Mr. Monk and the Rapper
Encyclopedia
"Mr. Monk and the Rapper" is the second episode of the sixth season
of Monk
, and the 79th episode overall.
) emerges from a building in a back alleyway where a reporter is waiting to ask a few questions. Reluctantly, Extra Large agrees to answer her questions, which include the fact that his rival rapper Murderuss has been saying some threatening things about him. Meanwhile, his limo is making its way across town, and there is a bomb planted on the rear left wheel. When the car arrives, Extra Large gets in, and the car starts to pull away, but has barely gone a few feet when a rigged watch acting as the timer strikes 8:00 AM, causing the car to explode and killing the luckless rapper.
In another part of town, Adrian Monk
and Natalie Teeger
are trying to set Monk's clocks one hour forward due to Daylight Savings Time going into effect. As usual, Monk is obsessing about the fact that the clock is two seconds off. While he is obsessing over that, Natalie notices that Monk has brought her flowers, but she is upset to find that the note says "Happy Secretary's Day," considering that what she does is much harder than what a secretary would do, so refuses to help him fix the clock. Monk is still fussing over the clock being off, when he receives a visit from none other than Murderuss (Snoop Dogg
), a rapper from Manslaughter
Records, and his two associates Snake di Assassin (David Banner
) and Silent Killa. Murderuss is no stranger to Natalie, who mentions that she's taken all of his records away from her daughter. He would like to hire Monk to clear his name, since he is the primary suspect in Extra Large's death. Being nervous, Monk unwittingly accepts the job.
Monk and Natalie join Captain Stottlemeyer
and Lieutenant Disher at the crime scene. Natalie asks Randy about if he thinks Stottlemeyer respects him, and Randy gives her an ambiguous answer. When she tells the Captain about Murderuss's little visit that morning and Monk accepting the job, Stottlemeyer mentions that when Monk gets nervous, he blacks out and sometimes agrees to do stuff without even knowing it. Monk learns that the type of watch utilized as the timer is a white gold pocket watch, and that Murderuss wears just such a watch with him.
Stottlemeyer and Disher take Murderuss in to interrogate him. There is a mountain of evidence against him: it seems he was ticked off by the fact that Extra Large broke off from his label and started recording for Fresh Rhymes Records, another recording label. He also recorded a song on one of his latest labels called "Car Bomb
," and that happens to be the way Extra Large was killed in (Murderuss deragatorily calls Randy "white" for his bad rapping abilities when Randy attempts to rap out an excerpt from the song). To make matters worse, the police have recovered a blasting cap. Stottlemeyer tells Murderuss that thanks to the serial number
, they know that this particular cap was stolen from a construction site only a half block away from his house. Lastly, the limo driver was with the car all night long, and he's going to survive (currently he's in the intensive care unit
).
Watching the interrogation from behind a window, Monk is still convinced that Murderuss might be guilty, but Natalie still thinks he is innocent. Regardless, he continues to investigate. Their next stop is the studio for Fresh Rhymes Records, where they watch a few people auditioning (and Monk has a bit of an argument with one of the auditioneers about word choice in one of the lyrics). They speak to the label's heads, Denny Hodges (RonReaco Lee
) and Woody Mitchum. They mention that Extra Large had just moved to this label, and they had high hopes for him. In fact, they even remember where they were that morning: they were at their breakfast meeting, and Woody was late, and when he showed up, Denny was halfway through and there was no place setting for him.
Hodges mentions that he saw someone fitting Murderuss's description the night before the bombing in a parking garage, yet it was also very dark so he couldn't make out the man in question. While Monk holds his opinion, Natalie has a hunch, and she finds it odd that Hodges happened to see someone in that parking garage, and thinks Hodges is the killer. Monk dismisses her, noting that Extra Large was Hodges's meal ticket, and he had high hopes for his star. Their next step is to talk to the limo driver, who is out of intensive care now from the severe injuries of the explosion. That night, a mysterious man goes to the hospital and strangles the luckless limo driver to death. A white gold chain is found to be the murder weapon, and the footprint found matches a special edition shoe of the kind Murderuss wears.
Monk wants to now back out of the contract, but can't muster himself enough courage to do so. He and Stottlemeyer go to Murderuss's house to try to handle it. Being a cop, Stottlemeyer is kept in the entry hall and when Monk is about to opt out of the contract, he blacks out so he's still in.
With Murderuss about to be indicted and arrested, Monk packs his belongings and plans to escape from town with some plan in mind like buying a rail pass to make his way through Asia. Natalie once more brings up her suspicion on Hodges and him happening to see Murderuss in the parking garage at 7:00 PM that night, and Monk, looking at an analog alarm clock, suddenly realizes that the bomb missed its mark by a good hour due to Daylight Savings Time.
