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Monk: Mr. Monk and the Other Brother (winter premiere)
by Allison Waldman, posted Jan 10th 2009 10:25AM
(S07E10) The case of who killed Lindsay Bishop wasn't the primary plot line for this episode of Monk, and in many ways it was a nice change of pace. For one thing, any time we get more insight into the complicated Monk family history, it's a good thing. In the midst of making perfectly square pancakes -- about two inch squares, piled neatly on a plate -- Monk's world was thrown into flux by the unlikely appearance of Joe Endicott. That's just an alias, of course, because the man in question is actually Jack Monk, Jr., Adrian's half brother.
Throughout the show, Monk reminds Jack time and again they are not brothers. They're half-brothers, and unlike the great similarities between Ambrose and Adrian -- both afflicted with psychological disorders that seem to be caused by Jack senior having abandoned them as children -- Jack was so unlike Adrian that for a while it seemed that it was a scam. After all, Jack was quick to admit that he was a con man, a grifter, and a liar. He also called himself a lovable rogue, but as Monk pointed out, you can't call yourself a lovable rogue. And he was right; it took till the end of the episode for us to determine that he was indeed both lovable and a rogue.
He was not, however, a killer. Monk fairly quickly assessed that fact, which was obvious when there was no blood anywhere on him and he supposedly stabbed a woman to death. That and a second murder occurring at the prison after Jack's escape was another tip-off. With little effort, Monk determined that Lindsay's "fornication" partner was "the guy."
The plot points, however, were hardly important because the strength of the episode was the guest turn by Steve Zahn. Steve Zahn would not be my first choice as Tony Shalhoub's brother -- John Tuturro is, and he's perfect as Ambrose -- but since Jack is a half-brother, I bought it. I could buy him as Dan Hedaya's son, especially since Dan's Jack senior was an equally shiftless, lying character. Zahn has a goofy charm that was a nice contrast to Shalhoub's button-downed compulsion. His mumbling, "go back, no go back" over and over as Jack explained escaping through the sewer was priceless. So was Natalie knowing that Monk solved the case just by the look on his face.
Since this was an episode in which Monk goes up against a guest killer, there was no cat and mouse game. It was a nice change of pace, overall, especially since there was a question about Jack's veracity and fidelity till the end. When he retrieves the keys for Natalie's car -- after she tosses them in the line of fire (did you catch Zahn mouthing the words "unbelievable"?) -- I wasn't so sure he wasn't driving away and leaving them there.
The fact that he did circle back, that he did save them and turned himself in even though it would mean more prison time, wasn't inevitable. Leland and Randy could have showed up, but it was more fitting that Jack stepped up. And since Randy's handcuff key was missing in the end, I suspect that in future episodes (which aren't that many since Monk will end its run in 2009) Jack Jr. will be back because he's bound to escape again. Unless, like the reference to The Incredible Shrinking Man, Jack Jr. will simply disappear into oblivion. I'm hoping for the former.
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