This is probably superfluous now, since I think Deb has made most of these same points better than I have, but here goes.
I haven’t got any Hitchcock, Columbo or Sherlock Holmes comparisons to pull out of my hat for this one, but it did remind me of the old Ronald Colman film, A Double Life, which also features an actor whose method leads to madness. The psychology’s a little dated now, but it’s still fascinating. Colman won a best actor Academy Award for that role and, mark my words, when the Emmy nominations are announced next year Stanley Tucci will be on the list for his turn in this episode as David Ruskin.
Hy Conrad and Joe Toplyn are credited with writing this one. (Here’s Hy's Writer's Blog about "Actor.") Hy is their twice Edgar nominated mystery guy and Joe Toplyn was the co-writer of Mr. Monk and the Astronaut. Looking through Joe’s credits again, I see that he also wrote for one of the funniest programs ever to air on network television: Doctor, Doctor with Matt Frewer. Anybody remember it? Anybody? It was brilliant. Considering their backgrounds (Hy in mystery, Joe in comedy) it’s always a delight to see how well the Monk writers handle such intense drama.
Randy Zisk directed, which reminds me of one of the funniest bits in Monk: The Official Episode Guide. In the forward creator Andy Breckman enumerates the steps for producing a successful television show. Number four is, “Hire Randy Zisk and make him your partner. Get him to direct as many episodes as he can. Work him hard. Don’t let him sleep.”
I’m also 99% certain that when Stottlemeyer points out the producer named Hoberman (a reference to Monk producer David Hoberman) that’s actually Randy Zisk he’s pointing to. We weren't actually introduced, but I've seen him in person and also judging from his InFANity appearance and this little picture,
he's the guy (on the left).
What the Teddy Bear Saw
In the teaser we see yet another example of a pillow fight gone bad. You’d think people would learn: Yeah, it’s all fun and games until someone knocks over the teddy bear with the camera in it.
Even in this first scene you can see one of the themes of the episode, (playing a part and taking it too far, being someone you’re not) illustrated. Michelle is only pretending to be attracted to Jack Leverett in order to set him up. Leverett is played by Greg Grunberg, who I understand was on Alias, but I’ve never seen it or his work until now. He’s really pretty good, particularly in his final scene.
There is some truth in Michelle’s performance. That was a very ugly shirt. And what was that he was drinking in the teaser? A Spacewalk? The set-up is very similar to the opening scene in Mr. Monk and the Astronaut. Did you ever notice nothing will get you in to trouble in a Monk episode quicker than adultery? A large percentage of the victims and murderers fit the description. I have to say this was probably the unluckiest killer ever on Monk. What ever could go wrong did go wrong for him.
I really liked the shot at the end of the opening scene with the dead girl and the limp teddy bear lying in the same position. I think Randy Zisk said in the InFANity special that they try to make the director invisible, no tricky stuff to call your attention to the fact that you’re watching T.V., but a Randy Zisk episode always seems to have subtle clever little touches like that.
“Let me be the first to say, welcome to square two”
It’s always nice to see Monk happy, but you know it won’t last. It’s pretty obvious that the square two stuff is a little wishful thinking on Dr. Kroger’s part, especially since Monk is still insecure enough to invite Kroger along on his vacation and offer to pay for it. Still Monk might actually have done well in square two if he hadn’t met David Ruskin. (The mention of Harold in the dialogue isn’t just chit chat. Harold himself will be back in “Mr. Monk Gets a New Shrink.”)
I really enjoyed the “What square are you on?” bit with Natalie being so sweet and supportive. But now I have to wonder what square am I on? How many squares are there? (I’m sure Monk is hoping it’s ten.) Do I even know where these squares are?
I think Monk’s “surprise” moment may have been a little over the top. It’s Sottlemeyer, Disher and Natalie’s reactions that make it work. Once again, however, it does fit with the theme and illustrates what a bad actor Monk is. It’s just Monk’s misfortune that David Ruskin is the only other actor, besides Joey Heatherton, that he’s ever heard of. He probably wouldn’t have tried to impress anyone else or have been so susceptible to their influence, since he wouldn’t have known who they were.
I was anticipating the rapport between Shalhoub and Tucci, but I was pleasantly surprised by the chemistry between Tucci and Ted Levine. The first scene, before Ruskin starts swimming for the deep end, has a great rhythm between the two of them:
“Is she dead?”
