Custodian
Det. Doyle
Det. Jones
Donna Dimarco
First Detective
John Paxton
Manny Alvarez
Mayor
Mr. Lawrence
Mrs. Capriani
Officer Dimarco
Sgt. Weaver
Stewardess
Waitress

Does that mean Monk will get reinstated? Or maybe he will be very close from getting his badge back but will not?
Please Gertrude a spoiler could help here ...

I don't know about reinstatement, but I think it's cool that there is to be a detective named Doyle in this episode!

Some info and big spoilers

Oh My God really!? Personally I don't think it will last but everything is possible...

w00t!!! When is this scheduled to air????? Can't wait for this one!!!!!

According to the schedule that Teresa posted on the Season Eight New thread, it is supposed to air on November 13th, but I think that isn't set in stone. After all, according to that thread, UFO was supposed to air October 30th.

If it is still to air on the 14 of November, then it is possible, I think, for him to actually get his badge back then. Didn't Tony say that the last four or five episodes were supposed to be connected? It would make sense to me if he were to finally get reinstated and for things to finally be looking up, just before some breakthrough or some kind of shocking evidence to come to light about Trudy's case that might knock him off his game a bit and make us wonder if he will have another breakdown before he solves her case. We've seen a sort of pattern over the seasons, he makes a little progress, then something happens that causes what looks, on the surface, like a setback. Only with the show ending, I doubt he will have a devastating setback. I think he'll overcome whatever comes his way and come out ahead this time.

Hope that's right, would be amazing to see Adrian get reinstated near the end of the season.

Nat said if she ever found a new job, she would date with Ambroise! (Mr Monk Goes Home Again)

Technically she had another job in the lotto episode too. So it might be temporary?

Hello

I am sure that MN shippers would like to think that way but knowing how the writers, inspired it seems by a tendency towards unpredicability that sometimes created mayhem on the Board (remember how the pre-knowledge of a kissing scene in Run 2 generated a gagle of guesses by fans about what that could mean), I suppose all we can really do is wait and see - if that is possible for fans to accept???

KF

MY MOUTH IS SO WIDE OPEN, MY JAW IS TOUCHING THE GROUND AND I CANNOT EVEN REPLY TO THESE RETHORICAL-DOUBLE-MEANING-INTENTIONALLY-MEAN-BUT-PRETTY-WELL-ELABORATED QUESTIONS: WILL IT LAST? WILL IT NOT??

OOOOHHHH...

If you want to make at least one fan's heart stop beating, well, you accompished it, Gertrude! ok, ok, it's a ship heart, already weakened by the 'indefinite definitions' the writers love to not define and susceptible to heart conditions originated while some red herring was swiming around the screen, but still...

tks for the spoiler, Gertrude!

still recovering from the schocking news

Mi

OMG!!! Oh no...Natalie is leaving. This can't be true. I just found out I don't care too much about the bagde. What I really care is about is the characters relationship. I will be very sad if they get separated from each other. OMG, I know this episode will make me cry... Natalie can't go away... Natalieeee...

Not that I want to encourage shipping but this depends on how you look at it. After all, one argument for why a romantic relationship between the two of them is a bad idea is the fact that he is her boss. We all know that he wouldn't dream of taking advantage of that fact, or trying to assume authority over her in any inappropriate way, but the idea of it still bothers some people. Once he is no longer her boss, if her were to ask her to go on a date of something, she has absolutely nothing to lose if she says no; he can't fire her, or dock her pay, and if she's already got a job, he can't even threaten to give her a bad reference for future potential employers. So if she says she will go out with him, it is because she chose to because she wanted to, not out of some desire to please her boss or desire to avoid conflict or repercussions. If you look closely enough, you can usually find a silver lining to everything.

Natalie leaving

Hi

If I recollect correctly, Natalie and Monk have been on only one date in 5 years - it took place, naturally in the Hal episode and seemingly never again.

