Recap / Monk S5E8 "Mr. Monk Goes to a Rock Concert"

Monk and Natalie end up accompanying Stottlemeyer to a rock concert to look for Stottlemeyer's runaway son, only to get involved in the murder of a roadie.

Tropes

• Absence of Evidence: Monk notes two clues that cast doubt on the "overdose" theory. Stork supposedly walked into the port-a-john to shoot up, and he supposedly tied his arm before inserting the needle. However, his shoes had no mud on them (despite the mud outside the port-a-john) and the tying band had no teeth marks in it.
• Accidental Hero: If Jared hadn't cut school for the concert and Karen hadn't asked her ex-husband to find him, presumably no one would have thought twice about Stork's apparent overdose. Monk goes with Stottlemeyer, and he finds the evidence that ends up bringing Kedder down for Stork's murder.
• Afraid of Needles:
  • Stork was, which is the reason his girlfriend Kendra doesn't believe he would overdose.
    Kendra Frank: Look, they're trying to say that he OD'd! Okay? That's impossible! He's been clean for 17 months! I know, I talked to him about it every day!
    Natalie Teeger: Well, Kendra, we were there. We saw a needle in his arm —
    Kendra Frank: No, that's how I know there's something wrong. Stork was completely phobic about needles! He was the only roadie I've ever met that didn't even have one tattoo! I mean he missed a whole South American tour last year because he wouldn't get vaccinated!
  • It also comes up when they discover a map on Stork's pocket with an acupuncturist's appointment marked for 7:30. It turns out, Kris had gone there in disguise as Stork, gotten some acupuncturing, and then set an appointment on behalf of Stork so his death would be pointed to his overdose.
  • Monk's own fear of needles comes up in a later scene. When Monk, Natalie and Kendra are talking to the acupuncturist, Monk cringes and turns away when Annie inserts a needle into her current patient's back.
• Alliterative Name: Kris Kedder.
• Arbitrary Skepticism: When Monk and Natalie are approached by Stork's girlfriend Kendra Frank, Natalie initially appears to be skeptical towards Kendra's claims that something is wrong, which only angers Kendra. She still tags along with Monk to investigate the murder instead of going off to look for Stottlemeyer's son.
• Artistic License – Law: What Stork did with his song's sheet music - writing it, sealing it in an envelope, sending it to himself via registered mail, and leaving the envelope (marked with a dated postmark and accompanied with return receipt) closed until such a time he would need to prove he wrote it first - is actually a common practice known as "poor man's copyright". Thing is, there is no case where it has actually been proven to work.^note First, mailing something to oneself (or another party) does not by itself prove copyright ownership over it as people mail things to which they do not hold the copyright all the time. Second, envelopes can be steamed open and postmarks can be smudged, altered or unreadable. Third, Stork could have just as easily sent himself (or, as is more common, a 3rd party) an empty envelope, or an envelope with blank pages, which is also a common scam with registered mail. Finally, and most importantly, the postmarks and the return receipts only confirm that a given letter or parcel was mailed at a given time and do not offer proof of its content! Plus, Stork would not actually have any legal cause of action against Kris, since US Copyright law does not recognise "moral rights" (such as the one applicable in this case, that of attribution) and it would be likely courts would consider the song to be a "work for hire" (meaning, Kris would own the copyright and Stork would not have any alternative cause of action).
• Berserk Button: Monk eventually briefly loses his temper after being hit by the same blue beachball three times.
• Betrayal Insurance: Stork called the envelope with the sheet music he sent himself via registered mail his "insurance policy" when he went to the post office with Kendra. Unfortunately, Kris throws the envelope into a pyre in the middle of the concert (albeit not the return receipt, which he had not got hold of when he sneaked into Stork's trailer, unlike with the envelope).
• Blatant Lies: Stottlemeyer catches Randy playing sick, and his lying is painfully obvious.
• Body in a Breadbox: Body in a port-a-potty.
• Brick Joke: Stottlemeyer gives an outdated picture of his son (Jared in the picture is still a kid while Jared in the present is a teenager) to the rock festival security, who decide to put up the picture in fliers. Later, when Jared was found, he would later get embarrassed by the picture on the flier. Gets another drop in the end when father and son reconciled and decided to go into a photo booth to take pictures before they leave.