“As a door nail”
“Bummer”
And they continue with the little Brad Pitt joke they play on Randy. “Excuse me I gotta call my mother… my girlfriend.” Great stuff.
Not so easy to watch, but still in keeping with the theme, is Monk showing off for the actor. But the glitter is just too much for him. (It just occurred to me that glitter may symbolize Hollywood.) It’s funny that trying to rub the glitter off on Natalie wouldn’t seem more to weird to Monk than just using the wipe. Speaking of glitter, I’m past 30 and maybe my eye sight is going, but all the glitter is mimed, right? I can’t see it.
“Just let your mind go blank”
At the beginning of this next scene, genuinely-startled-Monk, (when Randy pokes his head through the wall out of the pawn shop) is much funnier to me than pretending-to-be-surprised-Monk or showing-off-for-the-actor-Monk. At least in this scene Monk’s open to Natalie giving him a surreptitious backhanded wipe. Since Disher and Stottlemeyer are pretty much star struck as well, Natalie’s the one with the onerous duty of being down to earth. (As rich as her parents were they probably had Captain Kangaroo or Mister Rogers perform at her birthday parties. No wonder she’s blasé.) She can’t help but come off as a little grumpier in this episode, but that impression is offset a lot by that pretty new longer hair style she’s sporting, some nice outfits and a somewhat more delicate look she’s got this season.
I don’t know though, there’s something hinky about the scene between Natalie and Monk in the alley, besides the fact that the Transamerica Pyramid in the background looks to be a fake backdrop. She seemed fed up with the kissing up in the pawn shop, but there wasn’t really a hint that she thought there was anything strange about Ruskin’s behavior until they get into the alley. It seems to be an odd time to bring up Ruskin’s history. If she learned about it the night before why not tell Monk about it before they arrived. And though she turns out to be right that Ruskin’s dangerous, it seems like an unusual conclusion to draw at this point. The only logical inference to be drawn from the information she has is that Ruskin’s a danger to himself. It seems like Natalie’s got the chore of suddenly spouting exposition tinged with a little contrived conflict so it can be delivered without being quite so boring, but it’s not so logical or organic either. It feels incomplete, but I loved Monk’s response: “This is something that I might actually come close to almost enjoying.” I’m gonna make it my sig.
Once Monk discovers the murder weapon he becomes so absorbed in the “real world” problem he seems to lose interest in the film making process. (Perhaps he’s taken Natalie’s warning to heart.) This is in inverse proportion to the way Ruskin starts to lose himself in Monkland during the scene in the lab. Monk is able to ignore the uneven vials, but Ruskin can’t. (I won’t ask what’s in the vials, because I don’t want to know if the answer is urine samples.) It’s interesting that Natalie’s so used to the caretaking role now that she does it for the ersatz Monk too, herding him back into the fold when he falls behind. Maybe that particular scene would have worked even better without being preceded by Natalie’s warning about Ruskin being dangerous. It would have come across as a little creepier I think and in turn would have given Natalie a logical reason to distrust Ruskin and research his background.
“Something’s not…. Something’s wrong here.”
It was a joy for an old Buckaroo Banzai fan like me to see Peter Weller walk on to the set. (Not that he hasn't had a long and illustrious career since.) According to the Writer’s Blog it was a last minute deal because Weller just happened to be around preparing for the episode he was directing (Mr. Monk, Private Eye,” I think.) So it was serendipity. I just love it when that kind of stuff happens.
“What do you think of the mustache?” He does a fabulous job imitating Stottlemeyer. He’s got the voice and the mannerisms down pat even if he looks nothing like him. Stottlemeyer’s seems pleased with the performance up to a point. And then “Lt. Disher” makes her entrance.
“That never happened.”
“Not even once.”
This has to qualify as one of the funniest, if not the funniest, Monk moments ever.
I guess you might say that the producers of The Killer Astronaut are simply exercising artistic license, minus the art. It’s really just the producers of Monk poking fun at their own industry. I enjoyed it in “Mr. Monk and the T.V. Star” and it’s still funny to me here, especially the way they get all the small stuff and even some of the big stuff completely wrong. It’s even stranger that Ruskin wants to get Monk just right considering so many details of the production are wrong, starting with Randy being a girl for no other purpose but to sex things up. But this production has a much bigger problem than inaccuracy and an unhinged star:
“I was just looking for evidence.”
