| “ | It's not a curse, it's a gift! Can't you see that? | ” |
—Molly Evans to Adrian Monk | ||
Molly Evans is the daughter of Judge Ethan Rickover and Trudy Monk and the step-daughter of Adrian Monk.
In Mr. Monk's Last Case: A Monk Movie, it was revealed that she was engaged to be married to reporter Griffin Briggs, who was later murdered by Lucas Kubrick under orders from Rick Eden.
Biography[]
The child who would be named Molly Evans was born to Trudy Monk on January 2, 1983, while Trudy was still in her late teens or early twenties, and attending the University of California, Berkeley. Because she was the product of an adulterous liaison, Rickover concealed her parentage by placing her for adoption, and falsely telling Trudy that she had died shortly after birth. Trudy never knew her daughter had survived.
The midwife who attended the birth, Wendy Stroud, placed the child with an adoption agency, and she was eventually adopted and named "Molly Evans." She grew up healthy and well-loved, and started a career as a movie reviewer for a branch of the San Francisco Chronicle. She lived in Monterey County.
Molly did not know the true facts of her parentage until 2009, when Adrian Monk, with the help of family services, tracked her down. Rickover, having been exposed for murdering both Trudy and Wendy to conceal the affair, committed suicide rather than go to prison, but before he killed himself, he yelled at Monk to "take care of her!" This indicated that he had kept tabs on Molly throughout her life.
When Molly met Adrian, the stepfather she never knew she had, a bond of love instantly formed between them to the point he already filled many photo albums with pictures of her despite the short time they had known each other. So devoted was Monk that he wanted to retire from detective work and devote the remaining years of his life to being with her. Affectionately, she reminded him that she was a grown woman and needed a little space of her own - and besides, it would be a shame for him to waste his amazing gifts as a detective, and fail to help "other Trudys" in the world.
Before leaving on her regular annual trip to the Toronto Film Festival, she and her new stepfather made a date to go to the movies - something which the old Adrian Monk would never have done.
Molly greatly resembled her mother, with Trudy's blond hair and graceful carriage. She was also amused to learn that she unconsciously shared her mother's mannerism of sticking her tongue out when she was deep in thought. She also had a younger boyfriend, and confided in Monk that she was unsure about whether the difference in their ages would affect their relationship. (Mr. Monk and the End (Part Two))
Behind the Scenes[]
Molly Evans is named after two of Monk creator Andy Breckman's children, Molly and Evan. Also, her adoptive parents are named Andrew and Beth, a reference to Andy and his wife Beth Landau. While it is not shown onscreen, her grandparents, Dwight and Marcia were presumably made aware of the fact that their daughter Trudy's murder was eventually solved and that they had a granddaughter.
To keep the character of Molly Evans a secret, Andy Breckman initially gave the cast and crew a fake script that identified her as Natalie's niece rather than Trudy's long lost daughter.
Alona Tal played Molly in the series finale, while Caitlin McGee portrayed Molly in the movie.