The latest Mr. Monk movie brought back Monk's oldest trick that made it better than other detective shows

Mr. Monk's Last Case: A Monk Movie benefited from using one of the original series' best gimmicks. Aired from 2002-2009, Monk followed a procedural format that helped make the series a success. While most MonkWhile the best episodes had their own mysteries to solve and could stand on their own, the series also had the overarching mystery of Adrian Monk (Tony Shalhoub) trying to uncover the truth about his wife's unsolved murder. This did Monk It works well as an episodic show and when watching the entire series.

Given the show's success and lasting legacy, it was only a matter of time before a revival took place, which eventually came to fruition with a reunion in Mr. Monk's Last Case. In addition to bringing back Shalhoub and other key cast members from Mr. Monk's Last Case, the Peacock film featured many of the series' trademarks. This included ending with a "here's what happened" Monk's explanation, one of several unique elements that set the USA Network series apart from other procedural detective shows.

Mr. Monk's Last Case Revealed Who the Killer Was Early On

There was no doubt about Rick being the killer

From the beginning, Mr. Monk's Last Case made it clear that billionaire Rick Eden (James Purefoy) was the killer. The mystery wasn't who killed Griffin Briggs (Austin Scott), but rather how Rick was able to kill him.with Monk needing evidence to prove the billionaire's guilt. This is a trick that many Monk episodes used, as Monk often knew who the killer was at the beginning of the episode, but he needed to find out how exactly they committed the crime and have evidence to prove it.

Monkof "here's what happened" the scenes were satisfying because revealing all the means and motives behind the crime was more interesting than simply unmasking the killer. This approach helped at the end of Mr. Monk's Last Case be satisfactory too, with the "here's what happened" focusing on how Rick managed to kill Griffin and how Monk was able to discover the truth. It was another way that the film ended up feeling like an episode of Monkjust with a longer runtime.

Monk, often revealing the killer in advance, made him an unusual police officer

Helped Monk stand out from other procedural shows

Although there is no shortage of procedural series, revealing the killer in advance is a way of Monk distinguished itself from its competition. Due to the series' episodic format, the killers tended to be new characters and were not members of the main cast. With the killer usually being revealed and unmasked in the same episode, such a quick turnaround couldn't have much impact and there was often a limited number of suspects. Finding out how the crime was committed is done MonkThe film's mysteries became more intricate and subverted expectations of the traditional whodunnit.

The means behind the crimes often related to Monk's many phobias and the solving of the case meant having to face his phobias head on. That made solving the cases more personal than having Monk simply figure out which newly introduced character was responsible. Monk stood out for always placing its titular character and his development at the forefront of the story, which was more manageable by revealing the killer's identity upfront.