User:Kevinbrogers/Sandbox/Monk articles/Mr. Monk Buys a House

"Mr. Monk Buys a House" is the first episode of the seventh season of Monk, and the 94th episode overall. It introduces Hector Elizondo as Dr. Neven Bell.

Plot
Home nurse Cassie Drake (Katherine Kendall) is on the phone talking to the niece of her patient, an elderly man named Joseph Moody (Jack Carter). The niece is coming over in 40 minutes to see her uncle. After Cassie hangs up, she asks Joseph to remember what happened in 1968 at the Hampton Street Depository. Joseph, who has senility, rambles on and on and she tells him he had his chance, and wheels him up the stairs. She then shoves the luckless old man down the steps to his death.

Sometime later, a woman is listening to her daughter practice the piano when two police officers show up at her door, informing her they've received yet another noise complaint, and that they figure it's the same guy as the one who made the pervious complaints. They leave and Adrian Monk and Natalie Teeger watch from next door. The girl starts practicing again and Monk is clearly at the end of his rope. Natalie can't even hear the piano but Monk admits that he tried to call Dr. Kroger, who recently passed away from a heart attack. Natalie promises they'll find another therapist but Monk admits he was really messed up before he met Dr. Kroger. Monk isn't satisfied with any of the other therapists he's met and starts screaming at the girl again.

At the police station, Monk is trying to find a mystery to solve to take his mind off the girl, while Captain Stottlemeyer has Lieutenant Disher help him study for the maritime exam. It turns out both of them know Morse code. Monk discovers the case about Joseph Moody, which was closed when the police declared it an accident. Monk insists on checking it out and they go to the house. Monk notices the house is for sale and starts focusing on the fixtures while Joseph's niece explains that she was coming to visit. Stottlemeyer notes that Drake said Joseph was taking a new medication and Miss Moody admits her uncle could walk short distances. Drake said that Joseph walked up the stairs then fell. Miss Moody breaks down crying, and Monk tries to get more information about the house from her. Stottlemeyer draws him off to the side to tell him he shouldn't be making big decisions right now, and should go home and get some sleep. Monk goes ahead and buys the house.

Monk and Natalie go to the office of Dr. Neven Bell (Hector Elizondo), a brilliant therapist and teacher, one of the best in the city. Dr. Bell comes out and shakes hands, and even has wipes and the right brand of bottled water on hand. Dr. Bell also has Dr. Kroger's painting, and admits he misses Dr. Kroger, a close colleague and friend, as well. He gets to work and tries to find out why Monk isn't sleeping, and notes the piano playing has only been bothering Monk since Dr. Kroger died. The girl is playing Chopin and Dr. Kroger liked Chopin, and Dr. Bell figures that it's reminding Monk of Dr. Kroger. He suggests Monk is buying the house to deal with Dr. Kroger's death. Monk doesn't feel comfortable and gets up to leave, but then realizes he can't leave early or Natalie will kill him. They just sit quietly.

Later, Monk goes to a hardware store for fixtures and explains to the hardware store clerk about his problems. The clerk leaves and another worker, "Honest" Jake Phillips (Brad Garrett), offers to help and gives Monk his card. Later, the workers are moving Monk's items in and Monk tries to help. He shows Natalie around the house and she wonders how he's coping with the fact he's no longer living where he and Trudy lived. She warns that Monk is responsible for any problems with the house but accepts his decision. She proposes a toast... and that's when Monk notices the light fixture isn't centered. She quickly leaves as Monk starts obsessing about the furniture.

Monk calls Jake over to move the fixture and he notices that the light isn't up to code: it's a fire hazard. He finds more problems and calls over a plumber, "Honest" Ramone (Ivo Nandi). They start taking apart the house to get at the corroded pipes. Monk and Natalie are cowering on the stairs, and Monk notices scuff marks on the wood. Following the marks upward, he sees a rip in the wallpaper. He checks on Moody's wheelchair and notices it matches the marks on the stairs. He concludes that Drake lied about Joseph walking up the stairs, and she lied about it.

