Monk's impending 50th birthday is fraught with peril as Natalie plans a surprise party for the reluctant detective. He also gets his hands on a super-duper vacuum cleaner, which he does everything but marry. Meanwhile, people start dying around him. The two plots mesh quite nicely. Meanwhile, the captain meets a woman who might just prove to be a keeper. This is assuming she doesn't turn out to be a killer (remember his last flame?). I must admit the killer in this episode is telegraphed early on, but it is fun watching him try to outmaneuver the defective detective. We get to see Monk as a little boy in a poignant flashback.
6 Reviews
Birthday celebrating with Monk
TheLittleSongbird1 October 2017
'Monk' has always been one of my most watched shows when needing comfort, to relax after a hard day, a good laugh or a way to spend a lazy weekend.
While, as far as previous episodes go, not as good as "Mr Monk is Someone Else", "Mr Monk and the Voodoo Curse" and particularly "Mr Monk and the Foreign Man", "Happy Birthday Mr Monk" is a better episode than "Mr Monk and the Critic", "Mr Monk Takes the Stand" and especially "Mr Monk and the UFO". At least the mystery here wasn't obvious, overstuffed and uninspired or excessively weird or silly. It may lack the pathos and consistent humour of the best 'Monk' episodes, but, short-comings and all, it's a decent and entertaining episode.
There are things that don't come off successfully. The least successful is Stottlemeyer's romantic subplot, this seemed more of an excuse to give the character something to do after taking too much of a back-seat in some of the later episodes, and it just felt too rushed and bland with the chemistry between Ted Levine and Virginia Madsen (also lacking warmth and having very little to do) was not particularly convincing.
Some of Monk's behaviour in the middle act is a little too cartoonish and overplayed, the morgue stuff was overkill. Yes, that joke about the blood was not funny, necessary or tasteful.
However, the mystery generally is one of the stronger faring ones of the season up to this point. It's not always plausible, but it was suitably twisty, didn't get too silly or weird and didn't feel like it was trying to do too much and not do enough with it. It starts off well with the single most grizzliest murder of the show (didn't think it was overdone though, 'Monk' is no stranger to brutal murders, the opening murder in "Mr Monk vs. The Cobra" and the murder with the elephant in "Mr Monk Goes to the Circus" were brutal too) and the second murder was done via a clever method, though some have questioned its plausibility in how more people weren't harmed. The identity of the murderer was not as easily foreseeable as in other episodes, not like (as far as Season 8 goes) "Mr Monk Goes to Group Therapy", "Mr Monk's Favourite Show" and especially "Mr Monk and the Critic".
Apart from the Stottlemeyer subplot and Monk being too cartoonish in the middle, the character moments were delightful. Loved how caring Natalie is towards Monk and understood Monk's aversion to birthday parties (relatable once the reason is given and it is not an over the top one for Monk's condition) and Natalie's persistence (seeing as if there is anybody deserving of a birthday celebration it's Monk). Personally liked the fake car and vacuum stuff. Particularly good is how Season 8 began showing Monk conquering some of his phobias and seeing him making progress. This was believable and it was right decision for gradual progression to be made rather than all being magically cured just like that in the final episode when Monk finally gets closure.
One of the best things about 'Monk' has always been Tony Shalhoub, who was as Monk consistently one of the best things about every episode regardless of what material is thrown at him.. It was essential for him to work and be the glue of the show, and Shalhoub not only is that but also at his very best he IS the show. Have always loved the balance of the humour, which is often hilarious, and pathos, which is sincere and touching.
Traylor Howard is sassy and sympathetic and Ted Levine does his best with beneath him material. The supporting cast are solid. The writing is amusing and thought-provoking.
Visually, the episode is slick and stylish as ever. The music is both understated and quirky. While there is a preference for the theme music for Season 1, Randy Newman's "It's a Jungle Out There" has grown on me overtime, found it annoying at first but appreciate its meaning and what it's trying to say much more now.
In conclusion, decent but for a special episode it could have been better. 7/10 Bethany Cox
While, as far as previous episodes go, not as good as "Mr Monk is Someone Else", "Mr Monk and the Voodoo Curse" and particularly "Mr Monk and the Foreign Man", "Happy Birthday Mr Monk" is a better episode than "Mr Monk and the Critic", "Mr Monk Takes the Stand" and especially "Mr Monk and the UFO". At least the mystery here wasn't obvious, overstuffed and uninspired or excessively weird or silly. It may lack the pathos and consistent humour of the best 'Monk' episodes, but, short-comings and all, it's a decent and entertaining episode.
There are things that don't come off successfully. The least successful is Stottlemeyer's romantic subplot, this seemed more of an excuse to give the character something to do after taking too much of a back-seat in some of the later episodes, and it just felt too rushed and bland with the chemistry between Ted Levine and Virginia Madsen (also lacking warmth and having very little to do) was not particularly convincing.
