Hi there.
I would like all the Monk fans to play a game of detail with me. It will help us clue folk hone our attention to detail skills. Watch each episode of the new season and find continuity issues, little differences in character behavior or whatever else you can pick up, and post them. The continuity issue is not to bash the show, but as I said, to simply hone that attention to detail.
I'll give you an example.
On the season opener. I noticed Monk was wearing different shoes than he normally does. They were more like boots. Look close, you'll see. The last scene, he looked just a little more buff than normal. Was it because they filmed the boxing episode first but aired "House" first? HMMM.
Also, bathtub, it's fixtures were against the wall, but when chained to it, there was a hole where bathtub fixtures should have been and NOT against the wall.
Did you notice, he didn't seem to be upset by the fact he was sitting next to a commode, or that he had to crawl through all the plaster? He also didn't mind Natalie's hand on his leg.
The house's floor plan looked curiously like his apartment floor plan minus the steps. From a tech point of view, it was the same set with stairs added.
So stuff like that.
This will require diligence and I know this will be torturous, but it will require the need to re-watch the episode over and over again! AHHH the Humanity!!!!
So who's with me!? Have fun!!

Sounds like my idea of fun, but I probably won't pay as much attention to what anyone is wearing or how buff he looks . Or to things like sitting next to a commode or crawling through plaster when his house is being torn up around him and he's chained to a bathtub by a very tall murderer. I'm more of a date/continuity watcher and stuff like the bathtub being in there backwards and not hooked up to a wall or any kind of plumbing person myself. You should check out the thread called 'Dr. Bell's Painting'. One sharp poster noticed that the painting was framed and hung upside down. Now *that* was impressive!

I was curious about what the heck Natalie soaked those rags with that made the smoke coming out of the chimney so black, but that didn't come back into the house and make them choke during the times when she had the floo closed. I noticed that the house had a very similar floor plan to Monk's apartment, too, with just the stairs added, but I assumed that it was part of the charm for Monk, one more thing that he liked about it.

Have you noticed that there is a window in every outter wall of Monk's Apartment except for the wall that faces the hallway outside his front door, which is something that really couldn't be if it was a real apartment? In order for that to happen, he would have to have at least a couple of windows looking into a neighbor's apartment. Also, that 'false wall' in this last episode had cables running through it, like electrical lines. Why would a false wall have that?

Liv,
Alas you have put me to shame. That is why I need to work on my attention to detail. However fun it can be made, it was fun to see what you found and I didn't. That's what the game is for. So you find your specialty curios and I'll try to be MORE attentive.

You'll find we dissect these episodes as a rule--finally we have one place to put all our observations in. As to the tub, Natalie was able to pull it so it's conceivable that the faucet was removed in order to feed the chain through there and that Jake turned the tub around so that he didn't have to lean over it the whole time while doing that. I know it's really hard on your back to lean over a tub for instance to scrub the shower walls and I invariably end up standing inside the tub. Maybe this guy just flipped it around while removing the faucet and wrapping the chain through there. I do know that with a lot of the old claw foot tubs, they're so heavy, you could push and pull on them forever and not be able to make them budge an inch. We always had a claw foot tube, it seems in every single house and apartment we ever lived in. It's been quite a while since I've seen one.

I do this all the time -- but I didn't know it was a game. I thought I was just being...

Nevermind.

One thing we're not sure about -- we didn't see the wheelchair touch the wall on the way up or down, so the torn wallpaper is a potential problem. But someone else said you don't really see the whole thing, so it's still up for debate.

Ok, talking about the set, I am referring to the scene with Monk and Natalie sitting at the stairs. The first shot shows the two handymen breaking the wall, then the camera moves until it finds Monk and Natalie sitting at the stairs. Well, when the camera passes in front of the separating wall, we can see the shadow of it on the wall.

Mi

Just to bring it into perspective, the original porcelaine over cast iron claw foot tubs are still being made. Here's one with an empty weight of 335 lbs. Filled, it's over 700 lbs. The tub used in this episode must have been one of the replicas being made out of acrylic over fibreglass, and I don't think they ever implied that it was an original. Having lived in so many places with the original, antique claw foots, I just had to laugh at Natalie dragging that thing across the floor.

Here's a continuity thing I noticed the other night when watching 'Mr. Monk and the Leper'. Randy goes to the Doc's office and pulls his picture right off the wall, using so much force that the brickwork is exposed. In the very next shot, the picture is still missing, but the wall has been plastered over.