• Chekhov's Gun: The blue beachball Monk was hit with three times is actually an important piece of evidence, as Monk, Natalie and Kendra discover that a) it was Kris (in disguise as Stork, who was Afraid of Needles) who made an acupuncturist appointment and b) he had filled the beachball on his way out. The latter was important because, as an asthmatic, Kris uses a unique mint-flavored inhaler, and the smell was on the air inside the ball.
• Continuity Nod: Stottlemeyer accused Randy in "Mr. Monk Goes to the Dentist" of saving up sick days for when he isn't sick. Here, he catches Randy in the act of playing sick.
• Death Glare: Kendra's reaction to Monk telling her that Stork saw an acupuncturist.
• Destroy the Evidence: Kris snicks into Stork's trailer pretending to want to see it, but actually wanting to obtain the evidence Stork said he had, which was the envelope with the sheet music (he forgot about the return receipt, which however is not worth much by itself), then equally sneaking out with it (leading Monk to notice something strange about the wall—the missing envelope). Afterwards, in the middle of the concert, he brandishes the envelope for all to see, then throws it into a pyre which burns it completely. Fortunately, Monk deducts he has another piece of evidence: the blue beachball.
• Disgusting Public Toilet: Yeah, those outhouses probably aren't the most sanitary of public toilets. Monk's gradually freaks out when Natalie comes upon him leaving a port-a-potty. Later, Monk and Natalie are talking, and Monk is wiping his neck very tightly:
  Adrian Monk: Oh, how long do you think I was in there?
  Natalie Teeger: I don't know, Mr. Monk. Maybe a minute!
  Adrian Monk: It was rough. It was like some kind of medieval torture device, that one.
  Natalie Teeger: [nods] Yeah, I know. I actually read that the Spanish Inquisition used to lock people in port-a-johns.
  Adrian Monk: That wouldn't surprise me.
• Exact Words: When Monk hears that Leland's son has skipped school to go to "a rock show," he says he used to do that himself as a kid and "see the stones." Natalie is surprised, thinking that doesn't sound like something Monk would do at all, and it's only after they arrive at the event that they discover Monk wasn't talking about a music concert but about literal rocks and stones.
• Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: Monk's reaction when he realizes Kris Kedder has stolen a piece of evidence from Stork's trailer:
  Natalie Teeger: What is it?
  Adrian Monk: Something's missing. Did either of you move anything? [Natalie and Kendra look at each other]
  Natalie Teeger: Uh, no.
  Kendra Frank: No.
  Adrian Monk: Something's different. [points] There was an envelope; a white envelope right there.
  Kendra Frank: There was? [Natalie grabs a blue slip of paper from the spot Monk is pointing to]
  Natalie Teeger: Huh, it's a receipt. "Registered mail." He mailed something to himself.
  Kendra Frank: I remember that. That was about six months ago. I went to the post office with him. He was mailing sheet music to himself. He called it his "insurance policy".
  Natalie Teeger: What song?
  Kendra Frank: I don't know.
  Adrian Monk: I think I do: the song Kris Kedder was just singing.
  Kendra Frank: "Peggy's Gone to Memphis".
  Adrian Monk: Kedder didn't write that song. Stork wrote it about his daughter. "Peggy" is short for "Margaret"; "Peggy's Gone to Memphis"! [Adrian, Natalie and Kris had earlier seen a picture of a small child hanging on a wall of the trailer and Kendra explained that it was of Stork's daughter, Margaret.]
  Kendra Frank: Oh my God! He just took that envelope!
  Adrian Monk: Can't prove anything without that envelope! [They run out of the trailer]
• False Friend: Kris to Stork. Not only did Kris steal the credit for music that Stork wrote, he also killed Stork in order to hide the theft. Plus, according to Kendra, he didn't really help Stork with drug addiction. On top of that, he tried to use Stork's history of addiction to cover up the murder.
• Fan Boy: Jared and Disher are both this for Kris Kedder. Jared skips school, and Randy is Playing Sick (although he was immediately foiled by Stottlemeyer), both in order to attend the concert.
• Fanservice Extra: Plenty of male and female extras who are either shirtless or in little more than bikinis.
