"Monk" episodes
having important mention of the Trudy Monk murder case
In the early seasons they often had episodes with clues and facts about
the Trudy murder, but then there were less and less such episodes. Look
at what I put together. Note the episode numbers.
We know these things about the Trudy murder, none of which necessarily
will figure prominently in the denouement of the case. Corrections
and additions are appreciated:
1. In "Mr. Monk and the Candidate" (episodes 1 and 2 -- the
pilot episodes, original air date, July 2002), when Monk is reviewing the
press clippings and file of the Trudy car bomb murder, there is one clipping
with the intriguing headline: "No links to other car bombing suspected
.. ... .." That has to be significant.
2. In "Mr Monk Meets Dale the Whale," (ep. 4, July 2002), we
learn that because Trudy was doing newspaper stories about Dale's finances,
Dale sued Trudy and her paper. He knew he couldn't win the law suit, but
he pursued it for spite and to cost Trudy and the paper a lot of money
in legal bills. This hurt the Monks: they had to sell their home, which
Dale bought and turned into a porn storage site.
3. In "Mr. Monk and the Billionaire Mugger," (episode 7, August
2002) we learn two interesting things: (1) the last entry in Trudy's appointment
book was "530 Kelly Street, re: Mr. Simon." Monk suddenly realizes it
is not an address, but a 5:30 appointment to see a woman named Kelly (Katrina)
Street. When he meets her he further learns, from her, that Mr. Simon is
her stuffed pet dog. Monk is told that Trudy was probably writing a human
interest story about the stuffed dead pet (Trudy was a newspaper columnist);
and (2) Monk had been to the Street house about the same thing each year
after Trudy was murdered four years ago, he is told! Ms. Street suggests
that Monk write it down so he won't forget it. .... ..... ....(Maybe she
is lying about all of this.)
4. In "Mr. Monk and the Three Pies" ( 24, Jan 2004) we learn
that Monk's brother Ambrose feels "guilty" about Trudy's death and keeps
his distance (due to guilt) from Monk because he sent Trudy on the errand
[to get medicine] that took her to the guarage where her car blew up, killing
her.
5. In "Mr. Monk Goes to Jail" (29, Mar 2004) we learn from
Dale the Whale that Warrick Tennyson was in on Trudy's murder. Dale doesn't
know (or won't tell) why she was murdered, but he emphatically says the
bomb was intended for her and not Monk.
6. In "Mr. Monk Takes Manhattan" (30, Jun 2004) (which is the
episode that follows the "Mr Monk Goes to Jail" ep.) Tennyson, as he is
dying, reveals to Monk that he built the bomb that killed Trudy, that he
was paid $2000 cash, that the car bomb was made of 10 pounds of plastique,
magnesium charged, detonated by cell phone.. He doesn't know the name of
the man who hired him and never saw his face, but remembers one detail: the
man had six fingers on his right hand. (Oddly, in the USA network web site
synopsis of the episode, they say the man who hired Tennyson to build the
bomb was named "Frank," but in the TV show and DVD, Tennyson just tells Monk
that the guy who hired him was a "freak" (because of the six fingers). The
name "Frank" is never mentioned. Even the captions give the word "freak.")
7. In "Mr. Monk and the Blackout," (32, Jul 2004) a 90s anti-military
radical bomber, Winston Brenner, who was thought dead, but was currently
going by an alias, Gene Edelson, planted a bomb similar to the one that
killed Trudy (both used plastique and magnesium, but the one in this episode
used an egg timer detonator, not a cell phone). Anyway, Monk casually mentioned
that he knew of Brenner because Trudy had written an article about him.
At the end of the episode, Brenner gets caught and imprisoned.
8. In "Mr. Monk vs. the Cobra," (40, Jan 2005) Natalie finally
persuades Monk to close up (stop paying rent on) Trudy's old office. I
don't know what might be in the contents and where they are now.
9. In "Mr. Monk and Mrs. Monk," (51, Aug 2005) we learn that
Trudy was an investigative reporter for a newspaper. There she worked
on a blockbuster story involving union corruption. An anonymous union
insider had given her information that put a lot of union officials in
jail. The insider then became head of the union, but he became afraid (after
Trudy died) that information that she kept in a storage locker of Trudy
and writing partner, recently deceased (how?) Janice Ellinghouse, would
become public and reveal his part in the story. While trying to destroy
this evidence by setting a fire to it, he was killed by the police.
10. In "Mr. Monk and the Man Who Shot Santa" (87, Dec 2007)
they made reference again to the fact that Monk never opened Trudy's Christmas
gift to Monk. It was wrapped in holiday paper. Monk
has no idea what is inside it. It has been 10 years since Trudy
was murdered. Crime never solved; it haunts Monk. Maybe there
is a clue inside the package that will solve the crime! [The same Trudy's
unopened Christmas gift was also mentioned in "Mr. Monk and the Secret
Santa" (54, Dec. 2005)]
11. In "Mr. Monk Is On the Run, Parts I and II) (92 and 93,
Feb 2008) Monk learns from letters found in Frank Nunn's (the 6-fingered
man's) apartment that someone called just "The Judge" had hired
Nunn to plant the bomb that killed Trudy. These two episodes had two
Dale the Whale plots going on at the same time: (1) Dale hired Nunn to
plant a bomb intended to kill the Governor (who turned down Dale's prison
pardon request) so the Lieutenant Governor would become Governor and
pardon Dale; and (2) Dale had Nunn killed, and at the same time arranged
to have Monk framed for Nunn's murder, thus sending Monk to prison (revenge
for Dale who had been put in prison due to Monk's detective work). ... ...
.... To refresh everyone's memory at this point: The Judge (whoever he or
she is, and he/she may never have been an actual judge and may have been just
one link in a chain of culprits) hired Frank Nunn (the 6-fingered man) to
plant the bomb which killed Trudy after Nunn had hired Warrick Tennyson to
make the bomb. Both Nunn and Tennyson are now dead.
(Incidentally, be sure to see this great site [I have no connection
to it] devoted solely to Trudy: http://www.eviltwinltd.com/trudy.htm
)
Facts and clues on Trudy case here, too, from the official USA "Monk" web
site:
http://www.usanetwork.com/series/monk/webexclusives/trudyfiles/index.html
Boy, I see so much wasted time on this subject. "Monk" is a
sweet, humorous comedy. It certainly would be interesting if someone
like Sharona or the Captain was the murderer, but it would be an entirely
different show. One interesting episode would degrade the earlier 123 episodes.
Logic and story line aside, it would hurt the shows popularity and markedly
lower the value of the syndication rights of the show if the last episode
was so noir. It would be anything but a comedy. How could anyone stand
to watch or enjoy prior episodes filled with the love, camaraderie and warmth
between the characters if one of them was a secret murderer of Monk's wife?
Never will happen.