It was not Extra Large who was the target of the bombing, but rather Woody Mitchum, Hodges' business partner, whom Hodges had decided to kill rather than try to split their profits. He planted the bomb that night, planning for it to go off when Woody was in the limo, but forgot Daylight Savings Time, so the bomb missed its mark by an hour and instead blew up Fresh Rhymes's biggest star instead. This summation does explain why when Woody showed up at the hotel for the breakfast meeting with Hodges, he didn't have a place setting: it was because Hodges had assumed that he was already dead. Hodges later killed the limo driver because he feared that the limo driver might have seen him fleeing.
Hodges, hearing this, tries to run, but runs into Stottlemeyer. He says that they can't prove any of this, but Stottlemeyer presents him with a search warrant
, telling him that they've just found his little bomb factory in his basement.
Afterwards, while leaving out a back route, Murderuss invites Monk to be his security chief on his 27 stop tour. Monk declines, but this time, he remembers declining the offer, as he has his own work to do.
, on which Monk aired, so many scenes from the series were filmed at Universal Studios.
Monk (season 6)
The sixth season of Monk originally aired in the United States on USA Network from July 13, 2007, to February 22, 2008. It consisted of 16 episodes. Tony Shalhoub, Traylor Howard, Ted Levine, and Jason Gray-Stanford reprised their roles as the main characters. A DVD of the season was released on...
of Monk
Monk (TV series)
Monk is an American comedy-drama detective mystery television series created by Andy Breckman and starring Tony Shalhoub as the titular character, Adrian Monk. It originally ran from 2002 to 2009 and is primarily a mystery series, although it has dark and comic touches.The series debuted on July...
, and the 79th episode overall.
Plot
After a long night of partying, rapper Extra Large (Marcello ThedfordMarcello Thedford
Marcello Thedford is an American film and television actor. His most noteworthy roles have been as Kelvin "Buffalo" James on the ESPN dramatic series Playmakers, Semi in Employee of the Month, and in eight episodes of ER as Leon, Dr. Greg Pratt's mentally challenged brother.Thedford's acting career...
) emerges from a building in a back alleyway where a reporter is waiting to ask a few questions. Reluctantly, Extra Large agrees to answer her questions, which include the fact that his rival rapper Murderuss has been saying some threatening things about him. Meanwhile, his limo is making its way across town, and there is a bomb planted on the rear left wheel. When the car arrives, Extra Large gets in, and the car starts to pull away, but has barely gone a few feet when a rigged watch acting as the timer strikes 8:00 AM, causing the car to explode and killing the luckless rapper.
In another part of town, Adrian Monk
Adrian Monk
Adrian Monk is a fictional character portrayed by Tony Shalhoub and the protagonist of the USA Network television series Monk. He is a renowned former homicide detective for the San Francisco Police Department...
and Natalie Teeger
Natalie Teeger
Natalie J. Teeger is a fictional character on the American crime drama Monk. She becomes Adrian Monk's personal assistant midway through the third season of the show...
are trying to set Monk's clocks one hour forward due to Daylight Savings Time going into effect. As usual, Monk is obsessing about the fact that the clock is two seconds off. While he is obsessing over that, Natalie notices that Monk has brought her flowers, but she is upset to find that the note says "Happy Secretary's Day," considering that what she does is much harder than what a secretary would do, so refuses to help him fix the clock. Monk is still fussing over the clock being off, when he receives a visit from none other than Murderuss (Snoop Dogg
Snoop Dogg
Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr. , better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Snoop is best known as a rapper in the West Coast hip hop scene, and for being one of Dr. Dre's most notable protégés. Snoop Dogg was a Crip gang member while in high school...
), a rapper from Manslaughter
Manslaughter
Manslaughter is a legal term for the killing of a human being, in a manner considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is said to have first been made by the Ancient Athenian lawmaker Dracon in the 7th century BC.The law generally differentiates...
Records, and his two associates Snake di Assassin (David Banner
David Banner
Lavell Crump , better known by his stage name David Banner, is an American rapper, record producer and occasional actor. Banner was born in Jackson, Mississippi and graduated from Southern University. He started his music career as a member of the rap duo, Crooked Lettaz before going solo in 2000...
) and Silent Killa. Murderuss is no stranger to Natalie, who mentions that she's taken all of his records away from her daughter. He would like to hire Monk to clear his name, since he is the primary suspect in Extra Large's death. Being nervous, Monk unwittingly accepts the job.
