Mr. Monk Takes Manhattan
Production
Season no.	3
Episode no.	3.01
Airdate	June 18, 2004
Written by	Andy Breckman
Directed by	Jerry Levine
Cast
Guest stars	Mykelti Williamson as Captain Cage Frank Collison as Warrick Tennyson Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Steven Leight Ajay Naidu as Masul (Cabbie) Olek Krupa as Elmer Gratnik Vincent Riotta as Vladimir Kazinsky Robert Dassie as Police Sketch Artist Tony Colitti as Second Detective Max Perlman as Hotel Clerk Dmitri Boudrine as Ambassador of Latvia Lorin Shapiro as Coat Check Girl
Chronology
Preceded by	Mr. Monk Goes to Jail
Followed by	Mr. Monk and the Panic Room

[Source]

Monk Season 3
1	2	3	4	5	6	7
8	9	10	11	12	13	14
15	16
Season 2				Season 4

Mr. Monk Takes Manhattan is the third season premiere of Monk.

SynopsisEdit

When Monk travels to New York City to investigate his wife's murder, he gets tangled up in a baffling case involving the shooting of a foreign ambassador.

PlotEdit

After receiving a tip from Dale "The Whale", Adrian Monk flies to New York City, accompanied by Sharona Fleming, Captain Stottlemeyer, and Lieutenant Disher, all with the same mission – to find Warrick Tennyson, who Dale said was “involved” in the murder of Monk’s wife, Trudy. Unfortunately, the taxi ride doesn't go well, since Monk is so busy cleaning all of the cab's instruments, causing the driver to declare that he'll keep driving if he ever sees him again. Monk also momentarily becomes separated from the group outside their hotel.

But while they are checking in at their hotel, the new Latvian ambassador and his two bodyguards are shot and killed in one of the elevators. The shooter runs out of the hotel covering his face, and Monk says he can identify the man – but only by the shape of his left ear. Although Stottlemeyer says they are there to find Tennyson , NYPD Captain Cage asks for their help in solving the ambassador’s murder, which could have dire political implications. Stottlemeyer encourages Monk, reminding him that it’s important to make a good impression on the local authorities.

Monk notices some clues: the ambassador’s coat is damp, but his bodyguards’ are dry, yet Monk remembers that the ambassador's coat was dry just moments before the shooting, and that the ambassador was apparently killed after the bodyguards, because he is on top of them. Monk also remembers the ambassador say something that sounded like, "she’s now gone meatless."

Monk and Co. retrace the ambassador's movements that day; his last stop before arriving at the hotel was at a small bar/restaurant near Central Park . During this time, Disher also buys a "Rolex" watch that supposedly tells accurate time, but turns out to be anything but accurate - indicating that Randy is obviously not familiar with the term "street corner salesman" (case in point: when he tells them about its ability to tell the time in various parts of the world, he says that "it's 5:30 here; in Denver, 3:30; in California, 12:17; and in Paris, France... time has stopped." Aside from the obvious that time does not stop anywhere in the world, much less Paris, a real watch that could do this would have 2:30 for California). While Stottlemeyer and Disher head back to the station, Monk and Sharona question some Latvian exiles in Brooklyn who might have had a motive (as they apparently had severe distaste for the ambassador and his policies). None of them know anything about the murder, but one of them recognizes the ambassador’s words as "Šis nav mans mētelis," which means "this is not my coat," in an obscure Latvian dialect. After analyzing one of the Latvian exiles' ear (after he throws off his hat in frustration at losing a chess game), they consider them free to go.

Meanwhile, Stottlemeyer is suspicious of Cage’s continued dancing around the subject of Tennyson. He breaks into Cage’s office and examines his records, with Randy watching out for whether Cage is coming near, although the watch ends up setting off an alarm. They are forced to let it ring and potentially blow their cover due to the watch's instructions being written only in Korean, although not without finding out that Tennyson is dying in hospital and has only a few days left to live. Because he’s being questioned in connection with a Federal racketeering case, the District Attorney is not giving anyone the location of the hospital. Stottlemeyer confronts Cage, who admits the truth, but says that they can still interview Tennyson if they solve the ambassador's murder. Leland visibly snaps at this point and shouts at Cage that the only case he gives a damn about is Trudy's murder ("My friend's wife got blown up! You understand? And it killed him, too!") Reluctantly, Cage reasons that they need "juice" to get access to Tennyson, which is what they will have if they crack the ambassador's murder. ("Captain, it's not just your best shot. It's your only shot.")

