The Frisco Fly, a daredevil that has been dazzling San Francisco, falls off the roof of a building and nearly dies. When onlookers pull off his hood, they reveal the man to be Harold Krenshaw, Monk's nemesis. But how could he possibly be The Frisco Fly when he is just as scared of heights, if not more so, than Monk? And if he isn't, then what was he doing there in the first place?
This episode contains examples of:
- Accident, Not Murder: The real Frisco Fly, acrobat Victor Granja, was really killed in a car crash. Joey just happened to find the car with the Frisco Fly suit in it and got an idea.
- Fiery Cover Up: Joey burned up the car that Victor Granja crashed in to destroy all traces of the body. This way, everyone would believe Harold was the Frisco Fly when he died.
- Freudian Excuse: Part of what drives Harold Krenshaw to be antagonistic is because his son is usually ashamed of his neurotic dad, and Harold wants to make him proud at least once.
- GPS Evidence: Monk figures out Joey is the culprit when he sees Natalie scratching an itch she got from poison oak at the car crash scene, and remembers Joey has the same thing.
- Greed: The main motive behind Joey's actions. His and Harold's uncle was leaving his fortune to them, the latter claims he was "never good at sharing". So he drugged Harold and dressed him as a known daredevil to make it look like he attempted a stunt gone horribly wrong.
- Green-Eyed Monster: A non-villainous example. Whilst trying to hold it in, Stottlemeyer calls out Monk on being driven by his envy towards what seems like Krenshaw's accomplishment at overcoming his acrophobia.
- Hearing Voices: Monk gets this whenever he's under serious duress and/or fear.
- Heroic BSoD: Monk goes into a depression when he feels he can't overcome his fears at the same level Harold can. He tries to defeat at least one of his phobias but fails. He gets past this when he learns Harold is not a real daredevil and didn't actually conquer his fear of heights.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Monk is able to subdue Joey with chloroform, the same stuff he was about to use on Harold so he could push him off the roof again.
- Inheritance Murder: Joey is trying to kill Harold so he can keep all the inheritance of their late uncle to himself.
- Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Zigzagged. When Monk derisively believes Harold went along with being the Frisco Fly to rub it in his face, Harold angrily snaps "It's not always about you!" He confesses that he did it to make his son proud of him... and then admits that, yes, he loved watching Adrian go crazy with jealousy. The last part Natalie calls him out for, given that Monk saved his life.
- Make It Look Like an Accident: This is what Joey was trying to do with Harold, but Harold was able to break his fall.
- Out-of-Character Alert: Played for drama. When Dr. Kroger notices Monk has become so depressed that he no longer organizes anything in the room, tosses a tissue on the floor without properly trashing it, and also doesn't care that his shirt is unbuttoned, he puts him under a 48-hour suicide watch. He fears it's a grave indication of Monk's mental state, especially after Monk declares he "gives up".
- Ungrateful Bastard:
- When Harold is presented with some artwork made by six-year-old fans, he and his cousin mock and criticize their art with Harold making notes on how it could be better. Their teacher is rightfully shocked by his attitude especially since she points out he’s a member of the school board.
- Harold needs to be called out by Natalie in order to thank Monk for saving him from being killed by his greedy cousin. He then immediately taunts Monk by saying he might make his session with Dr. Kroger go on longer just to spite Monk.
