Monk, the return: is the film released after the series is worth it? (critical)

Tony Shalhoub returns for a final investigation, tonight on TMC.

Between 2002 and 2009, Adrien Monk Has the delight of viewers amateur of police investigations, with his particular personality and his acolytes always ready to support him despite his difficulties. In 2023, almost 15 years after the outcome of the series declined in 8 seasons, Peacock unveiled a telefilm entitled Monk, the returnrebroadcast this Tuesday evening in clear on TMC.

Show fans will be able to plunge with pleasure in this universe in turn fun and touching. And even those who have not followed the whole story will have a good time in front of this new investigation that is both eccentric and full of nostalgia, which shows Adrien more tormented than ever, the epidemic of Covid-19 having quite increased its phobias.

“It’s jungle out there”

The series Monk had had the right to a real end, with in particular the outcome of the story of Trudy, the wife of Monk murdered brutally aboard his vehicle in a parking lot. It was the red thread of the whole story, and finally Adrien could calm down a little, obtaining answers to all his questions.

This “return” is therefore to be taken for what it is: a kind of bonus episode where what is immediately striking is how much everyone seems delighted to find themselves. The enthusiasm of Tony Shalhoub is contagious, overflowing on Ted Levine (Leland Stottlemeyer), Traylor Howard (Natalie Teeger), Jason Gray-Stanford (Randy Disher) and Hector Elizondo (Dr. Neven Bell), who answered the call. The only absent from this reunion is Bitty Shram, alias Sharona, who had left the series prematurely before returning during a few key scenes. Here, it is still mentioned via flashbacks of the series pilot, just to complete the loop.

Barriers and sincere affection

The world pandemic could have sounded as a pretext for this new investigation, yet very quickly, this idea is admitted as obvious. Obviously Adrien Monk was impacted head on by the COVVID! It only widen his trauma, so he lost his contract with his publisher, for whom he was trying to write his memories … for ten years. After all these upheavals, he founded a lot of hopes in the wedding of his daughter-in-law, Molly (now played by Caitlin McGee). It is this event that brings back Natalie and Randy to San Francisco, and it is also the starting point for the investigation, when the future husband dies in an improbable accident. A criminal act is suspected, then Monk and his former teammates embarked on a final investigation.

As often with Monk, the investigation ultimately matters less than his impact on his main character. Faced with the new new Austin Scott, Emma Ishta and James Purefoy, Adrien is often funny, and he is also more touching than ever. Unable to control his OCS who resurfaced, he tries to keep his face to help Molly, but thinks deep down in suicide, as he always feels unable to adapt to the world around him. “It’s Jungle Out there,” sang Randy Newman in the credits, and it’s still as true: Monk remains a suffering man, and it is when he plunges into the darkest facets of his anti-hero that Tony Shalhoub is the fairest.

Promise held for the actor, who assured the public when designing this film:

“He is a monk of today, after we have moved away from him for 13 or 14 years. He is a post-Covid monk. The epidemic has been relating to it. He will not be aged. He will no longer be able to run after bad guys in the street or do things this genus. Finally, I hope! (Laughs) We will have to take into account the fact that Monk is older.

This story is very interesting. I can’t tell you too much, but it will take up all the flagship elements of the show, and make sure that there are a few twists as usual. I can’t wait to find him, because when we finished the series, I had really felt it as a farewell. Having the opportunity to see where they are all is special. All these characters have gone through things during all these years, they have changed. “

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