While Monk and Sharona are making their way back to the station, Monk reluctantly rides on the subway, despite his terror of crowds, germs, and closed spaces. Sharona says she is proud of him, but when they stop at the next station to change lines, Monk reels at the sight of a man casually urinating in a corner. He is so horror-stricken that he stumbles back onto the very train that he just got on. He stumbles on 49th Street, where he ends up playing a "Find the Queen" game, although despite winning twice in a row, the player accuses him of cheating. Monk also questions whether the gamer has a gaming license, causing the gamer to wisely try to subtly flee the scene by claiming it's at his apartment.

Lost in New York, Monk gradually goes to pieces. When Sharona, Stottlemeyer, and Disher finally track him down in Times Square, he has been “converted” by one of the street preachers (namely because he has misinterpreted the term "cleansing" to mean that God would clean up all the problems in the world by vaccuming or scrubbing, not the Rapture) and is yelling loudly about the impending Apocalypse. Sharona comes up to take hold of him, and is severely embarrassed when Monk calls her a "fornicator" in a loud voice.

Slowly regaining control of himself, he also informs Stottlemeyer about the suspected rigged game on 49th street. However, as Monk regains control of himself, he looks up at one of the big TV screens and sees a man, Steven Leight, being interviewed on the news about the recent murder of his wife, Beverly, in an apparent mugging. Monk insists that Leight is "the guy," whom he recognizes by his ear.

When they interview Leight outside the ice rink at Rockefeller Center, he claims to have no idea what they're talking about. But Monk deduces that he was cheating on his wife - though what that has to do with the ambassador's murder, no one can guess. Leight, obviously getting angered at Monk's insinuations that he was committing adultry takes a mint and other tokens out of his pocket as they are talking to bribe them for his silence; the mint in particular was also identical to the ones found at the bar near Central Park.

Here’s What HappenedEdit

Leight is brought to the bar by Captain Cage, both of them wanting to know what’s going on. Monk explains that Leight killed his wife in Central Park, then took her jewelry to make it look like a routine robbery. Afterwards, he had a drink to steady his nerves before calling the police. The ambassador happened to be in the same bar, and received Leight’s overcoat by mistake from the bar's cloakroom.

When Leight got his coat to leave, he realized what had happened. His wife’s jewelry was still in the pocket of his coat, and he had to get it back. So he ran to the hotel just as it was starting to rain, followed the ambassador into the elevator, and killed all three men, switching the ambassador's (now wet) coat with his own.

Midway through the summation, Monk becomes distracted when he recognizes one of the bar’s busboys as "The Urinator" from the subway. Monk, upon being reminded of his speech, just barely manages to finish up the summation before cursing at the Busboy again. A ballistics report arrives, confirming that Leight's wife and the ambassador were killed with the same gun. Leight is arrested.

Having cracked the case, Monk and Co. are allowed to visit Tennyson on his deathbed. Tennyson remembers being hired to build and plant the bomb that killed Trudy. When asked who hired him, Tennyson says he never knew the man's name, or what he looked like, since they met in a dark garage. It looks like Tennyson is a dead end, until he remembers one vital clue: the man had six fingers on his right hand.

Monk asks for a few moments alone with Tennyson. When the others are gone, Tennyson asks for forgiveness, but Monk cannot bring himself to give it. Instead, he says, "This is me, turning off your morphine," and does, ensuring that Tennyson will spend his last few days in agonizing pain. But a few tense moments later, he says, "...and this is Trudy, the woman you killed, turning it back on," and does.

The gang prepare to leave New York, having gotten at least one step further in solving Monk’s most important case. Around the same time, Disher ends up getting another watch from a street vendor: this time, it's one that tells Swiss time with their accuracy. Unfortunately, this one catches fire, revealing that it was another fake watch. Also, due to them being picked up by the rude cabbie from earlier, Stottlemeyer is forced to handcuff Monk and force him in the back seat to allow the cabbie to take him.

Major EventsEdit

• After years of searching Monk finds a lead on his wifes murder, he then travels to New York City to track the man down.
• A ambassador is shot while in Monk's hotel causing Monk to get involved with the NYPD to try and help solve the murder.
• Monk becomes distracted and annoyed with all the nosie in New York.
• A major clue is revealed about Trudy's death (Monk's wife).

ContinuityEdit

• Three seasons later, in "Mr. Monk Is On The Run," Monk comes face to face with the six-fingered man, who admits that Tennyson built the bomb, but he detonated it. Dale "The Whale"'s reasons for sharing part of the truth with Monk also become clear.

Background Information and NotesEdit

• Adrian Monk's age is said to be 45.
• Both Monk and Stottlemeyer are visibly sickened to hear that Tennyson was only paid a paltry $2,000 to end Trudy's life.
• Ted Levine and Mykelti Williamson play cops who have friction trying to liaise together, Williamson playing Captain Cage. Ironically, Williamson and Levine starred as two of Vincent Hanna's homicide detectives, Sgt. Drucker (Williamson) and Detective Bosko (Levine) in the 1995 film Heat.