Monk and Natalie join Captain Stottlemeyer
Leland Stottlemeyer
Captain Leland Francis Stottlemeyer is a fictional police officer played by Ted Levine on the American crime drama Monk. He is Captain of the San Francisco Police Department 's Homicide Detail, and a longtime friend of Adrian Monk from their days on the force together where he served as Monk's...
and Lieutenant Disher at the crime scene. Natalie asks Randy about if he thinks Stottlemeyer respects him, and Randy gives her an ambiguous answer. When she tells the Captain about Murderuss's little visit that morning and Monk accepting the job, Stottlemeyer mentions that when Monk gets nervous, he blacks out and sometimes agrees to do stuff without even knowing it. Monk learns that the type of watch utilized as the timer is a white gold pocket watch, and that Murderuss wears just such a watch with him.
Stottlemeyer and Disher take Murderuss in to interrogate him. There is a mountain of evidence against him: it seems he was ticked off by the fact that Extra Large broke off from his label and started recording for Fresh Rhymes Records, another recording label. He also recorded a song on one of his latest labels called "Car Bomb
Car bomb
A car bomb, or truck bomb also known as a Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device , is an improvised explosive device placed in a car or other vehicle and then detonated. It is commonly used as a weapon of assassination, terrorism, or guerrilla warfare, to kill the occupants of the vehicle,...
," and that happens to be the way Extra Large was killed in (Murderuss deragatorily calls Randy "white" for his bad rapping abilities when Randy attempts to rap out an excerpt from the song). To make matters worse, the police have recovered a blasting cap. Stottlemeyer tells Murderuss that thanks to the serial number
Serial number
A serial number is a unique number assigned for identification which varies from its successor or predecessor by a fixed discrete integer value...
, they know that this particular cap was stolen from a construction site only a half block away from his house. Lastly, the limo driver was with the car all night long, and he's going to survive (currently he's in the intensive care unit
Intensive Care Unit
thumb|220px|ICU roomAn intensive-care unit , critical-care unit , intensive-therapy unit/intensive-treatment unit is a specialized department in a hospital that provides intensive-care medicine...
).
Watching the interrogation from behind a window, Monk is still convinced that Murderuss might be guilty, but Natalie still thinks he is innocent. Regardless, he continues to investigate. Their next stop is the studio for Fresh Rhymes Records, where they watch a few people auditioning (and Monk has a bit of an argument with one of the auditioneers about word choice in one of the lyrics). They speak to the label's heads, Denny Hodges (RonReaco Lee
RonReaco Lee
RonReaco Lee is an American television and film actor.-Television:Lee began his acting career in 1983 as the host of the short-lived television show Kids Beat...
) and Woody Mitchum. They mention that Extra Large had just moved to this label, and they had high hopes for him. In fact, they even remember where they were that morning: they were at their breakfast meeting, and Woody was late, and when he showed up, Denny was halfway through and there was no place setting for him.
Hodges mentions that he saw someone fitting Murderuss's description the night before the bombing in a parking garage, yet it was also very dark so he couldn't make out the man in question. While Monk holds his opinion, Natalie has a hunch, and she finds it odd that Hodges happened to see someone in that parking garage, and thinks Hodges is the killer. Monk dismisses her, noting that Extra Large was Hodges's meal ticket, and he had high hopes for his star. Their next step is to talk to the limo driver, who is out of intensive care now from the severe injuries of the explosion. That night, a mysterious man goes to the hospital and strangles the luckless limo driver to death. A white gold chain is found to be the murder weapon, and the footprint found matches a special edition shoe of the kind Murderuss wears.
Monk wants to now back out of the contract, but can't muster himself enough courage to do so. He and Stottlemeyer go to Murderuss's house to try to handle it. Being a cop, Stottlemeyer is kept in the entry hall and when Monk is about to opt out of the contract, he blacks out so he's still in.
With Murderuss about to be indicted and arrested, Monk packs his belongings and plans to escape from town with some plan in mind like buying a rail pass to make his way through Asia. Natalie once more brings up her suspicion on Hodges and him happening to see Murderuss in the parking garage at 7:00 PM that night, and Monk, looking at an analog alarm clock, suddenly realizes that the bomb missed its mark by a good hour due to Daylight Savings Time.
