History Monk / TropesFToJ

* FaceHeelTurn: Agent Derek Thorpe, the jackass FBI agent from ''Mr. Monk and the Really, Really Dead Guy,'' undergoes one in the ExpandedUniverse novel ''Mr. Monk Is A Mess.'' As it turns out, getting shown up by Monk in that episode was the beginning of a career downslide for him, which led to him stealing money from the FBI evidence locker room--and killing an innocent man named Jeroen Berge, who caught him stashing it.

* HeadCrushing: In "Mr. Monk Goes To The Circus", Monk tries to help Sharona overcome her fear of elephants, by taking her to see the circus' elephant Dede. To show her Dede is harmless, her trainer Heinz puts his head under the elephant's foot. [[GoneHorriblyWrong It backfires horribly]], because the murderer had placed a walkie-talkie behind Dede's ear. [[spoiler:She]] commands the elephant to put her foot down, crushing Heinz's skull in front of Monk and Sharona and making the poor woman's fear go high.

* HollywoodPsych: The way the show portrays OCD is incredibly inaccurate. Although the writers seem to realize this, and therefore Monk is explicitly identified as having OCD maybe only once across the entire series, with characters opting to call him simply "weird" or "persnickety" when explaining his disorder to others. It's heavily toted as OCD in promotional material, however.

* InventedIndividual: In ''Mr. Monk Is Open For Business'', a bald-headed guy named Wyatt S. Noone apparently goes postal and goes on an office rampage. He kills three of his colleagues at the Japanese-owned furniture importing business East Decorative Imports, Caleb Smith, Katrina Avery and Mel Lubarsky and wounds a third, Sarabeth Willow, then appears to flee the police by posing as an EMT. First, the police quickly figure out that the name is an obvious phony, as a pun of "Wyatt is no one." Suspicion begins to rise that Sarabeth may have been assisting "Noone" during the murders since she was left alive. Then, in the end, Monk discovers that "Wyatt Noone" never existed: the victims' boss refused to give them pay raises, so they decided to create a fictitious financial manager as a joke and split "his" paychecks to embezzle from their boss. One of them created the social security number and imitated "Noone" for paperwork and the phone calls, and they were so tight-lipped that they never even told their own family members, always claiming that "Wyatt" was absent for whatever reason when a family member showed up or claim he'd resigned. They even added to the realism by having Mel pose as "Wyatt" by wearing a bald wig for a Christmas photo. But then Sarabeth's husband was stricken with terminal cancer, and being desperate for money, she demanded a bigger cut of the money they were embezzling so she could afford to pay for treatment. They didn't budge, so she killed her accomplices, and shot herself non-fatally to frame "Wyatt" for murder.

* {{Feelies}}: When the first season boxed set of DVD's was first released, it included a single, factory-sealed antiseptic wipe.

* InUniverseFactoidFailure:** ''Mr. Monk on Patrol'' when Monk and Natalie are driving in a police car and responding to a burglary after an alarm goes off, references are made to a "211 in progress". However, "211" is the ''California'' police radio code for "armed robbery in progress", and the story takes place in ''[[{{Joisey}} New Jersey]]''.

* ImprobableAimingSkills: In the second part of the series premiere, Monk manages to aim and shoot the perpetrator holding Sharona hostage in the dark. "Aiming" here is key, as that's what separates it from AccidentalAimingSkills.

** Partial subversion is ''Mr. Monk is Miserable'', where Natalie expects to eat croissants and whatnot while enjoying the rustic splendor of the city. As soon as she sees the lights on the Eiffel Tower, and the [[FerrisWheelOfDoom Roue de Paris]], and the Arc de Triomphe merely because L'Arche de le Defense is visible from the top of it, she launches into a long CharacterFilibuster (with which [[AuthorFilibuster Lee Goldberg]] [[PoesLaw may or may not have agreed]]) about how commercialism and "doing things bigger" has ruined her beautiful city [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks from being the way it was twenty years ago on her honeymoon with Mitch]]. [[DoubleSubverted Then]] she finds an enormous parisian flat with a personal cafe and a waterfall being run by a sewer [[strike: mutant]] vagrant (ItMakesSenseInContext) and repeatedly waxes poetically throughout the book about how Paris even has better garbage than San Francisco [[note]] despite only ever seeing garbage from the 7th arrondissiment[[/note]]. [[ZigZaggingTrope Triple-subverted]] ([[{{Drama}} or was it?]]) with a [[LampshadeHanging lampshade]] by Randy when the police are completely blase about a criminal plummeting to his death directly in front of them:

