TV-Reviewed

With Adrian Monk getting up early in the morning and getting out his old police uniform, I knew something important was about to happen. It’s not every day that Adrian pulls out his uniform. As Adrian was getting prepared for the day, he noticed a sticky note from Natalie. It encouraged him. As did the four others. This started out cute, but by the time Adrian found all five, I had had it with the stickies and this lost all humor for me.

Adrian’s meeting with the police department was really more of a preliminary hearing regarding his re-instatement. Nothing too important happened. It seemed to just let everyone know that those on the force approved and appreciated Adrian’s efforts and set in motion Adrian’s efforts to win over what seemed to be a lone holdout for recommending his re-instatement.

Determined to get his badge back, Adrian decided to help Randy Disher with the “Buddies in Blue” program after learning that the holdout has a son in the program. Adrian figured he could win over the father by making sure the son had a lot of stories about Adrian to tell.

Jason Gray-Stanford as Lt. Randy Disher

This didn’t turn out to be the case. The holdout, Captain Frank Willis, has a problem putting his job before his family, so he and his son aren’t close.

That didn’t necessarily deter Adrian from trying to befriend the captain’s boy. The setting for this wasn’t the greatest for Adrian. He’s never done well in the woods, what with all of the dirt and bugs.

While Adrian was in the woods with Randy, Captain Stottlemeyer was working an armed robbery case which just so happened to involve Monk and Randy. The thieves had to retrieve casings they left during a target practice session near the lake that the “Buddies in Blue” were staying near.

The premise seemed silly to me and then the way they had to involve Adrian and Randy was a joke. The comedy didn’t work. The drama didn’t work. There was very little in this episode to point to as being something remotely good.

With the series wrapping up in just a few weeks, I’m expecting them to bring out the great storylines, but this was a mess. Calling it merely a filler episode would be generous. There are TV-movies that are better than this.

Rating: 2.0