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Recap / Monk S8E2 "Mr. Monk and the Foreign Man"

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Monk's irritation at a man camping out on the street corner inadvertently leads him into a new case when it turns out the man is mourning his wife, who was killed in a hit-and-run incident. Monk agrees to help him, and may very well catch the man responsible, though not before his own past leaks into the investigation...

This episode includes examples of the following tropes:

  • Bittersweet Ending: Monk solves the case, giving Samuel closure. But both men (who became good friends) have to say goodbye shortly thereafter, as Samuel only meant to be in the United States for a short while. Samuel also reassures Adrian that he will also solve Trudy's death and get closure in turn. Monk takes this to heart.
  • The Blind Leading the Blind: A main running gag is that Samuel - a foreigner with little experience with American customs - only has Monk - a man with very...particular habits - as his guide on how to act in America. This results in Samuel constantly assuming that Monk's particularities (like washing his clothes every individual hue at a time) are common American behavior.
  • Bowdlerise: Natalie gives Samuel some comedy CDs including one by Bill Cosby. When the episode airs on the Hallmark Channel, Cosby's name is muted due to the sexual assault scandal that occurred several years after the episode was made.
  • Close to Home: Monk takes the case of a Nigerian man whose wife was killed in a hit-and-run incident because, as a grieving widower himself, he understands the man's pain. As the episode progresses, it becomes clear that he's letting his emotions about Trudy's death get too close to the case (Stottlemeyer even warns him about this).
  • Continuity Nod: Samuel laughs raucously at Natalie's jokes, thinking she's hilarious, which Monk bluntly disagrees with. Last episode she tried and failed to prove she was funny to him after he said she's not.
  • Crowbar Combatant: Kenneth Nichols kills Maria Fuentes by clubbing her on the head with a crowbar.
  • Gilligan Cut: Monk is distracted by Samuel Waingaya burning incense outside the apartment. Natalie gets a call about a murder case. Monk is thankful for it, saying he should be able to breathe. Cut to him covering his mouth and saying he can't breathe as he enters a house with a corpse that's been dead for a few weeks.
  • He Knows Too Much: Samuel says the trope while Monk explains that Maria was killed because she heard the killer run over Ansara.
  • "Not So Different" Remark: A benign example. Monk initially sees Samuel (with his music and incense-burning) to be just a random "hippie" sitting on his street corner and pays him to leave. But once he learns he's in reality mourning for his own recently dead wife, Monk finds he can relate and agrees to take on the case.
  • Psychological Projection: Monk projects Trudy onto Ansara a few times.
  • Say My Name: A third-person variation. Monk is helping his new Nigerian friend Samuel figure out who killed his wife. In the process, he frequently confuses her with Trudy. When Samuel and Monk apprehend the killer, they proceed to beat the tar out of him. They then shove pictures of their wives in his face and demand, "Say her name!", much to the killer's fear (with Samuel) and confusion (with Monk).
  • Super-Speed Reading: While reading a magazine with Natalie, Monk rapidly flips through it and then gets chewed out by Natalie for giving her no time to read the articles. Monk, of course, makes fun of her "slow" reading speed by claiming they'll have a new President in office by the time she's finished. Of course, speed-reading is justified for Monk due to his Hyper-Awareness.
  • Throw the Dog a Bone: After years of being taken advantage of, lied to or forced to cut off new relationships due to his job or his behavior, Monk finally makes a lasting friendship outside of the main cast. He and Samuel have to say goodbye in the end, but they remain close and implicitly promise to remain in touch.
  • Working the Same Case: While Monk was helping Samuel discover who ran over his wife Ansara, the police were inspecting the murder of a maid. Turns out Kenneth Nichols was responsible for both deaths.

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