** ''Recap/MonkS6E10MrMonkAndTheManWhoShotSantaClaus'' has this happen because he shot a man dressed as Santa who was giving out gifts. He only shot him in self defense and the man was actually a murderer, but it isn't until he solves the case that Monk can [[ClearMyName clear his name]], and he has to deal with a lot of abuse until then.
** ''Recap/MonkS6E15MrMonkIsOnTheRun'' has Monk [[FrameUp framed for murder]]. He's thus forced to solve the crime as a fugitive in order to [[ClearMyName clear his name]].

* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: Every single episode has "Mr. Monk" in the title, always at the beginning of the title (the only episode where it ''isn't'' at the beginning is "Happy Birthday, Mr. Monk").

** Randy was born with one melded to his hands.

** It's just [[spoiler:[[ButtMonkey New Jersey]]]].

* GenderFlip: Parodied in "Mr. Monk and the Actor," when Stottlemeyer and Disher stop by during filming of ''[[ShowWithinAShow The Killer Astronaut]]'', the TV movie adaptation of "[[Recap/MonkS4E14MrMonkAndTheAstronaut Mr. Monk and the Astronaut]]"[[note]]Well, actually, they weren't shooting. Since all of the actors except Ruskin have their script folders in their hands, this is probably the actors acting out the script as it currently is written to see if there are any things that need to be changed, and to make their performances more natural when they shoot for real[[/note]]. They are on the set of the crime scene investigation at Joanne Raphelson's house. Randy is really embarrassed to find that he's portrayed by a woman and that a romantic subplot has been put in between "her" and "Stottlemeyer" in the film. This leads to a very uncomfortable moment for the real Stottlemeyer and Disher when their actors lean in for a kiss:

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment:
** InUniverse, in "[[Recap/MonkS6E2MrMonkAndTheRapper Mr. Monk and the Rapper]]", Murderuss approaches Monk because he knows the police are going to call him the primary suspect in his rival Extra Large's murder, in part because he wrote a song called ''Car Bomb'' (lyrics like "Ch, Ch, Ch, I put the bomb in your limo, that's what the surprise is / under your seat like [[Creator/OprahWinfrey Oprah]] giving prizes!") which just happens to describe how Extra Large really died.
** In-universe, in the episode "Mr. Monk's 100th Case", there is an awkward scene where Monk and Natalie are interviewing a restaurant manager trying to act in-character while responding to Natalie's questions, made more humiliating given that Monk and Natalie are being followed by James Novak's camera crew:
-->'''Natalie Teeger:''' Mr. Gleckson, we'd like to talk to you about a woman named Cassandre Rank. I believe she used to work here.\\
'''Vampire Manager:''' ''(in character)'' Yeeessss, Cassandre Rank. She was a most delectable young girl. I remember drinking her blood; she had the most exquisite taste--\\
'''Natalie Teeger:''' She was killed two days ago. Somebody strangled her.\\
'''Vampire Manager:''' ''(breaks character)'' What? Are-are you serious? Oh my God, you-you must have thought that-- look-look you know that this is just a job, right? And this is not real blood; it's all makeup. Oh hell, and that stuff about drinking her blood? Oh crap--\\
'''Adrian Monk:''' When did she work here?\\
'''Vampire Manager:''' Uh, about a year ago. But she only worked her for about a month; 'cause she got a part in a play or something and then she split. Nobody stays here that long.\\
'''Natalie Teeger:''' There was another woman, a Barbara [=McFarland=]? She worked here too, didn't she?\\
'''Vampire Manager:''' ''(goes back into character mode)'' Yeeeesssss! Barbara [=McFarland=], she had a very delectable neck, I'm sure in fact--\\
'''Natalie Teeger:''' She was killed too.
** "Mr. Monk Gets a New Shrink", about Dr. Kroger temporarily retiring, gets some shades of this after Stanley Kamel died of a heart attack in 2008.

** Taken UpToEleven to the point of having theme naming in the TieInNovel ''Mr. Monk Is Cleaned Out'', with Monk losing his savings to a Ponzi scheme that looked like a great idea. The scheme was masterminded by '''Bob Sebes''', an {{Expy}} of Bernard Madoff, who defrauded investors with his '''Reinier''' Investment Fund. Oh, and Bob's wife's name is '''Anna'''.