I don't normally notice these things until the 2nd or 3rd watching of an ep. but this made me laugh more than the actual joke!

I noticed a continuity goof while rewatching Mr. Monk and the 3 pies. It's the scene when Adrian and Ambrose are telling the Captain about some details about Pat Van Ranken. (after Ambrose gives the Captain a cup of coffee.) From the back Ambrose is on one side of the filing cabinet and Adrian is on the other side, but from the front they're standing right next to each other. Can't believe I didn't notice this before! Check it out!

I like this game! I want to play! I'll need to hone my skills for a few more episodes before I post anything probably.
I'm really impressed at how Monkish everyone's attention to detail is!

In Mr. Monk and the Genius, Natalie offers the wife a glass of wine --in Monk's apartment. Why is there wine in Monk's apartment if he doesn't drink?

Does it belong to Natalie? I can't imagine Natalie curls up with a glass of wine on Monk's sofa after a hard day ... or maybe I can.

Oh, I feel a fan fic coming on...

The Genius: In the scene where Monk and Natalie are on a make out, er, I mean stake out in front of the guy's house, Natalie drives off and neither of them fasten their seat belt.

Last night in The Genius, Monk said when Trudy was dying he didn't get there soon enugh, she couldn't talk but she did reach out and take his hand in her two hands -- in a previous episode he said Trudy's last words to him were "bread and butter," indicating to him they had to part for now but would be together again in the next life.

This lapse in continuity really bothered me because Monk is all about his lasting love for Trudy and solving her murder.

I'm pretty sure "Bread and Butter" was said to the paramedics and repeated to Monk later.

This is the first time, and correct me if I'm wrong, that we've had confirmation that he actually got to the scene before she died.

No, he's referenced that before, I'm sure of it.

When?

It was an episode with Natalie, she and Monk are holding hands and walking, when they reach a pole they drop hands and Monk says, 'bread n butter.' At the end of the episode he explains the whole thing about Trudy saying 'bread n butter' whenever they had to part hands - he arrived at her side, the paramedics had already put her in the ambulance and the last words she uttered to him was the special message, 'bread n butter.'

Darn it, sometimers disease, I can't remember the name of the episode.

Liv would probably remember, she keeps track of the Trudy timeline, or did.

Wasn't that an episode with Sharona Mr. Monk meets Dale the Whale?
I can be wrong you know...

Mr. Monk and the Genius
when the guy offers natalie lemonade at the stakeout she holds the lemonade in her left hand but when the camera moves she holds it in her right hand

Yes, you are right, I just called Raven and she said the same thing. It was Sharona who was walking with Monk and it is from the Meets Dale the Whale episode.

My bad memory, I thought I remembered him telling Natalie.

Obviously, I need to work on attention to detail so I can catch these! Even when you put them here I have to really look to see them! The only one I ever did notice was in "Medicine" at the end when Sharona and Monk take off in his speedy red car, Sharona is driving and Monk has the cell phone to his ear and then suddenly Sharona is talking to the Captain on the cell phone and gives it to Monk.

Bring it on, Bflo!
Also,
Remember he was going to have a glass of wine with the woman he liked in "Mr. Monk and The Other woman". He didn't indicate that he didn't drink. We all know he can't soooo.

Didn't Natalie bring a bottle of wine to christen Monk's new house, but then left when Monk started noticing "problems"? Maybe Natalie just dropped the wine off at his house for him to have

The only thing I can think of to say on this subject is that I don't drink but I keep liquor in the house to offer to company when they come over. Just because I don't like the taste of alcohol doesn't mean I won't allow it in the house or have it on hand as a courtesy to my company - maybe it is the same for Adrian.

I just rewatched the end of this -- and he doesn't actually say he was there when she uttered her last words -- just that they were a message to him. This episode doesn't mention the paramedic at all either. I think that information might come from 'Mrs. Monk'.

Yes, and it was Sharona, and it was Dale the Whale eppy. (But they were not holding hands -- they were arm in arm.)

But Monk has said several times that he didn't drink. The first example I can think of (because I just saw it) was Goes to Vegas -- he tells Daniel Thorne he doesn't drink. Natalie brought sparkling Cider to his new house.

We were posting at the same time. Yes, it was Sharona arm in arm with Adrian in DtW where bread n butter is mentioned. I'll have to rewatch Mrs. Monk to see if it is in there.

The above is my interpretation of why there is wine in Adrians house.

