Mr. Monk's Last Case: A Monk Movie found time to pay homage to the show's best and possibly most underrated relationship. Set almost 15 years after the events of “Mr. Monk and the End”, Mr. Monk's Last Case reunited the cast for another case, although most of them were no longer detectives or members of the force. Besides Randy, everyone else moved on to other jobs or retired. This includes Leland Stottlemeyer, who retired from public service and was now in the private sector.
Stottlemeyer's new job as Rick Eden's security chief ended up being important to the plot as the billionaire businessman was Adrian's prime suspect for killing Molly's fiancé. Although Stottlemeyer was very happy with his work and didn't want to believe that Eden was guilty, he eventually accepted that Adrian was right after confronting his friend a few times. This small clash between Leland and Adrian allowed the Monk film to remind us that these two characters have been friends for decades.
Adrian recalling details about Leland's mother was a sweet moment in Mr.
Monk corrected Stottlemeyer about his friend's mother
When Adrian first goes to Rick Eden's house to confront the billionaire, Leland understands what is happening and tries to dissuade Monk. Stottlemeyer truly believed that Rick Eden was not guilty and suggested that Monk might be wrong this time, perhaps due to his advanced age. To prove his point, Leland noted that he too had aged, saying “Yesterday I couldn’t remember my first girlfriend’s name.” to which Monk responded “Maria Beecom.” When asked how he knew this, Monk said “Your mother mentioned it.”
Mr. Monk's Last Case: A Monk Movie was a good reminder that Adrian Monk and Leland Stottlemeyer have been friends for their entire lives.
While Monk remembering one detail about Stottlemeyer was moving in and of itself, the fact that Stottlemeyer's mother has been dead for almost 40 years somehow made it all the more wholesome. To make things even more curious, Adrian corrected Leland about how long his friend's mother had been dead. After Stottlemeyer said “My mother has been dead for 35 years” Monk quickly pointed out that it has actually been 37 years.
Adrian correcting Stottlemeyer on his own mother's death was a classical monk
Monk is always the smartest guy in the room
Each episode of Monk it had a lot of humor, even though it was a crime show that often dealt with heavy themes. Monk I always found a way to make serious or even emotional scenes funnyand it was no different for Mr. Monk's Last Case. Adrian correcting Leland in the middle of a heartfelt conversation about two men who may be “outdated” as detectives was hilarious.
One of Adrian Monk's defining characteristics is that he could never help himself when it came to correcting people, partly due to his OCD, but also because of how intelligent he is. Adrian rarely misses anything, and it's no surprise that he knew exactly how long Leland's mother had been dead. Yet, Mr. Monk's Last Case: A Monk Movie it was a good reminder that Adrian Monk and Leland Stottlemeyer have been friends for their entire lives.