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Monk Season 6
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Mr. Monk and the Birds and the Bees is the fifth episode of the sixth season of Monk.

Contents 1 Plot 1.1 Here’s What Happened 2 Background Information and Notes 3 Quotes

PlotEdit

Late at night, a burglar, Dewey Jordan, breaks into a house. But this is not any ordinary burglary: Dewey carefully wipes his feet before breaknig in, and the home’s owner, a sports agent named Robert Sherman, is there, to greet him. It seems that Sherman has concocted an insurance scam. In the scam, Dewey will “steal” some valuables from Sherman's house, and the two men will split the insurance payoff. But Dewey doesn’t know Sherman’s real plan. As Dewey is getting started, Sherman comments that there's been a change of plans: he won't be calling the insurance company.

At that point, Sherman coolly draws a revolver in his left hand, which he announces is Dewey's gun. Before Dewey can figure out what Sherman is implying, Sherman suddenly conjures a nickel-plated pistol in his right hand, which he says is his own gun, the gun that he's going to use to kill the intruder. Just as Dewey is realizing what Sherman means when he says "intruder", Sherman suddenly shoots him dead with the pistol. The sound of the shot is loud enough to wake up Sherman's wife Pam, who comes running downstairs. But it turns out that Sherman has staged the events to kill her, the true victim. She asks Sherman why he just shot the intruder, and Sherman claims that the man had a gun, and mistakingly holds up the gun he just used to shoot Dewey, but then he immediately notices his mistake, and promptly shoots her with the revolver. Sherman then rolls Dewey's dead body over, and places the revolver in Dewey's hand. After fitting it into the hand, he fires the weapon at the entryway, causing a bullet to splinter off the doorframe, to do the the double duty of getting gunpowder residue on Dewey's hands, and also make it look like he was trying to shoot Sherman. Sherman then sits down, feigns shock, and calls 911.

The next morning, Monk and Natalie join Stottlemeyer and Disher at the crime scene, which looks like a routine burglary gone bad. Sherman tells the police this story: he was lying in bed, and his wife went downstairs to adjust the thermostat; Sherman heard a gunshot, then ran downstairs with his own gun, and found the burglar standing over his wife’s body, and the intruder fired at him, but missed, and Sherman returned fire, killing him in self-defense. Stottlemeyer asks if he’s ever met Dewey Jordan before, and Sherman claims that it was just a random intruder.

Stottlemeyer expresses frank admiration for Sherman, saying, “he’s the man.” But Monk has noticed some odd things, and instead thinks Sherman is “the guy.” He's picked apart several holes in Sherman's story of the events. For one thing, it’s suspicious that the burglar would take the trouble to wipe his feet before entering the house – especially when Sherman has just told Monk to do the same thing. Also,  when Monk and Randy go up to Sherman's bedroom, they some other interesting clues that contradict Sherman's story: for one thing, someone has unplugged the phone. If Sherman's wife was downstairs because she was cold, why did she leave her slippers upstairs? And the lockbox containing Sherman's gun is closed. So if Sherman really heard the gunshot and his wife screaming, why did he take the time to shut the box before heading downstairs? Lastly, Stottlemeyer has told Sherman that if he'd been in the same situation, he'd have emptied the whole magazine into the intruder. So why did Sherman only need one round to kill the burglar?

Meanwhile, Julie and her boyfriend, Tim Sussman, are outside waiting for Natalie. Sherman goes out to greet them, and notices Julie’s T-shirt, which features a romantic photograph of them taken at the Bay City Pier amusement park, where Tim works.

Later, Monk, Natalie, Stottlemeyer and Disher are discussing the case at police headquarters. Monk thinks that Sherman and Dewey Jordan are linked, as there is no other reason why the intruder would have wiped his feet. Stottlemeyer doesn’t see a connection; Dewey Jordan was a career criminal, with 19 arrests, while Sherman’s record is clean as a whistle, except for one arrest: for driving with a suspended license. But a little research shows that the two men happened to be in court on the same day.

Monk and Natalie head down to the morgue to confront Sherman, as he isn't answering their phone calls. They accidentally knock over several urns containing the cremated ashes of several people (including Sherman's wife), and have to scramble to put all the ashes back where they belong before Sherman and his secretary come around the corner. Monk informs Sherman that according to his clean sheet, he was in traffic court four weeks ago for driving on a suspended license. Dewey Jordan's rap sheet shows that he was in the same courthouse on that same day on that same morning,  at a bail reduction hearing. It's hardly a coincidence that the two men were in the same courthouse on the same day, just weeks before Dewey was killed in Sherman's house. Sherman continues to deny having ever seen Dewey Jordan before the shooting.

