Mr. Monk and the Candidate
Aired: July 12, 2002

SYNOPSIS:
Working as a private investigator, Monk visits a crime scene to investigate the murder of Nicole Vasquez. He finds a number of significant clues, but is not yet sure of the identity of the murderer. Later, shots ring out at a campaign rally, and San Francisco mayoral candidate Warren St. Clair's bodyguard is killed. The incumbent mayor instructs Captain Stottlemeyer to bring Monk in on the case, and reluctantly, he does.

After a brief meeting with Warren St. Clair, his wife Miranda, and their aide Gavin Lloyd, Monk goes to the scene of the assassination attempt. While there, he unexpectedly discovers a thin link between the attempt on St. Clair's life and the murder of Nicole Vasquez: Nicole was briefly a volunteer for the St. Clair campaign. This lead brings him to St. Clair campaign headquarters, where Monk questions one of the current volunteers about Vasquez. When that volunteer later turns up dead, Monk's suspicion about a connection between the Vasquez and St. Clair cases grows even stronger.

Sharona begins to suspect that St. Clair's wife Miranda ordered a hit on her husband, a theory bolstered by the fact that St. Clair is worth $150 million. But Monk has other suspicions - including that Miranda and another one of St. Clair's assistants have been carrying on an affair.

It isn't until watching a news report on the assassination attempt that the pieces begin to click together in Monk's mind. Monk reassembles everyone at the site of the campaign rally in order to recreate what happened that day. He explains that the assassin wasn't even trying to kill Warren St. Clair: he was actually hired to kill the bodyguard. Why? Because the bodyguard was the first person St. Clair aide Gavin Lloyd approached about murdering Nicole Vasquez - who had discovered that Lloyd was embezzling campaign funds while she was still working as a St. Clair volunteer. When the bodyguard refused to carry out the murder, he had to be silenced.

To prove his theory, Monk exhibits a newspaper photograph taken at the rally. It shows Lloyd pointing in the direction of the shooter just after the shots were fired. But as Monk proves during his recreation, Lloyd's sight line was obscured, and the echo of the gunshot off of the surrounding buildings would have masked the direction of the shot. There was no way Lloyd could have known where the shots were coming from - unless he was the one who ordered the hit and knew where the gunman would be. Once again, the obsessive-compulsive detective solves an unsolvable case.

Mr. Monk and The Psychic
Aired: July 19, 2002

SYNOPSIS:
Former San Francisco Police Commissioner Harry Ashcombe's wife races along a winding highway on a dark, stormy night. Unbeknownst to her, the former commissioner has mysteriously placed a makeshift ramp in the middle of the road. Rounding a corner at high speed, Mrs. Ashcombe hits the ramp, and is sent flying over the hillside to her death. It's the perfect murder.

When Ashcombe puts out a call to help locate his "missing" wife, Monk and Sharona volunteer their assistance. But no sooner than they are on the case when the body of Mrs. Ashcombe is discovered by notorious quack psychic Dolly Flint, who claims she was led to the body in a psychic trance.

After attending the late Mrs. Ashcombe's memorial service, Monk begins to suspect that her death was more than just an accident. His suspicions soon lead him to one Jennie Zeppetelli, a young woman who he learns has been carrying on an affair with Harry Ashcombe for years until breaking it off when she began to fear for her safety. When Monk later questions Dolly Flint and learns that she has sleeping disorder, the pieces of the puzzle begin to fall into place.

Monk deduces that Ashcombe murdered his wife by sending her over the cliff to make it look like an accident. But an unforeseen mudslide caused a problem: with the car buried under the mud, no one would ever find his wife's body, and Ashcombe would never be able to claim the insurance money. Enter Dolly Flint: Ashcombe's plan was to drug Dolly and leave her at the crime scene, making it seem like her psychic powers had led her to the victim.

Now that Monk has pieced the puzzle together, he uses Dolly and Jennie to help set a trap for the shady commissioner. Staging the murder of Jennie, Dolly conducts a "seance" and leads the search party to Ashcombe's house. After being confronted with the seemingly dead body of his mistress, Ashcombe is tricked into confessing the truth, and once again Adrian Monk gets his man.

