‘Mr. Monk’s Last Case’ Is a Personal One in Peacock Original Movie
At the height of the pandemic lockdown, fans of USA’s 2002–09 hit Monk asked series creator Andy Breckman how his lovable and germaphobic private homicide investigator Adrian Monk would cope during COVID. Breckman responded with a four-minute featurette.
The clip reunited the show’s star, multiple Emmy winner Tony Shalhoub, with Monk’s posse: his assistant Natalie (Traylor Howard) and cops Randy Disher (Jason Gray-Stanford) and Leland Stottlemeyer (Ted Levine). Peacock loved it, and 14 years after the final episode, the much-missed character returns in Breckman and executive producer David Hoberman’s original film, Monk’s Last Case.
(Credit: Steve Wilkie/PEACOCK )
Why last? “In the movie, Monk has a pretty serious existential crisis,” says Breckman. “We wanted to make clear that the stakes were as high as they could be for the character.”
Greatly depressed during the pandemic and obsessively missing his late wife Trudy (Melora Hardin, seen in visions), he hid in his house, only seeing his journalist stepdaughter Molly (Caitlin McGee) and his shrink Dr. Bell (Hector Elizondo), and turning down all cases, even when life resumed for others. Making things worse: He never finished writing his memoir, and his publisher is taking back the advance that would pay for Molly’s impending wedding.
But a heartbreaking case comes his way, and he can’t say no when Molly’s podcaster fiancé Griffin (Austin Scott) dies during a bungee jump, shortly after interviewing arrogant space mogul Rick Eden (James Purefoy). Molly is convinced that Eden is the cause and, along with Randy and Natalie, visiting for the nuptials, tries to get her stepdad to investigate.
It’ll be a soul-stirring task. As Breckman puts it: “Monk is at his best when the cases are personal. It’s always fun to see him rise to the challenge and overcome his emotional obstacles.” Get a first look with an exclusive clip, above.
Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie, Premieres Friday, December 8, Peacock
