Directed by Randy Zisk
Written by Sal Savo
Adrian Monk is a dead ringer for international assassin Frank De Palma (also played by Tony Shalhoub). The assassin is killed by a bus as he was carelessly walking on an otherwise empty street, but the Mob doesn't know. This creates a golden opportunity with a big risk: can Monk overcome his fears and compulsions to pretend to be Frank De Palma and save the life of the hitman's next target?
The teaser shows Monk getting hit by the bus. After the opening credits, Natalie's crying... because she's reading Marley & Me. The man who got hit by the bus was actually Frank. Monk is alive and well in his San Francisco apartment, taking delivery of a refrigerator. Delivery guy Bill (Lance Barber) wants to charge Monk extra because of a tiny lip separating the kitchen floor from the rest of the apartment's floor.
The FBI asks Monk to take over as the hitman and figure out why Frank came to Los Angeles and who his next target is. Stottlemeyer refuses the assignment on Monk's behalf, but FBI Agent Stone (Reed Diamond) convinces Monk to take the assignment because lives are at stake.
Monk studies Frank De Palma's FBI file and dresses up as the mobster, putting on a tie, a pocket square and a flower on his suit. Lola (Kelly Carlson) shows up at the hotel room, wanting to make out with Frank. But Monk resists her, and she thinks it has something to do with something that happened in Barcelona some time ago.
Monk says he's got a girlfriend, and ropes Natalie into the assignment. Lola reveals that the target is Stanley Greenblatt (Michael Fairman), an apparent nobody with no Mob connections. Jimmy Barlowe (Vincent Curatola) wants Greenblatt dead for some reason Stone can't fathom. Lola also demands that Frank's new girlfriend come to a party that night, so the FBI dresses Natalie up in a fancy evening gown.
The next day, San Francisco Councilman Harold Krenshaw (Tim Bagley) happens to be on vacation in Los Angeles and recognizes Adrian, thus threatening to blow his cover. Monk suggests Krenshaw could soon wind up in the obituaries section of the newspaper if he doesn't leave.
Stottlemeyer says it's time to end the operation, and Stone agrees. But Monk, exhilarated by his Frank De Palma persona, wants to keep going. He goes to Lola's hotel room and demands to know why the Mob wants Greenblatt dead. Lola doesn't want to tell him, but she relents. Though maybe that was just a ruse to draw him close and kiss him. Monk is very stiff and almost blows his own cover.
Just then, Lenny Barlowe (Eric Balfour) shows up and says that Frank De Palma must carry out the hit tonight, no later. So they go to Greenblatt's house, where they find that Greenblatt's already dead of a heart attack. Lenny understands that Greenblatt died of natural causes, and that's good enough.
Natalie takes Monk to Stottlemeyer's office to apologize for being rude when being told to stand down. Stottlemeyer puts Monk's not quite appropriate greeting card next to greeting cards from his sons, leading Monk to remember that he saw two greeting cards at Stanley Greenblatt's house.
The two greeting cards are very significant because Stanley's son Alvin (Joshua Grenrock) skimmed some money from one of Jimmy's casinos and faked his own death. Jimmy wanted the father to die so that the son would show up to the funeral. It was never about Stanley, it was about flushing Alvin out and recovering the skimmed money.
Stottlemeyer watches Stanley's funeral through binoculars, but the crucial guest does not show up. Maybe Lenny already intercepted the guest. Without changing into his Frank De Palma clothes, Monk goes see Barlowe and offers to kill the funeral no-show guest for free, but Lenny wants to do the honors. Monk finally convinces Lenny to give him the gun, which he then uses to hold everyone at gunpoint while the FBI soldiers come in and arrest the mobsters.
Back in San Francisco, Monk complains that his new refrigerator is making too much ice. Bill says that the warranty's voided because the refrigerator was hooked up improperly. Monk points out that Bill is the one who installed the appliance incorrectly. Bill agrees to fix it for free once Natalie joins Monk in staring him down.
This episode contains examples of the following tropes:
- Actor Allusion: More than one in this episode, including:
- Reed Diamond's Agent Stone character is similar to his character on Dollhouse.