Yes, I missed your post last night -- a nasty storm came in and knocked out my internet.

Yeah, I guess I can understand the 'we keep wine in the house for guests' theory -- I just can't quite imagine Monk doing that -- unless Natalie stocked it for him. I was wondering also about the egg nog in the final scene of the "Shot Santa" episode too. Natalie seemed pleased to see it -- so it didn't look like she made it. I can't imagine Monk drinking it -- a little too milky. How did it get there? And why so much of it? Did Monk make it just for Natalie?? As a tea-totaller myself, I don't keep alcohol of any kind in the house (except isopropyl -- and maybe a little Nyquil), and it strikes me as inconsistent to see it in Monk's house. (He's not the most gracious host in the first place) But anyway....

I have to watch Mrs. Monk again -- but I do know that, in DTW anyway, Monk never mentioned definitively that he was there for Trudy's last words. From what he says, some might imply that -- but apparently incorrectly, as in Genius he says she couldn't talk when he got there. I don't think this is a continuity problem as much as it was getting more information to put together. She must have said "Bread and Butter" as a message to Adrian, to someone who arrived earlier, perhaps the paramedic.

I wasn't sure, until this episode, that Monk actually arrived before she died. I know that somewhere, I think he said she lived 20 minutes -- or something like that. But I don't recall him saying before that he actually saw her alive.

I mean, there are a lot of variables there -- could they get her out of the vehicle? How long did it take to identify her and get in touch with Monk? Did he go right to the scene? to the hospital?

I also don't recall if they've told us where she died -- have they told us if she died at the scene, in an ambulance, or at the hospital??

That was sparkling cider.

Entirely plausible. Good thinking!

Regarding his lack of hospitality. He is getting better. He has become more aware of Natalie's feelings as in Mrs. Monk when they were making the potato salad. So perhaps he could keep it there for Natalie. Who knows! Hey, two way street!

You're right! Good eye!

Here's a big question. In "On The Run PT. 2, Adrian and Natalie take Rollins' car. Natalie obviously left hers at the car wash. They still have Rollins car at Folsom prison, visiting Dale but when they arrive in Riverton, CA they have Natalie's car again. Surely they didn't go back to Nevada just to get her car before going to stop a boming in Riverton. There would have been no time!!

I hope it's okay to mention things from older episodes here.

Three Pies- in addition to the fact that the swingset that Adrian's dad was supposed to have put up for him when he was eight not being anywhere near as old as that because they didn't make swings with plastic slides back in 1967, but the scen where Adrian and Sharona first arrive at the house and they are talking about the swing, the camera pans to them, then the swing, then them again, and back to the swing... If you look at the background behind Adrian and Sharona, and compare it to the background behind the swingset, you'll see that it's the same background.

In Very Very Old Man, while Monk is on the table, when Stottlemeyer turns his back to the camera, you can see that his jacket is pulled up over a box clipped to his belt, I assume it is part of the microphone. You can also see a box like this one dragging behind Monk on the ice in Manhattan when he goes out on the ice to get the one glove off of the little girl.

In Traffic, Monk comments that the air conditioner in the car was off and the windows up when the 'accident' was supposed to have happened. But that at the time that Volkswagon beetle was made, they didn't have air conditioning in those particular cars. My husband pointed this out when he first saw it, and apparently, he is a collector of useless, but true automotive knowlege. So he covers the gaps in my own useless knowlege. You know, in areas like machines, weapons, wars, politics, geography...

Very, Very Old Man- When Monk comes home and he's talking to Stottlemeyer in the kitchen after Stottlemeyer has been making a sandwich, the kitchen island is gone.

Rock Concert- how could a man who was that terrified of needles have possibly gotten his ear pierced?

Panic Room- Darwin was not a five year old chimp, he was still very much a baby. A five year old chimp would be closer to the same height as Bitty, and weigh much more, and also, adult chimps are generally much harder to control and more dangerous. I have never seen an adult chimp in a movie or on a TV show, they always have baby chimps and portray them as adults, which leads to the strong misconception that chimps only get about the size of a human toddler.

LOL! I hadn't noticed what car they arrived in. I just kept think that the person who painted that Cadillac the governor was in should have been arrested.

I imagine it was probably part of the whole "happy Christmas home" setup for the t.v. interview.

I had thought of that, but I didn't see it out when the camera crew was there. It was just kind of odd in that last scene -- like it materialized out of thin air. Look -- egg nog. Oh, well, it doesn't matter.

egg nog fairy left it.

