User:DReifGalaxyM31/Mr. Monk and the Class Reunion

"Mr. Monk and the Class Reunion" is the sixth episode of the fifth season of Monk, and the 66th episode overall. The episode features several notable guest stars, including Cynthia Stevenson and Brian McNamara, and a large cast of extras.

Plot summary
Monk and Natalie go to Berkeley for Monk's 25th college reunion, and Monk runs into one of his old college acquaintances. However, despite Natalie trying to help Monk enjoy his reunion, Monk cannot help but figure that the husband of his acquaintance is hiding something. Soon, Stottlemeyer and Disher show up, having come about the murder of a beloved clinic nurse, and Monk soon uncovers a possible murder plot.

Plot synopsis
At her apartment building, an elderly woman, Katherine Rutherford, heads to her elevator, but when she gets there, she finds that it is broken. She realizes she will have to take the stairs. As soon as she starts walking that way, a shadowy man, Kyle Brooks (Brian McNamara) removes the "Out of Order" notice from the elevator panel, and follows Katherine to the top of the stairs. Once she is about to go down, Kyle asks her if she is Katherine Rutherford the nurse. Katherine confirms that, and she asks Kyle why he wants to know that. Kyle tells her that unfortunately, she happens to know his wife. Before Katherine can figure out what Kyle means by "unfortunately", Kyle promptly shoves the luckless nurse down the stairs to her death. When he gets to the midway landing, Kyle takes a necklace out of his pocket, and breaks it, spilling the beads on the floor. After checking to make sure Katherine is dead, he takes off down the stairs.

Captain Stottlemeyer and Lieutenant Disher arrive at the scene. The cops on the scene have declared Katherine's death to be an accident. They believe that Katherine was wearing a necklace that broke, and she slipped on the beads, fell down the stairs, and broke her neck. But Stottlemeyer has picked up a lot of tells from his colleagues over the years, and hence notices some oddities - why didn't Katherine use the elevator? And if she slipped on the beads, why didn't any of them roll away? He recovers an intact portion of the necklace and has the officers standing over the body lift up the victim's head. Stottlemeyer finds that the necklace's circumference is too small for the victim. He instructs an officer to call this in as a homicide investigation. One of the patrol officer recovers a lapel pin with the number 25 on it. Disher recognizes the lapel pin, but he can't remember where.

Later that morning, Adrian Monk and Natalie Teeger are at the University of California, Berkeley for Monk's 25th college reunion. Monk is fussing with a lapel pin identical to the one at the crime scene, as he can't get it straight. Natalie suggests that he just stand at a slight angle. She also expresses concern that Monk will not be able to make it through the reunion on his own - noting that the last time he saw these people was when Trudy was alive, and she remembers how it was hard for her seeing close friends after Mitch died. But Monk is confident that he can make it all the way through, telling Natalie that he did all his crying the night before. Natalie also notices that Monk has filled out his registration form using his nickname "Captain Cool". Monk leaves her guessing why he maintained that nickname.

While waiting to hand in his registration form, Monk runs into an old acquaintance from college, Dianne Brooks (Cynthia Stevenson). They catch up on their past lives, and Dianne suddenly remembers that she's forgotten to fill out her registration form. She has use Monk's back as an improvised writing desk, and as she fills out the form, she mentions to Monk that her husband Kyle is dying to meet him.

Monk stands in the back at the welcoming ceremony, as a woman explains briefly what the lapel pins are for. While trying to mingle with others, Monk feels like an outsider in the campus as he realizes that most of the "friends" only remember Trudy, and only remember Adrian as the "guy with Trudy."

Outside, in the parking lot, Natalie is about to get in her car when she realizes she still has with her a set of keys that Monk might need. She asks a man who has just arrived to take the keys to him. The man, however, gives Natalie a blank stare until she uses Monk's nickname "Captain Cool." The man knows who Captain Cool is. As Natalie gets into her car, she learns that Monk's nickname did not originate from his being "cool," but rather because he spent every single weekend defrosting his refrigerator. Meanwhile, Monk is catching up with an acquaintance during college, although he has a few different philosophies from Monk (namely about moving on with their dead wives). The acquaintance leaves to go join his family, just as Natalie shows up and returns to Monk.

