Mr. Monk and the Earthquake

Season 1

Episode 11: Mr. Monk and the Earthquake

When Henry Rutherford is seemingly killed in an earthquake Monk suspects all is not what it seems. Can Monk prove it was murder? It won't be easy when the shock of the earthquake has left him speaking gobbledegook.

"He's the Guy":

Once again it's a case of she's the guy. The pretitle sequence clearly shows Henry's wife Christina bashing his head in.

"Here's What Happened":

Just before he was murdered Henry was on the phone to Sharona. Sharona wasn't in so the call went straight to her answering machine. When the earthquake hit he dropped the receiver and the answer machine kept recording meaning the whole murder was documented. Christina realised what had happened a little too late so she concocted a plan with her lover Darryl Wright to get the tape back. Wright tries to get close to Sharona to gain access to her apartment and commits another murder in the process.

In short:

Not the strongest episode of the season but not a poor one by any stretch. We get to meet Sharona's sister, someone else who isn't a massive fan of Monk, and we get to see just how good Monk is at playing charades. It's also pretty funny here Monk doing the round up in total gibberish.