Some of Monk's behaviour in the middle act is a little too cartoonish and overplayed, the morgue stuff was overkill. Yes, that joke about the blood was not funny, necessary or tasteful.
However, the mystery generally is one of the stronger faring ones of the season up to this point. It's not always plausible, but it was suitably twisty, didn't get too silly or weird and didn't feel like it was trying to do too much and not do enough with it. It starts off well with the single most grizzliest murder of the show (didn't think it was overdone though, 'Monk' is no stranger to brutal murders, the opening murder in "Mr Monk vs. The Cobra" and the murder with the elephant in "Mr Monk Goes to the Circus" were brutal too) and the second murder was done via a clever method, though some have questioned its plausibility in how more people weren't harmed. The identity of the murderer was not as easily foreseeable as in other episodes, not like (as far as Season 8 goes) "Mr Monk Goes to Group Therapy", "Mr Monk's Favourite Show" and especially "Mr Monk and the Critic".
Apart from the Stottlemeyer subplot and Monk being too cartoonish in the middle, the character moments were delightful. Loved how caring Natalie is towards Monk and understood Monk's aversion to birthday parties (relatable once the reason is given and it is not an over the top one for Monk's condition) and Natalie's persistence (seeing as if there is anybody deserving of a birthday celebration it's Monk). Personally liked the fake car and vacuum stuff. Particularly good is how Season 8 began showing Monk conquering some of his phobias and seeing him making progress. This was believable and it was right decision for gradual progression to be made rather than all being magically cured just like that in the final episode when Monk finally gets closure.
One of the best things about 'Monk' has always been Tony Shalhoub, who was as Monk consistently one of the best things about every episode regardless of what material is thrown at him.. It was essential for him to work and be the glue of the show, and Shalhoub not only is that but also at his very best he IS the show. Have always loved the balance of the humour, which is often hilarious, and pathos, which is sincere and touching.
Traylor Howard is sassy and sympathetic and Ted Levine does his best with beneath him material. The supporting cast are solid. The writing is amusing and thought-provoking.
Visually, the episode is slick and stylish as ever. The music is both understated and quirky. While there is a preference for the theme music for Season 1, Randy Newman's "It's a Jungle Out There" has grown on me overtime, found it annoying at first but appreciate its meaning and what it's trying to say much more now.
In conclusion, decent but for a special episode it could have been better. 7/10 Bethany Cox
Directed by Tawnia McKiernan, daughter of the late Stephen J. Cannell
safenoe26 June 2020
Warning: Spoilers
The first death is quite gruesome, kind of like what you see in Six Feet Under. Monk keeps on looking behind his shoulder to see what Natalie has in store for his surprise birthday party, and it was a major surprise what she and Stottlemeyer and co had in store. Talking about Stottlemeyer, he starts to find romance with T.K. (T. stands for Trudy) played by Virginia Madsen (who sports brunette hair).
This is the 7th last episode of this fine series. I wish Monk was revived in these pandemic times.
This is the 7th last episode of this fine series. I wish Monk was revived in these pandemic times.
Compact Man
Hitchcoc20 April 2020
Or Monk and the vacuum cleaner. When a man is forced into a trash compactor at a plant, things are set in motion. Monk investigates and, in the process, comes across an inventor and his self cleaning vacuum. So what does that have to do with anything. Too many coincidences and plot twists.
Embarrassingly unfunny and nonsensical.
chipe20 October 2009
Warning: Spoilers
I thought the episode was embarrassing, it was so bad, though many fans seemed to like it for some mysterious reason! I think it was worse than the Foreign Man episode of this season. The few things I liked were: the neat vacuum cleaner, Monk feeding Natalie birthday cake at the end, and Cowboy Hank appearing at the end. As promised by star Tony Shalhoub, Monk is finding peace with his phobias as the series winds down. For example, in the Group Therapy episode he conquered claustrophobia and befriended Harold. In Someone Else and The Critic he had some success with staring down an adversary and being comfortable in rest rooms. In this episode he conquered the fear of birthday parties. Everything else in the episode I disliked:
¶ There wasn't one good laugh in the episode.
¶ Leland's conversations with the consumer reporter was lame (as was the whole episode). Devoid of all wit. Virginia Madsen did nothing appealing, but you couldn't blame her -- they gave her nothing much to say. Plus, he seems to have fallen in love quite fast to say the least.
¶ That fake car chase to the birthday party was the most obvious thing I ever saw on a "Monk" show -- obviously staged. Also, the party was to be held at a certain place, but Monk was giving driving instructions to Natalie, yet the car magically ended up at the party site!