• Fish out of Water: In an environment where wearing a t-shirt or being in various states of undress is expected, Monk stands out like a sore thumb.
• Grievous Bottley Harm: Kedder kills Stork by smashing a beer bottle over his head as the latter is in the process of dialing up a copyright lawyer, then injecting a "hotshot" of heroin into him while he's unconscious.
• Handshake Substitute: Randy and Jared have a fist-bump behind Stottlemeyer's back when Monk informs him about the murder, which means that Stottlemeyer has no choice but to stay at the festival.
• Implausible Deniability: Stottlemeyer catches Randy Playing Sick. Even though Randy's denials on the phone could be plausible, they are rendered implausible because Stottlemeyer is calling from literally less than 15 feet away and can clearly see that he's perfectly healthy.
• Lack of Empathy: When Monk, Natalie and Kendra show up to question him, Kedder appears to show empathy for Stork's death, but Kendra can clearly see through it:
  Kendra Frank: Yeah, they're looking into what happened to Stork.
  Kris Kedder: What's the big mystery? He's been chasing that dragon for years. I tried to help him.
  Kendra Frank: [disgusted] When did you try to help him?! [to Monk] See, now that he's dead, everyone's his best friend! [to Kedder] Where were you when he was sinking?
  Kris Kedder: Where were you?
• Locked Room Mystery: Stork's body is found in a port-a-potty that had to be pried open by a crew member. It turns out Kris Kedder used one of his guitar strings to lock the port-a-potty from the inside by feeding it through the vents.
• Mystery Magnet: Monk and Natalie are right by the port-a-potty when Stork Murray's body falls out of it. Natalie is somewhat startled, but her attitude after the break shows that she's perfectly fine helping Monk investigate, which suggests that either she was convinced by Stork's girlfriend Kendra Frank that something was wrong, she didn't want to look for Jared, or it's because they came in Stottlemeyer's car and Stottlemeyer is still looking for his son.
• Nerdy Inhaler: Subverted. Kris Kedder, a rock star, uses a unique mint-flavored one which is imported from Denmark for his asthma. It's also used to identify him as Stork's murderer, since he blew up a blue beachball while impersonating Stork at an acupuncture tent.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Monk stopping the entire festival to tell the crowd about the ball he and his friends are after, which also alerted Kedder about how important it was that he decided to go after it as well.
• Noodle Incident:
  • When the episode opens, Monk and Natalie show up at the police station looking for Stottlemeyer. Natalie shows him a dry cleaning bill for clothes Monk ruined on a previous case, and insists on getting reimbursed for such expenses. Said previous case apparently involved a kidnapping and somehow involved Monk running through a poultry farm to recover missing ransom money, ruining a shirt and a jacket.
  • After getting out of the port-a-potty, Monk blabbers about where he could have inserted the quarter, or exactly what he confused for a telephone receiver.
• Overly Long Gag:
  • Monk confuses a port-a-john for a payphone, and what happens is a long, uninterrupted shot of the john until Monk realizes the truth and just get out of there.
  • Natalie trying to restrain Monk from touching a heat lamp, repeatedly.
• Perky Goth: Kendra Frank might be trying to be this trope.
• Photo-Booth Montage: At the end, Stottlemeyer suggests he and Jared take some photos for his wallet.
• Plagiarism in Fiction: Why Stork was killed. Kedder took credit for a song Stork himself wrote, and realizes that if Stork went public with the truth, it would greatly damage Kedder's career, if not be the end of it (especially if Stork's comment about Kedder having failed to write a decent song for years is accurate).
• Playing Sick: Stottlemeyer implied in "Mr. Monk Goes to the Dentist" that the reason Randy didn't want to go to the dentist in spite of a genuine toothache is because he wanted to save his sick days for days where he isn't actually sick. This is later confirmed here, where Stottlemeyer, searching for his son, catches Randy red-handed doing this. He surprises Randy by calling his cell phone, pretending to be unconvinced about Randy's excuses (like passing the music on stage off for a broken stereo) and surprises him.
• Rapid-Fire "No!": Natalie's reaction when Monk tries to touch a heat lamp with his pointer finger. It fails: she restrains his right hand, so he touches and burns his left pointer fingertip instead, then does the right one. Then we see Monk and Natalie getting an ointment from the first aid tent.