If we want to give any kind of credence to these characters we could speculate why just one time; perhaps as you said, she felt uncomfortable because Monk is her boss or more simply her feelings just did not extend beyond admiration and pity and being with him after work that one time wasn't that attractive to her so if she does find other employment because Monk doesn't need her services any longer what incentive does she have to continue to see him other than as friends because it seems that the writers have taken great pains to not have them exhibit romantic feelings in either about the other.

KF

And there's certainly nothing wrong with just being friends, as long as whatever the circumstances are leave not bitterness between them (and if so there'd still be plenty of time to work it out in the 3 remaining episodes after that, so all of you worrying, don't worry; given Sharona will return in the episode immediately following and knowing what's been posted here as a rough outline thereof, she'll have plenty of reason to stick around if it progresses as I presume, and even more so if it turns out Mitch's fate was connected to Trudy's death, which I'm starting to wonder more and more now given how the wrapup episodes seem to be turning out.

For Monk himself, if this is permanent, I hope he does realize the responsibility connected with getting it back, that when he does find out who The Ultimate Bad Guy is and hunts him/her down, he'll have to do it completely by the book no matter how much rage, rancor, hostility, and similar emotions he'd feel towards the person in question. We've seen him exhibit increasing rage against each higher-up in the plot he comes across; would coming face to face with the person at the top of the ladder be enough to make him forget everything he's worked so hard to get back and immediately blast him or her to the next life without thinking over the consequences? Depending on what he does find, he may be sorely tempted to cross the line, although I think he'd make the right call in the end.

I was trying to think of when Monk and Nat went on a date. Was Disney on Ice a date?

This is Liv, I am having issues with my computer and the message board.

I personally wouldn't call that a date, personally. Not unless that means I have dated my best friend, my sister, my mom, and even a friend of my husband since I got married, and he was aware with all of these dates and was okay with them. Going to take in some kind of entertainment with another person, no matter the gender, marital status or even relationship doesn't really qualify as a date, even if one party buys the other a tee shirt at said event. But just because I don't think of them going to see 'some kind of animals on ice skates' as a date doesn't mean that you shouldn't, it's a matter of interpretation. But my interpretation that it wasn't a date would eliminate the need to answer why only one time.

If I were a shipper and wanted to see that one time as a date, I suppose I could assume that maybe the fact that they have a working relationship, boss/assistant, made one or both of them feel a bit awkward, and they felt that any further dates while she was his employee were probably not the best of ideas.

Possibly during the course of the evening, he kept thinking of Trudy and realized that he wasn't yet ready to move on, and that it would be unfair to Natalie if he tried and failed. This would have the benefit of being because he was thinking of Natalie's well being and not just his own.

Possibly neither of them was willing to outright call it a date for fear of learning that they had misunderstood the other's intent. And not knowing what the other person is thinking, neither wanted to probe too much and then be embarrassed that they had basically admitted to having feelings for the other that might not be returned. Should that scenario happen, then things would be very awkward between the two of them afterward.

Perhaps over the course of the evening, one or both of them came to the conclusion that even if they both had some potentially romantic feelings for each other, they would be putting quite a bit at risk if they chose to pursue it. If they went forward with it, and the relationship went bad, it would become just about impossible for them to work together as smoothly and easily as they had before. Even if the relationship didn't go bad, but they had minor spats as many couples who are otherwise happy together occasionally do (and I would imagine that Monk, as he is at this point, there would be a lot of these spats and disagreements) that it would interfere with their work, no matter how often they said they wouldn't allow their personal relationship to affect their working relationship. Because if they can't work together, Natalie is out of a job, Monk won't be able to do his job consistently without her, and it would probably be even more difficult for him to find a replacement for her than it was to find a replacement for Sharona, because he hadn't been romantically involved with Sharona, he would warier, like the adage, 'Once bitten twice shy.' And when Sharona left, it took him three months to find Natalie, and then a few months for the two of them to get used to working together and iron out their different perspectives. So taking a chance on a romantic relationship at that point might have seemed like too great a risk for them.

