Class Reunions, Rock Concerts, and Shock Jocks
Season five of Monk continues to bring us the cases and struggles of Adrian Monk (Tony Shalhoub) as he struggles to solve crimes despite his OCD and many phobias. This season finds Monk facing new issues in the same old way.

When the city garbage workers go on strike, it's up to Monk to solve a murder to get everything cleaned up. His assistant Natalie (Traylor Howard) convinces Monk to strike out on his own and open a private eye business. Monk's 25 year class reunion at Berkley involves a painful stroll down memory lane and the murder of a nurse. When Captain Stottlemeyer's (Ted Levine) son skips school to attend a rock concert, Monk finds a dead man in an outhouse. And in a "Wings" reunion, Steven Weber plays a shock jock that may have killed his wife. He just has the perfect alibi; he was on the air at the time.

This season featured two episodes at aired during the hiatus between parts of the season. In the first, Monk finally meets his dad, a trucker who needs Monk's help to solve a murder. The second is very interesting. "Mr. Monk and the Leper" was originally shown in black and white and color. It's a very noirish tale, and the black and white color scheme really adds to the episode. Both versions, including their original introductions are included in the set.

As always, this season provided many fun character moments and some hilarious situations. At times, the characters can become cartoonish. This felt especially true near the beginning of the season. But the actors do a great job of keeping things believable and human.

Since the set has both the black and white and color versions of the one episode, there are 17 episodes in this four disc set. Extras include an audio commentary (a first for the series) on the black and white version of "Mr. Monk and the Leper." Disc four contains some hilarious "webisodes" that premiered on line. I know I've seen at least one used as a promo on TV, however. Finally, there's the pilot of "Psych," a similar comedic mystery.

Monk isn't for everyone. But anyone who is a fan will love the latest set.

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