Did you notice that when Monk was telling Kroger all about Hal, Kroger wasn't suspicious of Hal at all. But Natalie and Stottlemeyer were suspicious of Hal right away.

You might think it's because Kroger never met Hal in person, but Stott was also suspicious before he saw Hal in person (at the restaurant with the dead guy).

I wonder if it's because Stott spent two years working in vice, and because Natalie had to deal with some sleazies in her long period before she met Monk.

Monk was so blinded to reality that he couldn't really solve the mystery even though he was able to when Hal pointed the gun at him. It's so sad, Monk wanted to contact Hal even after he was arrested.

It's also possible that Stottlemeyer had heard more about Hal from Adrian and because Natalie had met Hal, felt like he came off as too good to be true, and mentioned her suspicions to Stottlemeyer and Randy who, knowing that she has good instincts, decided to follow up on it by checking him out. She wouldn't have been as likely to mention her suspicions to Dr. Kroger though, because at that point, there wouldn't be as much that Dr. Kroger could do that would be as helpful, whereas Leland *could* use the info on the card that Hal gave Natrallie to do a background check on Hal.

I'm not sure that is the case. I think that Adrian was indeed attempting to "punk" Natalie like he claimed. If so, that was a big step for him.

I somehow like the idea of Monk and Natalie together at Disney on Ice.

The thing I thought was "sad" about this episode is that Adrian was convinced that he didn't have any friends until he met Hal (who was a jerk and a half-too good to be true). Yet, in reality, Adrian has several friends; Natalie, Randy, Leland and Dr. Kroger. I know they all work together (in a sense) but I can tell that they care for Adrian in some form or another (and he for them)

Andrea

Sad at first, but I think this marked a transition in a lot of ways. Monk is a lot closer to "the gang" after they got the wake-up call from Hal. They couldn't do this episode now. Monk has friends that love him. Isn't it great?

In that episode did anyone else think it was a great moment when Captain called Monk his friend?

Oh, I know! I loved it!

Andrea