Stottlemeyer has a piece of long-awaited good news for Monk — the department has finally decided to reinstate him as a police officer. Initially, Monk is overjoyed. However, he quickly discovers that he misses his old social circle and has grown unused to the realities of the department. Will Monk quit his dream job now that it's turned into a nightmare?
This episode includes examples of the following tropes:
- All of the Other Reindeer: Because the rest of his department aren’t familiar with his quirks or his intellect, Monk has a hard time fitting in with them.
- Bait-and-Switch: Monk thinks the woman who called about her cat trying to “smother” her was calling about another cat the second time around. It turns out a man did break into her apartment and was trying to kill her.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Monk fights off Mikhail Almonov on an unstable window-washing platform and stabs the man in the leg with his badge to keep him from shooting him.
- Chekhov's Gun:
- One officer mentions that they are ineligible to claim the reward money.
- Monk's own badge.
- Compressed Adaptation: An abridged adaptation of the tie-in novel "Mr. Monk and the Blue Flu" which drops the police strike plotline and Monk working with a crew of defective detectives.
- Deadly Nosebleed: Officer DiMarco is shown bleeding from the nose after being shot.
- Dirty Cop: Monk suspects DiMarco of working with Mikhail Almonov and getting the reward money of catching the Pickaxe Killer. Monk is correct, but the department doesn’t believe him until it’s too late. It’s subverted a bit since DiMarco did find the Pickaxe Killer fair and square and his plot wasn’t especially immoral, he simply had a(n apparent) friend take credit for the arrest so they could collect the reward money he’d have been entitled to if he worked literally any other job.
- False Friend: DiMarco played softball with Almonov and they trusted each other enough for DiMarco to seek his assistance getting the reward money. Almonov shoots him first chance he gets so he can keep it all.
- Formally-Named Pet: A woman who calls in the police about an attempted homicide has a cat named Mr. Barton.
- Gone Horribly Right: Monk finally does get reinstated. However, instead of being put on the case of a five man serial killer, he finds himself riding the desk. When he's finally allowed to run investigations, Monk finds that the burden of proof is different, as shown when a police officer is killed and Monk suspects that he may have been on the take. Because of the Blue Code of Silencenote , Monk is told to keep his mouth shut unless he's 110% sure on his theories. He also finds himself ostracized by his colleagues for refusing to drop his suspicions about the officer.
- Have You Told Anyone Else?: Almonov only tries to kill Monk after confirming that Monk hasn't shared his conclusion with his partner.
- Hero-Worshipper: Officer DiMarco gushes a lot when introduced to Monk, even saying he had a scrapbook.
- I've Come Too Far: Monk reasons that he can't quit the force despite not being happy because he worked too long and hard to get there. Eventually, he decides to retire.
- Not so Dire: A woman calls in Monk to deal with an apparent case of domestic abuse — a Mr. Barton nearly smothering her by covering her mouth. However, it turns out that "Mr. Barton" is her cat, and she quickly drops the complaint.
- Status Quo Is God: After working on the force for a few days, Monk turns in his badge and Natalie is back as his assistant.
- Stranger in a Familiar Land: Things definitely are different being a consultant versus being an SFPD detective. For example, when he finds a piece of evidence that the late Officer Russell DiMarco may have been on the take, he's told to keep quiet unless he is 110% sure. As a private civilian, Monk could accuse an officer of corruption without fear of reprisal. However, with a badge, Monk is basically gagged by the Blue Code of Silence, an unwritten rule that exists among police officer culture to not to report on a colleague's errors, misconducts, or crimes, and gets treated the same way Fortune 500 companies treat whistleblowers.
- Wanting Is Better Than Having: Monk has been waiting for years to get his badge back, and he's initially ecstatic when he gets reinstated. Yet he quickly discovers that he misses the upsides of consulting. Dr. Bell says that being disappointed with an achieved dream is a pretty common problem.
- You Can't Go Home Again: Monk realizes his goal of being reinstated in the SFPD, only to find that nothing about policing was familiar to him anymore and the episode ends with him retiring from the force.
