History Recap / MonkS5E6MrMonkAndTheClassReunion

--> '''Disher''': Captain, I tracked down Kalimarakis; I don't think he's our guy. Number one, it turns out he was allowed to join the Olympic swim team as an alternate; he got a waiver.
--> '''Stottlemeyer''': So there's no motive.
--> '''Disher''': Right. Number two, he's dead. He died in 1995. And number three, he moved to Europe in the late eighties. So there's no record of him ever returning to the United States...
--> '''Stottlemeyer''': [[LampshadeHanging Randy, Randy, excuse me, sorry to interrupt you, but what was number two again?]]

* ContrivedCoincidence: In-Universe. Monk's first clue that something was fishy was when Dianne talks about how her husband adopted a black lab for her named "Tangerine". Which is the same name as her previous [[MeaningfulName actually tangerine-colored]] dog. As it turns out, it's not coincidence: Kyle is trying to shoehorn and recreate the events that match Dianne's suicide note so it looks legit.

* ADeadlyAffair: A brief call Kyle makes to his mistress gives the audience an explanation as to why he's doing this in the first place. (Kyle also said earlier that he works for Dianne's father, which also helps illustrate why he doesn't just leave Dianne for said girlfriend.)

* MakeItLookLikeAnAccident: Katherine's death is made to look like she had slipped on the beads of her necklace and fell down the stairs. Stottlemeyer notices three inconsistencies with the story though: one, the elevator was working so she wouldn't have taken the stairs (though this was due to the elevator being out of order when the incident occurred, although this was due to a false note by the murderer); two, none of the beads of her necklace rolled away when she supposedly slipped on them; and three, her so-called necklace was too small for her neck.

* TheFriendNobodyLikes: Monk discovers that nobody at the reunion remembers him -- he was just that "weird guy" that Trudy was dating.

* ExactWords: When Stottlemeyer tries to justify his actions as a riot cop during a protest rally, he claims the protesters didn't have a permit. One person yells "Yes, we did!", to which Stottlemeyer retorts that it had expired at noon. A slide then showed that the time during the incident was ''12:15''.
-->'''Stottlemeyer:''' Like I said, it ''expired''.
* GoodbyeCruelWorld: Dianne had written a suicide note in her youth, and her husband Kyle had found it when they were moving. Kyle then reenacted moments from the note to fit today so that when he killed her, the police would be none the wiser (the note was in her handwriting after all). It's also why Kyle had to kill Katherine: she had seen the suicide note twenty five years ago, and would've known something was off when the police released the note to the public.[[note]] The fact that the paper is over 25 years old is not brought up as being possibly suspicious.[[/note]]

* MakeItLookLikeAnAccident: Katherine's death is made to look like she had slipped on the beads of her necklace and fell down the stairs. Stottlemeyer notices three inconsistencies with the story though: one, the elevator was working so she wouldn't have taken the stairs; two, none of the beads of her necklace rolled away when she supposedly slipped on them; and three, her so-called necklace was too small for her neck.

* NotWhatItLooksLike: Invoked by Stottlemeyer when an EmbarrassingOldSlide of him as a riot cop at a protest rally pops up and everyone boos him, saying that the entire story can't be told by a single photograph. [[InstantlyProvenWrong It then]] changes to another photo, one showing Stottlemeyer manhandling protesters.

* ChekhovsGun: When a staff member of the college asks if Leland attended the university as he looks familiar, he explains that he was actually there for an anti-nuclear rally. During the photo montage at the reunion, we see him there...as a riot cop, beating the crap out of the protestors. Suffice it to say, he gets booed.

* IHatePastMe: Played with. Stottelmeyer isn't so much ashamed of his past as a young police officer so much as he is secretive. Justified, as everyone who remembers his past is less receptive to him the instant they find out.

* DeathGlare: When Dianne sees her old suicide note and realizes the implication that her husband exploited it, she gives him the most '''''[[EverybodyHasStandards disgusted]]''''' glower, grossly sickened that he would go through all this gaslighting to turn her tragedy into a golden opportunity to kill her.

* ADeadlyAffair: A brief call Kyle makes to his mistress gives the audience an explanation as to why he's doing this in the first place. [[note]] Kyle also said earlier that he works for Dianne's father, which also helps illustrate why he doesn't just leave Dianne for this girlfriend.[[/note]]

* ContrivedCoincidence: In-Universe. Monk's first clue that something was fishy was when Dianne tells about how her husband adopted a black lab for her named "Tangerine". Which is the same name as her previous [[MeaningfulName actually tangerine-colored]] dog. As it turns out, it's not coincidence: Kyle is trying to shoehorn and recreate the events that match Dianne's suicide note so it looks legit.

* IHatePastMe: Played with. Stottelmeyer isn't so much ashamed of his past as a young police officer so much as he is secretive. Justified, as everyone who remembers his past in college is less receptive to him the instant they find out.
* MakeItLookLikeAnAccident: Katherine's death is made to look like she had slipped on the beads of her necklace and fell down the stairs. Stottlemeyer notices three inconsistencies with the story though: one, the elevator was working so she wouldn't have taken the stairs; two, none of the beads of her necklace rolled away when she supposedly slipped on them; and three, her so called necklace was too small for her neck.
* ManipulativeBastard: Kyle is frighteningly manipulative at staging his wife's "suicide". From the moment he found the note, he meticulously planned to exploit it in order to kill her and get away with it. He would shoe-horn anything he could to make events match the note, from adopting a new "Tangerine" dog to letting his wife accidentally breaking a glass. All the while, he would pepper in a few "[[{{Gaslighting}} she's been depressed lately]]" to witnesses for good measure. If it weren't for Monk connecting him as Katherine's murderer, he would've gotten away with it.

