The Worst Episodes of Monk
Every episode of Monk ranked from worst to best. Explore the Worst Episodes of Monk!
Adrian Monk was once a rising star with the San Francisco Police Department, legendary for using unconventional means to solve the department's most baffling cases. But after the tragic (and still unsolved) murder of his wife Trudy, he developed an extreme case of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Now working as a private consultant, Monk continues to investigate cases in the most unconventional ways.
Lowest Rated Episodes Summary
The worst episode of "Monk" is "Mr. Monk and the Big Reward", rated 7.3/10 from 1379 user votes. It was directed by Randall Zisk and written by Tom Scharpling, Daniel Dratch. "Mr. Monk and the Big Reward" aired on 2/3/2006 and is rated 0.0 point(s) lower than the second lowest rated, "Mr. Monk Goes to a Rock Concert".
7.3/10 1,379 votes#1 - Mr. Monk and the Big Reward
Season 4 Episode 13 - Aired 2/3/2006
Low on cash because they haven't had a homicide to investigate in three weeks, Monk and Natalie search for the stolen Alexander Diamond, hoping to win the million-dollar reward. Unfortunately, they have competition in the form of a retired Scotland Yard investigator, a bounty hunter, and a gadget-loving private detective, all of whom want the reward money for themselves. Monk quickly figures out that the heist was an inside job and that one of the robbers was under five feet tall, short enough to hide inside a roll-top desk. He also discovers a clue linking a perpetrator to a transcendental meditation retreat. With their competitors close behind them, Monk and Natalie head for the retreat, where they find the thief, who is unfortunately dead. Meanwhile, Disher is having to interrogate a strange young woman who keeps turning herself in for such ""crimes"" as stealing pens or murdering a hamster. Monk tells Natalie that he's solved the case and they race to the police station with the other detectives following. The only thing left is to find the diamond before their competitors do.
Director: Randall Zisk
Writer: Tom Scharpling, Daniel Dratch
7.3/10 1,357 votes#2 - Mr. Monk Goes to a Rock Concert
Season 5 Episode 8 - Aired 8/25/2006
Monk goes to a rock concert to look for Captain Stottlemeyer's son and finds himself in the middle of a murder investigation.
Director: Randall Zisk
Writer: Blair Singer, Andy Breckman
7.4/10 1,544 votes#3 - Mr. Monk and the Rapper
Season 6 Episode 2 - Aired 7/20/2007
Monk is hired to clear the name of a famous rap star who is accused of murder.
Director: Paris Barclay
Writer: Dan Dratch
7.4/10 1,266 votes#4 - Mr. Monk Falls in Love
Season 7 Episode 6 - Aired 8/22/2008
When Monk develops a crush on a model who is accused of murder, he is determined to prove her innocence, even though she confessed.
Director: Arlene Sanford
Writer: N/A
7.5/10 1,826 votes#5 - Mr. Monk and the Psychic
Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 7/19/2002
When a woman drives off the road to her death, her body is mysteriously found the next morning by a psychic known for fudging the truth. Monk must discover if she's telling the truth this time, or else let a murderer go free.
Director: Kevin Inch, Dean Parisot, Eric Laneuville
Writer: John Romano, Andy Breckman
7.5/10 1,408 votes#6 - Mr. Monk and the Missing Granny
Season 2 Episode 13 - Aired 2/6/2004
Unable to pay for Monk's services as a private detective, middle-aged law student Julie Parlo offers him a trade--she'll help Monk become reinstated as a policeman with the SFPD if he'll help her find her missing grandmother. The only clue to the identity of the kidnappers is a roughly drawn lightning bolt on a note left at the grandmother's house, leading Stottlemeyer and Disher to suspect the former leader of an anti-Vietnam War group from the Seventies. But when the captain, anticipating Monk's reinstatement, invites Monk to help him with interrogation, Monk accidentally discovers that the suspect's tattoo doesn't match the symbol on the note--it has three humps instead of two. Meanwhile, the kidnappers order Julie to provide turkey dinners to the homeless in exchange for the return of the grandmother. Julie complies and her grandmother is returned safely, leading Stottlemeyer to put the case ""on the back burner."" True to her promise, Julie informs Monk of a loophole that will all
Director: Tony Bill
Writer: Joe Toplyn
7.5/10 1,351 votes#7 - Mr. Monk and the Election
Season 3 Episode 15 - Aired 2/25/2005
With her daughter's school about to be closed as a cost-cutting measure, Natalie becomes a candidate in the upcoming school board election despite Monk's fears that she'll desert him if she wins. Natalie's frustrations with a jammed photocopier and other defective equipment bought at a police auction are dwarfed by fear for her life when a sniper fires into her campaign headquarters, further damaging the equipment and killing a security guard. The only clues to the identity of the sniper are an oddly folded note demanding that ""Natalie Teege"" withdraw from the election and a bullet from a semiautomatic rifle made in Russia. Suspicion falls on Natalie's opponent in the election, Harold Krenshaw, whom Monk knows as a fellow patient of Dr. Kroger's. Although Monk thinks that Krenshaw is lying about his friendship with Dr. Kroger and Krenshaw admits to being an excellent shot, Monk is sure that Krenshaw is innocent because he wouldn't misspell Natalie's name. When Krenshaw passes a polygra
Director: Allison Liddi-Brown
Writer: Nell Scovell, Andy Breckman
7.5/10 1,429 votes#8 - Mr. Monk and the Big Game
Season 5 Episode 3 - Aired 7/21/2006
Julie and her friends hire Monk to look into the suspicious death of their basketball coach.
