So there has been some talk lately about how Trudy and Mitch's deaths may be connected. I think that this is unlikely. Unless I'm mistaken (please tell me if I am) they died years apart. If they were connected wouldn't the deaths have happened closer together? Maybe it just took that long for whoever to make the connection, or it took that long for Trudy to become involved in the situation. My other question is that if they are connected then how does one explain Natalie and Monk simply meeting by chance when Natalie needed help with a break in. Seems like too much to be a coincidence. If Mitch and Trudy's deaths are related there is no way Natalie and Monk met by chance. Someone had to arrange it. That also seems unlikely because who would do that? Who would go through the trouble of arranging these people to meet if they didn't want them to solve their spouse's murders (after all, if you wanted them to solve the murders, they would have said that they are connected), and if they didn't want them to solve their spouse's murders why put them together? Sure it is easier to keep tabs on them but is also makes it more likely that they will solve the murders. I can't think of anyone on any side of the equation that would benefit from them being together, but not knowing about their spouses connection.


OMG>>>Except Dale the Whale. Think about it. He lives to torture Monk, and what better way to do that than by having the key to trudy' Murder (in the form of Natalie and Mitch) right under his nose for years. It would suit his personality perfectly. At the beginning it may have been a little risky but now that he is in jail for life, Dale has nothing to lose when Monk figures it all out. Even if Dale himself were responsible there really isn't anything they could do to him. In Dale's mind he gets the benefit of watching Monk go for years with this major clue right there but not see it as a clue. Thoughts, anyone?

The only connection I can think of comes from my unlikely worst case scenario, that Natalie had in fact arranged for Mitch to be killed in conjunction out of adultery with Albright, backed out of their planned marriage afterwards after she felt horribly guilty about it, and then when Albright, bitter, started blackmailing her, attached herself to Monk when the opportunity presented itself to get him to back off, threatening to expose him to Monk if he pressed it. But ask anyone around here, and they'll tell you they're near certain it won't come to this, and I'd have to agree with them deep down.

Trudy's death was a part of the show's storyline prior to Traylor Howard (Natalie) joining the cast. If the reason the writers chose to allude to the fact that Mitch was a pilot whose plane went down in the Kosovo War, was to somehow connect his death with Trudy's, I haven't seen a great deal of evidence in any episode to support it. I'm not an avid watcher and don't have any DVDs so maybe I'm wrong but I just don't recall anything Natalie has mentioned about Mitch being related to Trudy or her investigative reporting. Now the fact that Albright is returning to show during the finale may mean the writers have decided to take the show in that direction. But since the finale needs to make sense to both the casual viewer as well as the avid fan, it seems unlikely that they would create an overly complex plot. Most of the plots on Monk are pretty simple and transparent but if they did decide to connect the two, that would be pretty awesome entertainment in my opinion. I'm looking forward to seeing it all come together in the finale! It'll be awesome I bet!

Trudy died in 1997 and Mitch in 1998.
I can't remember the episodes but they have alluded to some type of higher/spiritual force being in play when it comes to Monk...that things are meant to be for a reason...It is in discussions on the series are about... Monk being placed into situations for a reason...for example he goes on vacation, a murder happens...but the characters have worded it more to the effect of Monk was meant to be there for a reason...
There was also something about when Natalie tells the story to Monk about Mitch's death and the charges against him for deserting his men that gave me goosebumps when I heard it...like a revelation of this was meant to be for a reason....almost like Trudy and Mitch were in on this connection somehow. It could be that the writers changed their mind about who the ultimate murderer was going to be...I don't know...
I think Albright foreshadowed what was to come when he was talking to Natalie about why his fiancee' left him...he says something to the effect of "she realized that she could do better than me"...almost if he was agreeing with this statement...I think that may be why Albright is here...to open up that connection and start the whole chain all the way up to the top...

Another thing sort of off the subject...in the Cobra...when Monk is in the coffin and Trudy is talking to him...I liked the way that discussion went...at the end when she is telling Monk what to do about her office, it was if Trudy knew Natalie...like they were friends...

Thanks for the info about how close the murders were. I really had intended this discussion to dispelling the theory but after I thought about it I suddenly cam to the conclusion that I can't rule it out completely. There does seem to be some power around Monk that makes everything have a purpose and meaning. Still it is a wild idea. Guess I'll be staying tuned! LOL

I don't think we can rule out a connection. They've connected two seemingly unrelated crimes before and they could do it again. Just look at The Foreign Man from earlier this season.