July 13, 2008

‘Monk’ and ‘Psych’ Return

An Idiot Boxing Special Edition

Following last week’s Burn Notice premiere, two more terrific USA Network shows will return this Friday (July 18th). Here’s an early look at each.

Monk — Last season, I praised this venerable season for having the equivalent of a second wind—after stagnating with predictable plots and dumbed-down characterization, the writers came back with a vengeance. Last season boasted both complex mysteries (none of which felt like cheats—plausible and not as predictable) and a drastic improvement in the characters’ shades and nuance. Great work all around.

The seventh season premiere shows that the writers intend to keep up the high standards they set last year. I won’t reveal the details of the plot, except to say that it revolves around Monk buying a new house and discovering a crime scene. Ringers like Brad Garrett and Hector Elizondo fill out supporting roles. In particular, Garrett does a very good job of playing against type as a handyman with a dark side. Elizondo does a fine job stepping into the difficult role of Monk’s new therapist.

Since the show’s inception, Stanley Kamel has played the role of Dr. Kroger, a therapist who deals with Monk’s quirks with as much sensitivity and compassion as humanly possible. On occasion, Monk drove him as crazy as everyone else, but he tried not to let it show—a testament to Mr. Kamel’s skill was relying almost exclusively on body language and facial tics to convey that conflict. Unfortunately, Mr. Kamel passed away in April. Although it’s “only” a recurring role, his absence leaves a massive void.

This episode is dedicated to his memory in both a literal sense and a spiritual sense. Monk’s grief over the loss of Dr. Kroger motivates the action that drives the entire plot, and it ends with a touching tribute. Monk, a man with such a huge fear of change, ironically, changes everything about his life in order to avoid facing the grief. This is what leads him to buy the new house. Although Monk claims a neighbor’s noisy (read: inaudible to anybody else’s ears) piano playing requires drastic action, Elizondo’s Dr. Bell astutely observes that the particular piece she plays reminds Monk of Dr. Kroger; it’s not the noise that bothers him.

Nonetheless, the new house leads to a murder, and the question of why the murder took place takes us through the rest of the plot. In addition to Monk’s usual compulsions, the writers gave us some nice examples of his thriftiness, emotional insensitivity and self-absorption—characteristics that somehow make Monk more endearing. The supporting cast do an excellent job, as usual.

All in all, the premiere has me excited for the rest of the season. It’s a bit of a downer because of the real-life tragedy surrounding the episode—but in a good, cathartic way.

Psych — Last season left us with a cliffhanger—Shawn opens the front door and says, “Hi, Mom!” Audiences wondered for about five days who it could possibly be, until every media outlet on the planet announced it will be Cybill Shepherd. Despite what I’ve heard about her behind-the-scenes bad behavior, I’m a fan of Shepherd, but it surprised me how little they gave her to do. Don’t get me wrong—it was a really entertaining episode, but her presence did little more than give more depth in the difficult relationship between Shawn and Henry. I shouldn’t harp on it too much, because they can cast as big a name as they want for as thankless or small a role as they want. She does a wonderful job with what they give her, and I hope she’ll return in a larger capacity.

Given somewhat less thankless roles are two other ringers whose names should be as recognizable as Ms. Shepherd’s: Todd Stashwick (The Riches) and the inimitable Christopher McDonald play Gus’ bosses. I liked this turn, not just for the people they cast in the roles, but for the writers finally exploring an oft-forgotten aspect of the show: Gus slacks at a full-time job to help Shawn. They’ve addressed this in a few episodes, but it often takes a backseat to the main story.

As with Monk, the mystery here takes some weird turns, so I don’t want to divulge much more about the plot. Just know that it’s as funny as always; James Roady and Dulé Hill have lost none of their chemistry, and while the supporting players (Corbin Bernsen aside) didn’t get much to do in this episode, I’m very enthusiastic about this show. The premiere had more big, laugh-out-loud moments than I’m used to, which is probably the biggest compliment I can pay it.

On July 18th, Monk will air at 9PM Eastern, followed by Psych at 10PM. USA Network will also air an eight-hour Psych marathon on July 18th, leading up to the premiere, starting at 9AM.

D. B. Bates is a film critic and television viewer who has often shouted at fictional characters who probably wouldn’t listen to him even if they could hear him and existed in reality. Interested in explaining to D. B. the many ways he got it wrong? E-mail him.

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