“In his mouth?”
If I were Ruskin I’d be demanding a rewrite instead of worrying about the crew’s caps. It’s a lucky thing not only for his sanity, but for his career that this turkey doesn’t actually get made. The Monk suit they give him is a clever representation of the difference between the Monk “reality” and The Killer Astronaut. One is subtle, (you can barely see the squares on Monk’s shirt) and the other is definitely not.
Probably most people noticed that after Ruskin carefully rearranges the knick knacks on the table in front of Stottlemeyer and Disher during the rehearsal, the next shot reveals that the items are magically in a different order. Simple continuity error? Maybe, but the knick knacks are center frame as they’re picked up by the other camera angle and as we linger there Ruskin says, “Something’s not…. Something’s wrong here.” It seems deliberate to me. I think they’re just trying to keep us on our toes.
“Take me to Monk school.”
Ruskin’s late night visit is reminiscent of Marci Maven’s in “T.V. Star.” We get the same distorted view of the visitor through the peep hole. I believe this is supposed to indicate that the person being viewed is crazier than Monk.
What can I say about this scene? It’s flawless. The tilted coffee table is there in the background as they begin to discuss Trudy. She’s always there. Monk’s not letting her go. He’s not ready to move on. “I never deserved her. The world never deserved her.” Ruskin is immature, selfish, merciless and downright creepy: “We have a brother?” His reading of that line was simply perfection.
Ruskin does, however, find what he’s looking for, the truth, the why:
“You can’t find Trudy’s killer, so you do the next best thing you track down and you capture other criminals.”
“It’s not enough.”
“No, it’s not enough.”
“It was confusing, but delicious, but confusing, but delicious.”
It’s a relief to know that things didn’t get any worse for Monk after their little heart to heart and Ruskin managed to connect with him on a culinary level: “He made us food, fried eggs. He used a ruler just the way I like it.” That is before he threw Monk out of his own house. “Boy, he’s a good actor.”
Natalie wasn’t terribly sympathetic, but she didn’t get the whole story and it’s really hard to be sympathetic at that hour of the morning. It was a lucky thing he did go to her house or he would never have found The Clue That Breaks The Case™: Julie’s torn up note.
Having Randy do the summation is a nice touch. I like the way they try to keep that segment fresh.
In the next scene at the parking garage Ruskin is now wearing the Monk wig indicating the transformation is complete, he’s totally lost it. Right here he reminded me not so much of Tony Shalhoub but more of Grant Rosenmeyer as little Monk.
There was another unexpected cameo in this episode, but it was quick so you may have missed it. Tom Ohmer appears as the Sergeant who fills in Stottlemeyer outside the car dealership. Tom was also in “Mr. Monk and the Other Detective” as the sergeant who picks up the dog poo and in “Mr. Monk and the Astronaut” as the sergeant who brings Stottlemeyer Joanne Raphelson’s phone records. He’s got at least twice as many lines in this episode. “Captain, stay down! Change of plans. We have a hostage situation. Man walked in the showroom five minutes ago, waving a gun, looking for the owner. He kept saying, ‘You killed my wife. You killed Trudy.’”
That was it, but I thought he did a great job. Yes, I’m biased because he was nice enough to give me an interview last year about the filming of “Other Detective” and “Astronaut.”
I really enjoyed Ted Levine’s performance at this juncture. When Stottlemeyer thinks it’s Monk in the showroom and orders everyone to stand down, you can hear the desperation in his voice and how much he wants to protect Monk. It also shows he trusts Monk enough to wait and see how it plays out. In fact he trusts him enough to send him in alone after Ruskin.
What are you guys from some cult?!
By the time Monk gets in there, Ruskin’s so far gone he doesn’t answer to his own name. Monk shows enough self awareness to know what his own emotional buttons are, or at least the ones that Ruskin has picked up on.
Monk’s weapon? That was interesting. Don’t you turn in your badge and your gun, especially when you get a psychological discharge? Of course, he could have owned another gun. We know he never carries it, but I wonder why he’s kept it. He may just be anticipating the day when he returns to the force, but could it be his intent, or maybe it just crossed his mind, to use it if he ever really finds Trudy’s killer? We know he has a lot of anger built up (“Manhattan,” “Captain’s Wife”) and that desire is there despite the fact that he believes Trudy wouldn’t want him to do it. It looks like Ruskin has also raided Monk’s closet because he isn’t wearing the Monk costume anymore. He’s wearing exactly the same clothes.
