The two-part final was fantastic. It was everything that a good procedural should be.
I used to like the show a lot, but a growing unease has characterized my viewing of the show for the last few seasons. I haven’t always kept up with it, and missed quite a few episodes, but it seems to me that the vast majority of the victims, criminals, and witnesses were white and (except for the criminals) upper-middle class. And, for a show set in San Fransisco, I don’t believe there was a single identifiably gay, lesbian, or transgender character in the entire run of the show (although, as I said before, I have very possibly missed half the episodes (although was a die-hard fan for the first 4 seasons).
The show seems to whitewash the city’s unique character. None of the crimes Monk solves (again, that I’ve seen) took place in Chinatown, Haight-Ashbury, or the Castro. I can’t even remember so much as a cable car. I’m not saying every episode need to revolve around these places, but one per season doesn’t seem like too much to ask.
And other stuff is just wrong. When Monk tries to prevent the parking garage from being torn down, he takes the issue before the city council (and ends up investigating the disappearance of a missing city council woman). Problem is there is no city council. As anyone who’s seen Milk knows, there is a board of supervisors for the city and county. Also, in the finale, an important plot point is the judge’s having to commute to Sacramento. But of course, he doesn’t because the state supreme court is in San Fransisco. Even the scene in the train station was filmed in L.A.
To summarize the previous unwieldy paragraphs, I’m not sure some exterior shots and filming in hilly neighborhoods does justice to setting a show in one of America’s largest and most distinct cities. It would be like Law and Order confusing Battery Park and Central Park. And what this does is to obscure the stories of those who are often unheard from in our society, in one of the few cities where they really make a mark on the landscape.
emtzalex, I can’t disagree with your criticisms. It could have been a lot better show than it was. And I thought the shows in the last season were especially weak. But there was still something about it that I really enjoyed. I think it was seeing a bit of myself in Monk, and being able to laugh about that.
Adrian Monk is my idol. I’m not sure what I’ll do now that the show is done. Though I’m loving me some White Collar.
Cautionary tis true. At least the chance for a reawakening can be written. Not always how it goes. Self preservation can have a dark side.
The two-part final was fantastic. It was everything that a good procedural should be.
I used to like the show a lot, but a growing unease has characterized my viewing of the show for the last few seasons. I haven’t always kept up with it, and missed quite a few episodes, but it seems to me that the vast majority of the victims, criminals, and witnesses were white and (except for the criminals) upper-middle class. And, for a show set in San Fransisco, I don’t believe there was a single identifiably gay, lesbian, or transgender character in the entire run of the show (although, as I said before, I have very possibly missed half the episodes (although was a die-hard fan for the first 4 seasons).
The show seems to whitewash the city’s unique character. None of the crimes Monk solves (again, that I’ve seen) took place in Chinatown, Haight-Ashbury, or the Castro. I can’t even remember so much as a cable car. I’m not saying every episode need to revolve around these places, but one per season doesn’t seem like too much to ask.
And other stuff is just wrong. When Monk tries to prevent the parking garage from being torn down, he takes the issue before the city council (and ends up investigating the disappearance of a missing city council woman). Problem is there is no city council. As anyone who’s seen Milk knows, there is a board of supervisors for the city and county. Also, in the finale, an important plot point is the judge’s having to commute to Sacramento. But of course, he doesn’t because the state supreme court is in San Fransisco. Even the scene in the train station was filmed in L.A.
To summarize the previous unwieldy paragraphs, I’m not sure some exterior shots and filming in hilly neighborhoods does justice to setting a show in one of America’s largest and most distinct cities. It would be like Law and Order confusing Battery Park and Central Park. And what this does is to obscure the stories of those who are often unheard from in our society, in one of the few cities where they really make a mark on the landscape.
emtzalex, I can’t disagree with your criticisms. It could have been a lot better show than it was. And I thought the shows in the last season were especially weak. But there was still something about it that I really enjoyed. I think it was seeing a bit of myself in Monk, and being able to laugh about that.