Mr. Monk meets Dale the Whale
Aired: July 16, 2002

SYNOPSIS:
San Francisco judge Catherine Lavinio places a frantic call to 911: there's an intruder in the house trying to kill her! As the 911 operators rush to dispatch a unit to the scene, the call is cut off, and Judge Lavinio is later found dead.

Meanwhile, Monk, Sharona and Benjy are enjoying a friendly game of Clue when a call comes in asking Monk to assist on the case. They arrive at the crime scene to find the house in complete disarray, as if hit by a tornado. Monk is slowly beginning to piece together clues when he's given some unbelievable news: the cops' prime suspect is 800-pound tycoon Dale J. Biederbeck III, a.k.a. "Dale The Whale." But Monk wonders how that can be possible - Biederbeck hasn't left his bed in eleven years, and can't even fit through his bedroom door!

When Monk goes to question Dale, it reopens some old wounds - seven years ago, Biederbeck was responsible for a devastating lawsuit that virtually bankrupted Monk and his wife Trudy. Now, years later, Monk is certain that Dale is behind the murder of Judge Lavinio, but the hard part will be proving it.

Monk and Sharona begin to follow the trail of clues in order to piece together the mystery. First, Monk meets with two little girls who witnessed the crime, and both swear they saw an 800-pound man inside Judge Lavinio's house. Then Sharona catches up with Dale's personal nurse in an ill-fated attempt to learn more about him.

Eventually, Monk is able to piece the riddle together: the murder was committed by Dale's personal physician, Dr. Christian Vezza, who wore a fat suit to disguise himself as Dale the Whale. By making sure all the clues pointed to Dale, Biederbeck and his doctor thought they would have an airtight alibi for their perfect crime - after all, Dale the Whale is the one man who couldn't possibly have committed the murder. But there was one thing they weren't counting on: the sleuthing ability of former San Francisco police detective Adrian Monk.

Mr. Monk Goes to the Carnival
Aired: August 2, 2002

SYNOPSIS:
Hotheaded police detective Adam Kirk agrees to meet a mysterious informant named John Gitomer on a moving Ferris wheel high above a local carnival. Moments after the ride begins to move, however, Gitomer starts screaming in agony. The Ferris wheel operator brings the ride to a halt, Detective Kirk leaps out, and he turns to find Gitomer with a knife in his heart. Now the informant is dead - and no one but Kirk could have done it. Captain Stottlemeyer, Kirk's former partner, is determined to clear Kirk's name. But given the overwhelming evidence against Kirk, as well as his recent history of violence (he's currently being sued by a felon named Leonard Stokes on brutality charges), doing so may prove difficult. Fearing the worst, Stottlemeyer has no choice but to bring in Monk.

Monk, meanwhile, is facing a series of police review hearings in an effort to get his badge back. His first appearance goes well, and Monk is on top of the world when Stottlemeyer contacts him about assisting with the Kirk case. Though skeptical about Kirk's innocence, Monk agrees to help him. His investigation first takes him to the crime scene, where Monk's fear of heights prevents him from actually riding on the Ferris wheel. However, Monk is able to interview the eccentric Ferris wheel operator, and then he finds a valuable clue: a discarded claim ticket which fell from Gitomer's pocket during his fatal ride.

The ticket leads Monk and Sharona to a local dance club, and then to the checked item: a knapsack containing Gitomer's cell phone, on which is found a record of several phone calls made to none other than convict Leonard Stokes. Stokes, who always maintained his confession to Kirk was beaten out of him, is being let out of prison now that Kirk is facing murder charges.

After assembling all the clues, Monk figures out what happened: Stokes was the mastermind. His goal: frame Detective Kirk and ruin his credibility. His plan: hire his old friend Gitomer to pretend to be beaten up by Kirk on the Ferris wheel. What Gitomer didn't realize, however, is that Stokes also hired another, more ruthless accomplice - the Ferris wheel operator - to take the set up one step further and kill Gitomer as he exited the Ferris wheel, thereby framing Kirk for murder. Another perfect crime foiled by San Francisco's defective detective, Adrian Monk.

Mr. Monk Goes to the Asylum
Aired: August 9, 2002

SYNOPSIS:
A confused Monk is found trespassing in the home of his late wife, Trudy, and is sent to the Medford Psychiatric Institute for two days of observation. The hospital, like Monk's scarred psyche, is currently under renovation. Monk meets the hospital's brilliant director, Dr. Morris Lancaster, as well as fellow patients John Wurster - an overly empathic, Zelig-type ("I'm a detective too!") - and Manny, a man in his thirties who still believes in Santa Claus.