* HarsherInHindsight: InUniverse example: In "Mr. Monk and the Big Game", Lynn Hayden, Julie's basketball coach, makes a cryptic statement to Julie about their practice potentially being her last. It turns out that it's because she is referring to the fact that she plans to turn herself in to the police for accidentally starting a destructive forest fire, but it really comes back to sting you when less than two minutes after she says that line, she is electrocuted and killed in the shower by her own brother.

** In "Mr. Monk and the Bully", Natalie does it when Monk tries bribing a bartender with $1.25.

* [[IJustShotMarvinInTheFace I Just Shot Mr. Monk In the Leg]]: Natalie accidentally discharges a bullet into Monk's good right leg in "Mr. Monk on Wheels" due to lack of proper firearms training.

* HesitationEqualsDishonesty: In "Mr. Monk and the Bad Girlfriend," Monk and Natalie need to break to Stottlemeyer the hard truth that his girlfriend Linda Fusco killed her business partner. After they say their suspect has a name, they hesitate for a long time before Monk bluntly says, "Linda. ''[beat]'' Linda Fusco." Subverted in that it's more likely Monk and Natalie are aware that Stottlemeyer will not take this news well, and are trying to address him in a way that will soften the impact of the blow.

* {{Facepalm}}ing: A couple of instances:

*** In the pilot, Monk observes evidence of Stottlemeyer being kicked out of the house for a night or two: "You missed a spot shaving. Karen would have caught that. And your necktie – she always ties it for you. She uses that double slipknot. Conclusion – you dressed yourself. And, uh, the Ramada Inn cup. Send her some…roses maybe."

* ForgotFlandersCouldDoThat: Lt. Disher was {{flanderized}} from PluckyComicRelief to TheDitz. Thus, it fit this trope later on when he would demonstrate competent policework.

* FriendlyScheming: In ''Happy Birthday, Mr. Monk'' Monk is constantly suspecting that Natalie is preparing a SurpriseParty for his birthday. In spite of that, she (together with Stottlemeyer) ''does'' manage to outsmart him by preparing [[ScarySurpriseParty a black Cadillac that's supposedly trying to kill them... but is in fact a pretext for the surprise party]].

-->'''Adrian Monk:''' Hello. This is Adrian... Monk. Thank you for calling my new answering machine. When you hear the beep noise, please speak into the telephone receiver and leave a message, which I will play back and listen to later. This is the end of the message, and here is the beep I was talking about. ''[*BEEP*]''

** Subverted in "Mr. Monk and the Genius", where Monk realizes that one of the flowers in Patrick Kloster's yard is poisonous oleander, and takes it to the Captain as his primary evidence... where he is immediately shot down because it's way too common to be admissible as evidence. Though zigzagged back as when Monk and Stottlemeyer take a petition to have Patrick's first wife's body exhumed after they realize that her death and Linda Kloster's death are both similar in nature, the judge notes that among other things, Patrick had been growing oleander plants in his garden around the time of his first wife's death as well.

** One episode features this trope [[spoiler: taken to its logical extreme]]. Monk's bank is robbed and he goes undercover as a guard to crack the case. He soon discovers that the bank manager was in on the robbery and murdered as a result. Goes one step further:[[spoiler: the ''entire bank staff'' committed the robbery.]]

-->'''Adrian Monk:''' I... I... I... can. I can taste the feet now. And the toes. And what's between the toes.

** Almost everything to do with the F-22 Raptor also qualifies in "Mr. Monk and the Astronaut": Such as Natalie mistaking a sidewinder missile for a nuclear weapon, or the warheads just being left out like that. Or... anything else in the entire sequence. Also, if you look closely, one of the soldiers has an AK-pattern rifle, painted black. This might be due to production problems, like the relative availability of AK-pattern prop guns.

** [[invoked]]In "Mr. Monk and the Game Show," Monk's father-in-law, who produces the game show ''Treasure Chest'', knows that the current champion Val Birch is cheating. Monk is convinced, since when he meets Birch, [[WhatAnIdiot Birch does not seem to know what the Golden Gate Bridge is]].

*** It's more likely that as DINKs (Double Income No Kids) Adrian and Trudy were living in San Francisco okay financially. Trudy must have had life insurance and Adrian is on disability (read no income tax). He also has his psychiatrist sessions covered by police union benefits (police union contracts are very generous given the nature of the work). Monk is notoriously frugal and likely he wants to ensure that his money lasts longer than him.