monk - a love story?

Tonight I spent my evening watching the series finale of Monk. The show premiered in 2002 and after eight seasons with over 120 episodes the crime solving comedy solved its last and most important case.

Monk stars Tony Shalhoub as a detective that suffers from extreme obsessive compulsive disorder and an array of phobias. His mental illness is exacerbated by the murder of his wife. Every episode he would come face to face with an unsolvable crime and due to his mental condition, was able to discover and uncover clues ignored by others.

I don't really want to recap the episodes or anything. In truth the show was nothing more than easy entertainment. the show in some ways capitalized on exaggerating his illness. Much of the crime investigations weren't all that difficult and in some ways many of the episodes were modeled after another pretty good crime show, Columbo. I was not a die hard fan. In fact, there are probably two or three seasons worth of episodes that I have missed but I hope that does not diminish my gratitude.

I guess all that I care to say is goodbye. Goodbye to a television show. Tony Shalhoub has been one of the best actors on television for the past 20 years and he was nothing short of brilliant on Monk. It was a sweet and charming show. A show I could watch with my father or mother. a show with a central character that was easy to like, applaud and so I did. It gave me hundreds of chuckles while sharing an endearing quality that many shows lack.

We, I rooted for Monk not simply because of his profession or his illness but because of the tragic events which escalated his illness; the murder of his wife along with his incapability at solving the crime. The affection for his wife was not told verbally at every turn but an effect we, the viewer saw in every episode as he struggled to shake hands with strangers or fight dirt, avoid undercooked food or keep his clothing wrinkle free. In the end, Monk was not a show about solving crimes but a show displaying the effect love has on the body, heart and mind and the lengths one will go to prevent that love from dying.

thank Tony Shalhoub, USA Network and those who kept the show going.