- Some of the mobsters in this episode were played by regulars from The Sopranos.
- Always Murder: subverted, there are two deaths in this episode, neither of them murders. One is an accident, the other is natural causes, though it gets passed off as a murder. That said, the Barlowes do plan to kill Alvin Greenblatt, but Monk intervenes in his "Frankie" persona.
- Bait-and-Switch: After the sudden death of "Monk" in the opening scene, we cut to Natalie crying...because she was reading Marley & Me. Monk was never in anything life-threatening at all.
- Becoming the Mask: Despite his initial reluctance, Monk is able to play Frank De Palma almost too well, even getting the courage to be a jerk to Stottlemeyer.
- Book Ends: For Adrian Monk, the episode begins and ends in his apartment, dealing with Bill and a refrigerator. But at the end, with his newfound confidence from impersonating De Palma, Monk now has feels he can confront Bill and not fold so easily.
- Contrived Coincidence: Monk didn't need to apologize to Stottlemeyer, only Natalie thought an apology was needed. It’s because of this that Monk would notice that both Greenblatt and Stottlemeyer had received two greeting cards each, so he could connect the dots to Greenblatt's family and solve the case.
- Criminal Doppelgänger: Frank De Palma, a notorious hitman, is a dead ringer for Monk.
- Death Glare: Monk to Bill to get Bill to fix the refrigerator for free. Monk's not having much success until Natalie joins in, causing Bill to relent.
- The Dreaded: As a renowned hitman, mentioning de Palma's name instantly sends fear to anyone. Because Monk was masquerading as him, he felt like he was in power.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Alvin Greenblatt worked at a gangland club and stole thousands of dollars from it, but he loves his father. Ultimately, Monk realizes that Jimmy Barlow wanted Stanley dead to draw his son out of hiding, not because of any grudge against the old man.
- "Eureka!" Moment: The fact that Stottlemeyer has two greeting cards in his office, one from each son, leads Monk to figure out why Jimmy Barlow wants Greenblatt dead.
- Faking the Dead: Alvin Greenblatt fakes his death after stealing money from his gangster boss. When the gangster discovers this, he plans to kill Alvin's dad so that the funeral will smoke Alvin out for interrogation.
- Implied Death Threat: When Harold Krenshaw recognizing him nearly blows his cover, Monk asks Harold if he wants to make the obituary section of tomorrow's newspaper.
- Make It Look Like an Accident: This was apparently Frank's style. His first kill was blowing up a millionaire's yacht and making it look like it was a fuel leak.
- Mistaken for Badass: Monk straightening a mobster's necktie due to his compulsion for neatness is misunderstood as a threatening gesture that makes the mobster think he asked a question about a topic that could get him killed by the legendary hitman.
- Noodle Incident: Lola apologizes for what happened in Barcelona. Monk of course can't possibly know what Lola's referring to, so he tries to avoid saying anything about it that might blow his cover. Later on, Lola brings up Barcelona again, forcing Monk to say that Barcelona's "ancient history."
- Outliving One's Offspring: Subverted. The audience is lead to believe that Stanley Greenblatt's son is dead. After Stanley's death, we find out that the son is still alive.
- Real Name as an Alias: To explain his sexual disinterest in the alluring Lola, Monk claims to have a girlfriend, Natalie Teegerb, with a "B" at the end, that one letter being the only difference to Natalie Teeger's actual name.
- Scared of What's Behind You: While Monk and the refrigerator repairman are having their second staredown, Natalie comes up behind Monk and adds her own death glare to the mix, causing him to back down. Natalie then runs back to her book so Monk can get the confidence boost of believing he did it himself.
- Stealing from the Till: Stanley Greenblatt had a son named Alvin, who worked for Jimmy at one of his casinos. It's revealed Jimmy ordered Stanley dead so that the accompanying funeral would flush Alvin out of hiding and allow Jimmy and his people to "ask" him where the money is.
- Undercover as Lovers: Natalie poses as Frank's supposed girlfriend during an evening at a club.
- Undignified Death: Frank De Palma is a brilliant assassin. He's been able to kill at least 17 people and get away with it...and he dies because he walked into the street without paying attention and got hit by a bus.
