Monk is having a hard time finding a new assistant, and Natalie might be just what he is looking for. But first he has to take her case and solve the mystery of the intruder who seems inordinately interested in her daughter's pet fish.

Monk investigates the brutal murder of a late kung-fu star's biographer, whose scandalous book has left the icon's fans kicking and screaming; Natalie wages a battle on Monk.

The FBI coop Monk up in a remote cabin with Stottlemeyer and Natalie after the jittery gumshoe witnesses a murder; meanwhile, Disher tries to get cozy with a new flame.

Monk, Natalie and Julie become snarled in a traffic jam after an environmentalist winds up on a deadly collision course with a gangster.

While in Sin City for a bachelor party, Stottlemeyer enlists Monk to prove a casino mogul's wife death wasn't accidental.

Natalie's campaign to be elected to the school board is interrupted by a sniper. Monk's life is endangered as well when he begins to investigate.

A severed finger turns up in the park, and Monk's only source of information is the two-year-old boy who found the finger.

Monk has stiff competition solving the case of a murdered jewelry store owner from a second-rate PI with a loser reputation who suddenly displays skills even more amazing than Monk's.

On Halloween, Monk visits his brother Ambrose in his childhood home to await a visit from his long-absent father, but things take a strange turn when a masked trick-or-treater repeatedly tries to steal Halloween candy from Ambrose's house.

When Natalie finally catches up with the pizza guy who mistakenly left her $50 in change, she finds him dead in his car. She feels compelled to solve the murder but Monk, sick in bed, offers little help.

Monk goes undercover as an office worker and revels in the office routines and actually starts making friends and a possible romance as he tries to solve a murder that occurred in a parking garage next to the office building as well as who injured the hand of the man who hired him whose hand was slammed into a car door probably by the murderer. But Monk's new found popularity may come to a screeching halt if he won't put on the pair of rental (previously used by other people) bowling shoes for the showdown match between his office team and their rival team.

While on vacation for his anniversary, Mr. Monk chats with an intrusive but well-intentioned man at dinner. But when he wakes up the next day, everyone insists that the man was never there.

For the first time in years, Monk has made progress in therapy. But when Natalie discovers that Trudy may be alive, she risks unraveling her boss completely.

Natalie asks Randy to be her date to her brother's wedding. But when he's run down in the parking lot, Monk steps in to figure out what exactly is going on.

Monk encounters an old crush from junior high when she hires him to discover why her housekeeper was killed and her favorite painting vandalized.

The department flies into action after one of their own is poisoned by a secret Santa gift at their very own Christmas party.

Monk investigates the death of a model after his favorite shirt inspector's son is accused of the crime.

After a vicious truck stop attack, Monk awakens with amnesia in a desert hamlet, married to a domineering loon, and suspicious of the circumstances surrounding the hasty departure of a waitress.

While investigating a murder, Stottlemeyer gets into an argument with a cop at the scene who snidely tells him he has been seeing his wife. As a result the crime scene was deemed contaminated. He later asks Monk to follow his wife to see if it's true.

Adrian is one of four detectives on the hunt for a priceless diamond that promises a handsome reward for its finder.

Despite everyone's disbelief that a hero making the news is actually a coldblooded killer, Adrian tries to prove that a celebrity astronaut is responsible, despite an airtight alibi.

Monk must face his fears of dentists after Randy believes he witnesses a murder while under anasthetics. The problem is, the case is connected to a recent armored car robbery.

Lt. Disher and Captain Stottlemeyer capture a "Most Wanted", Colombian criminal, Miguel Escobar, who's wanted for drug trafficking crimes in multiple states, and arrest him for a local homicide. Escobar is notorious for escaping custody, so Stottlemeyer must take extra precautions to ensure that this does not happen while Escobar is in his custody. Captain Stottlemeyer learns that the US Attorney General is ordering him to turn over Escobar to the Federal Government, and is to do nothing more than detain their prisoner until the hand-off, following an extradition hearing. This takes place in the same courthouse where, much to his dismay, Mr. Monk is unable to talk his way out of jury duty, and finds himself forced to hear the case of a robbery/stabbing of a man out to make a bank deposit. During the course of deliberating the robbery case, however, Monk is inadvertently pulled into the Escobar saga.