At her high school, Julie is surprised and flattered to be approached by Clay Bridges, a star football player, asking for study help. Things quickly escalate, and before long Natalie and Julie are arguing about whether Julie should go out with Clay or stick with Tim; Natalie is afraid that Julie is about to dump Tim, whom Natalie approves of, and Julie defiantly does just that, going so far as to burn all her souvenirs, including the photo T-shirt she and Tim got on their trip to the Bay City Pier. What neither Natalie nor Julie know is that in reality, Clay has been paid off by Sherman's secretary - actually his girlfriend - to go out with Julie.

The next day, Monk and Natalie go to Dewey Jordan's apartment. Mr. Morrisey, Dewey's landlord, mentions that he should have known the man was going to be trouble - he was always coming and going and was frequently late paying the rent. Monk finds a few gaming tickets from the Bay City Pier amusement park on a table in Dewey's living room. Natalie comes out of the bathroom, still fuming over her argument with Julie from the night before. As she pleads with Monk to "have a talk" with Julie, Monk finds several more clues that poke holes in Sherman’s story. He notices that the panel covering an air vent in the wall is all rusty, but the screws are all brand new. After Morissey supplies him with a screwdriver, Monk removes the screws and then the panel, and finds that Dewey has stashed his own pistol inside the vent. This gun, he notes, is a .22 caliber. He asks himself, why did Dewey not bring his own gun to the "burglary"? Morissey suggests that perhaps Dewey had another gun, but Monk points out that if that were the case, Dewey would keep ammo for a .38 caliber in the vent. However, the only ammo in the vent is for the .22 caliber, meaning that the death gun used on Sherman's wife is not Dewey Jordan's own gun.

Because Julie is shutting her out, Natalie asks Monk to "have a talk" with her. Monk couldn’t be more uncomfortable, so he enters Julie’s room and asks her to play along, so they just appear to be discussing things, as Natalie is listening at the door. After a few minutes, he starts to excuse himself, saying that should be good enough, but Julie breaks down crying, admitting how confused she is - she's powerfully attracted to Clay, but isn't sure how to describe what she's feeling, and asks Monk what it really feels like to be in love. Monk rises to the occasion, openly telling Julie about how he fell in love with Trudy every day, and how Trudy was the love of his life. He tells Julie that she doesn’t have to hurry to find her "Trudy"; he promises her that it will happen, and when it does come (which may take months or years), she will find that it will be worth the wait.

It seems that Monk has put Julie back on the right road, but a twist comes up when Monk and Natalie are walking down the street, and catch Clay Bridges in the act of making out with another girl. Natalie demands to know what’s going on, and Clay says the girl is his “real” girlfriend, and he’s not cheating on Julie. In reality, a woman claiming to be Natalie’s sister approached him and, citing concern that Tim was wrong for Julie, paid Clay to break them up. When he describes Julie's "aunt", Monk immediately realizes it was actually Sherman's girlfriend/secretary. This is confirmed when Monk notices the envelope with the money used to pay Clay, and notices an insignia on the seal that he remembered seeing on some envelopes in Sherman's bedroom. He solves the case, and he and Natalie rush to the Bay City Pier, where Tim is on duty. Natalie tells Tim that Clay was paid to go out with Julie. Tim asks her why someone would do that, and Natalie points out Sherman in the crowd. Monk prepares to follow Sherman to stop him.

Here’s What HappenedEdit

Monk has spotted Sherman at the park, and he follows him, trying to get to the photo booth before his rival gets there. Meanwhile, Natalie gives the summation to Tim:

Just as Monk suspected, Sherman lured Dewey Jordan to his house, to frame him for the murder of Sherman’s wife. Four weeks ago, as Monk also has confirmed, Sherman and Dewey met at the courthouse and Sherman must have told Dewey he was about to pull an insurance scam and needed an accomplice. They had to meet somewhere to plan the "burglary," and that place happened to be the amusement park on the pier (Natalie points out that they found some Bay City Pier gaming tickets in Dewey's apartment).

