User:DReifGalaxyM31/Mr. Monk Is on the Air

"Mr. Monk Is on the Air" is the thirteenth episode of the fifth season of Monk, and the 74th episode overall.

Plot summary
Monk goes head-to-head when he believes that a popular radio shock jockey murdered his wife, but the clincher is that the jockey has an airtight alibi - he was on the air when the murder happened.

Plot synopsis
At 99.9 ABSC Radio, radio jockey Max Hudson and his two radio sidekicks, Little Willie (a dwarf) and J.J. (the joke machine of the show) are broadcasting their live morning show, and interviewing an actress starring in a movie opening that week. Max cannot stop using a new catchphrase "Jiggle me timbers," which he tells the others might be his new official phrase.

Meanwhile, a private security service car pulls up outside a house in the Pacific Heights neighborhood of San Francisco, meeting a gas company technician, who reports a gas leak inside. To check inside, the security cop uses his baton to break one of the glass panes, reach inside, and open the door. After disabling the alarm, the security guard and technician notice that they are in Max Hudson's house. They hear the sounds of a radio playing Max's program upstairs, and follow the sound into the bedroom, where they find the dead body of Jeanette, Max's wife, on the bed.

Back at the radio station, Max, J.J. and Willie are going to a commercial break and the operator at the control panel tells Max that a cop is on the phone and needs to talk to him. Max takes the call about his wife's death in his office, though before he does so, we see him talk to himself as he reminds himself of how to respond.

About four weeks later, Kevin Dorfman is helping Adrian Monk wash his dishes. The doorbell rings and Kevin continues washing the dishes. Monk answers the door and finds his next client - Linda Riggs, Jeanette Hudson's sister. Monk starts talking to her while simultaneously giving instructions to Kevin in the kitchen. Linda is carrying a copy of the coroner's report on Jeanette's death. She mentions that the police investigated Jeanette's death and declared it an accident - they believe that Jeanette turned on the gas fireplace in her room, went to sleep, and was asphyxiated. Linda, however, is not convinced, and believes that Max killed her: whatever his personality is like on the air, Linda confides, he has a violent temper (and was once arrested for assault), and Jeanette was scared to death of him; plus divorcing her would have cost Max big time, around $30 million.

Later that day, Monk and Natalie Teeger meet Linda at Max's house. As they approach the door, Natalie confides to Monk that she also dislikes Max's program. She also points out to Monk that it seems impossible for Max to have committed the murder - when Jeanette died, Max was live on the radio, and the day before, he was at a party in Los Angeles, so he hadn't been home in two days. Monk points out that he promised to look into the matter because Linda was using all his Kleenex. They also get to see that Max's radio personality extends into his personal life. Case in point: the welcome mat on his stoop that says "GO AWAY" on it. A neighbor passes by and tells them that Max left a few hours ago, and Monk attempts to do an "opposite joke" on the neighbor's dog with no success.

Thanks to the fact that Linda has a key to the house, they are able to get in and head up to the scene of the crime. Linda mentions having heard Max joke about his wife's death on the show, and Natalie agrees with her - she feels uncomfortable whenever she is in a store or restaurant and Max is on the air.

The first thing that Monk notices is that a shoe is missing from Max's closet. He believes that the shoe is a brown Romano loafer, size 10.5, before Natalie directs him back to the crime scene. Monk examines the scene further, and notices several suspicious clues:


 * He notices dried leaves in the fireplace, and knowing that fire would have burned or charred them, he realizes that the fireplace has not been used for several months (if ever).
 * The smell of gas when the flue is opened is overpowering (when he opens the flue, he stumbles around and Natalie has to close the valve and open a window to let fresh air in), so how could Jeanette not have noticed it?
 * Monk is also suspicious when Natalie checks the inventory report and notes that there were no matches or lighters anywhere in the room.

When Monk looks at Max's calendar and opens it to the previous month, he notices something very unusual: Jeanette died on July 15, two days before Max's 10th wedding anniversary. Strangely though, this year, nothing has ever been planned or erased. Natalie realizes that Max knew his wife wouldn't be around, meaning he must have killed her.

