Well, we knew Judge Rickover (Craig T. Nelson) was the person behind the murder of Trudy Monk and two others last week. And now the connection to the birthing center became clear when Trudy revealed on the tape that she had an affair with Rickover while she was in college and Rickover was her professor. She became pregnant by him.
A baby was born on January 3, 1983...a daughter, of whom Trudy was told died the same day.
The tape nailed Rickover, and later Monk held a gun a Rickover as he forced the judge to dig a hole in his backyard, where the remains of the missing midwife, Wendy Stroud was buried. Monk laid his gun down, and the judge shot himself with these last words...
"You take care of her".
An antidote to the toxin Monk took in was found, and he lived. Soon afterward Monk discovered the meaning of Rickover's last words....Trudy's baby was alive and was put up for adoption after her birth. Trudy, Wendy Stroud, and the doctor at the birthing clinic were all murdered as per Rickover's orders to cover up the existence of his out of wedlock daughter.
The now adult daughter's name was Molly Evans, and she was a film critic for the San Francisco Examiner. Adrian met Molly and bonded with her, he became a doting Dad, taking hundreds of pictures of her in a three day span. While showing the pictures at police HQ Randy announced that he was leaving San Francisco to become police chief in Summitt, NJ....and he and Sharona were an item.
"Its called a blog".....said Mr. Monk of Molly's prowess on the internet.
We faded to the closing montage including small clips from past shows and of the cast in their new relationships....Stottlemyer and his new wife TJ; Natalie preparing dinner for new love Stephen; Randy setting up shop in Summitt; and Adrian talking about going to a movie with surrogate daughter Molly.
The last scene shows Natalie and Adrian going to another case where they meet Leland, and the camera zooms out to the tune of Randy Newman's "Your Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone".
It was a different Adrian Monk in the closing scenes...still quirky but happy and feeling a sense of purpose. He had a bounce in his step and appeared to finally be the man he once was before the death of Trudy.
Will this REALLY be the end? Or will this just be the beginning of a slew of Monk Mystery Movies for television, much like we saw for Columbo back in the 1980's?
Stay tuned!
More on MONK's "goodbye" here.
Update and corrections. 11:30PM Saturday 12/5.... Last night I typed the synopsis during commercial breaks as the show was playing, so please forgive any omissions or a lack traditional structure of the entry. One correction- Molly worked for The East Bay Chronicle, not the San Francisco Examiner.
True story- last week after the original airing of the first part of the series finale my Mom, age 80, told me she thought the birthing center murders somehow would have a connection to a daughter Trudy had out of wedlock that she kept secret from Monk. After all these years, Mom knows best. Growing up I always knew she was the real world's greatest detective.
No comments:
Post a Comment