A method actor gets in the way as Monk tries to solve a case.

A city-wide garbage strike throws Monk completely off his game as he tries to solve the murder of a union boss.

Monk coaches basketball while trying to solve a murder case.

Monk is blinded by a murderer at a fire station, and then must help find him using his other senses.

With work scarce from the police department, Natalie manipulates Monk into opening his own agency, but his first case may be deadly.

Monk and Natalie go to Berkeley for Monk's 25th college reunion, but are sidetracked when Stottlemeyer shows up asking for their help on the recent homicide of a retired clinic nurse.

Dr. Kroger questions his abilities after a patient becomes the prime suspect in a murder. He decides to retire but a distressed Monk is convinced someone else is responsible.

Monk and Natalie are sidetracked into a homicide investigation at a local music festival when a roadie turns up dead, due to a suspected overdose.

Monk meets his long lost father after 39 years.

Monk deals with leprosy on two fronts as he's called to testify that a leper is indeed alive so that his money isn't given away.

When Monk suddenly acquires a new friend who rarely leaves his side, everyone is suspicious but him.

Upset when a hiring freeze at the police department is announced, Monk is pressured by Natalie to investigate the deaths of her parents' neighbors, but when Monk starts considering his undercover role as a viable alternate career something has to be done.

Monk and Natalie take on a very popular shock jock after his sister-in-law suspects that the jock is responsible for killing his wife. But the jockey has an airtight alibi.

Disher inherits his uncle's farm and invites Monk to visit him when he suspects that his uncle's death was not really an accident.

A street musician is murdered six different ways and the killer is threatening to strike again, but Monk and his colleagues are forced to the sidelines by obnoxious FBI agents.

Monk goes to the emergency room with a persistent bloody nose due to a bump on the nose, which he becomes convinced is actually a cerebral hemorrhage, and discovers the doctor he sought out for second opinion, dead on his office floor.

When a deceased dog is accused of murder, Monk finds himself in the employ of his biggest fan, Marci Maven. Obsessive-compulsive meets completely obsessed.

Monk, in a nervous stupor, agrees to help a rapper accused of murdering a rival. The problem is, Monk thinks he might have done it.

Monk is asked to consult on the murder of a woman, but his issues with nudity hamper his skills.

When a realtor is shot and killed while showing a house to a couple, Monk and Natalie suspect the killer to be the victim's partner - who happens to be Stottlemeyer's girlfriend Linda Fusco.

Monk is on the trail of a man who seems to have committed the perfect crime when he murdered his wife and an intruder, and Natalie worries that Julie's new relationship is progressing too fast.

Monk, in competition with one of Dr. Kroger's other patients, gets conned into helping his son find buried treasure. The problem is, it has ties to a recent bank robbery.

Monk's arch-nemesis, Harold Krenshaw, catapults to fame after he falls from a tower and survives. Now Monk must figure out if he's the real Frisco Fly before someone dies.

A convicted murderer put away by Monk is exonerated. Monk must figure out what really happened to keep his remaining shred of confidence.

Monk obsesses about a woman he bumped into on the street, and the resulting insomnia causes him to witness a crime that apparently didn't occur.

Monk's less than holiday mood is only worsened when he's accused of shooting Santa and becomes the most hated man in the city.

A good Samaritan witnesses a cult style murder but the evidence doesn't add up. Mr. Monk goes undercover with the "Siblings of the Sun" to solve the crime.

When Monk's bank is robbed, he's desperate to help with the investigation; when Captain Stottlemeyer won't let him, Monk takes up an unusual position at the bank.

Natalie is frantic, to the detriment of Stottlemeyer's new car, when it appears a mad man is targeting his victims based solely on their name - Julie Teeger.