Which brings me back to the interpretation that once he is back on the force, and Natalie is no longer his assistant, the risk of has been somewhat reduced. He is not dependant on her for his job anymore, and vice versa. If they did have a fight, they would each be able to take a break from one another and take a few days to clear their heads without having to be thrown together on the job.

If he gets reinstated and solves Trudy's case, then he is logically making good headway and the point at which he is able to finally let Trudy go and put her memory to rest would be within reach, meaning that he would sooner rather than later be capable of pursuing a new relationship.

This still doesn't mean that I am in favor of a romance between the two of them, I am merely offering examples of how a shipper might choose to interpret this turn of events in a way that isn't upsetting to them, or that they could see as a positive thing. I just want to be able to form my own possible conclusions as well, one where they don't become involved romantically.

I assumed that was what KF meant, myself, that he was interpreting that as a date.

Remember when Monk said something like he keeps on going catching the bad guys because that's what he did when he was with Trudy and he can't stop solving other murders until he solves her case or it was something similar to that so.... maybe he'll get his badge back, solve her murder, (or solve her murder and get his badge back), and then find he doesn't really want to be on the force 9 to 5 and he was happier with just being a consultant with Natalie's assistance,and...... I think every character will end up on a happy note and Monk will still be Monk because what if they want to do a Monk movie or a Monk special or... eh, probably not!!

Here's my take:

Maybe the writers are getting really creative and flashing us forward a couple of years? The wording of the whole spoiler just makes it seem like this has already happened. It's not unprecedented, some TV shows have done this like Lost and DH. If that's the case, it might be really interesting. And I agree with Liv that this might open up their relationship since she's not working for him anymore.

However, this might be the end of Natalie altogether (?). I mean, the next episode after "Badge" is "Sharona" and we already know that the last 4-5 episodes are all tied together. After all he said that they were going to wrap up Natalie's "personal life" - whatever that means!

I hope they're very delicate with the way they end Monk. There could be uproar if it's unsatisfactory. I don't mind surprises... just don't surprise me.

Does anyone have any spoilers to the upcoming epi on Friday the 11th - Takes the Stand? I couldn't find a thread that's why I posted this here.

Thank you,

Sue

oh, yes...

Oh, nooo...

I'm really hoping that Monk gets his badge back. That is something he's been trying to do for long. I think the writers can work all the relationship issues around him getting back on the force. Look how creative they've been all these years!

Mr. Monk takes the stand

Sharona will be only in one episode?

Yes

[quote name='emily87' date='Sep 10 2009, 02:23 PM' post='1195567']
Here's my take:

.

[/b]However, this might be the end of Natalie altogether (?). I mean, the next episode after "Badge" is "Sharona" and we already know that the last 4-5 episodes are all tied together. After all he said that they were going to wrap up Natalie's "personal life" - whatever that means!

Oh....

I certainly do not want to get into a semantics war over what consitutes the meaning of "date" but that fact that Natalie invited Monk to go with her after work and he replied that are you asking me to go with you sure comes
close.

Putting aside what their going together should be termed and whether or not calling such a date should classify one as being a shipper, we could run out of electrons speculating on what might have transpired while they were together to give some rational legtimacy to what has or hasn't happen since then.

Would Natalie's finding another job induce a change in their relationship that might foster feelings of romance?
I think it will depend on how the writers have Monk deal with the memory of his wife. He already fell for one woman with feelings of guilt arising afterwards so the seed is already there eventhough her murder has yet to be solved

Perhap, out of sympathy for shippers, what Liv has suggested that with some distance between them, they may be able to see more clearly what each means to one another, no longer being hampered by restrictions of that relationship but, I really do not know if Nalalie could ever be more than friends with Monk once the relationship is broken for except for her warm heartedness in inviting Monk to her home sometimes, there doesn't seem to be any indicate that she has feelings for him that border on the romantic so where would the attraction be?

