Here’s my review of Mr. Monk and the Rapper.

Rap’s not my bag, man…. I mean…um…. It’s not my scene, baby…. That is to say…. I’m not down with it, homely, um… homey. However, I was born in the ‘Wood so I suppose that spiritually I must have some capacity to grasp the intricacies of the sub culture. Maybe not. However, I can honestly say my knowledge of Rap has increased 100 fold because of “Mr. Monk and the Rapper,” even if that knowledge is undoubtedly largely inaccurate.

From what I’ve read in the past week or so, the hip-hop world, which includes Rap, is harder to follow than a soap opera. Lots of sex and drugs and drama. “Mr. Monk and the Rapper” is very loosely based on the decade old, infamous murder of Biggie Smalls aka Notorious B.I.G.. (Go and look it up I can’t begin to explain it.) It’s only the inspiration, according to writer Dan Dratch, it’s in no way an accurate recounting of events. Although, I understand there is an excellent book out on the subject.

Dan Dratch also wrote, among many other episodes, “Very, Very Old Man,” “Three Pies,” “Vegas,” and my favorite “Gets Drunk.” He says in his writer commentary that the central mystery idea for “Rapper,” the daylight saving time-watch-car bomb idea was Andy Breckman’s. The rapper stuff was Dan’s.

The director for this one was Paris Barclay. He’s new to Monk, but has a couple of Emmy wins under his belt for NYPD Blue episodes, including one of my favorites “Lost Israel.” When he first got into the business Barclay directed music videos, which explains the slightly hipper feel of this episode. (My favorite shot, just for the record is the one from above, right after Snoop finishes the summation when he drops his mic. Nice.)

This week special guest star is Snoop Dogg. Yes, you’re right. That’s not his real name. It’s Cordozar Calvin Broadus. He was Snoop Doggy Dogg, as I’m sure most everyone knows, when his Rap career began. He was a leading practitioner of the West Coast Gangsta style of Rap and he had the seemingly requisite problems with the law and substance abuse which accompanied that lifestyle. Since those days and his acquittal on a murder charge, Snoop has made himself into a kinder, gentler, less threatening Rapper, perhaps heralded by the dropping of the middle name, Doggy. Not being too familiar with any of his other work, I was pleasantly surprised by his accomplished and charming performance, both as an actor and singer.

I found a lot to like about the episode not the least of which was Snoop Dog’s acting and comic timing, but there were aspects of this one that fell flat for me. I think the primary flaw is the same one that “Mr. Monk Takes Manhattan” had. In “Manhattan” Monk was freaked out by the big city. A whole lot of people are. That was the problem. If Monk’s feelings aren’t out of the norm, there’s nothing particularly funny to hang your hat on. Same goes with his fear of the Rap world: that fear isn’t uncommon or unreasonable. It’s not uniquely Monk. It takes a little of the Monk flavor out of the episode. It also means the writer’s have to dig a little deeper, or maybe that’s a little wider to unbury the humor, for example in these two episodes Monk’s responses in Manhattan with the street preacher (another instance where I think Adrian may have been so freaked he blacked out) and in Rapper crying in Snoop’s crib/mansion. They were interesting instances of how unwell he handles stress, but they were both a little too over the top in almost exactly the same way. (I do have to admit the diamond conversation was a whole lot funnier than the street preacher stuff.) I also got the feeling that big chunks of those scene were missing. Of course, it’s necessary for the comic surprise of seeing Monk preaching in Times Square or flashing a mouthful of bling, but it still seemed like too much missing.

The Secretary’s Day thing didn’t work for me that well either. I understand now that Monk and Natalie feel safe with each other they want to explore a more combative dynamic between the two of them, at least that’s what Tony says the intent is. However, I wish they’d found something a little more substantial for Natalie to take a stand on, something that might possibly coincide with Daylight Saving Time. (Hey, I pay a lot of attention to detail and I never knew it was Saving and not Savings, but then I grew up in Arizona where we had neither.) Secretary’s Day, officially known as Administrative Professional’s Week since 2001, is at the end of April. Daylight Saving Time begins on the second Sunday in March… except, you know, in Monkland.

I know, too picky. I do like the episode better each time I see it, but these things sort of brought me down a little on the first view and left me feeling vaguely unsatisfied.

I liked the opening teaser. The reporter gimmick is a good one for getting information across in the scene and introducing us to Murderuss and his motive (yo) before he arrives at Monk’s apartment. Of course, a car bomb is a horrible death, especially for Monk who lost Trudy that way, but my first reaction was not sympathy for the reporter who saw a man she was just talking to blown up. My first reaction was, wow, she just got a story worth waiting all night for. I also thought how cool it was for the special effects guys that they got to blow something up on the show. They very rarely do that sort of thing on Monk.

I liked the rap theme. No, I don’t want to keep it, but it was very cool that they did it for the one episode. Wouldn’t it be awesome if it won an Emmy for best theme song next year?

“For the Record, I Hate Daylight Savings Time”

Me too, Natalie. Me, too. (And I’m pretty sure that’s what Denny Hodges is going to have them put on his headstone.) Usually I reset my clocks the night before, not the day of. Is that common practice? Or were Monk and Natalie merely readjusting them?