* OverlyLongGag: During the presentation, there's a (rather mean-spirited) gag of everybody being familiar with Trudy after all these years, but not remembering "that guy she went out with" (Adrian) and [[IgnoredEpiphany writing off Natalie]] when she tries to inform them her boss what Trudy's then-boyfriend.
* SlippingAMickey: Kyle drugs Dianne's drink to make her woozy and thus easier to throw off the balcony.

* StaircaseTumble: This is how Katherine Rutherford is killed.

* ManipulativeBastard: Kyle is frighteningly manipulative at staging his wife's "suicide". From the moment he found the note, he meticulously planned to exploit it in order to kill her and get away with it. He would shoe-horn anything he could to make events match the note, from adopting a new "Tangerine" dog to letting his wife accidentally breaking a glass. All the while, he would pepper in a few "she's been depressed lately" to witnesses for good measure. If it weren't for Monk connecting him as Katherine's murderer, he would've gotten away with it.

* ADeadlyAffair: A brief call Kyle makes to his mistress gives the audience an explanation as to why he's doing this in the first place. [[note]] Kyle also said earlier that he works for Dianne's father, which also helps illustrate why he doesn't just leave Dianne for this girlfriend. [[/note]]

* DeathGlare: When Dianne sees her old suicide note and realizes Kyle the implication that her husband exploited it, she gives him the most '''''[[EverybodyHasStandards disgusted]]''''' glower, grossly sickened that he would go through all this gaslighting to turn her tragedy into a golden opportunity to kill her.

* ManipulativeBastard: Kyle is frighteningly manipulative at staging his wife's "suicide". From the moment he found the note, he meticulously planned to exploit it in order to kill her and get away with it. He would shoe-horn anything he could to make events match the note, from adopting a new "Tangerine" dog to letting his wife accidentally break a glass. All the while, he would pepper in a few "she's been depressed lately" to witnesses for good measure. If it weren't for Monk connecting him as Katherine's murderer, he would've gotten away with it.
* NeverSuicide: An interesting variant in which the death that is meant to look like a suicide actually hasn't happened yet. Kyle plans to kill his wife by throwing her off the balcony of her hotel because he stumbled upon a suicide note she had written in college and figures it is good cover because the note is already in her handwriting.

* ADeadlyAffair: A brief call Kyle makes to his mistress gives the audience an explanation as to why he's doing this in the first place.

* ContrivedCoincidence: In-Universe. Monk's first clue that something was fishy was when Dianne tells about how her husband adopted a black lab for her named "Marmalade". Which is the same name as her previous [[MeaningfulName actually marmalade-colored]] dog. As it turns out, it's not coincidence: Kyle is trying to shoehorn and recreate the events that match Dianne's suicide note so it looks legit.

* ManipulativeBastard: Kyle is frighteningly manipulative at staging his wife's "suicide". From the moment he found the note, he meticulously planned to exploit it in order to kill her and get away with it. He would shoe-horn anything he could to make events match the note, from adopting a new "Marmalade" dog to letting his wife accidentally break a glass. All the while, he would pepper in a few "she's been depressed lately" to witnesses for good measure. If it weren't for Monk connecting him as Katherine's murderer, he would've gotten away with it.

* ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman:Monk's eidetic ability to remember what someone wrote on his back may seem like the world's most inapplicable superpower. But [[ChekovsGun towards the climax]], Monk finds himself saving Dianne's life by remembering what she wrote on his back, as it narrows down the hotel she and her [[ADeadlyAffair murderous husband]] were staying at.

* StaircaseTumble: This is how Katherine Rutherford is killed.

----

Monk heads to his college reunion with Natalie, only for Stottlemeyer to ask for help when the former college nurse, Katherine Rutherford, is found dead.

* ChekhovsSkill: Monk mentions to Natalie that he had sensitive skin and was able to remember Trudy's phone number when Drew wrote it on his back. This skill comes in handy when they had to save Dianne: she had written her registration form on his back earlier, which means his skin remembers the name of the hotel Dianne and Kyle would be staying.
* GoodbyeCruelWorld: Dianne had written a suicide note in her youth, and her husband Kyle had found it when they were moving. Kyle then reenacted moments from the note to fit today so that when he killed her, the police would be none the wiser (the note was in her handwriting after all). It's also why Kyle had to kill Katherine: she had seen the suicide note twenty five years ago, and would've known something was off when the police released the note to the public.
* MakeItLookLikeAnAccident: Katherine's death is made to look like she had slipped on the beads of her necklace and fell down the stairs. Stottlemeyer notices three inconsistencies with the story though: one, the elevator was working so she wouldn't have taken the stairs; two, none of the beads of her necklace rolled away when she supposedly slipped on them; and three, her so called necklace was too small for her neck.

Monk heads to his college reunion with Natalie, only for Stottlemeyer to ask for help when the former colelge nurse, Katherine Rutherford, is found dead.

* ChekhovsSkill: Monk mentions to Natalie that he had sensitive skin and was able to remember Trudy's phone number when Drew wrote it on his back. This sensitive skin comes in handy when they had to save Dianne: she had written her registration form on his back earlier, which means his skin remembers the hotel Dianne and Kyle would be staying.

* ChekhovsSkill: Monk mentions to Natalie that he had sensitive skin and was able to remember Trudy's phone number when Drew wrote it on his back. This sensitive skin comes in handy when they had to save Dianne: she had written her registration form on his back earlier, which means his skin remembers the hotel Dianne and Kyle went to.
* GoodbyeCruelWorld: Dianne had written a suicide note in her youth, and her husband Kyle had found it when they were moving.