Having already exhausted the Christmas spirit with its special episode in November, Monk will instead give this holiday season a taste of yesteryear with its black and white "film noir" episode (airing Dec. 22). Hey, the color scheme worked for George Clooney with Fail Safe and Good Night, and Good Luck (but the jury's still out on The Good German).

While the term film noir encompasses numerous types of films, the first type that comes to mind is the crime thrillers brought to us by the likes of Dashiell Hammett or Raymond Chandler. In a brief intro to "Mr. Monk and the Leper," Tony Shalhoub promises that the episode will deliver it all: "murder, mystery, intrigue and a femme fatale."

As the title implies, Adrian Monk (Shalhoub) meets with possibly his worst nightmare: a man who has leprosy (Paul Blackthorne). The problem for our germophobic gumshoe is that this man is his latest client, Derek Bronson, a millionaire who was lost at sea seven years ago and contracted leprosy. Because of this, he's been in hiding ... until now.

Witnessing Monk's various neuroses is always good fun, and this episode has moments of pure gold, especially after Monk has realized that he shook Mr. Bronson's hand. Constantly referring to his client as "the leper" doesn't help either. His assistant Natalie (Traylor Howard) tries to make her boss more tolerant, but she's distracted by her budding romance with a doctor they consult.

While on the case, Monk encounters Mandy (Emmy winner Sarah Brown) the millionaire's loving wife. Naturally, a mystery has to fit in somewhere, which leads to an investigation involving murder and betrayal. In an odd twist, the episode shows us who did the killing, but keeps you confused about the victim.

All in all, the show does a good job visually of mimicking the noir style for its mystery scenes. Shots of Monk entering a bar and then taking his first careful steps inside before sitting down at a shadowy booth are reminiscent of the classic '40s films. They got the sound right too, with a light, jazzy score featuring plenty of tinkling piano.

Naturally, Monk doesn't conform to other people's standards, and he breaks this noirish mood at times with his comments such as "There's more light over there" when he sits down at the dark booth.

In the everyday scenes, however, the B&W seems a little out of place. These segments would probably be more at home in color, and in fact, USA is giving viewers the opportunity to make their own judgment. Directly after the B&W episode airs, it will play once again, only this time in glorious color. Viewers can then vote online at usanetwork.com for their preference, which is all a big ploy leading up to the new, guest-filled season kicking off on Jan. 19.

So did you like the B&W or color version better? How well did the show's tribute to film noir work out?

Comments

Loved the B&W version. Would love to see more!

Thalia Sloan | Dec 22, 2006 8:02:59 PM | #

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Much preferred the color version.

Jim Jackson | Dec 22, 2006 10:05:40 PM | #

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I really wanted to like the B&W version, but all they did was wash out the color and leave a muddy print behind (at least on the TV in my hotel room). Had they actually adjusted the lights and cameras for B&W, we might have had something.

Jon88 | Dec 23, 2006 8:13:41 AM | #

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I usually prefer B&W except for musicals and films in which out door scenes are important to the story and am generally in agreement with Jon88 except I think that they compromised on the lighting. Instead of B&W lighting for the first one and color lighting for the second they seem to have gone half way betwixt and between for both so both suffered. (Shot once in color with betwixt and between lighting and aired with the color removed for b/w?) Both versions seemed to have trouble with separation.

Rachel2021 | Dec 30, 2006 2:53:39 PM | #

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Paul Blackthorne did NOT play the client with leprosy. He was the doctor who had HAD leprosy and had recovered, which is why he had gone into medicine. The person who portrayed the leper was the poor sap that the wife had hired to keep her from losing her husband's fortune. He was the pianist who she murdered and was going to send up in the hot air balloon to dump in the water. Plus, it was so obvious that Traylor Howard (Natalie) is pregnant, no matter how many times they put something in front of her. I feel that having her going out with the doctor, the above mentioned Paul Blackthorne, they will be able to write in her pregnancy and dispense with the poor camouflage. Also, P. B. is the star of The Dresden Files so getting his face out there is a good thing to get the viewing audience acquainted with him. Just thought that needed clearing up.

tricia | Jan 1, 2007 5:45:51 PM | #

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