Director: Chris Long
Writer: Jack Bernstein, Andy Breckman
7.5/10 1,308 votes#9 - Mr. Monk Visits a Farm
Season 5 Episode 14 - Aired 2/9/2007
When Lt. Disher inherits a farm from an uncle who committed suicide, he decides to quit the police force and start a new life in the country. But Disher soon suspects that his uncle was murdered, so Monk joins him on the farm to investigate.
Director: Andre Belgrader
Writer: David Breckman
7.5/10 1,223 votes#10 - Mr. Monk and the Wrong Man
Season 6 Episode 8 - Aired 9/7/2007
When a man he sent to prison years ago is cleared based on new evidence, a guilty Monk tries to help him adjust to life on the outside.
Director: Anton Cropper
Writer: N/A
7.5/10 1,261 votes#11 - Mr. Monk's Other Brother
Season 7 Episode 10 - Aired 1/9/2009
When Monk's delinquent half-brother, Jack Jr., escapes from prison and breaks into Monk's apartment, he manipulates Monk into helping him find the person he claims framed him for murder.
Director: David Hoberman
Writer: David Breckman
7.5/10 1,194 votes#12 - Mr. Monk and the Bully
Season 7 Episode 14 - Aired 2/6/2009
When a childhood bully who terrorized Monk hires the detective to trail his wife, whom he suspects of infidelity, Monk relishes the opportunity to prove him right — and things get even sweeter when the bully is accused of murder.
Director: David Breckman
Writer: N/A
7.5/10 1,128 votes#13 - Mr. Monk Goes Camping
Season 8 Episode 12 - Aired 11/6/2009
To get reinstated, Monk must go camping with the son of a committee member... and try to solve a crime.
Director: Randall Zisk, Joe Pennella
Writer: Tom Gammill, Max Pross
7.6/10 1,862 votes#14 - Mr. Monk Meets the Candidate (2)
Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 7/12/2002
With an introduction to Monk's talent, his phobia's, and need for an assistant, Monk investigates the murder of the candidate bodyguard and a political worker. He determines the candidate was not the intended target.
Director: Dean Parisot, Eric Laneuville
Writer: Andy Breckman
7.6/10 1,703 votes#15 - Mr. Monk Meets Dale the Whale
Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 7/26/2002
A judge is murdered while placing a 911 call, but before she dies she names her attacker - notorious criminal Dale Biederbeck. The problem is, "Dale the Whale" is over 800 pounds and hasn't left his bed in years.
Director: Kevin Inch, Rob Thompson
Writer: John Romano, Andy Breckman
7.6/10 1,638 votes#16 - Mr. Monk and the Other Woman
Season 1 Episode 8 - Aired 8/23/2002
A very tidy woman who resembles Trudy turns Monk's head while he's investigating a triple homicide. The only problem is, she's the prime suspect.
Director: Adam Arkin
Writer: David M. Stern
7.6/10 1,636 votes#17 - Mr. Monk Takes a Vacation
Season 1 Episode 10 - Aired 9/20/2002
While on vacation at a resort, Benjy claims he witnessed a murder. Monk believes him, but with no body and the cleanest crime scene Monk has ever seen, it's going to be hard to convince everybody else.
Director: Kevin Inch, Adam Davidson
Writer: Mitch Markowitz, Hy Conrad
7.6/10 1,477 votes#18 - Mr. Monk Goes to the Ballgame
Season 2 Episode 3 - Aired 7/11/2003
When a ruthless CEO and his wife are lured to an industrial park and are shot dead in their car, Monk connects their murders to a star baseball player's quest for the single season home run record.