This is where Sherman's and Julie's paths crossed. The day Sherman and Dewey arranged to meet at the pier to discuss the details happened to be the same day that Julie and Tim were having their photo taken a few feet away. Natalie points out to Tim that there were people standing behind him and Julie when their picture was taken, and mentions that the photo also captured Sherman conversing with Dewey in the background.

After he committed the murders, Sherman saw the photo and panicked - the photo would instantly disprove his story that he had never met Dewey Jordan. He had to make sure that no one saw the shirt, because somebody was bound to make the connection sooner or later, so he had his secretary/mistress contact Clay and pose as Julie's aunt to woo Julie away from Tim, knowing she would throw away or destroy the T-shirt (ultimately, the latter). With the truth about Clay being discovered, Sherman knows that Monk and Natalie are on to him, so he has come back to the pier to find the originals of the photo and destroy them also.

Monk follows Sherman through the park, and almost loses track of Sherman when he has to scramble across a bumper car floor and dodge the riders. He loses track of Sherman, until the park photographer yells for help as Sherman forces his way into the photo booth at gunpoint and steals half a dozen backup disks from the date when he met Dewey. Monk chases Sherman all the way down the pier, but Sherman throws the disks into the water. Sherman starts to gloat, just as Tim who has run after them, dives into the water. There is a few moments' tense wait, until Tim surfaces, yelling that he's saved the disks. Monk proudly reminds the flabbergasted Sherman that Tim - Julie's real boyfriend - is "on the swim team."

A short while later, Sherman is marched off the pier in handcuffs, as Stottlemeyer and Disher admire the incriminating photo. Randy admits that he's made use of the pier's extra services and had the photo printed on a mug, joking that it'll be a nice present for the jury - they can examine "Exhibit A" and drink out of it at the same time, and undoubtedly, the coffee will taste guilty.

Monk and Natalie approach Tim and Julie, now back together. Tim is huddled in a towel after his freezing plunge into the Bay, and Natalie informs him that he's already being lionized as a hero on the radio - a description that Julie very much agrees with. She tells her mother and Monk that the two of them are going to spend the rest of the day together, and Natalie is delighted. Before they go, Julie gives Monk a grateful kiss on the cheek. As soon as they’re gone, Monk hurriedly asks for a wipe, which Natalie refuses to give him.

Background Information and NotesEdit

• Natalie finally gets to give the entire summation. Previously, she has only given small parts of the summation (this can be seen in episodes like "Mr. Monk Goes to a Rock Concert").
• Gail O'Grady, who first appeared in the pilot, "Mr. Monk and the Candidate," as Miranda St. Claire, appears as "Lovely Rita." This makes her the second actress, after Brooke Adams, to play two different characters on the series.
• This is one of the few cases in which the culprit and how he committed the crime is known, but Monk must prove it.

QuotesEdit

(Monk and Natalie are trying to sort ashes spilled together from several funeral urns.)
Monk: (separating them with a card) No, this one goes over here...
Natalie: You can tell?
Monk: I can tell...! More or less.

---

Monk: When it comes to this particular issue, I am probably

(Monk pours a portion of ashes from one funeral urn to another.)
Natalie: What are you doing?
Monk: Making them even.
Natalie: Mr. Monk, these are people! Maybe they weren't the same size.
Monk: Well, they are now.

---

Monk: When it comes to this particular issue, I am probably the least qualified person in North America...

Natalie: That's what makes you perfect! You waited for Trudy, you were faithful, you respected her! You're a wonderful role model.
Monk: Huh?
Natalie: ...In this particular case.

---

Monk: (whispering) I'm supposed to be giving you "the big talk"...

Julie: (whispering) Why?
Monk: Because you're dating an older boy...
Julie: No, I mean, why you?
Monk: That's what I said!

---

Monk: I think what your mother has been trying to say is, just don't worry. All your dreams will come true. But they don't have to come true this weekend, right? You can take your time, you can wait...

Julie: Until I find "Trudy"?
Monk: Just wait for Trudy. Believe in Trudy. Trudy will come.

---

Natalie: Tim, I've been waiting a long time to say this: here's what happened...

---

Disher: Backup disk, and I printed off a copy.

Stottlemeyer: Well, you and your pal take a very nice, very incriminating picture.
Disher: I put it on a mug, too.
Stottlemeyer: What for?
Disher: I figured the jury would appreciate it. They're human. They get thirsty. Exhibit A. Thank you very much.
(Dsiher pretends to take a drink from the mug.)
Disher: Mmm, guilty.

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