Of course, Natalie’s not a Secretary: her job’s a lot more fun and a tad more dangerous. Still he bought her flowers. Did Sherlock Holmes ever buy Dr. Watson flowers? Did Nero Wolfe ever buy Archie Goodwin flowers? Did Dr. Frankenstein ever buy Igor flowers? Nooooo. It’s a big step forward in the history of assistant-ing (or is that assistant-dom? Assisting?) It wasn’t his intention to disrespect her and he probably wasn’t aware of the negative connation the word secretary carries these days. Natalie usually shrugs off Monk’s insensitivity. Maybe this one was just the straw that broke the camel’s back. Still, most of the time it’s pretty obvious how much he respects and needs her: I just felt she could have cut him a little slack

Only in Monkland are the Rappers so cuddly. Snoop’s good but I also liked David Banner, another real life Rapper (although his work seems a little more old school to me), as Snake the Assassin. He carried the comic relief nicely in the first scene: “I hate that mother f… fellow. I hate that fellow.” When Murderuss gives Snake a withering glance after his rendition of Car Bomb, (“Tick, tick tick.Ca’ Bomb!”) they very much reminded me of the Stottlemeyer/Disher dynamic. Want can one say about Killa’? Except he doesn’t have much to say. The actor who plays him, Troy Winbush is an actor who never was a Rapper. Kind of ironic that he’s the one who doesn’t get any lines.

I think the “black-out” device was used pretty well here, but what Monk seemed to be experiencing isn’t strictly speaking blacking out, is it? It’s more of a “disassociative episode” like we see in “Earthquake” and “Panic Room.” I think they may be using the terms interchangeably.

They had a strange moment in this scene, right after Monk says, “Natalie thinks secretary is a dirty word.” There’s a pretty obvious cut. Natalie is suddenly in between Monk and Killa’ instead of on the other side of the room and then she rubs her wrist and looks at him. Looks like some sort of Natalie/Killa’ interaction was removed.

The paper that Snake gives Adrian is dated May 4th 2007. May 4th?! Neither the Daylight SAVING time shift nor Secretary’s Day is in May. Curiouser and Curiouser.

Under the category of interesting, but I’m not sure why, Natalie doesn’t shake Murderuss’ hand.

“I am so screwed!”

It’s no surprise that after a black out and at the scene of a car bombing Monk’s investigative skills aren’t up to snuff. In fact he’s so worried about what he’s unwittingly gotten himself into he really doesn’t make an effort. I think this scene at the aftermath of the car bombing is the one shot on the Universal back lot that our tour guide Brian told us about at the beginning of June. Remember, Spinner? He said there was a fire engine there. They certainly would have needed one with all the pyrotechnics.

I like how Monk and Stottlemeyer connect in this scene. Stottlemeyer knows about the black outs and explains them to Natalie. He also knows that Monk might be having a tough time with an investigation involving a car bomb. “You want to sit this one out?” he asks.

The interrogation scene with Stottlemeyer, Disher and Murderuss, is my favorite one in the episode. Snoop and Ted Levine seem to have a nice rapport (“Guess what. I ain’t a boy scout either.” But Jason Gray-Stanford really steals the scene with the rap and the attitude. “Put the bomb in the Limo that’s what the surprise is, up under the seat like Oprah given prizes. Sound familiar?” “Not the way you do it.” I could watch this scene over and over, it’s so good. I wasn’t so impressed with the Natalie/Monk scene that followed with him not trusting her hunches. Just seems too much like rehash (think the ice cream discussion in Big Reward) and the conflict doesn’t seem organic to me. I’m just not feelin’ it.


Now we’re poppin’

I thought the Fresh Rhymes studio stuff worked pretty well, although I admit I completely misinterpreted the relationship between the record producers. What with that bitchy little exchange about breakfast, I thought they were a gay couple. I didn’t think one of them wanted to kill the other. I suppose that they could both be true.

After careful consideration and days of meditation, I’ve decided that I’m definitely going to have to go with “Poppin’.” I think the reasons are obvious. “Poppin’” is less jarring, more evocative and intensely poignant…. No, not really. It rhymes, okay? Choppin’, hoppin’, poppin’: it’s a no brainer.

Let me think. When was the last time Natalie got to say, “He’s the guy”? (Pretend you hear the Jeopardy theme.) What is “Mr. Monk and the Fashion Show”? That’s right. Sorry, I don’t have any prizes. Of course she was right in “Fashion Show” and she’s right in “Rapper.” She’s batting 1000. Denny Hodges is what we call “very guilty.” I don’t know anything about the actor, RonReaco Lee, but isn’t that a great name?

Either there was no guard on the limo driver’s room or the guard was somehow disabled and the audience wasn’t in on it. If they suspected Murderuss and he was at large it makes sense that the only witness would be protected. Stottlemeyer had already told Murderuss that they were counting on the guy to identify him. Unless they cut out a shot with a neutralized guard, I’m going to have to count this as a rough spot.