KF

Natalie cannot leave. She's one of the main characters and it'd be unreasonable if she just leaves. Also there's the photo of Bitty&Traylor on the set of Sharona episode. We know she stays...


If Nat feels comfortable about dating Adrian after she quits, that means she has always had the secret desire of romance happening and it looks really deceitful since we all see her a dear friend to Monk now. It's same for Adrian. This is just like someone dates her/his teacher after they graduate. Isn't he/she still their teacher? There are people who fall in love in such situations but if romance will happen, it happens under any circumstances. It doesn't wait for anything.(graduation or quitting) Or it doesn' happen suddenly, Nat quits and Nat or Adrian thinks "Oh now I'm free to date him/her...". Horse Hockey!. I don't see her finding new job as an open door to romance... Last thing: Trudy's murder is always the more important thing than searching romance in a "crime" series...

Well it is the more important thing for you, and for me, I am not a fan of romantic entanglements and things on my TV shows and I have no desire to see Monk date Natalie, or Natalie date Disher, or rally, to see anyone dating anyone else. But there are fans who are not like us, who like to see romance on their shows, fans for whom romance adds and extra level of enjoyment to their viewing experience. My post about why they may have only gone on one date, if you chose to see it as a date was made in an effort to list some of the possible ways that shippers could view the situation. I'm all to aware that my ideas about the show are not the same as everyone else. I can be against having a romance happen in a very definite way on the show, and still support others in their wish to see the same things I see as non-romantic in a romantic light.

I'm just wondering how Adrian will do without Natalie by his side as indicated by UFO. He couldn't bear to be without her so how will getting his badge back alieviate such neediness?
I do want to see them together and could Nat's date with 'Frankie DePalma' constitute a date with Adrian? After all, why didn't he mention Trudy in his panic? He made sure to say Natalie and that she was pretty and they kiss all the time. Natalie still could have gone in Trudy's stead if he used her name but Natalie was the first woman to come to his mind. Could he have those feelings? Just a thought.

What are the chances that Trudy would be in town?

Also, what constitutes Nat being in the bar with 'DePalma" as a date? I mean, what would they have done that made it a date outside of what Nat and Monk normally do together?

I hate when you're irritatively right...Just kidding, ok?

Yeah, I get that alot.

I have no idea of what this has to do with the title of the episode. Probably part of the plot. Pretty strange. Here it goes:



http://spoilertv.blogspot.com/2009/09/monk...sting-call.html

With echos of "Two Assistants" also to be seen in one episode, as you suggest it is certainly possible that we could see a dramatization of the spriit of another of Mr. Goldberg's novel. I wonder if it will lnclude Joe, the fireman since Natalei will no longer be chained seemingly 24 hours ago to Monk as his assistant and so can have the freedom to explore life more freely. His appearance or someone filling his shoes could also be the big secret.

KF

I would just like to point this out. If there is any relation between characters' feelings in the novels and the episodes, then I wonder if this could mean anything. In the novel "Mr. Monk in Outer Space", Natalie has a day where she is "free" from Monk and Julie. She goes to a pier or a park or something like that and wanders aimlessly. She tries to set up a "date" with Joe the Fireman and Dr. Polanski but neither of them are available. So she sits down and begins to think about Monk and Julie. She says "I wondered if Julie and Monk were as lost without me as I apparently was without them. I doubted it. It made me wonder who really needed whom."

This seems to echo my thoughts of Natalie's character. She is undoubtedly attached to Monk to the point where I highly doubt that she would disconnect completely from him if he gets reinstated. I'm not saying they are going to start dating and fall madly in love or anything like that, I'm just saying I don't think it's very plausible to think that Natalie will totally cut herself off from Monk if her assistant position is in fact ended due to Monk's reinstatement. I think they may just realize that they don't know what to do without the other.

