Monk is pulled into using his skills on a very personal case when Captain Stottlemeyer's wife, Karen, is gravely injured in a collision with a car after a tow truck driver is sniped. The police hypothesize it has to do with a union dispute, but the detective isn't sure. Can Monk crack the case before Stottlemeyer cracks under the pressure?
This episode includes examples of the following tropes:
- Armor-Piercing Response: Monk is trying to talk Stottlemeyer down from his mounting rage:Stottlemeyer: Maybe [the shooter] wasn't thinking clearly.
Monk: I don't think you're thinking clearly.
Stottlemeyer: Monk, you don't know what I'm thinking!
Monk: I think I do! The place you're in right now... that's where I live.
Stottlemeyer: (calms down) ...Look, I'm just going to talk to the guy, okay? - Ask a Stupid Question...: When Disher interrupts the task force's preparations for the raid to say Monk's solved the case:Stottlemeyer: Is he sure?
Disher: He's Monk. - Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: As irritating as he finds Karen's various interests and spending a lot of money on filmmaking, Stottlemeyer nearly breaks down when she ends up comatose and badly injured following the accident. By the end, he's got a better idea why Monk can't move on from Trudy's death.
- Check, Please!: Monk takes Stottlemeyer's children out to lunch at a diner. Naturally, he's uncomfortable in the surroundings. So, when the staff break into a dance routine to one of the songs on the jukebox, he says the line when the microphone is held out in front of him. Then one of the waiters bumps the table, giving him his "Eureka!" Moment to solving the case.
- Chekhov's Gun:
- The episode began with Monk on garbage day, and at the end of the episode it reveals Coker almost got rid of the evidence because it was garbage day.
- The sniper's footprints indicate he was barefoot, which seems bizarre, especially given how chilly it's been. It turns out the sniper realized he needed to retrieve evidence from his car suddenly. He didn't put on shoes because he didn't have time.
- Likewise, Evan Coker's neighbor has a sundial that Monk notices is askew; the sniper knocked into it while cutting through her yard.
- Cut Himself Shaving: Stottlemeyer gets into a fight with one of the union men and smacks him down. Randy comes in and asks Stottlemeyer what he did. Union leader Harry Bolston covers for Stottlemeyer, claiming that his friend tripped on his shoelaces.
- Disappointed by the Motive: When Randy shares the department's theory about the likely motive for the shooting - that the victim whose truck crashed into Karen's car was a "scab" being punished by his local trade union for working despite the general strike - Stottlemeyer is aghast.Stottlemeyer: It was a union thing?
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: While a remorseless murderer, Evan Coker seems to genuinely love his dog, and is relieved when Sharona brings it to him.
- Give Me a Reason: After finding out that Coker is responsible, Stottlemeyer grabs him and pins him against his car, asking him to put up a fight so he'll have an excuse for the violence he wants to inflict on him. Luckily, Sharona and Randy are there to talk him down.
- Hollywood Law: Captain Stottlemeyer is in charge of the investigation into the shooting of a tow truck driver, during which Stottlemeyer's wife Karen collided with the tow truck and was knocked into a coma. Although Leland has an interest in finding the man responsible, it's a severe conflict of interest to investigate matters than even tangentially have to do with a close relative like a spouse.
- Implied Death Threat: When the subject of Karen's injuries comes up while the police are searching Coker's house, Stottlemeyer says that the doctors healed her, and that Coker needs to call and give them his thanks for saving him. Given that he nearly beat the man down during the arrest, it's not an idle threat.
- Indy Ploy: According to Monk's summation, the shooter was suddenly woken by the sound of his car being repossessed, and had less than a minute to come up with a plan to stop the tow truck, but he very nearly got away with it.
- It's Personal:
- Stottlemeyer gets more emotional than before due to his wife being caught in the aftermath of the shooting. He almost loses it when he finally catches the shooter.
- Similarly, it's also more personal for the other main characters, because they're trying to avenge Karen while keeping Stottlemeyer from doing something he'll regret.
- Lack of Empathy: Evan Coker shoots a tow truck driver with a hunting rifle in order to retrieve a pistol from his repossessed car. The driver's truck then promptly swerves in front of Stottlemeyer's wife Karen, causing her to crash and get knocked into a temporary coma. In the ending, while being arrested by the police, Coker is shown chuckling and smiling after Stottlemeyer almost goes ballistic and beats him down because of this.
- Meaningful Echo: Early on, Monk's watch is several minutes slow because he hasn't messed with or replaced it since Trudy died. Stottlemeyer suggests that it's been long enough, and Monk should let go and move on. Later, after spending most of the episode worried sick about Karen, Stottlemeyer tells Monk he understands now; he can't just let go.
- Mood Whiplash:
- In the beginning, Monk and Leland are outside Monk's apartment, conversing, as Monk exasperates the substitute garbagemen with how to handle his garbage. That part of the scene itself is pretty amusing. Just as the garbage truck is beginning to drive away, a distraught and subdued Randy arrives to inform Leland that his wife Karen has been in a car accident and has been hospitalized.
- The Captain mobilizes the entire precinct for a sting operation, and everyone is suiting up and arming themselves...and then Randy receives a call from Monk who solved the case.
- Motive = Conclusive Evidence: While arguing against Stottlemeyer going to talk to the union boss, Monk says that the union members had no motive to shoot the tow truck driver, even if he was a scab. Negotiations had been leaning in their favor and if anything, a murder would ruin things for them.
- Not Worth Killing: Stottlemeyer pins Coker to a car by the throat and asks him to put up a fight, as a favor to him. Luckily, Randy and Sharona, who know that the captain has been mentally unstable lately, jump in to remind him that going further could cost him his badge. They argue that Coker isn't worth the cost beating him up (or worse) would inflict on Stottlemeyer, and the captain agrees with them.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
- Monk chases down a garbage truck and jumps onto it to retrieve the bag containing the evidence that Coker was trying to get rid of. Stottlemeyer, Sharona and Disher are left staring in shock at the sight as Stottlemeyer even remarks, "Is that Adrian Monk jumping on the back of a garbage truck?" Monk yanks out as many bags as he can to save the evidence, while groaning and yelling in psychological anguish the entire time.
- Randy is unusually subdued and serious during the episode. He only offers one kooky theory, which is still far more grounded than his usual fare; he tries his best to keep his boss in line, and he's in Tranquil Fury mode as he cuffs Coker for a triple count of felony murder.
- Parting-Words Regret: As Karen prepares to leave for a project, she and Stottlemeyer have a slight argument about her fussiness regarding certain causes and the money she spends on filmmaking. Naturally, she gets into a car wreck en route, frightening Stottlemeyer half to death.
- Percussive Therapy: Midway through the episode, Stottlemeyer is beating on a vending machine in the hospital. Eventually, a chocolate bar with peanuts comes out. Stottlemeyer offers it to Monk, saying he hates peanuts and he just wanted to pound something.
- Precious Puppies: When a small dog trots up while they're investigating the crime scene, Sharona immediately starts cooing over it and spends a lot of the scene carrying it around.
- Smokescreen Crime: After hearing from Sharona that Monk has doubts about the union angle, the sniper shoots another "scab" at the truck depot to mislead the police.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: After Karen's previous appearance, where she and the captain seemingly made up, they are back to fighting about her filmmaking at the beginning of the episode. The kind of issues that cause persistent arguments in a marriage rarely have such simple solutions.
- We Named the Monkey "Jack": Sharona calls the dog that shows up at the crime scene "Adrian" because "he's nervous and he's always cleaning himself." Monk is not flattered.
