Recap / Monk S6E2 "Mr. Monk and the Rapper"

Monk springs forward into a case he never wanted when rap star Murderuss (Snoop Dogg) comes to him, asking him to clear his name. Fellow rapper Extra Large died in a car bombing and the police have fastened on him as the prime suspect. Can Monk solve the case while being disturbed by the large amount of evidence against his client and the clash of rap culture with his own personality?

This episode includes examples of the following tropes:

• Actually Quite Catchy: Despite being uncomfortable at the concert, Monk finds himself bobbing along to Murderuss's rap version of the summation. The crowd, despite initially booing Murderuss, gets into it as well.
• Artistic License – Law: When Extra Large's limo is blown up, the limo driver is seriously injured and hospitalized in the ICU. The real killer then strangles him a few days later before he can give his statement. In reality, sole eyewitnesses to a homicide investigation tend to be put under police protection on the grounds the killer might try to eliminate loose ends. Had this been done to the limo driver, it would've provided a trap to catch the real killer.
• Ascended Fridge Horror: The producer who was the real target is very uncomfortable after learning he was meant to be murdered. He stays by the cops for the rest of the night.
• Book Ends: The episode begins with Murderuss asking Monk to clear his name and Monk blacking out from nerves and accepting. It ends with Murderuss inviting Monk on a tour as his bodyguard, but this time Monk manages to say no.
• Chekhov's Gun:
  • The episode begins with Monk and Natalie resetting the clocks for Daylight Savings Time. It turns out the solution to the mystery involves the time change.
  • When Monk and Natalie are talking to the record producers for whom Extra Large worked, one of them complains that the other hadn't even put down a place setting for him before their last breakfast meeting. It turns out that the other producer had tried to kill the first one.
• Clear Their Name: A rapper, Murderuss, is accused of blowing up his rival and later killing the driver in the hospital. He hires Monk after the first murder to find the real killer.
• Clock Discrepancy: Rapper Murderuss is suspected of killing his rival rapper Extra Large with a car bomb in the exact same matter as he described in his song "Car Bomb". However, it turns out that Murderuss is innocent and that Extra Large was not the intended target - when setting the timer, Denny Hodges didn't account for the fact that Daylight Savings Time started that day and so the bomb went off an hour later than it was supposed to, killing Extra Large instead of the intended target, who had been the last passenger to sit in the vehicle.
• Close to Home: Monk has to take a moment to recover after seeing the first crime scene, given that the sight of another murder committed by car bomb brings back unpleasant memories of Trudy's death.
• Cloudcuckoolander: Randy talks to the medical examiner investigating the second victim in rap.
  Adrian Monk: Why?
  Leland Stottlemeyer: I learned a long time ago not to ask Randy why he does anything.
• Credits Gag: Snoop Dogg, who guest-stars as Murderuss in this episode, covers the opening song "It's A Jungle Out There" for this episode.
• Crowd Chant: The crowd at the memorial concert goes from booing Murderuss and Monk to chanting, "Man you got SET UP!" when he explains what happened in rap form.
• Flush the Evidence: Stottlemeyer, talking to Murderuss after circumstances implicate him in a rival's death, mentions having known him before he made it in music and reminds him that he tried to flush drugs several times to prevent Stottlemeyer from busting him.
• Freeze-Frame Bonus: One shot of the limo heading to get Extra Large, you can see a Shrek the Third poster on the side of a bus shelter, setting the episode in March 2007.
• Harsher in Hindsight: In-universe, Murderuss approaches Monk because he knows the police are going to view him as the suspect in his rival Extra Large's murder, in part because he wrote a song called "Car Bomb" which just happens to describe how Extra Large really died.
• It Began with a Twist of Fate: If Denny Hodges had remembered Daylight Savings Time, his plan might have worked or at least went smoother than it did. But since he didn't, not only is his target still alive, he ended up killing his biggest moneymaker.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Natalie has a gut feeling that under his tough exterior, Murderuss is a decent person innocent of the murder, despite all evidence pointing to him.
• Mic Drop: Murderuss finishes his summation of the case this way. Monk is still Monk of course, so he picks it up and tries to give it back to him.
