francisco from a similar fate.
- Faking the Dead: Monk, with the help of Stottlemeyer, fakes his own death at the end of the first part.
- Five-Second Foreshadowing: Randy and Stottlemeyer looking into the foundation that bankrolled Rollins, and they were startled to learn who owned the corporation. Then we cut to Natalie on the other end of the line, and she asks Monk a very important question...
- Foreshadowing: The biggest lead to Trudy's murderer is a man only known as "the Judge".
- Fugitive Arc: The two-parter revolves around Monk being framed for the murder of Frank Nunn, one of the conspirators in the murder of Monk's wife. After being caught by a local sheriff and sentenced to prison on an insurmountably high bail, Monk escapes from jail and flees from the cops as he tries to piece together who the true killer is.
- The Ghost: Sharona and Benjy were mentioned to be flying in for the funeral service. Natalie also decides to mail some of Monk's stuff to Ambrose.
- Honor Before Reason: He's supposed to be laying low under a new identity, but Monk still couldn't help but solve a case. This alerted Natalie that he was still alive.
- The Heavy: Sheriff Rollins is Dale's new lapdog, pursuing Monk until he can finally be put behind bars, and ensuring the assassination plot goes without a hitch.
- Irony: Dale tries to invoke that even though he's in a prison of his own, Monk himself is still in a prison of his own from his demons. But what makes this more ironic is, Dale's only half right: Monk may still have his demons to work with, but he's come out of the experience a little better than before.
- I Want You to Meet an Old Friend of Mine: Scott Glenn and Ted Levine previously appeared in The Silence of the Lambs as an FBI profiler and a Serial Killer, respectively. Ironically, in this production they have Swapped Roles.
- Laser-Guided Karma: After spending the better part of the series virtually treating the world as his oyster (to eat, no less), Dale finally gets his comeuppance. With his conspiracy to simultaneously send Monk to prison and get released himself foiled and his co-conspirators turning on him, the prison has revoked all of his privileges: they've confiscated his custom furniture, personal technology, and unmonitored access to the outside world, blocked up his window, cancelled his special meals and manicure appointments, and he now has to eat prison food and sleep in a cramped standard issue prison bed like the rest of the inmates. Monk does not pass the opportunity to casually rub it in Dale's face that he's lost all his amenities.
- After helping to murder Trudy, Nunn is himself killed as a pathetic pawn in a larger scheme.
- Lazy Alias: While in hiding, Monk uses the name "Leland Rodriguez". This clues Natalie in on who helped Monk survive his supposed death. Lampshaded by the namesake himself when Natalie confronts him with it.Leland Stottlemeyer: "Leland Rodriguez", huh?
Natalie Teeger: That's his name!
Leland Stottlemeyer: Well that's just stupid! - Minor Crime Reveals Major Plot: The homicide pinned on Monk is revealed to be just part of a massive conspiracy by Dale the Whale to assassinate the governor, with the elevated lieutenant governor then commuting Dale's sentence.
- Multi-Part Episode: This is the first 2-parter of the series.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain:
- Rollins breaks into Monk's house to switch the barrels of their respective guns in order to frame Monk for the murder of Frank Nunn. He also drank some of Monk's orange juice which clues Monk into him being the one who broke into his house when he later hears Rollins talking about drinking a lot of juice.
- Sheriff Rollins tails Natalie to Monk's location, but they still manage to escape him and steal his car which contains documents linking him to The Whale.
- Dale the Whale smartly figures out that Natalie is carrying a recorder during their meeting, and even asks her to use it so he can indulge in some Evil Gloating towards Monk. What Dale doesn't count on was that video giving Monk enough clues to piece together Dale's intended plot.
- Pre-emptive Declaration: A heartwarming version. When Natalie finds Monk after believing he was dead, she presents him a wipe before he asks for one. When Monk asks about the wipe, she hugs him tightly and kisses him all over.
- Shout-Out:
- The episode takes much inspiration from The Fugitive.
- For solving the murder of the highway worker, Monk is called "The car wash Columbo".
- Shut Up, Hannibal!: Monk pulls an epic one on Dale Biederbeck at the end of the episode. When Dale claims that the prison bars can't hold him forever, Monk simply kicks them and says "They look pretty strong. Have a good life, Dale." As he walks away, Biederbeck throws a massive tantrum, screaming that Monk is worse off than he'll ever be, but Adrian doesn't even break his stride or look back. Dale's last line in the series is him sputtering impotent threats:
- Biederbeck: COME BACK HERE! I'M NOT DONE!Monk: Oh, yes you are.
- Shut Up, Kirk!: When Randy tries to give Rollins his Miranda rights, the latter sourly snaps that he knows the rest (being a soon-to-be ex-cop and all) and to get his humiliating arrest over and done with.
- Suspicious Spending: Trying to find out who hired Rollins to frame Monk, Stottlemeyer does a background check on his finances and finds that he's living well beyond his means. In tracing the money, they end up finding out Dale the Whale's involvement.Randy Disher: He just bought a second house near Catalina-
Leland Stottlemeyer: And a new BMW and look at this. [turns a few more pages and points to what seems to be a financial statement] He's got two offshore bank accounts, on a sheriff's salary. Randy, that guy is dirty. I can smell it! - Throw the Dog a Bone: Aside from facing his demons, Monk finally has a solid lead on Trudy's killer, after being put through a mess of false leads. Better still, he can rest well knowing Dale won't be bothering him again.
- Wham Line: "Who's Dale Biederbeck?"
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Dale the Whale hired Frank Nunn to build the bomb for the assassination plot, then had Rollins kill him (framing Monk in the process).