The VW sticker stuff is funny, but at the same time a very tense scene and again very nicely played. The tussle on the floor is so reminiscent of the fight on the beach in The Big Night, I’d call it an homage, as is the reference to making eggs. (What?! You haven’t seen The Big Night? What are you waiting for? Go get it now.) It may seem out of character for Monk to roll around on the floor, but we’ve seen his willingness to hit the ground (“Twelfth Man) or even jump on a garbage truck (“Captain’s Wife”) when it’s important enough.
So, when they begin fighting, why doesn’t Stottlemeyer storm the place? Maybe he was thinking he’d let Monk handle it or he was afraid they might shoot the wrong Monk (or maybe even the right one. Shooting a major Hollywood star who’s having a nervous breakdown probably doesn’t get you a lot of career points.) I suppose Leverett is lucky after all since he doesn’t get shot at this point.
Trudy wouldn’t want you to do this, would she?
I really love this scene, but I’m not sure how it fits in with all our Trudy facts.
“That day she wanted me to go with her.” Could this be true and how would Ruskin know it? We know she went on an errand for Ambrose, but if Ruskin’s first deduction (“Do you know why she backed into the parking space. Do you know why? I’ll tell you why, because she was there to meet you. But she didn’t trust you.”) is correct than why would she have asked Adrian to go with her? At first Adrian resists the suggestion: “No, no, no, no, no.”
“Yeah, she did. It’s my fault. It’s my fault.” Ruskin is tapping in to Adrian’s ever present survivor guilt. Of course, Dale the Whale said the bomb wasn’t meant for Monk, but he could have been lying and Adrian could have decided not to believe him. But even if he did believe Dale, the thought that he should have been with Trudy and prevented her death or even just died with her, would make him feel as guilty as thinking that the bomb was meant for him. “That’s right,” Monk says. I don’t know whether he remembers that Trudy did ask him (although it seems unlikely that he would have forgotten it or that Ruskin would have any way of knowing it) or if he’s simply demonstrating again how vulnerable he is to suggestion.
“I said I was tired,” Ruskin continues. Hold on there. He’s improvising now. From what Joe Christie ("Employee of the Month") said Adrian was at work when the call came in about Trudy. Even if Trudy had asked Adrian to go with her that day, he wouldn’t have turned her down because he was tired. It would have been because he was working. No, I think Ruskin is just getting into character and maybe he figures that only a tremendous amount of guilt could cause Monk’s problems. The overlapping dialogue is very effective. You would think it might actually be a little cathartic for Adrian. The guilt that he’s buried is obviously still there and hasn’t been dealt with.
According to the synopsis in the episode guide, “In his final moment as Adrian Monk, David Ruskin points out a new clue in Trudy's murder case.”
I’m thinking they meant the parking space clue, because Trudy asking Adrian to go with her, even if it’s true, doesn’t exactly qualify as a clue.
“He’s in England doing Hamlet.”
I like that they snuck the credits in over the tag. That’s awesome. It’s about time someone figured a way around the incredibly annoying credit squeezing trick of the networks. All the crew and the cast in the final credits deserve to have their names seen.
Although this may seem like a big setback, judging from how many days will be added on to therapy, it certainly gives Monk and Dr. Kroger a lot of material to work with and suggests that they were just glossing over the pain of Trudy’s death and haven’t adequately dealt with the guilt and anger he feels over it.
Didn’t Ruskin get off a little light? I would have thought there’d be a little hospital time involved.
This episode had so many levels you could probably write a book on it. (Between me, Deb and Liv we probably already have enough material.) Stanley Tucci was absolutely amazing. So was Tony Shalhoub. So was the rest of the cast, with a special nod to Jason Gray-Stanford who always gives 100% even if he’s just doing comic relief.
I couldn’t find a detective series comparison, but I think Shakespeare may fit the bill, Hamlet to be precise, in which there’s a play within the play. "The play's the thing wherein, I'll catch the conscience of the King,” declares Hamlet, hoping his Uncle’s guilt will be revealed by his reaction to the play. Even if it is misplaced and undeserved Adrian’s guilt is unburied in the same way.
Deb, I loved your haiku on this one. Okay if I use it when I put this review up on the website?
Liv, I loved the little South Park David Ruskin. Can I use him too?