That night, Cassie Drake comes home and finds Honest Jake, who happens to be her lover, waiting there. He tells her that they've hit a bump in the road: Monk has bought Joseph Moody's house, and he is already on to her. Unfortunately, even though Cassie says that she had no choice when she killed Moody, Jake says that unfortunately, he has to do some damage control. He stabs his luckless lover dead with an awl.

The next morning, Monk, Natalie, Stottlemeyer and Disher come by the house to check out Monk's suspicions. When they open the door and find her dead, Stottlemeyer quickly calls in backup. Monk notices that although someone tried to make it look like an interrupted burglary, nothing was taken or searched. Disher finds $4,000 in 1960s currency and Stottlemeyer runs a trace.

Monk goes home and starts cleaning up. Jake gives Monk some excellent news: Ramone is getting married. He then warns that he's found some mold and Monk has no choice but to let him go to work removing it. He and Natalie find a box in the attic with a collection of boring news articles.

Having run the trace, Stottlemeyer and Disher are led to the Hampton Street Depository, and they talk to the depository worker, who reveals that the money was part of a stolen shipment back in 1968. Two of the robbers died in prison but they never gave up the name of the third robber.

Monk and Natalie go through Moody's clippings, and Monk notices that all of the articles have stories about the depository robbery on the other side. Monk notices Jake's tool belt and sees an awl: the murder weapon. Jake pulls a gun on him and Natalie. He chains them to the bathtub.

Here's What Happened
While they are chained to the bathtub, Monk explains that Moody was the third robber at the depository, and he stashed the money inside his house. Years went by, and he eventually suffered from dementia, and started blabbing to Cassie Drake about the money. She killed him before he could talk to anyone else, and now Jake is looking for the hidden money. Natalie manages to get a hammer and they try to crawl away, pulling the bathtub with them. Monk pounds a nail straight (it is driving him crazy). He notices something in the wall and Jake and Ranome both notice and break in the wall. It turns out that the reason the light wasn't centered is because of the presence of a false wall. They tear down the wall and find the money, and Ramone asks Jake what he plans to do with the money. Jake says that he's going to spend the money, and with his gun, he shoots and kills his luckless assistant. He keeps tearing down the wall to find the rest of the money, while Monk and Natalie push the wall section down on him. They try to get to the door, still pulling the tub, and Natalie decides to call for help. She gets to the fireplace and by lighting some rags, she sends up smoke signals in Morse code.

At the depository, Stottlemeyer discovers that Moody was the inside man at the depository. They notice the smoke and realize Natalie is sending an SOS message in the form of smoke. Jake, meanwhile, recovers, and prepares to shoot them, but Stottlemeyer and Disher show up just in time to take him into custody.

Monk decides to go see Dr. Bell and talk about his father, and things go well. Monk makes another appointment (two hours later that same day).

Back in his apartment, Monk is reading when he hears the neighbor girl play her Chopin piece. Having come to terms with Dr. Kroger's death, he smiles and opens the window so he can hear it clearer. It’s clear that Monk and the people around him will always have warm, loving memories of Dr. Charles Kroger....

Additional information

 * Because Stanley Kamel, who played Dr. Kroger, died of a heart attack in April 2008, it was necessary for his character to also die, from the same cause. For a replacement, the crew brought in Hector Elizondo to portray Dr. Bell, a replacement for Dr. Kroger in the seventh and eighth seasons. So the fact that Monk is troubled by this is totally understandable. As a last tribute, the episode ends with the camera on a photo of Dr. Kroger, and before the main credits, the message "In loving memory of Stanley Kamel."
 * During the scene before Cassie Drake wheels Joseph Moody up the stairs, he says, "You know, I had a new neighbor once, and his last name was Nabors." This is an in-joke reference to Doug Nabors, a new co-producer who joined the show as of this episode.
 * In one of the scenes where Jake and Ramone are breaking down the wall, the camera moves from the room to the hallway. You can clearly see that it's a stage and you can also see the shadow of the moving camera on the wall.
 * When Honest Jake and Honest Ramone are cutting up the walls, and Monk and Natalie are sitting on the stairs, Natalie's legs are crossed/uncrossed repeatedly between shots.
 * When being quizzed by Randy for the maritime exam, Stottlemeyer states that safe water markers are traditionally green and red horizontal stripes. Safe water markers are actually red and white vertical stripes.