History Recap / MonkS3E16MrMonkAndTheKid

* INeverSaidItWasPoison: Monk solves the case of who the kidnappers are when he recalls that Janet Novak so clearly the finger her foster son found as "pinky" when that information had not been disclosed.

* VerbalBackpedaling: In a variation of someone telling Monk something doesn't have to be perfect, a social worker has Monk sign the papers that will make him Tommy's foster parent for the time being. As usual, Monk stresses over the perfection of his signature. She tries to assure him it doesn't have to be perfect. But at realizing it could be a red flag of Monk's neurotic tendencies, she then rescinds what she sayid, understanding that a perfect signature could lend her the paper trail she needs in case this goes badly.

* VerbalBackpedal: In a variation of someone telling Monk something doesn't have to be perfect, a social worker has Monk sign the papers that will make him Tommy's foster parent for the time being. As usual, Monk stresses over the perfection of his signature. She tries to assure him it doesn't have to be perfect. But at realizing it could be a red flag of Monk's neurotic tendencies, she then rescinds what she sayid, understanding that a perfect signature could lend her the paper trail she needs in case this goes badly.

* StickyFingers: Tommy has a habit of taking things out of women's purses. Monk realizes it when Tommy is holding Natalie's lipstick; the finger came from Janet Novak's purse.

* OverprotectiveDad: Monk towards Tommy, from putting pillows on all sides of his bed to overdressing him.

* AdultFear:
** Tommy wanders off in the park. When the police find him, he's holding a severed finger. That's enough to get him pulled out of Janet Novak's care.
** Monk wants to adopt Tommy, but he finds that his compulsions are conflicting with the needs of caring for a child (and that Tommy is starting to pick up a few of them). Eventually he has to give up Tommy, for the boy's good.
** Daniel Carlyle's family is worried sick when he gets kidnapped, and have been intimidated into not calling the police.
** There was a kidnap victim in a foster home.

* INeverSaidItWasPoison: Monk solves the case of who the kidnappers are when he recalls that Janet Novak so clearly identified the finger her foster son found as "pinky" when that information had not been disclosed.

* ArtShift: Monk's usual "Here's what happened" summation is told to Tommy like as a bedtime story; as it happens, rather than the usual black-and-white Noir-style summations it's instead presented as an animated scene that looks like it came straight from a children's storybook.
** The theme at the end of the episode is a more somber version of the original jazz theme rather than the instrumental of "It's A Jungle Out There". Likely to match the somber ending of the episode (See: Bittersweet Ending)

* OhTheHumanity: Monk name-checks the trope when calling 911... [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments because Tommy soiled his diaper]]

* StatusQuoIsGod: Monk doesn't adopt Tommy, realizing that he's going to not parent him well.

* IWantYouToMeetAnOldFriendOfMine: This is the second time that Tony Shalhoub's wife Brooke Adams is guest starring on the show. The first being [[Recap/MonkS1E12MrMonkAndTheAirplane Mr. Monk and the Airplane]]

* SayingTooMuch: Janet Novak ended up giving herself away when she says that Tommy only found a pinky. Monk figures it out later.

** Monk wants to adopt Tommy, but he finds that his compulsions are conflicting with the needs of caring for a child. Eventually he has to give up Tommy, for the boy's good.

* BittersweetEnding: Daniel Carylyle is rescued thanks to Monk's deduction, but he's missing a finger, so his violin career is probably taking a nosedive. Monk realizes that he has to give up Tommy, who we can hope ends up with better guardians than Janet Novak.

* IHaveYourWife: Daniel Carylyle is being held for ransom, and if the family goes to the police he will be killed.

* EveryoneLives: While Daniel does lose a finger he's saved before anything else happens, and there are no deaths at all in the episode.

A straying toddler in foster care finds a finger in the park. Due to being too little to tell the police where he found it, Monk has to step in to find the clues. He finds himself drawn to Tommy, and wants to adopt him. The case, and Monk's condition, provide complications to that plan.