Line #18 Recap/MonkS5E11MrMonkMakesAFriend


1	Around the time of investigating another murder, Monk runs into a man named Hal Tucker at the grocery store, who seems not to mind his quirks and to like hanging around with him. The two quickly become friends, but Monk's regular social circle becomes suspicious, especially when Hal becomes a potential suspect in the case.
2	!!This episode includes examples of the following tropes:
3	* BlackComedy: In the Epilogue, Monk tries to invoke such a joke when, upon Natalie's suggestion they could go to an ice skating show, Monk asks if they could invite Hal then says "I'm kidding, it's a joke". Also an IronicEcho as he claimed it was just a prank and that's what friends do - just as Hal had done when he had a gun pointed at Monk which the latter went on to retrieve (which Hal also claimed had no bullets).
4	* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Monk making a friend seems much more like he's starting a romance.
5	* EarWorm: Gail Segalis opens a music box while unpacking from a trip to Greece, and she says she can't get it out of her head. At the end, when Monk is invited into Hal's apartment, Hal starts unconsciously humming the tune while closing the shades, and Monk recognizes it as the music box's tune, [[ChekhovsGun which makes him realize that Hal is Gail's killer]].
6	* FalseFriend: Hal pretends to befriend Monk in order to obtain a piece of evidence Monk unknowingly has that could implicate him. Even after Monk discovers that he's a criminal and Hal gives a biting speech on how much he hated having to put up with Monk's quirks, Monk still considers him a better friend than many people he's met in the past.
7	* HideTheEvidence:
8	** Hal befriends Monk purely because he needs to retrieve an important piece of evidence that ties him to Gail's murder: the picture of Hal and Gail together at the Parthenon she sent to Monk (as she had once promised him).
9	** Hal goes back to the restaurant where he killed Tim and there he picks up the glasses he had dropped off during the murder.
10	** Hal kills Gail because she was about to open the bottle where he hid his contraband, and Tim because he could identify Hal.
11	* HiddenInPlainSight: Hal is actually an antiques smuggler who previously did eight months in jail for [[FellOffTheBackOfATruck receiving stolen property]]. Not wanting to get caught again he needs to disguise his next contraband: an antique ivory figurine. So he hides the contraband inside a bottle of Santorini wine and seduces Gail so she'd receive the wine as a gift, but with express orders not to open it until he said so. Her wanting to drink some of the wine (and thus him risking being found out on his smuggling/to have been using her) is the motive for him killing her.
12	* ImprovisedWeapon: Hal is taking a shower as Gail asks to open up the wine bottle, so he grabs a washcloth from her bathroom and when she notices just what's wrong with the bottle, he strangles her with the cloth.
13	* INeverSaidItWasPoison:
14	** Stottlemeyer and Disher realize that Hal is the killer when they look at the revolver used to pistol-whip Tim Hayden to death, and Stottlemeyer realizes that when Randy showed the gun to Hal and said "Here's the murder weapon," Hal pointed to the cracked handle and said "the handle's cracked. Is that from hitting the guy?", meaning he knew Tim was pistol-whipped (but only later do they connect the dots), when a normal person would assume the victim had been shot.
15	** Hal picking up his glasses, which he had dropped when he murdered Tim (but faking it was when he came to the restaurant when he brought no glasses that time), also raises some suspicions for Stottlemeyer, Disher and Natalie, but in this case the suspicion doesn't go far.
16	* InsignificantAnniversary: PlayedForDrama. Hal hides a stolen artifact in a bottle of wine that he says he only wants to open for a special occasion, but Gail decides to open it to celebrate their first week together. Hal then kills her so she can't tell anyone what she discovered.
17	* JerkassHasAPoint: Hal is very much up to no good. But then there's this:
18	-->''[After Hal is confronted at the restaurant by Stottlemeyer, Disher, and Natalie about why he hangs out with Monk.]''\
19	'''Natalie:''' [[PlatonicDeclarationOfLove We love him]].\
20	'''Hal:''' Oh, you do? When's the last time you hung out with him? You know, just to hang out or call him just to talk. He is a great guy. He's odd and funny and brilliant. But you wouldn't know that. I mean, to you he's just some sort of crime-solving machine. A robot that you wind up and point at a crime scene and let them do your job for you. And to you ''[Natalie]'' he's your funny quirky boss that you can make fun of and tell stories about behind his back. What kind of friends are ''[[NoYou you]]''? If Adrian Monk has a problem, it's not with me.
21	* KickTheDog: When he has Monk at gunpoint, Hal confesses that hanging out with Monk is only about as much fun as ''pulling teeth''.
22	* MaleGaze: When Monk is handing out tickets to events he has purchased, Stottlemeyer is quick to take the tickets for womens' volleyball, and it's clear why he's interested.
23	* MeaningfulEcho: When the police barge in to Hal's apartment to arrest him, the first thing Stottlemeyer says to Hal is, "Get away from my friend!" countering how Hal had previously accused him, Randy and Natalie of not ''really'' being Monk's friends because they viewed him as a novelty. This line makes Hal's earlier words empty.
24	* MurderingTheHypotenuse: Hal kills Tim, ex-boyfriend to his girlfriend Gail (whom he had killed before), because he's a witness connecting them both in Greece.
25	* PistolWhipping: How Hal kills Tim Hayden. He attempts to shoot him, but the firing pin on his revolver is too worn down. So as a result, he's forced to use the gun as a blunt weapon after a lengthy drawn out fight. It's knowing that Tim was beaten to death that plays a major part in Hal's undoing.
26	* PlatonicDeclarationOfLove: When Stottlemeyer, Disher, and Natalie confront Hal, he asks why they're concerning themselves in his relationship with Monk. Natalie answers that it's because they love him.
27	* PretenderDiss: Monk gives one to Michael Kin, a man Hal told he had dinner with (but was actually selling his contraband):
28	-->''(After being told by Michael that Hal doesn't like hard rock, in this case Music/PearlJam, when Monk offered Hal tickets to several events.)'' YOU! You don't know the first thing about Hal. Don't pretend you do. How does he like his hamburgers, huh? Didn't hear that. Medium rare! Can you name three of his shirts? Because I can. The turquoise blue one, the yellow one and the one he's wearing right now.
29	* ReturningToTheScene: Hal goes back to the restaurant where he killed Tim with Monk and Natalie in order to see if there's anything there tying him to the crime. He finds a pair of his sunglasses and pockets them, pretending he had just dropped them.
30	%%* SerialHomewrecker: Gail Sedaris met Hal Tucker when she was on a trip with her then-boyfriend, Tim Hayden, in Greece. Hal seduces Gail away from Tim.
31	* SilentTreatment: Right after Hal finds out the last piece of evidence he needs to conceal his crime (the picture of him and Gail at the Parthenon she sent to Monk) he basically cuts off all contact with Monk, leaving the latter weeping and waiting for a phone call that never happens (like a deprecated lover would) for two days. After that he goes to confront Hal at his house.
32	* VerySpecialEpisode: Hal Tucker makes friends with Monk and puts up with all his quirks and phobias. He also points out while Monk considers Natalie, Stottlemeyer and Disher friends, Hal tells them off and accuses them of just using Monk in a one-sided manner. Turns out Hal is the murderer they suspected earlier and Monk desperately wants him not to be the killer even when he threatens to kill Monk. Natalie, Stottlemeyer and Disher save the day and Monk learns they really are his friends.

Context Recap / MonkS5E11MrMonkMakesAFriend