Down at the police station, Randy is at his desk, and realizes something. He tells Stottlemeyer that Monk has been wearing a lapel pin just like the pin found at the crime scene for his college reunion. He also mentions that Katherine Rutherford, the victim, was a nurse at Berkeley's clinic for 20 years before she retired. As she wouldn't wear the lapel pin, because she didn't graduate, it means that the pin belonged to the killer. This means that the killer is with Monk at the reunion. Stottlemeyer and Disher prepare to head down to Berkeley to get Monk's insight on this homicide.

Back at the reunion, Monk and Natalie are in the cafeteria, and Monk expresses his desire to leave. Natalie doesn't want him to leave, as he's been looking forward to the reunion for several months. At this, Monk admits that the people he said were his "friends" weren't actually friends in the sense of the word, and he admits that he was mostly invisible. Technically, it was Trudy they loved. To emphasize his point, Monk points out that he was always "the guy with Trudy" much like Natalie is the girl with him. Natalie stops and notices that Monk's name is on several of the cafeteria spit shields. Monk explains that they didn't have anything to protect the food when he was here. She initially thinks that he had donated them all, until he admits that it was more from a lawsuit that took up most of his spare time.

Dianne spots Monk, and initially (based on her body language) interprets that Natalie is Monk's girlfriend (a relationship that both Monk and Natalie deny having). She points out that she and Kyle have saved seats for them at another table. Natalie initially thinks that Dianne is a close friend to Monk, but Monk admits that Dianne was actually Trudy's freshman roommate. Over lunch, Kyle mentions a bit about his life. He mentions that he went to community college and now works as a sales representative for Dianne's father. Dianne shows Monk and Natalie some photos of their new house, and their new black mastiff, Tangerine. Kyle mentions that the dog was already named when he brought it home from the animal shelter. Hearing the name of the dog, Monk quickly asks and Dianne confirms that she had a poodle in her senior year named Tangerine.

Later, however, when Monk and Natalie are up in one of the dormitories, Monk mentions that Kyle Brooks is exhibiting some very suspicious behavior. For one thing, how can a person have two dogs with the same name over 25 years apart, both with the exact same name? The odds of this being a coincidence are extremely unlikely. Also, Monk remembers how earlier, Dianne said that Kyle couldn't wait to meet him, yet just now, he didn't even know that Monk was a homicide detective.

Natalie tries to convince Monk to forget about it by having him show her his old dorm room. He prepares to show her, but there is a tie on the doorknob. Monk explains that when there is a tie on the doorknob, someone is saying "Don't come in! I'm reorganizing my closet!" owing to the fact that his freshman roommate reorganized his closet several times a week. Just then, Monk recognizes an old friend in the student lounge: the fridge that he defrosted regularly. He opens the door of the fridge, and finds that a large wall of snow has built up. After figuring out what he needs, Monk starts to defrost the fridge. Monk is midway through the defrosting when Stottlemeyer comes in. He mentions that he was about to give up looking for them when he heard some guys downstairs talking about a guy defrosting a refrigerator.

Stottlemeyer briefs Monk and Natalie on the Katherine Rutherford homicide investigation, pointing out the lapel pin found by the body. When asked if he has noticed anyone who may have been missing a lapel pin, Monk admits that he hasn't been paying close attention to each person. They find Disher, who tells them that based on records at the security office, he has a suspect - a guy named Henry Kalimarakis. Monk remembers him as being on the swim team. Randy mentions that 25 years ago, Kalimarakis was trying out for the Olympic swim team, Katherine administered a drug test on him, and he tested positive for performance-enhancing steroids. He threatened her and claimed she ruined his life. While it seems like a good lead to Stottlemeyer, Natalie is doubtful, pointing out that she doesn't find it possible for someone to hold a grudge against another person for over 25 years.

Monk then shows Natalie the library, which is special for him because it is the place where he met Trudy. We see a flashback of that moment. He then explains that he also remembers her phone number due to his sensitive skin absorbing her boyfriend's attempts at writing it down. Monk also wonders why she went with him instead of the boyfriend, who is now a famous heart surgeon. Natalie reassures Monk that Trudy probably knew exactly what she was doing.

Later, Monk and Natalie are out by the notice board, which Monk complains is now cluttered up again. Just then, Dianne Brooks comes running up to them. She is visibly upset, having heard about Katherine Rutherford's death, and mentions that the police are questioning everyone on the campus. Suddenly, Kyle Brooks appears behind them, accompanied by a woman named Gertrude, but whom Kyle keeps calling "Trudy". He offers to take them to Rocco's. Monk goes reluctantly, after Kyle (in essence) persuades him to go. Monk tells Natalie that he has bad memories about Rocco's, especially considering the sad lonely hot dog on the rotary he saw the last time he went there.