• Murder by Mistake: Extra Large is killed by a bomb under his limousine, and his rival rapper, Murderuss, is the prime suspect. Turns out the killer was one of the executives of Extra Large's record label, who had planned to kill his business partner, but set the bomb's timer off an hour late because he forgot about Daylight Saving Time taking effect that morning.
• Noodle Incident: When Stottlemeyer learns about Murderuss's visit to Monk's apartment and Monk claims he's been told he promised to Murderuss he'd clear the guy's name, Stottlemeyer says, "You did it again," which implies that this isn't the first time Monk has mentally blacked out while nervous.
• Not Me This Time: This is the way Murderuss explains that he didn't kill Extra Large; he openly admits he's done a lot of bad things (some of them criminal, as Stottlemeyer alleges), but alleges that he's innocent of this one. He's telling the truth.
• Oblivious Guilt Slinging: A variant; Monk goes to tell Murderuss that he's resigning from the case, but when he gets there, Murderuss says that he's glad Monk is on his team. He's also playing a video game that involves a black man beating up his white partner after the latter went back on his word. It makes Monk very nervous.
• Odd Friendship: Murderuss seems to be genuinely friendly with Monk, even offering to have him tour with him and didn't have any hard feelings when Monk turned him down.
• Orgy of Evidence: Monk is inclined to go along with the police theory that rapper Murderuss killed his rival Extra Large with a car bomb: the use of a white gold pocket watch as the timer (a signature trademark of Murderuss's), lyrics from a suggestive song by Murderuss called "Car Bomb", a blasting cap stolen from a construction site near Murderuss's house, and footprints of a shoe brand that he wears at the scene of the limo driver's murder, after he's killed by the real attacker to keep from talking to the police (done with the chain for the aforementioned type of pocketwatch, to boot). But Monk only does so because he blacked out with fear when Murderuss asked him to clear his name. On the other hand, Natalie thinks that all of this evidence suggests someone is trying really hard to make Murderuss take the fall for the murder: she reasons that if Murderuss were responsible, he wouldn't be dropping so many obvious clues behind that pointed to himself: he would have probably used a generic pocket watch instead of his trademark type; stolen the blasting cap from somewhere away from his house; not worn his trademark shoe brand and used a different weapon when he killed the driver; nor written the song "Car Bomb". Furthermore, she suspects Denny Hodges, a producer who claimed to see Murderuss in a certain parking garage at a certain time when the limo was parked there.
• Shameless Self-Promotion: After they finish rapping and Stottlemeyer tells Randy to arrest Denny Hodges, he notices Randy is not next to him, but rather on the stage promoting his band.
  Randy Disher: If you enjoyed that, check out therandydisherproject.com!
  Leland Stottlemeyer: RANDY!
  Randy Disher: Peace out, y'all! (Starts running away from the stage.)
• Shout-Out: To The Wizard of Oz when Monk is trying to back out of his deal with Murderuss
  Adrian Monk: ...And you Mr Assassin. I think I'll miss you most of all.
• Sickbed Slaying: Once the limo driver's out of intensive care, the bomber, who believes that the driver saw him plant the bomb, sneaks into the driver's hospital room and strangles him with the chain of a pocket watch.
• The Summation: Monk declares that a music producer is responsible for the death of his star, but since he's doing this at a tribute concert for Extra Large, the partygoers won't let him finish the summation, so Murderuss gets up on stage and raps the summation. It's awesome, but you need knowledge of rap metaphors, close listening, or a good understanding of the visuals, to understand what's being said.
• Tempting Fate: Extra Large tells a reporter not to be concerned for him. Minutes later, as the interview ends, the bomb blows him up.
• Theme Naming: Snoop Dogg plays a rapper named Murderuss. His two associates are nicknamed "Snake da Assassin" and "Stone Cold Killa". Makes sense, doesn't it?
• Time for Plan B: Monk and Murderuss go to a tribute party for Extra Large to find the real killer and clear Murderuss's name. When the crowd won't let Monk announce The Summation, Murderuss takes over and raps it.
• Unspoken Plan Guarantee: We only find out that Stottlemeyer got a warrant for the producer's house when he's confronted at the party.
• Worthy Opponent: Murderuss never wanted Extra Large to die. During his version of The Summation, he pays tribute to him.