Here's What Happened
At a tribute concert for Extra Large, Hodges is giving a eulogy on his deceased star. Outside, Stottlemeyer formally apologizes to Murderuss for his accusations. Monk provides Murderuss with a summation. The crowd boos Monk when he comes on stage, but Murderuss quickly takes over and starts rapping out the summation:It was not Extra Large who was the target of the bombing, but rather Woody Mitchum, Hodges' business partner, whom Hodges had decided to kill rather than try to split their profits. He planted the bomb that night, planning for it to go off when Woody was in the limo, but forgot Daylight Savings Time, so the bomb missed its mark by an hour and instead blew up Fresh Rhymes's biggest star instead. This summation does explain why when Woody showed up at the hotel for the breakfast meeting with Hodges, he didn't have a place setting: it was because Hodges had assumed that he was already dead. Hodges later killed the limo driver because he feared that the limo driver might have seen him fleeing.
Hodges, hearing this, tries to run, but runs into Stottlemeyer. He says that they can't prove any of this, but Stottlemeyer presents him with a search warrant
Search warrant
A search warrant is a court order issued by a Magistrate, judge or Supreme Court Official that authorizes law enforcement officers to conduct a search of a person or location for evidence of a crime and to confiscate evidence if it is found....
, telling him that they've just found his little bomb factory in his basement.
Afterwards, while leaving out a back route, Murderuss invites Monk to be his security chief on his 27 stop tour. Monk declines, but this time, he remembers declining the offer, as he has his own work to do.
Additional information
- Rap subculture is heavily predominant in the episode:
- "It's a Jungle out There", the show's theme song, is still used in this episode. However, instead of the standard Randy NewmanRandy NewmanRandall Stuart "Randy" Newman is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, composer, and pianist who is known for his mordant pop songs and for film scores....
version used in all other episodes, a new version rapped out by Snoop DoggSnoop DoggCalvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr. , better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Snoop is best known as a rapper in the West Coast hip hop scene, and for being one of Dr. Dre's most notable protégés. Snoop Dogg was a Crip gang member while in high school...
is utilized instead. - When Monk, Natalie, Stottlemeyer and Disher are at the car bombing scene, Disher mentions how Extra Large was notable well before historical rappers like NasNasNasir bin Olu Dara Jones, who performs under the name Nas , formerly Nasty Nas, is an American rapper and actor. He is regarded as one of the most important figures in hip hop and one of the most skilled and influential rappers of all-time...
, 50 Cent50 CentCurtis James Jackson III , better known by his stage name 50 Cent, is an American rapper, entrepreneur, investor, record producer, and actor. He rose to fame with the release of his albums Get Rich or Die Tryin and The Massacre . Get Rich or Die Tryin has been certified eight times platinum by...
, Fat JoeFat JoeJoseph Antonio Cartagena , better known by his stage name Fat Joe, is an American rapper, CEO of Terror Squad Entertainment, and member of musical groups D.I.T.C. and Terror Squad....
, and Jay-ZJay-ZShawn Corey Carter , better known by his stage name Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is one of the most financially successful hip hop artists and entrepreneurs in America, having a net worth of over $450 million as of 2010...
. Also, the regular music themes are mostly removed from the episode and replaced with rap soundtracks. - Murderuss's colleagues are "Snake da Assassin" and "Silent Killa." These names, plus Murderuss's name, are all supposed to be bad puns on standard terms used to describe killers (murderer, assassin, killer, respectively). Their record label's name, ManslaughterManslaughterManslaughter is a legal term for the killing of a human being, in a manner considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is said to have first been made by the Ancient Athenian lawmaker Dracon in the 7th century BC.The law generally differentiates...
Records, is also supposed to reflect this.
- "It's a Jungle out There", the show's theme song, is still used in this episode. However, instead of the standard Randy Newman
- Monk getting booed on stage and then being quickly interrupted by a performer is similar to a scene in "Mr. Monk Goes to a Rock Concert" where he got heavily booed trying to get the crowd to cooperate.
- It was a big mistake to leave the limo driver in intensive care without police protection, especially after Stottlemeyer reveals his existence to Murderuss. In fact, all things considered, this would be a good setup to catch the killer: post police at the victim's hospital room.
- Unlike with some other episodes, when the episode is set is made clearer by the fact that the bombing is shown to have happened the day Daylight Savings Time begins. Because the episode was produced and aired in 2007, it could be assumed that the events in the episode happen over the weekend of March 10-11 and the subsequent week.
Production
Much of the episode was filmed on the Universal Studios Backlot in Hollywood, California. A soundstage can be briefly spotted in the opening scene (near the back street where the bomb explodes), as well as the edge of a facade. NBC-Universal also owns USA NetworkUSA Network
USA Network is an American cable television channel launched in 1971. Once a minor player in basic cable, the network has steadily gained popularity because of breakout hits like Monk, Psych, Burn Notice, Royal Pains, Covert Affairs, White Collar, Monday Night RAW, Suits, and reruns of the various...
, on which Monk aired, so many scenes from the series were filmed at Universal Studios.