The Adrian Monk fans remember during the series finale in 2009 is back to square one in Mr. Monk’s Last Case, with Tony Shalhoub and series creator Andy Breckman explaining the character’s darker story.
Fans believed Monk (Shalhoub) would finally get to live the life he deserved when solving Trudy’s case. It lifted a weight off his shoulders, not to mention he has a new purpose in life with his stepdaughter Molly. A COVID-19 special with the Monk cast opened the door for a revival movie – Mr. Monk’s Last Case.
Per Dexerto’s review, the movie brought back the beloved detective but dealt with personal turmoil that takes a dark turn. Monk finds himself battling his own mental health and emotions as he tries to solve the murder of Molly’s fiance.
In an exclusive interview with Dexerto, Shalhoub and Breckman broke down their reasoning for Monk’s heavier storyline and what they set out to achieve.
Adrian Monk sees Trudy again
Tony Shalhoub and Andy Breckman wanted to “raise the stakes” for the movie set on the global effects of COVID-19 and how it affected a character like Adrian Monk.
A telltale sign that something was wrong with Monk was when, after losing his book deal, he looks outside a hallway window and Trudy appears. She tells him to not think about that – an obscure sentence that holds a lot of weight. At the end of the series, fans saw him happier after seemingly having let go of Trudy. Her reappearance spelled out trouble.
Molly explains to Natalie and Randy that the pandemic changed him and pushed him back to square one. In return, Monk’s mindset is in a darker place, and plans to die by suicide to finally be with Trudy. Even Dr. Bell realizes the gravity of what he’s planning after realizing he’s seeing his deceased wife again. Throughout the movie, Monk sets his plan in motion.
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When asked how this storyline came about, Shalhoub told Dexerto it was due to Peacock’s public service announcement during COVID-19. It focused on how Monk would fare with the pandemic and opened the door for a new story.
“We wanted to raise the stakes in this one. We wanted to have Monk revert, regress back to even worse condition than when we first found him in the pilot. We did want to raise the stakes and go to a darker place than we had gone in the series. Even though Monk was in rough shape in the series, we had to take it one step further,” he explained.
Breckman added that everyone and the creative partners all agreed Monk’s journey needed to take on a heavier emotional toll to justify the story and make it more impactful.
“We wanted Monk to be in a real crisis,” said the creator, explaining Monk has always been a dark character.
Shalhoub added that when Breckman pitched the idea, he “invoked It’s a Wonderful Life.” The classic holiday movie about a man re-evaluating life after choosing to die by suicide. The actor admits the idea was jarring, but made sense to explore a deeper side of the character. Breackman and Shalhoub only hoped that the right comedic tones and return of the cast would convince die-hard fans along for the ride.
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