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

Synopsis[]

Monk tries to prove a sports agent is guilty of murder while helping Natalie's teenage daughter with her love life.

Plot[]

Late at night, a burglar, Dewey Jordan, breaks into a house. But this is not any ordinary burglary: Dewey carefully wipes his feet before breaking in, and the home’s owner, sports agent Robert Sherman, is there, to greet him. Dewey and Sherman have 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.

What Dewey does not know is that he's actually being set up by Sherman as part of a scheme by Sherman to murder his wife and make it look like she was killed by a burglar, that he then killed in self-defense. He only finds this out when Sherman produces the guns for the crime: a black revolver in his left hand which will be planted on Dewey, and a nickel-plated pistol in his right hand, which is his registered gun. Before Dewey can process what's happening, Sherman abruptly shoots him dead with the pistol. When Sherman's wife Pam comes downstairs to investigate the noise, she notices Dewey lying dead on the floor and asks Sherman why he shot him. Sherman claims that the man had a gun, and mistakenly holds up the pistol he just used to shoot Dewey, but then he immediately notices his mistake and shoots her dead 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's "story" seems pretty convincing: he was lying in bed, and his wife went downstairs to adjust the thermostat. Sherman heard a shot, 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. Sherman also claims that he never has known Dewey Jordan nor has he ever met him in person.

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 quickly finds holes in Sherman's story: for one, why did Dewey take the trouble to wipe his feet before entering the house, especially when Sherman has just told Monk to do the same thing. Later, when Monk and Randy search Sherman's bedroom, they find that he has unplugged the phone. On top of that, if Sherman's wife was downstairs to adjust the thermostat because she was cold, why did she leave her slippers upstairs? And if Sherman really heard the gunshot and the sound of his wife screaming, why, after he grabbed his pistol, did he take the time to shut the lockbox before heading downstairs? Lastly, Stottlemeyer has told Sherman that if he'd been in the same situation, he'd have emptied the whole gun into the intruder. So why did Sherman only need one round to kill Dewey?

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

Monk thinks that Sherman and Dewey are linked, as there is no other reason why Dewey would have wiped his feet. But Stottlemeyer doesn’t see a connection, as the two men had very different career paths: Dewey was a career petty criminal, with at least 19 recorded arrests and 12 convictions, while Sherman has only ever been arrested once, for driving with a suspended license. But while glancing at the sheets containing the two men's arrest records, Monk sees one point where their lives might've overlapped: namely, Sherman appeared in traffic court for his suspended license charge on the exact same day and at the exact same time that Dewey was in the same courthouse for a bail reduction hearing. Monk suggests it is 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.

Monk and Natalie head down to the mortuary 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. Confronted about his lie, Sherman continues to deny having ever seen Dewey before the shooting, and suggests that Dewey saw his expensive things and decided to rob him.

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 mistress Allison to go out with Julie.

The next day, Monk and Natalie go to Dewey Jordan's apartment. Dewey's landlord mentions that Dewey was a problematic tenant, always coming and going frequently and regularly being late on his rent. Monk finds a few gaming tickets from the Bay City Pier on a table in the living room. He is interrupted when 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 notices that the panel covering an air vent in the wall is all rusty, but the screws are all brand new, suggesting that Dewey was using it to hide something. Removing the panel reveals that Dewey kept a gun hidden there, and immediately pokes another hole in Sherman's story: why didn't Dewey take his own gun to the "burglary"? The landlord suggests that perhaps Dewey had another gun, but Monk points out that if that were the case, Dewey would keep ammunition for a .38 caliber in the vent, and there isn't, the only ammunition on hand being that for this gun, which is a .22 caliber.

Because Julie is shutting her out, Natalie asks Monk to "have a talk" with her. Monk couldn’t be more uncomfortable trying to give relationship advice to a teenager, 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 admits the girl is his “real” girlfriend, and he’s not cheating on Julie. He claims he was approached by a woman claiming to be Natalie’s sister and paid to break up Julie and Tim on the grounds that Tim was wrong for Julie. From Clay's description of the woman as having dark hair and glasses, Monk immediately realizes that he was paid by Sherman's mistress, a suspicion that is confirmed when he notices that the envelope with the money used to pay Clay has an insignia on the seal that he previously saw on some envelopes in Sherman's bedroom.

Monk 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 Happened[]

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, 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 Bay City pier, explaining the theme park tickets Monk found in Dewey's apartment.

This is where Sherman's and Julie's lives 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 reminds Tim that there were people standing behind him and Julie when their picture was taken. More specifically, the photographer ended up capturing Sherman conversing with Dewey in the background.

When Sherman saw Julie wearing the T-shirt right after the murders, he panicked, as the photo would instantly disprove his story that he had never met Dewey. He had to make sure that no one saw the shirt, especially with Julie being an acquaintance to several cops. So Sherman had his mistress contact Clay and pose as Julie's aunt to woo Julie away from Tim, knowing that at least she would stop wearing the T-shirt, or even better, she would throw away or destroy the T-shirt (ultimately, the latter). But now that Monk and Natalie have gotten the truth out of Clay, Sherman knows that they're onto 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 that he and Dewey visited. Monk chases Sherman all the way to the end of the pier and tackles him, but Sherman twists free long enough to throw 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, with the disks safe in his hand. Monk proudly reminds the flabbergasted Sherman that Tim - Julie's real boyfriend - is "on the swim team."

The police arrive, and 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 coffee mug, joking that the jury will appreciate the gesture of getting to 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[]

  • 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 different characters on the series.
  • This episode is styled like a classic Columbo episode, in that we are shown who the culprit is and how he committed the crime, and the main character must prove it.
  • Originally, the incriminating evidence for Robert Sherman and Dewey Jordan's meeting (in Julie's photo) was intended to take place at a tunnel of love attraction at the theme park instead of near the pier, with Monk also chasing Sherman through the Tunnel of Love to retrieve the datadisks containing the photos. However, the set for the Tunnel of Love proved too costly to create as there weren't either tunnels of love or similar attractions at any real theme parks nearby, causing them to rewrite the climax and the motive slightly.

"What are you doing?"[]

In every episode of Monk and the Monk Movie, at least once, some variation of the question, "What are you doing?" is asked.

Time Quote From To RE
0:00 What are you doing here? Dewey Robert Dewey finding Rob in his house.
0:02 What did you do? Robert's Wife Robert Rob standing over Dewey dead.
0:17 What did you do? Natalie Monk Monk rearranging urns and their name tags.
0:18 What are you doing? Natalie Monk Monk tipping ashes from one urn to another. "It's not even."
0:18 What are you doing here? Robert Monk Monk and Natalie showing up at the cemetery.
0:23 What are you doing? Natalie Julie Julie throwing away her ex-boyfriend's stuff.
0:23 What are you doing? Natalie Julie Julie throwing the stuff in the fire.
0:28 What are you doing? Monk Julie Julie asking Monk questions about feelings.
0:34 What are you doing here? Tim Natalie Natalie and Monk walking at the pier where Tim works.
0:34 What's he doing here? Tim Natalie Robert walking at the pier.

Quotes[]

(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 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.
(Disher pretends to take a drink from the mug.)
Disher: Mmm, guilty.

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