TV-Reviewed

Having Sharona back on Monk was something I’ve been looking forward to. The anticipation was ratcheted up a few notches with the clever commercials which played “My Sharona“. I’ve really missed Sharona, but I admit that Natalie has been an excellent assistant for Adrian.

Sharona was brought back to town to handle some legal matters when a distant uncle of hers died. A lawsuit was threatened against a local golf course because the manner in which he died was thought to be an accident, one which the golf course could have prevented by replacing a step they knew was broken.

Monk, on the other hand, knew something wasn’t right when he looked at the crime scene photos. He felt something was out of place and this set about a feud that was pretty silly, even though it worked. Sharona and Natalie are two very different assistants. Sharona was a lot more direct, while Natalie has pretty much coddled him like a baby. Sharona was right on with her criticism.

Tony Shalhoub as Adrian Monk, Bitty Schram as Sharona Fleming

Thankfully the criticism didn’t get out of hand in my opinion, but it was a bit much for Adrian to handle and he had to take a trip to his wife’s grave to collect his thoughts. The scene at the grave wasn’t important, but it made for a nice segue for Natalie and Sharona to touch on the subject of Trudy. I enjoyed seeing them make up and compliment one another. Natalie’s comments about Sharona being there right after Trudy died was wonderful. It was very touching.

As for the manner in which Adrian solved the case, it was highly unusual. It was almost slapstick. I couldn’t believe the reckless manner in which Adrian got involved with his illegal search of the guilty party’s desk and office area.

Despite certain things with the case making me feel a little discombobulated, everything worked as a whole. I thoroughly enjoyed watching this. Getting Sharona and Randy together was a stretch, however. I knew something would happen, however. Randy was taken aback when Sharona dropped by the station for the first time in some five years. Sharona said she’d be back in a few weeks. I suspect this could be just in time to close out the series. I’m looking forward to the big wrap-up.

Rating: 8.4