However, that night, Kyle's insistence on having Monk, Natalie, and Dianne is explained to us. At his hotel room, Kyle calls someone on his cell phone, and reassures the person on the other end that Dianne will be dead within 48 hours, and all they need to do is play a little game of touch football the next day.

The next day, Natalie suggests to Monk that they go see a chess club meet, only for Monk to ask her if she's ever actually been to a chess club. Monk is picking weeds up underneath the bench.

Meanwhile, at the clinic, Stottlemeyer and Disher are looking at Katherine Rutherford's employment file, but there are no complaints or grievances at all in the file. The clerk at the clinic mentions that Katherine was a great nurse and her death is very heartbreaking. The clerk recognizes Stottlemeyer from somewhere, asking him if he went to school here. Stottlemeyer explains that he did come to Berkeley for a No Nukes protest in the 1970s. Disher tells Stottlemeyer that he's crossed out Henry Kalamarakis as a suspect, as he no longer had a motive for killing her. First off, he joined the Olympics as an alternative. Secondly, he died in 1995, and lastly, there was no record of him ever returning to the United States after moving to Europe in the 1980s. Stottlemeyer quickly interrupts Randy and asks him to repeat the second thing on his list, and then points out that he would have started by reading that first. Just then, a man comes up and drops off a wreath in memory of Katherine, and Stottlemeyer notices the card on it, indicating that it comes from Dianne Brooks.

Monk, Stottlemeyer, Natalie, and Disher then talk with Dianne (as she sent the wreath). Dianne explains why she felt so grateful to Katherine - her senior year, she nearly committed suicide. Monk remembers that her mother died and she was very depressed. She wrote a suicide note and took 53 sleeping pills. Katherine was worried, and was able to call an ambulance just in time to save Dianne. If it weren't for her, Dianne wouldn't be alive today.

Kyle then appears and asks them if they would play some touch football, as some other guys on campus challenged him (although in actuality, he challenged them). Disher also wants to play, until he is reminded that he is supposed to be working the homicide case. Monk, after some difficulty, eventually picks up the football, and despite his not playing football (he's not a fan of contact sports for obvious reasons), he shows surprising agility allowing for him to win a point for his team (which consists of himself, plus Natalie, Dianne and Kyle). Kyle then dedicates Dianne to be the quarterback for the second round, telling her to keep her eye on him. She then throws the ball towards him, only for it to break a window behind Kyle near the post. Kyle apologizes for having accidentally missed the ball due to sun glare. Dianne realizes that the jinx must continue - she remembers having broken a window in the science building her senior year. She'd tried to force the window open and it shattered.

That night, Monk and Natalie are at the reunion banquet. Monk mentions to Natalie that Kyle had actually deliberately missed the ball, and something is suspicious about him. Natalie suggests that perhaps Kyle is eccentric, but Monk points out to her that eccentrism is his specialty, and to him, Kyle is up to something - his insisting about them eating at Rocco's and referring to Gertrude as "Trudy" reinforce this. Unbeknownst to anyone, Kyle slips a drug into Diane's champagne glass. Stottlemeyer briefly interrupts the slide show to ask for anyone who has information about the homicide. However, some pictures of a No Nukes rally appear on screen, along with embarassing photos of Stottlemeyer in riot gear hassling protestors, causing him to be booed offstage (despite telling them that one picture alone won't be enough to describe what he's like, as well as the fact that he was subduing a guy in another photo because their protest permit expired at noon (12:06, more specifically)).

As the students boo Stottlemeyer off stage, Kyle takes Dianne back to their hotel room, telling Monk and Natalie that Dianne is just feeling ill.

Half an hour later, Monk, Natalie, Stottlemeyer and Disher are in the remains of the dining hall. Natalie realizes that she forgot to give back Dianne's earrings, which Dianne gave to her prior to their game of touch football. Stottlemeyer notices the earrings, and asks Natalie for one of them. He quickly notices that the earring comes from the same set as the necklace that Katherine Rutherford's killer used to make it look like she slipped on the beads when she died. Monk remembers that Kyle and Dianne have just left, and how Kyle has been saying all week that Dianne has been depressed. Disher asks them if Kyle and Dianne were in town on Friday night, when Katherine was killed. Natalie confirms that the couple had first arrived in San Francisco just the day before. With this, Monk suddenly realizes that Kyle is going to kill Dianne as early as this very night.