• Right Behind Me: Randy, playing sick, gets a call from Stottlemeyer on his cell phone, and speaks like he is sick, while Stottlemeyer is slowly walking up behind him and acting completely incredulous at his lies. Randy tells one of the bystanders that the call was his boss, who promptly makes himself known.
• Short-Distance Phone Call: Stottlemeyer calls Randy's cell from less than ten feet away when he catches him pretending to be sick.
• Shout-Out: Monk, Natalie and Kendra Frank are questioning an acupuncturist about a murder victim she saw earlier that morning, there's this:
  Annie: He said he was giving up; he wanted to get high. He said he used to be afraid of needles, but he got over it.
  Kendra Frank: I don't believe this!
  Annie: Well I guess he's with Kurt, Jimi and Janis now.
  Adrian Monk: Who?
  Natalie Teeger: I'll tell you later.
  • The reference Annie is making is to Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix, and Janis Joplin, three renowned singers who shared one thing in common: they were drug addicts and they all died at age 27 (making them members of the 27 Club). And since Stork looks like he's in his late twenties, it makes sense.
• Shown Their Work: A USA Network blog reveals that a lot of work was put into making the environment of the San Francisco Band Jam look realistic. Those are actual port-a-potties for instance, although the one where Stork's body is stashed was modified so that the back end could be cut off for shooting scenes inside it. The stage set was constructed based on research for lots of other real rock festivals, including Woodstock. The acupuncture tent that Monk, Natalie, and Kendra Frank visit to interview a witness used real acupuncture benches, and the first aid tent where Monk and Natalie examine the body is stocked with actual supplies.
• Skipping School: 15-year-old Jared Stottlemeyer, hence why Leland Stottlemeyer goes to the concert with Monk and Natalie in order to retrieve him.
• Sadistic Choice: At one point when he catches the ball, Jared is torn between giving it to either Kris or his dad Stottlemeyer. After much insistence, especially from Kris (who actually uses the fact that his dad is a policeman - an authority), Stottlemeyer eventually convinces Jared to hand the ball over. Unfortunately that results in the arrest of his favorite musician (however, as Natalie points out, his Kris Kedder t-shirt is now worth more).
• Stealing the Credit: The reason Kris killed Stork. Originally Stork (and Stork alone) wrote both the music and the lyrics to "Peggy's Gone to Memphis"^note based on his daughter Margaret a.k.a. "Peggy", who lived in Memphis, Tennessee. He agreed with Kris that he would get the songwriting credit if Kris were to sing it, in order for Stork to gain career currency in the music industry. When the CD in which the music was recorded came out, however, only Kris was credited (as both singer and songwriter). When Stork got hold of a copy and saw his name was missing, he confronted Kris, who at first offered him $5,000 to drop the issue. Stork refused, claiming he had evidence (the envelope he sent himself via registered mail). Kris knocked Stork out just as he was about to call a copyright attorney and then killed him with a "hotshot" of heroin.
• Television Geography: Zig-zagged. There is no valley within the San Francisco Police Department's jurisdiction that matches the location of the concert grounds (if this episode was shot on location, they'd probably have set it in Golden Gate Park). However, inside Stork's trailer, there's an envelope addressed to a postal box with an actual San Francisco ZIP code (94188).
• Two First Names: Kendra Frank, Greg "Stork" Murray.
• Wild Teen Party: At first. This is Monk's reaction when he discovers that he mistakenly took the phrase "rock show" to mean a geology exhibit. While waiting out of the way, horrified at learning what he actually agreed to, Monk is utterly disgusted when a couple starts passionately making out on the hood of Stottlemeyer's car. The trope fades into the background after Monk and Natalie are roped in by Kendra into investigating Stork's murder (ostensibly, Monk considers murder to be the greater concern).
• You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: Kendra's reaction to Natalie's skepticism when she says the needle-phobic Stork couldn't have overdosed, despite how his body looked when Monk and Natalie found it:
  Natalie Teeger: [shrugs] Maybe he got over it.
  Kendra Frank: You don't just get over a phobia like that overnight! Do you?!
  Adrian Monk: No. You don't.