Speaking of weapons. Well, we weren't, but I do want to mention the fact that the police consultant on the show must have been off the day they shot the scene for "Traffic"
where Adrian is leaning out of the patrol car and aiming a .45 at a hydrolic hose on the dump truck. Are you with me? OK He is squinting with one eye, but any trained police officer, which he is, would never squint their eye when aiming. The proper way to aim is both eyes open, through the site.
Sorry a little too techinical? Na, nah, nah, NO!
New one,
I have been told that Adrian said he "Went all the way" in the episode where he was helping an old school friend, a woman he was afraid to ask out. What is the name of that episode? And who really believes he understood what "going all the way" really meant, considering his social skills and lack thereof. This is a continuity issue if you consider his personality. He would never dare tell Natalie or anyone else, that he had any kind of physical encounter with a girl. Thoughts?

OK one more character continuity issue. From "P.I." The first time he goes on the pier to talk to the Captain of the first boat, he doesn't panic or have an issue with the pier. But when Natalie urges him to check out the Yacht the next time they go, he is very against going onto the pier.

Hey, this is fun!! Will anyone thank me later?

It's Mr Monk and little monk when his middle school crush returns. I can't remember exactly how it went but i think he asks natalie or someone to tell her he went "all the way" (with Trudy obviously). I'm sure after being married he knows what it means, lol.

Ok, the "went all the way" thing. It was on "Little Monk" episode. He mentioned that because he doesn't, in the beginning, wanted to see that old friend again, who had walked over his young boy's feelings. He wanted Natalie to tell her he had found happiness besides Trudy, married her and was fully loved by her. It's like showing her ( the old friend) what she had missed. School kids thoughts, just to add more childish behaviour on our hero's presonality, I guess.

...and I do not understand why Monk didn't freak out or asked Natalie for wipes after "the genius" shaked his hand, at the airport. (????)

If this is just the writers saying Monk had changed, well, I do believe this is a huuuge step for Monk then, and if it is so, they might reconsider the 'Lonely' and 'Miserable' statement.....
(sorry, I'm a incorrigible shipper...)


Mi


Mi

You're also an encouragable shipper.

I'm not sure if Monk has changed, if TS has just not totally gotten into the role yet, or if the writers just haven't given him a whole lot of opportunities to be Monkish yet -- I'm waiting to decide, but he does seem a little different -- a little more in control. I kind of like it.

But weighing in on the "going all the way" issue -- I think it was totally in-character to say. I'm a little younger than Monk, but there was a lot of pressure in school to be sexually active. Anyone who wasn't was a prime candidate for mocking. I'd imagine Monk was exactly that -- for that reason and many others. I think the inner child in Monk just wanted his old classmates to know that he had 'caught up' -- and he would have used the euphemism commonly used in his teen years. Monk is a genius in many ways, and a child in many others. In dating and sexuality, his maturity level is probably closer to a teen's than a 49 year old.

I was actually a little more surprised that he now uses the word sex -- he didn't seem to at the beginning of the show -- and now he uses it inappropriately -- throwing it in front of words like affair, lover, and prostitute. (In comparison, I've never heard my very Monkish husband use the word at all -- and we've been married for 22 years)

(1) I read all the posts here and am surprised no one mentioned this interesting "continuity" thing that I read about in a message board someplace else. I then looked at the ep again, and it is true:

Just before Monk discovers and announces that the old homeowner was murdered (pushed down the staircase, in the "Buys A House" episode), Monk and Natalie are sitting on the lower steps of the staircase to watch the repair work. In the distant shots of Natalie and Monk, Natalie has her legs/knees side-by-side paralleling each other. But in the close-up shots of Natalie and Monk, Natalie has one leg crossed over the other above the knee. It is amusing that as Monk and Natalie talk, the film is edited to switch from distant shots (Nat's knees side-by-side) to close-up shots (knees crossed) and back to distant shots (knees side-by-side) a number of times.

(2) The OP asked for interesting observations, not just continuity errors. I'll throw this in that I noticed on my own in the "Genius" episode: probably doesn't mean anything, but interesting that the wife, Linda, held Monk's two hands with her two hands, Trudy-like. And the husband (the Genius) did something similar at the airport; for a long time, when introduced to Monk, he held Monk's right hand in his two hands.