It also says at the end of this same novel:
Monk: Do you really need me?
Natalie: I looked at him and I thought about his question. But I realized it wasn't something I had to think about. It was
something I had to feel. Yes Mr. Monk, I do.
Monk: Not just for a paycheck?
Natalie: I shook my head. I'm a very needy person.
Monk: Me too. Sometimes I think it's not such a bad thing.
Natalie: I think you're right.
Monk: I always am.

I think they will always be in each other's lives in some way or another. I just hope that the show does not end with bitter feelings between any of the characters (and I would think not). I would be so very disappointed if Monk and Natalie were not on good terms at the end. It would ruin the entire show for me.

Personally, I am praying that the end will stay ambiguous romantically. Leave that up to the viewers' imaginations so that all viewers can be happy, whether they want romance on the show or whether they do not. With ambiguity then everyone technically wins.

I totally agree with you. Let's hope the good things the show brought to our lives can be maintained in the end so that we live in peace too. The end of the show is something so hard for all of us to accept, imagine how worse it would be if the writers decided to ruin all the warm friendships they created. I'd go crazy!

Hello,

I really wish I could agree with your saying that Natalie would remain friends (by this I mean staying in touch with each other) with Monk even if she no longer worked for him, supporting your position by quoting from one of the novels but I feel that once she leaves his employ, their friendship will eventually fade.

At first, she might still want to maintain some kind of association with her former boss but I believe this desire would eventually wither not only due to their no longer really having any need or time to meet but also if she should enter into a serious relationship with someone (and let's face it at least in the novel version of who she is, she is looking), this desire for a continued friendship with Mr Monk will in time become but nostaglic memories replaced by stronger, deeper romantic feelngs that she would feel for Mr Right and that her life would then be centered around this person.

As for also saying that everyone would win if the writers maintain their approach to defining certain relationships ambiquously, perhaps many would agree but I personally would feel a sense of unfulfilled incompleteness if the creators of these characters did not bring closure to certain aspects of their lives but allow the fans if they so choose, to finish the story according to whatever agenda they have individually.

KF

You're right. Which is why I'm praying they keep the end ambiguous. I don't want the end to be too specific, for I may just lose it if the characters end up all going their separate ways.

It is kind of ironic that when a person is in the position of being a caregiver in such a full time way as Natalie is, that they get so used to not having any time to devote to their own pursuits and interests, when they do get a very rare day to do just that, they don't know what to do, even though the person/people they are normally taking care of usually don't have the same problem. My mother has found this to be true many times over the years, and I don't think she likes it.

It's true that people do need each other and to a certain degree, it's a good thing, but I think in Natalie and Adrian's case, it actually might be, or at least bordering on being a negative thing. Natalie seems to have no outside interests and never enough time to pursue them, even if she did and never enough time to think about and taking care of herself. If she goes on focusing so much of her time, energy and attention on Adrian and Julie and so very little on herself, that's not good for her. And we already know that Adrian isn't exactly the kind of person you can count on to think about someone else very often, especially outside of how their health and well being affects him, and teenagers are notorious for being a bit self centered and melodramatic and thoughtless of others, especially if those others are their parents, so it's a pretty one sided arrangement. Natalie is pouring nearly all of her time, energy, focus and emotion into the care and well being of two people, and no one is spending a whole lot of time, energy, focus into looking after Natalie's well being. If I was Natalie, I'd have climbed a clock tower by now.

I think that after Trudy's case is solved and Adrian gets reinstated, they will all have to do a bit of readjusting and rebuilding, getting used to having a different set of goals, letting go of their old life and their old routines. Natalie will initially miss working with Adrian and having the excitement of catching criminals from time to time, and having nearly constant companionship, but after a bit, she'll also start to realize that now she has time to devote to herself, she is free to get a job where she can count on payday, have days off to do something she wants to do for a change. She'll ease back into dating and be able to enjoy it without constantly waiting for her cellphone to ring and someone insisting that they need something from her right now so she has to put her own life on hold to pick up cleaning supplies that could actually wait till tomorrow. She'll start to appreciate being able to take a long bubble bath and pamper herself occasionally without the weight of guilt that someone 'needs' her to be doing something else for them.