Distracted by Natalie’s absence and his doubts about his client, Monk doesn’t even go into the hospital to investigate. Instead he goes to Murderuss’ place to resign. I do enjoy it when Monk and Stottlemeyer partner up as they do here for this visit. I liked Monk’s statement that Killa’ was “a little shy.” I love Stottlemeyer’s protective streak towards Monk and his warning to “chatty Cathy” to keep him safe.

I’m not so sure about the gang sign stuff and the trip through the mansion. The implied sex and drug use don’t offend me and they’re certainly appropriate for the setting, but I don’t know if it’s particularly funny. Likewise for the violent video game. However, Monk saying he would “miss you most of all” to Snake was priceless and offered up a Wizard of Oz analogy which fit the situation well. As I mentioned, I liked the Diamond stuff. I thought that was very funny. For me any scene Snoop in it is poppin’. Or is that bangin’? Once again, though, I thought the cut to the corridor scene with Stottlemeyer was too abrupt and the scene needing a little more fleshing out. Yes, I know, they’ve only got an hour.

Monk’s epiphany about the murder was welcome, but not all that spectacular. We knew he was the guy. Natalie already told us. The final exchange between Murderuss and Randy was cute. “You a star yet?” I did like the Rap summation. The writers are always looking for a fresh way to do it and it doesn’t get much fresher than this. In fact I can easily imagine that the entire episode may have been built around the notion. It doesn’t bother me at all that Monk doesn’t get to do it. He doesn’t really earn it in this episode. He should have had more faith in Natalie and his client. The wrap up when Stottlemeyer arrests the killer (as opposed to Killa’), without Randy who’s busy plugging his website, also seems a little too easy. Finding evidence off screen, not so satisfying.

On the whole, particularly after repeated viewing, I’ve got to say I really liked “Rapper.” I think it’s flawed, but the good stuff far out weighs the bad.

Truth to power!

Wow, Teresa. Another awesome review! And I agree with you, Rapper gets better with repeated viewing. I didn't particularly like the eppie at first, but after seeing it several times, I think it's fine, even if it is a little different, and I welcome it into the MONK canon. Those quick to pan should take heed.

Teresa, I certainly do remember.

I agree with monkplatz, another awesome review!!

Love the review, as always. It's a bright spot in an otherwise dreary world.

I always enjoy your reviews Teresa! And I too agree that Rapper is better the more you watch it.

I hadn't thought about Monk maybe blacking out in Manhattan with the street preacher, but you could be right, it makes perfect sense. At least as much as anything else does in Monk's world .

The Secretary's Day/DSL thing threw me a little bit, too, and I intended to look it up to double check, but I've beem reading Harry Potter all week, plus reporting for jury duty and school registration, so checking the dates slipped my mind.

When I first watched the episode, the teaser seemed to me like a possible red herring, until I read this it hadn't occured to me to feel bad for the reporter because the guy she'd just been talking to got blown up. I even considered the possibility that she had something to do with it because as you mentioned, that's a really big story, the kind of thing to really jumpstart a reporter's career, and a boon for the news agency she works for. One of the local news shows used to have a commercial that boasted about being the first on the scene when Luke Woodham opened fire at Pearl High School. To me it seemed very tacky, but apparently not to them. So I guess now that the real killer has been caught, she is free to take advantage of this career building opportunity.

Usually when there is an explosion on the show, it looks very CGI, but I can't tell with this one. You may be right, they just might have actually gotten to blow something up. Good for them! Sounds like job satisfaction to me. When I worked away from home, there were so many days when being able to blow something up would have made a bad day infinitely better. All employees should have that option on occasion, don't you think?

I hate DST too. I wanted to move to Arizona or Indiana for years, just because they don't do it. And I lost respect for Indiana when they finally caved and started doing it recently. It seems so pointless and stupid to me, and it messes people up (even people who aren't trying to plan a perfect murder/frame job) way more than it seems to help anyone in my opinion.

Until this year my husband reset the alarm clock the night before to be sure that he didn't wake up late, and the alarm clock was the only one in the house that we had to reset, all the others were on the computers and the VCR, and the VCR we had changed with the cable company. Now we have an alarm clock that sets itself somehow, so we haven't really got much excuse for being late. Unless the cable company manages to screw up and make me show up somewhere two hours early or an hour late. Again.

LOL! You're right! When I saw it, though, I thought about Sin LaSalle and Dabu in Be Cool.

That first week of May seems to be something like a blackhole or something in Monk's world, doesn't it? A lot of stuff seems to happen then, a lot of bad stuff. A lot of it with questionable timing.

What I found a bit curious was that Adrian was blacked out when Murderuss visited, but he could remember the white gold pocket watch. But you do have a good point about his detective skills being screwy all things considered. I mean, he was visited by someone named Murderuss who scared him half to death, the car bombing, Daylight Savings Timne, Natalie's mad at him, and all of it in the first week of May no less. I think he's doing well that he's not hiding out under his bed for the rest of the week.


I totally thought so, too! The way Hodges said, "Are we gonna do this here?" sounded so much like when my dad is starting to wind up a bitchfest and my mom cuts him off with that, or something vaguely like it. Me, I just tell my husband to shut up and go take a Midol. My husband doesn't do that stuff too often, though, thank god.