'Monk:' Mr. Monk and the Critic - Recap

The camera approaches a hotel room door from an unknown man's POV. A young woman fresh from the shower opens the door and says she wasn't expecting the man until later. She offers him a chocolate-covered strawberry she got from room service. She comments on how much she likes the balcony so he invites her outside. They venture outside; he gets down on one knee and proposes, then pushes her off the balcony, killing her.

One hour earlier, Monk and Natalie attend Julie's premiere in a community playhouse production. A prominent theater critic, John Hannigan, sits in the balcony and makes Natalie nervous. Monk needs to go to the bathroom and want so to go home, but Natalie refuses to take him. Monk reluctantly tries the men's room and discovers an oasis. There is a restroom attendant, individual hand woven towels, and ten different kinds of soap.

Monk and Natalie watch as Julie sings on stage. After the show, Monk and Natalie round the corner near the theater and find Stottlemeyer and Disher investigating the death of the woman, Kelly Esterhouse.

In her hotel room, Monk sees only one false eyelash, an open make-up kit, and a dress laid out on the bed and concludes that she did not commit suicide but was murdered. Natalie smells strong cologne.

The review comes out in the paper and slams Julie's performance, especially her song. Natalie goes to the newspaper office to chew out Hannigan. The critic is with his fiancee who is wearing the same ring that the killer used to propose. Natalie smells the same cologne that she smelled in the hotel room.

Natalie tells Stottlemeyer and Monk that Hannigan did it but they don't believe her. She later calls Monk from jail, caught for snooping in Hannigan's backyard. She took a dumpling from his trash and compared it with the bite out of the strawberry. However a cast could not be made out of the strawberry because it is too soft.

Natalie convinces Monk to help her prove that the Hannigan killed the woman and that he didn't give the performance a real review. She says that people never forget harsh words, citing the things Monk's father said to him as a child.

Meanwhile, the restroom attendant meets Hannigan in a parking garage and brings him a pack of nicotine gum. He also tells him that Monk had been investigating the murder. The critic slams the attendant in the back of the head with a crowbar and puts him in the trunk.

After police find the body, Monk discovers the gum and a watch in his jacket. He recalls that the silhouette of Hannigan in the balcony sported the same watch. He concludes that the Hannigan left for a "smoke break," killed his girlfriend, and the bathroom attendant took his place in the balcony to maintain appearances.

The police bring in Julie and claims Hannigan attacked her. He says he has never seen her before in his life, proving he was not in the theater during Julie's performance. Stottlemeyer takes him downtown.

In the epilogue, Monk opens a letter that reveals Julie made it into acting school.