[garymill]

Hi Mara,

Funny thing is that to the degree I really liked this episode, the first one I ever saw, USA Today completely ripped it apart, along with the entire season of Monk. They felt that the series is now doing just about anything for a laugh, at the expense of consistency of Monk's character. I don't know all the back story to him, but the paper said that Monk developed all these personality quirps right after his wife died, and before that he was a star detective, so they asked why would taking the medication revert him to in their own words, a "total doofus"?

Heck, I liked the episode, and it seems a lot of other people did too, the USA Today had an article a few days later that 5.9 million people watched the episode, the highest rating for any cable show during the week. For a first time viewer, I really loved all the contrasts in how he behaved, pre and post medication. But I guess to a long time viewer, they could probably agree with the newspaper's assessment.

I can really see your point of view of the epsidoe Mara, take away some of the extremes, and Monk is once again experiencing life as he once did, which in of it self is a huge contrast for him, and he seems to be having a ball testing the boundaries that have limited his life for so long, like having been so afraid of germs etc, to now finishing the food off of someone's plate.

Will be watching again next year.

Gary