¶ Monk's aversion to birthday parties is OK, but to run away when there are dozens of people attending in a nearby room was extremely inconsiderate, what a waste of time and money, especially when a hall was rented for one of the aborted parties. At the least he could have thanked the guests and exited quickly. And why did they return to aborted party after party?
¶ Not funny or smart: Monk expecting a surprise birthday party to jump out of drawers or shrouded corpses. Also objectionable: Natalie's dismissal of Monk's horrid 10th birthday memories, though I could see her reason for wanting to downplay his rationale for avoiding birthday parties.
¶ We are used to "Monk" crime-detective plots being meager and far-fetched. This one was worse than usual, though intriguing. In most of them, they conveniently ignore the fact that the characters might have disclosed important information to friends and relatives, so the killing isn't very useful for the murderer. Here the real inventor would have had to have spoken to friends and relatives about his work. Stealing his computer is supposed to erase all indication of his work on the cleaner? And why take the tool belt? Why would the phony inventor even put on a tool belt at his place when Monk brought in the broken vacuum cleaner? In fact, he should have found an excuse for refusing a repair job for Monk.
¶ What good purpose was served by the fake inventor killing the crooked patent attorney? You'd assume that the fake inventor held all the legal rights to the cleaner, so he could have cut out his lawyer-partner without killing him. And if the lawyer did have a claim on the cleaner, his heirs would inherit it.
¶ They should have used CGI or a double to make the cowboy's tricks look better.
¶ Getting the double-layered ice cubes to melt just right seemed unbelievable to me. And why did the bad guy bother with the ice cube ploy on Monk at the party; why not just poison the drink?
¶ The trash compactor murder in the introduction was unnecessarily horrific, what with the blood splatter, cries and all. I didn't like the lame joke of the blood splattered on the safety record sign either.
¶ Natalie's usual hectoring and shrill, high pitched, crackling, repetitive voice was particularly grating.
And believe it or not, I am a big "Monk" fan.
¶ There wasn't one good laugh in the episode.
¶ Leland's conversations with the consumer reporter was lame (as was the whole episode). Devoid of all wit. Virginia Madsen did nothing appealing, but you couldn't blame her -- they gave her nothing much to say. Plus, he seems to have fallen in love quite fast to say the least.
¶ That fake car chase to the birthday party was the most obvious thing I ever saw on a "Monk" show -- obviously staged. Also, the party was to be held at a certain place, but Monk was giving driving instructions to Natalie, yet the car magically ended up at the party site!
¶ Monk's aversion to birthday parties is OK, but to run away when there are dozens of people attending in a nearby room was extremely inconsiderate, what a waste of time and money, especially when a hall was rented for one of the aborted parties. At the least he could have thanked the guests and exited quickly. And why did they return to aborted party after party?
¶ Not funny or smart: Monk expecting a surprise birthday party to jump out of drawers or shrouded corpses. Also objectionable: Natalie's dismissal of Monk's horrid 10th birthday memories, though I could see her reason for wanting to downplay his rationale for avoiding birthday parties.
¶ We are used to "Monk" crime-detective plots being meager and far-fetched. This one was worse than usual, though intriguing. In most of them, they conveniently ignore the fact that the characters might have disclosed important information to friends and relatives, so the killing isn't very useful for the murderer. Here the real inventor would have had to have spoken to friends and relatives about his work. Stealing his computer is supposed to erase all indication of his work on the cleaner? And why take the tool belt? Why would the phony inventor even put on a tool belt at his place when Monk brought in the broken vacuum cleaner? In fact, he should have found an excuse for refusing a repair job for Monk.
¶ What good purpose was served by the fake inventor killing the crooked patent attorney? You'd assume that the fake inventor held all the legal rights to the cleaner, so he could have cut out his lawyer-partner without killing him. And if the lawyer did have a claim on the cleaner, his heirs would inherit it.
¶ They should have used CGI or a double to make the cowboy's tricks look better.
¶ Getting the double-layered ice cubes to melt just right seemed unbelievable to me. And why did the bad guy bother with the ice cube ploy on Monk at the party; why not just poison the drink?
¶ The trash compactor murder in the introduction was unnecessarily horrific, what with the blood splatter, cries and all. I didn't like the lame joke of the blood splattered on the safety record sign either.
¶ Natalie's usual hectoring and shrill, high pitched, crackling, repetitive voice was particularly grating.
And believe it or not, I am a big "Monk" fan.
as usual mr moron can't function
sandcrab27727 September 2021
Fixated and obsessed with the vacuum, mr moron the defective birthday guy can't detect crap on his upper lip ...these actions are far from new and have no humorous value ... the cowboy with the lasso should have hung the brillo pad ... glad to see virginia madsen ...
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