(3) One other interesting observation that someone else mentioned: when the housekeeper (who happens to be Tony S.'s real-life sister) in the "Genius" episode discovers the dead wife Linda, we see at the same time on the TV in Linda's bedroom a live shot of the Canadian chess tournament of the Genius winning the preliminary match and shaking hands with the loser. I thought it was a neat scene because it showed that the Genius had an alibi -- he was in Canada as his wife died in California. But the scene was DOUBLY NEAT because in addition to SEEING him in Canada (alibi-wise), as the housekeeper enters the bedroom we hear the chess announcer say, "and it's another victory for Patrick Kloster," and the audience is clapping -- acknowledging his triumph in both games -- chess and killing his wife.

In Mr. Monk is On The RUn pt. 2, if you look closely at the background during the part where Natalie and Monk are watching Dale's video, it looks like Monk and Natalie were added to the background

I don't know if this is something that belongs here or in the thread about Genius, but I'll just put it here.

I liked Tony's sister in the role, she played the part of the nurturing, motherly housekeeper well, and she has a very kind appearance (and looks a lot like Tony and Michael!), but there was one thing, a tiny thing really that threw me off on her role. When she comes in and finds Linda Closter dead, she drops the tray in shock, which is perfectly expected and in character, but as she's standing there with the TV on beside her and the camera focused on the tray on the floor and her lower body, what she does with her hands seems so-- odd. Out of place. She brings them together in front of her. Maybe I'm too picky about very minor things, but that sort of gesture in that context seemed kind of like "Oh, well... He managed to kill her anyway..." It didn't convey horror or shock or surprise at all. Most people, when confronted with something like this, would jerk their hands back and hold them close to their face or chest, or if they are in shock just leave thm hanging loosely at their sides like they hadn't even realized they had dropped the tray. Maybe they would cover their chest/heart with one of them or clench them into fists and pull them in close, but she just sort of interlaces her fingers almost as if she's thinking or listening to something, the gesture seems too relaxed and peaceful for the scenes IMO. That may have been an acting choice on her part or maybe the director requested it, and probably no one else but me noticed it or thinks it's odd. But still, that was the only thing in her part that I felt could even be considered a flaw, and I may be in a very, very small minority there. Otherwise she was great.

I noticed that too. That's what I get for not posting it. lol The cut to the next scene should take place right before it. It draws my eye each time, and it strikes me as a "theater" thing. I think she did a fantastic job otherwise. I'd like to see her on the show again.

Thanks! I couldn't remember the episode and that would make more sense. He and Trudy. So I guess Tony forgot that line or episode himself when he said in an interview that he saw Monk as still a virgin.

Great observations! How about at the end, this seems quite a character growth thing for Monk, when he tells Patrick he's tired of hearing the Chess analogies, that two women were dead. Pat on the back for him, he is maturing!
P.S. The person who played Linda Kloster, she looked familiar. Was she in Made UP as an extra at the restaurant? Because of the familiarity, I thought she was Tony's sister. I never would have known the housekeeper was. I'll have to really look again. The chef, wasn't he in Made UP too?
I must be out of some loop. I know what Micheal looks like but I've hardly seen the rest of the fam. Where do I find pics? Not to get off the current attention game of course!
Can't wait for "Lotto Fever"!

Did anyone notice when Monk came running into the room when the wife had been found dead (in Mr. Monk and the Genius), the policeman who was already there said, "Here comes the calvary!" Calvary??? How 'bout the cavalry?

Also, Natalie's character is portrayed as someone who had a hard time getting paid for her services by Mr. Monk. Earlier in the episode, they were arguing about whether her night of reorganizing his drawer was work or fun and the fact that Monk still owed her $1,800. Despite all that, however, did you notice immediately after the Audi commercial ran during the show, the next scene was Natalie and Monk sitting in a 2008 Audi A8? This is about an $80,000 car and a fairly big move from a Jeep Grand Cherokee! Apparently, Natalie's got some money coming in from somewhere!

Monkwriter, you can always (usually) get pictures from Google Image Search or IMDb page for the actor:
http://images.google.com/images?gbv=2&...G=Search+Images

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=htt...%3Doff%26sa%3DG

Aren't you aware that Natalie comes from a wealthy family (2nd biggest toothpast co. in the world)? She was estranged from them when she first appeared in the "Monk" series, but soon became reconciled with them. It was never said in the episodes that they helped finance Natalie, but it is possible.

I noticed that Natalie gets paid at least $900, but I don't know if that is weekly, bi-monthly or monthly. You can see part of the amount in the scene where Monk is tearing out her paycheck.