Wurster tells Monk about a murder that took place at Medford four years earlier. A patient named Bill LeFrankie shot and killed Dr. Conrad Gould in the medical supply room, then stole barbiturates and died nearby of a fatal overdose. However, the gun used in the murder was never found, and Wurster confides to his "colleague" Monk that he never believed the official story. At first, Monk pays little heed to Wurster's theory.

In group therapy, Manny reports looking out his window and seeing Santa Claus hovering over the chimney the night before. Intrigued, Monk later finds what appears to be a swatch of torn red cloth dangling from the chimney. Monk soon begins to suspect a possible connection between what Manny saw on the roof and Dr. Gould's murder. Using a newspaper clipping of the murder scene, Monk reenacts the Gould slaying, and deduces that the killer most likely wasn't a patient, but a hospital staff member. Monk begins to suspect Dr. Lancaster.

Lancaster reacts by sabotaging Monk's investigation, manufacturing evidence to "prove" Monk is crazy. His efforts are so successful, even Monk starts to believe he is wrong - until Sharona uncovers evidence that supports Monk's theory. Monk resumes his investigation.

The fact that the fishing line is missing from a fishing rod in the director's office soon completes the picture for Monk: Gould was up for the hospital directorship, Lancaster wanted the job, and he shot Gould to get it. Next, he framed a patient for the murder, and then dropped the murder weapon down an unused chimney. Now, four years later, renovation is threatening to expose the gun, so Lancaster arranged to have Manny, the Santa Claus nut, moved into a bedroom that overlooks the chimney. Lancaster then returned to the roof in a Santa Claus outfit so he could literally "go fishing" for the murder weapon, knowing Manny's reports about Santa being on the roof would be dismissed as lunacy.

Monk confronts "Santa", a.k.a. Lancaster, on the rooftop - just as Lancaster successfully recovers the handgun and points it at Monk's head. However, Sharona and the police arrive in time, and Lancaster is led away in handcuffs, leaving Monk to comment ruefully that, "Except for the murders and him trying to kill me, he was the best doctor I ever had."

Mr. Monk and the Billionaire Mugger
Aired: August 16, 2002

SYNOPSIS:
Sidney Teal appears to have it all - his own software company, billions of dollars, a beautiful wife, and a beautiful home. But all is not as it seems. One night, Sidney bids good night to his wife and servants, dons a set of kneepads, and gets in his car. He then drives to a movie theater and waits in the shadows. A couple emerges from the theater, and when they pass, Sidney Teal leaps out with a knife, snarling "Give me your wallet! Don't be a hero!" But Teal picked the wrong couple to mug: the man, Archie Modine, suddenly pulls a gun and shoots the billionaire dead.

Meanwhile, Monk is having problems of his own. Simply put, he's flat broke. He can't even afford to pay Sharona. Sharona is threatening to quit if Monk misses one more paycheck, but fortunately for Monk, their argument is broken up by a phone call from Stottlemeyer. Due to the high-profile nature of the Teal case, Stottlemeyer wants to bring Monk in to help investigate.

Right away, Monk has issues with the crime scene. What kind of mugger would don a pair of kneepads before robbing someone? It doesn't make sense. Feeling uneasy about the whole case, Monk meets with Sidney Teal's widow. She talks about how her husband was going through a midlife crisis and was recently trying daredevil activities like bungee jumping and skydiving. But Monk's subsequent interview with Teal's chauffeur discredits her story. The chauffer describes Teal as "a pussycat" who was too gentle to ever even fire a gun.

Eventually, Monk makes a key deduction: Teal and Modine were in the same fraternity. Sharona then discovers (in the pages of Teal's biography) that both men were involved in a similar incident years before. That's all Monk needs to solve the case.

As it turns out, Sidney Teal had no intention of robbing the couple. He was merely playing a part in an elaborate ruse to impress Modine's date. Teal was to jump from the shadows and startle the lovers, giving Modine the opportunity to play the hero. But Modine had something else in mind: his plan was to dispose of the billionaire whose wife he was having a secret affair with by making it look like self-defense. It was a perfect plan that would have gone off without a hitch... if not for Adrian Monk.