After finding out that Dr. Kroger's new watch was a gift (which he thinks was from Harold Krenshaw), Monk finds the perfect way to help Dr. Kroger when his stubborn son, Troy, and some friends comes to Monk with a request: help him with a treasure map, ostensibly a requirement for English class. Soon, Monk discovers that Troy and his friends weren't being honest and the map is tied to a much bigger problem.
This episode involves examples of the following tropes:
- Actually Pretty Funny: Tony Gammelobo is still holding a cheeseburger halfway up to his mouth when he is found first by Troy, and later by Stottlemeyer. Aside from the dead part, his final position being in such a candid way is good for a few laughs.
- Buried Alive: Steven Connolly buries the car Monk and Troy are in using gravel.
- Chekhov's Gun:
- Troy's loud trash metal music. It's initially just irritating to Monk and Natalie. Then Troy puts in on full blast to get Stottlemeyer, Disher, and Natalie's attention after he and Monk are buried alive.
- Disher wins free lifetime soda refills and naturally has to use the bathroom as a result. While he, Stottlemeyer, and Natalie are checking out the quarry, he has to go again, keeping them from leaving. Then, on the way back from the bathroom, he hears Troy's trash metal playing faintly, allowing him and Monk to get rescued.
- Follow in My Footsteps: Troy mentions that he used to want to be a therapist like his father. When trapped in the car with Monk, it's Troy who gets him to calm down several times. Once rescued, he decides to consider going into psychiatry after all.
- Inside Job: This bank robbery was masterminded by bank manager Steven Connolly, his brother Jack, and their partner Tony Gammelobo. After Jack was fatally shot during the robbery, Steven ordered Tony to bury him in the quarry so no one would find out who the second bank robber was and suspect that it was an inside job.
- Just Train Wrong: Because of
California Doubling, a Metrolink commuter train (a railroad in Southern California) appears in a scene that's supposed to be set in Central California. - Never Say That Again: While they're investigating Gammelobo's car after he dies in it, Disher finds a piece of a receipt among the evidence bags that he needs for a "lifetime refills" promotion that he's trying to win. He tells Stottlemeyer that the techs said it wasn't crucial to the case and makes a rambling Dissimile speech (using The Lion King as a metaphor) to convince the captain to let him have it. Finally, Stottlemeyer says he can have it, as long as he never repeats the Dissimile during Stottlemeyer's lifetime.
- Overly Long Gag: While briefing Monk and Natalie about the bank robbery, Stottlemeyer eventually gets so annoyed with Randy's binge-drinking that he punctures the cup multiple times.
- Parlor Games: Troy attempts to get Monk's mind off their claustrophobic setting by playing Twenty Questions with him. Unfortunately, this fails because he lets Monk go first.Troy: You can think of anything. Any word you want. Anything. Animal, vegetable, mineral. Anything.
Adrian: Mineral. It's a mineral.
Troy:... is it gravel?
Adrian: YES, IT'S GRAVEL! It's gravel. Gravel! It's gravel! It's gravel, OK?! Gravel! It's everywhere! - Potty Emergency: Randy chugs giant cups of soda to win a contest, forcing him to run to relieve himself twice. The second time allowing Monk and Troy to send a message to them.
- Rebuilt Pedestal: Dr. Kroger's son Troy doesn't exactly have the highest opinion of his father at the start of the episode, seeing him as a workaholic. But later, after calming Monk at the climax of the episode, Troy starts to see his dad's work in a new light and decides he wants to be a therapist too.
- Shared Family Quirks: While trying to keep Monk calm, Troy does the same Finger-Tenting that his father Charles does during therapy sessions.
- Treasure Hunt Episode: Played with, since the X on the map isn't for buried treasure, but for a body.
- Unsportsmanlike Gloating: Upon learning that he became a good influence on Troy and earned much gratitude from Dr. Kroger, Monk wants to call Harold and brag about it.
- Working the Same Case: Monk and Natalie accompany Dr. Kroger's son and his pals into the hills following a supposed treasure map. It's actually tied to a bank robbery that Stottlemeyer and Disher are investigating. In the first half, Stottlemeyer's and Monk's investigations are intercut, though we the audience are aware from the beginning that the two cases are connected.
