Monk: Season 5 [DVD]

Adrian Monk's wife was killed in a car bomb. Already a delicate person, Monk's OCD and phobias became overpowering, meaning that he was unable to continue working for the police force but could come back as a consultant. But Monk's attention to detail makes him a brilliant detective. It sounds like a very angsty programme when you look at the back story, so how is it that Monk remains one of the funniest, most original detective shows around?Tony Shalhoub's brilliantly nuanced central performance undoubtedly has a lot to do with it. The character has a lot of twitches, but it is undoubtedly Shalhoub's delivery of the lines in that hangdog, slightly drony manner that makes Monk's Charlie Brown karma so endearing. Monk can be intensely selfish at times because of his obsessiveness, there's a great scene in this series where a refuse collectors strike leads Monk to commandeer a rubbish truck and drive around the city trying to clean it up by himself. When asked by Capt Stottlemeyer what he's going to do when the truck is filled up, he replies "Drive into the river. Then get another truck, fill it up and drive that into the river." At other times, particularly when thinking about his wife Trudie, the pathos brings a tear to your eye.I don't really watch Monk for the murders, I see them as just being a set up to see how Monk reacts to a certain situation, and there are some good situations in this series, such as when Dr Kroger, Monk's therapist, decides to retire when he thinks a cleaning woman has been killed by one of his patients and Monk desperately tries to convince him not to.What's great is that, even in this the fifth season, Monk still feels fresh. Like Columbo it's the sort of show that because of the great acting of the lead, and the brilliant character work, I can keep going back to it and watching it again. I thought the Mr Monk, Private Eye episode was quite slow, even for Monk's pacing, and that it failed to fully examine the setup. But one out of sixteen isn't bad.You also get a pilot for a show called Psych, which isn't as good as Monk, but may have legs.If you're already a fan of Monk, this fifth series won't disappoint. If you haven't seen Monk, you're in for a treat!

I had doubts about season 5 of MONK. Was it going to be as good as, as thought provoking, as funny, as sad as the previous seasons. After all, many other shows begin to tire after awhile. I need not have worried. Season 5 of MONK is just as brilliant as the others. My only criticism and it is a minor one is the B/W episode. I do not see the point of it when it is also shown in colour. And the pilot for another cop show.But apart from these minor hiccups, this season gives the best insight yet into the reasons for Monk's behaviour.The scenes with his father at the end of one of the episodes is truly heart breaking and brought a tear to my eye. The scene where Monk loses it with a 'Shock Jock' who winds him up over his beloved Trudy and the last scene of that same episode when in silence he watches old footage of his wedding are equally touching.Tony Shalhoub has made Monk a believable character and he should have won award after award for this role.I wondered if the show would miss Sharona but Natalie is a brilliant replacement, who is a tough cookie and doesn't let Monk rule the roost as he did with Sharona.This season is brilliant.Can't wait for Season 6 to arrive !!!

Monk is amazing

Very good!! Highly recommend 😀

He's the Man. Easy to enjoy.

Really entertaining show. As a family with teenagers, with a touch of OCD amongst us, we love Monk - gets us together on a Sunday for a couple of episodes at a time. All seasons of the show are fabulous.

Love everything, from Monk OCD to his cleverness at finding or seeing clues.

I love monk and you would too I’m so glad I can watch it on amazon prime