The next day, Monk and Natalie go to Max's radio station to question him. While waiting in the control room, Monk tries to fix a sign on an inflatable dummy the crew calls "Mr. Limpey" that reads "Chairman of the F.C.C." Natalie tries to stop Monk from fixing the sign, but this turns into an arm-wrestling match as Natalie tries to grab Monk's pen. The small match ends when Monk inadvertantly swings and stabs "Mr. Limpey", deflating him (much to the dismay of the radio crew). They enter the main room to question Max. While they are in the studio, Monk and Natalie become easy targets for mockery by Max, Little Willie, and J.J. - Natalie especially, but also Monk's habit of using handwipes (though he straightens a microphone to create lots of static feedback to stop them from making one pretty derogatory comment about Natalie). Max insists that Monk ask his questions while they are live. He denies involvement in his wife's death, but Monk is sure of his guilt. This interview doesn't go so well, and ends when J.J. tells Monk that the last person to wear his headset had head lice, and Monk is sent running out of the studio. Natalie scorns Max before she leaves.

Convinced of Max's guilt, Monk and Natalie go to the police station to talk to Captain Stottlemeyer and Lieutenant Disher. Monk mentions that Jeanette had recently started taking very strong sleeping pills at Max's suggestion. His theory is that Max, who knew his wife wouldn't be waking up, hired an accomplice to sneak into the house, turn on the gas, and close the bedroom door. While Monk is explaining his theory, he is interrupted frequently when Randy blushes in the background. Randy mentions having heard their botched attempt at talking to Max on the air. Natalie is offended to find that Randy listens to Max, and it is clear that she still hasn't gotten over having been insulted live on the radio.

Stottlemeyer points out that Monk's accomplice theory has one hole in it: how did the killer get into the house? Natalie suggests that Max made an extra key, but Stottlemeyer shoots her theory down - he produces a diagram of the house that comes from the security company, and points out that the house is wired and monitored 24/7. The records show that no person entered or left the house at any point that night. Natalie notices one window is labelled as open on the diagram, but that is a ventilation window from the basement, which only opens about eight inches.

Randy theorizes that Little Willie is the accomplice, as he is so loyal to Max that he does anything for him (including eating his own weight in bologna). However, Stottlemeyer isn't very convinced that a little person could fit through an awfully small space. Monk insists that they have to check out every possibility, even though they don't know where Willie was when Jeanette died.

Monk, Natalie, Stottlemeyer and Disher go downtown to a bookstore where Max and his sidekicks are signing copies of Max's new book Max Hudson: Sex, Lies, and Radio. While waiting, another guy belches rather loudly. Randy mentions that he is a show regular known as the "Burpinator". Natalie sarcastically suggests to Randy that he introduce her to the regular.

Stottlemeyer and Disher step ahead and pull aside Little Willie to question him. Asked for an alibi for Jeanette's death, Willie mentions that he was also on the air, with Max, but Stottlemeyer asks him for an alibi for the day before, noting that Willie didn't go with Max to Los Angeles. Willie mentions that he was with his wife and his child. They detain him long enough for Randy to put his hands around Willie's head, and then walk over so Natalie can measure the diameter. It comes out at 10 inches, meaning that Willie couldn't have fit through the window.

Monk, meanwhile, goes over to Max and questions him again. Max confides in Monk that Jeanette’s death wasn’t really an accident, but that it was suicide. Monk still isn’t buying it. He knows it was murder. As Monk asks Natalie for a wipe, the crowd also notice him. Pretending not to notice them chanting "Wipe! Wipe!" over and over, Monk, Natalie, Stottlemeyer and Disher take off.

That night, as Monk is vaccuming the apartment, Natalie pleads with Monk to call Stottlemeyer, but Monk believes that he doesn't have any proof. Unfortunately, it's a brick wall - Max is refusing to talk to Monk unless Monk comes back on the show, and Monk doesn't want to risk getting humiliated again. He tries to show Natalie how he isn't a funny person by playing a videotape of some old home movies.

In the middle of the night, Kevin knocks on Monk's door. He mentions that his uncle was a comedian who worked with historical comedian Uncle Miltie. He produces a joke file that his uncle left him, which contains a lot of field-tested jokes that Monk can use when he talks to Max on the air again.

The next morning, Monk and Natalie go back to the studio during one of Max’s radio shows, and Monk, armed with the jokes, is itching to go on the air. To get them into the studio, he slips them up the cuff of his coat's sleeve. Monk asks a few questions about Jeanette's death, noting that apparently Max left the house every afternoon at 2:00 PM, supposedly to go to his gym, which he hasn't actually been to in six months. Max gives a vague answer, and Monk starts telling his horrible jokes, which don't succeed. Max turns on Monk, who gets roasted, but then the conversation drifts to the topic of Monk's own marriage. When Monk describes the circumstances of Trudy's death, Max piles on the jokes. At that, Willie and J.J. look shocked, indicating that even they see a line, and Max is crossing it. One joke too many ("you should have called me in to help with the case – I'm great with jigsaw puzzles!"), causes Monk to lose his temper and lunge over the table to attack Max. Natalie can only look on as the building's security guards grab Monk and drag him away.