Director: Michael Spiller
Writer: Hy Conrad
7.6/10 1,494 votes#19 - Mr. Monk Goes to the Circus
Season 2 Episode 4 - Aired 7/18/2003
When a sarcastic and unpopular ringmaster is murdered by an acrobat wearing a face mask and a Ninja-like costume, Stottlemeyer suspects an animal trainer who not only has a motive but also owns the murder weapon. Monk, however, suspects the ringmaster's ex-wife, a trapeze artist billed as The Queen of the Sky who is also a sharpshooter. Meanwhile, the Monk alienates Sharona by telling her that her fear of elephants is irrational and advising her to suck it up.
Director: Randall Zisk, Jerry Levine
Writer: James Krieg
7.6/10 1,487 votes#20 - Mr. Monk Meets the Playboy
Season 2 Episode 8 - Aired 8/15/2003
Suspecting that her boss, Elliott D'Souza, has been murdered by playboy/publisher Dexter Larsen after withdrawing his financial backing for Larsen's Sapphire magazine, D'Souza's secretary hires Monk to investigate. After enlisting the help of the initially reluctant Stottlemeyer and Disher and convincing them that D'Souza's death was no accident despite his being alone in a room locked from the inside, Monk suddenly tries to withdraw from the case. The reason? Larsen has obtained and is threatening to publish nude photographs of Sharona, relics of her past as a struggling single mother in Atlantic City. When Sharona discovers the reason for Monk's strange behavior, her first reaction is shame and fear, but Benjy's response to her partial confession arms her with fierce determination to retrieve the photos and ""nail"" the murderer. Through the common bond of motherhood, she persuades the Sapphire Girl who had provided Dexter's alibi to confess the truth. Meanwhile, Monk puts together De
Director: N/A
Writer: James Krieg
7.6/10 1,374 votes#21 - Mr. Monk Goes to a Fashion Show
Season 4 Episode 10 - Aired 1/13/2006
Monk is facing a crisis: he's down to five shirts. But Inspector No. 8, the only shirt inspector who can meet Monk's criteria for perfection, is not up to her usual standards. Sensing that something is wrong, Monk visits No. 8 on the job. The inspector, Maria Ortiz, informs him that her son, Pablo, has been imprisoned for murdering a fashion model, but she's certain that he's innnocent. Monk is chiefly concerned about his shirts, but Natalie persuades him to talk to Pablo because ""it's the right thing to do."" The conversation uncovers just one clue: Pablo can't read English. When Monk realizes that the killer must have been able to read an emergency exit sign, he's convinced that Pablo is innocent despite the DNA evidence used to convict him. With Stottlemeyer and Disher in tow, Monk and Natalie attempt to talk to the model's former roommate and the fashion designer she worked for, Julian Hodge. But now there's a new problem: Hodge wants thirteen-year-old Julie to model for him. Watching the rehearsal for a fashion show in which Julie will make her debut, Monk discovers a clue that points him to the real killer. When another supermodel is found dead, it's imperative that Monk find new evidence to prove his suspect guilty of both murders and set Pablo free--and for Natalie to get Julie away from the person committing the murders.
Director: Randall Zisk
Writer: Jonathan Collier
7.6/10 1,315 votes#22 - Mr. Monk and the Really, Really Dead Guy
Season 5 Episode 15 - Aired 2/23/2007
When the mysterious “Six Way Killer” strikes in San Francisco, Monk matches his detective skills against the flashy forensic technology of a federal agent as they both pursue the murderer.
Director: Anthony R. Palmieri, Tony Palmieri
Writer: Joe Toplyn
7.6/10 1,351 votes#23 - Mr. Monk and the Naked Man
Season 6 Episode 3 - Aired 7/27/2007
Monk must confront his prejudice against nudists when he's called to investigate a murder on a nude beach.
Director: Randall Zisk
Writer: Tom Gammill, Max Pross
7.6/10 1,249 votes#24 - Mr. Monk and the Buried Treasure
Season 6 Episode 6 - Aired 8/17/2007
Monk digs up trouble after following a treasure map brought to him by Dr. Kroger's son Troy.
Director: N/A
Writer: Jonathan Collier
7.6/10 1,246 votes#25 - Mr. Monk and the Daredevil
Season 6 Episode 7 - Aired 8/24/2007
Monk has trouble coping with new information that he finds out about his arch-rival, Harold Krenshaw.
Director: N/A
Writer: Alan Zweibel