And Adrian will probably miss having her there at his beck and call, always with a wipe handy, someone to talk to whenever he feels like it, someone to run his errands and be his 'Monk to Earth' interpreter, but he'll get used to her not being there and start to really enjoy having his status as a full detective on the police force back, and no longer being labeled as mentally defective in an official capacity. It will be empowering for him to feel he has gained some measure of control over his life that he lacked before, and he'll probably appreciate the steady, reliable income, too, though maybe not as much as Natalie. He'll be a part of something bigger again, too, which is something I think he has really, really been missing about being on the force. He will belong somewhere, he'll be one of a group, and have a place. He has a place now, but it's kind of a fragile thing to him, I think- Natalie could quit, the police could quit calling him, and then he's got nothing left. I think the police force represents belonging and strength in numbers and stability to him, a job he can go to every day rather than waiting around for them to need him. And he'll have more opportunities to meet other people and just maybe make a few friends who aren't just trying to use him, and who won't try to kill him. he'll socialize with other cops and people who will have similar interests and at least their jobs in common.

That being said, I don't think that he will completely be without his need for Natalie and even Julie. He'll probably still rely on Natalie to help him with the mundane aspects of living outside of the police force, like paying bills, running errands, and even companionship, but I think that will change as well. It won't be a full time thing, she'll probably tend to his errands once or twice a week and pay his bills for him monthly, both events taking only a few hours at a time, so she will have considerably more free time. It would be more of a part time job and there will be considerably less obligation involved, which would be a good thing for their personal, non-professional relationship. Time spent with him would often be by choice, as with a friend, rather than because he's her boss and he says so.

I think that his reinstatement will be a significant, and very healthy change for both of them.

And I think that the change will be gradual, with them spending less time together over time, but that they will always be a part of each others lives.

KF, I think it would be a very good thing for Natalie's life to stop centering around Adrian, but I don't think it would be a good thing for her to transfer all that attention onto someone else. Her life shouldn't center around another person, no one's life should. A husband and wife should share their lives, but one should not focus everything around the other, or they won't be happy. She should enjoy being with someone, and it would be great if she fell in love again, and had someone who thought as much about her and her well being as she does about theirs, and for her to have someone who will support and encourage her rather than almost exclusively lean on her. She would be very fortunate to meet someone who looked out for her interests in a very mutual way, and who valued her as a person because they loved her, and not just because they needed her. But most of all, it would be best for her if this other person could allow her to think of her own needs and wants and pursue her own interests, find her own happiness independent of them. Adrian is a perfect example of why it's really not healthy to have someone else be the center of your world- if something happens to that one person or your relationship, it has the potential to destroy you completely.

Dear Liv,

Who else could reply in such a manner, adding subtance and sensitivity to my usual logical, lean statements.

KF

Thanks for the info. We now know this episode takes place after Sharona's episode, so we will see what happens. I have been curious about this episode for a while because of the title. Exciting.

I don't think he will keep his badge in this episode. The Sharona episode was originally planned to be after this episode so if he did keep his badge, then he would have his badge in the sharona episode. And if he had his badge in the sharona episode they wouldn't have been able to move the sharona episode up before this one.

Unless of course they changed the order and rewrote the sharona episode before they filmed it...

Adrian and a Police Badge will always be strangers , two ships passing in the night.

Yeah I think they'll reunite by the end of the episode, otherwise that would make for a weird finale if Natalie wasn't involved. Also if Mr Monk and Sharona was actually originally meant to air AFTER this episode, then that makes come of the conversations and character reactions in the Sharona episode more interesting too.