Monk and Natalie meet Stottlemeyer and Disher back at Max's house. They all agree that what Max mentioned about Trudy was beyond what they could tolerate (Disher mentions that he and Stottlemeyer listened to the whole thing on their car radio and couldn't even drive listening to it). Stottlemeyer helps bring his shaken friend back down to Earth: 1) He's proud of Monk for his effort to confront Max, and 2) Max's baiting of Monk makes it clear that he is guilty, and if there is any way of proving it, Monk can do it. Monk begins to go over the case again in his head, noting what they know - the ventilation window could only open eight inches, which is not big enough for even a little person to fit through, but is distracted by the sounds of Max's next-door neighbor playing with his dog, a Jack Russell Terrier. Looking over the fence, they see the neighbor and the dog tussling over a chewed-up loafer - the same kind missing from Max's closet. As they question the neighbor, he mentions that Max agreed to housesit his dog while they were on vacation in Hawaii. With this, Monk solves the case.

Here's What Happened
There are several police cars outside Max's house when he comes home later that day. Disher tells him that Monk, Natalie, Stottlemeyer, and Linda Riggs are waiting upstairs in the bedroom to speak with him. Stottlemeyer produces a warrant they've received to search Max's house. Monk has figured out what Max was really doing every afternoon at 2:00 PM - he was next door. Max claims that he was housesitting and watering the neighbor's plants, but Monk reveals that Max was really training the dog. Stottlemeyer notes that upon replaying a tape of the show Max made the day his wife was killed, they discovered something interesting - that was the only day he used an apparent nonsense catchphrase, "Jiggle me timbers", and he never said it since. Max claims that there's no proof, and Stottlemeyer promptly speaks a command into a walkie-talkie.

The scene immediately cuts to next door, where a police officer is holding a portable radio while talking to the neighbor. He starts playing Max's show from the day of Jeanette's death. No flashback is necessary, as what happened replays itself for us: when Max yells out the phrase, "Jiggle me timbers!" on the tape, the dog takes off. It darts through the dividing hedge, makes its way up the driveway, enters the house through the basement ventilation window, runs up the stairs to the bedroom, and turns the flue handle to the on position with his paw. It then leaves, even closing the door behind him. Monk uses his foot to push the flue handle back into place.

Monk reveals that the catchphrase was the command - Max trained the dog to kill his wife, and on the morning in question, he could've been 100 miles away. He purposely left the dog's cage open and a radio tuned to his show, and just had to give the command on the air, knowing that Jeanette would never wake up. He tripped up, though, because the dog stole one of Max's shoes and brought it home with him.

Max is arrested on the spot. As he is being put into handcuffs, Monk dares him to find a joke in the situation, and Max can't. In a melancholy way, Monk has made his point: some things just aren't funny.

Goofs

 * "Mr. Monk Is on the Air" appears to have been intended to air as part of the first half of season 5, and was produced at the same time as the eight episodes comprising the first half of the fifth season. If aired in the summer of 2006, this episode would have taken place in between the events of "Mr. Monk Goes to a Rock Concert" and "Mr. Monk Meets His Dad". For whatever reason, the episode was moved to the second half of the season. This creates several unintentional continuity errors:
 * Natalie is driving a white Jeep Grand Cherokee, like she did in the first half of the fifth season and during the fourth season, but in "Mr. Monk and the Leper," she had switched to a Buick Lucerne.
 * When Monk and Natalie are looking at the calendar in Jeanette's bedroom, they are looking at a calendar for July 2006, with Monk noting that Jeanette died on July 15, a Saturday. It is also mentioned that it has been four weeks since Jeanette's death, implying that the events of the episode would happen around mid-August 2006, also meaning that the episode happens before the events of "Mr. Monk Meets His Dad". Yet "Mr. Monk Is At Your Service" takes place in the spring of 2007.
 * Natalie's outfits throughout the episode are the same outfits she wears during the earlier episodes in season 5. Her outfit during the first scene at Max's house is one she wears during the episode "Mr. Monk Can't See a Thing".