Here's What Happened
As Monk, Natalie, Stottlemeyer and Disher leave the dining hall, Monk explains what he theorizes happened:

Kyle and Dianne Brooks moved recently, and Kyle must have discovered some of Dianne's personal papers, including her suicide note from 25 years ago. He realized that with the note, he could kill his wife with impunity. After all, it was in her handwriting and no one would ever question that. The problem was, however, that the note was anachronistic: it referred to events that were no longer true, like the name of Dianne's dog, breaking the glass at the quad, and eating at Rocco's with Adrian and Trudy. Hence, Kyle spent the whole weekend recreating events from Dianne's senior year to match the suicide note, so that after it was discovered, no one would be suspicious. Katherine Rutherford had to be killed because after she'd thwarted Dianne's attempted suicide, she'd read the note. After Dianne died, the note would have been made public and she would have recognized it.

They arrive at the registration station, but they are too late - the registration sheets are all gone. Monk doesn't have any cell phone number with which they could trace Dianne, nor does he remember where she and Kyle are staying, other than at a hotel. Exasperated, Stottlemeyer points out to Monk that there are over 200 hotels in the city and it will take them at least five hours to check each one out.

Suddenly, Monk remembers that when Dianne filled out her registration form, she signed it on Monk's back. Monk starts to physically remember what Dianne wrote, with Natalie pointing out to a confused Randy that Monk met Trudy through the same way. After some difficulty (partly due to writing in cursive, and partly due to Monk's tendency to read everything and getting confused about the "bottom" of the page where the hotel name was written down), Monk manages to identify the hotel as the Blakemore Hotel, located just up the street.

At the Blakemore, Kyle has managed to subdue Dianne, and forces her over the balcony railing, leaving her holding on by just her fingers. As Kyle is about to finish the deed, Monk, Natalie, Stottlemeyer and Disher burst into the hotel room, quickly arrest Kyle, and pull Dianne back up to safety. Natalie finds Dianne's suicide note near her bed stand, and Dianne realizes and glares at her husband, or rather, her soon-to-be-ex-husband.

Later that night, on a deserted campus, Monk and Natalie walk by the bench where Monk first expressed his love for Trudy, and Monk remembers the event.

Production
While "Mr. Monk and the Class Reunion" was not filmed at Berkeley itself, but in one of the slides showing Stottlemeyer at the anti-nuclear demonstration, the Campanile (the carillon tower that dominates the campus) can be seen in the background. Berkeley was represented in the episode by a number of different Los Angeles area colleges.

The University of Southern California was used as a stand-in for Berkeley, and was utilized for scenes on the quad, as well as for scenes in the library. However, Occidental College was utilized for scenes with Monk, Natalie, Kyle and Dianne in the cafeteria, as the production crew needed a cafeteria that they could control for one day. The Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles was used to represent the scenes at the reunion dinner. The entire episode took only eight days to film, with seven days featuring on-location filming.

Goofs

 * At the beginning, when Kyle Brooks shoves Katherine Rutherford down the stairs to her death, Katherine lands on her stomach with her eyes wide open. Yet later, when Stottlemeyer and Disher are doing the investigation, her eyes are closed and she is lying on her back. In real life, the police would never move the body that much, even if they suspected an accident. Also, they would have used tape to mark the body's original location, but we never see any.
 * Kyle Brooks's plan would never have worked in real life. For one thing, paper has a distinct pattern of aging, and even the cops would have been able to know that Dianne's note was over 25 years old. Also, the hotel is assumed to be booked full, so there would have been a lot of people who'd hear Dianne screaming, which would tell them that she didn't die voluntarily. Lastly, Kyle would have left fingerprints on Dianne's dress, and if the police matched them to him, they'd suspect that he'd pushed her off the balcony.
 * How was Natalie able to get into the reunion despite the fact that she didn't have a lapel pin?
 * The flashback in the library shows Monk meeting Trudy while reorganizing the stacks in the library, showing that Monk met Trudy while in college. This contradicts the episode "Mr. Monk Goes to the Ballgame," where Monk said that Trudy met him while he was a detective.
 * On the "Class of '81" banner seen during the welcoming ceremony, the 'apostrophe' is actually a single open-quotation mark (you can tell because it's shaped like a 6 instead of a 9).