During an investigation of murders at a junk yard, Monk takes up painting and finds a patron.

Monk is charged with the murder of the man who killed Trudy, and manages to escape custody in order to figure out what really happened.

Stottlemeyer tries to find proof against the man who framed Monk, and Natalie may ruin everything when she learns the truth.

Heartbroken by the sudden death of Dr. Kroger, Monk rushes into homeownership and gets a little more than he bargained for when he hires a very persistent contractor.

Brilliant chess grandmaster Patrick Kloster's wife Linda Kloster goes to Monk saying that her husband is planning to murder her, and she wants him caught posthumously.

Adrian finds himself short an assistant when Natalie is hired to replace the local lotto girl after she's murdered.

A boxer narrowly avoids a bomb, and Stottlemeyer believes it won't be the only attempt with a championship bout coming up. Meantime, Monk splits his time between the case and contemplating retirement when he finds he must pass a fitness exam.

Monk is put in an uncomfortable position when Natalie asks him to help investigate the apparent suicide of her old friend's commanding officer.

Monk is smitten with an attractive former dancer and when she's accused of murder, he agrees to help her, even though all the evidence points to her, and continues searching--even after she confesses to the crime.

Monk's hundredth case, involving a serial killer, is covered by a TV news magazine, but while watching it he realizes that a second unknown killer was responsible for one of the murders.

Monk's hypnotic regression to his childhood begins to affect the case on which he's consulting - an actress who's disappeared, and the holes in her story when she's found after a deadly escape.

Monk's Christmas spirit, or lack thereof, is challenged when he takes a case from three homeless men who believe their friend was murdered, and Leland's epiphany sends him on a mission.

When Monk's half-brother Jack shows up at his door, he's less than thrilled, especially after learning that Jack has just escaped from prison and is accused of killing a very popular female employee while making his escape.

Monk makes Natalie's life miserable after he's shot trying to solve a case she asked him to take as a favor.

Monk's recent, transforming friendship with a neighbor feels suspicious after he's brought in to consult on two murders.

Monk dips his toe into male bonding when he attends the playoffs with Leland, but a murder distracts them from the game and its solution may be the only way to ensure the championship.

Monk gets a call from a man who bullied him when he was a kid. He's still affected by it. He's uneasy when he goes to see him. The man wants to hire Monk to follow his wife who he suspects is hiding something from him. Monk accepts to rub his nose in it. And when he follows her he discovers she's hiding something but Monk thinks there's more going on.

When Monk's neighbor Kevin is found dead backstage at a magic show, Monk begins to suspect Kevin's old mentor, The Great Torini. The problem is, he has a perfect alibi.

Desperate to save the parking lot where Trudy was killed from demolition, Monk enlists the help of a sympathetic councilwoman. But when she goes missing, Monk may be forced to deal with her hapless and incapable assistant.

Monk must reconcile reality with his fan-boy feelings toward an actress who starred as a child in a Brady Bunch-style sitcom in his youth after an attempt on her life.

Monk ignores his paying case for another case that involves a dead wife, victim of a hit-and-run accident, who was visiting from Nigeria.

Monk finds himself defending his humanity while assisting the sheriff in a remote Nevada town with a murder investigation after he spots what could be a UFO.

Monk is asked to go undercover when his doppelgänger, a mob hit man, unexpectedly dies leaving federal agents with no leads as to his next victim.

After Stottlemeyer and Monk are shredded on the stand in a murder case, causing the accused to go free, Monk loses his confidence. Meanwhile, Disher tries to help a boy he used to mentor who is accused of another murder.

After a critic pans Julie's performance in a play, Natalie tries to convince Monk that he committed a murder during the show.

Natalie displays surprising superstition when Monk consults on a case that involves Voodoo. Unfortunately her uneasiness turns to terror when the killer targets her.

A new HMO restriction on individual therapy forces Monk to join one of Dr. Bell's groups just as its members are being murdered.

While Natalie attempts to surprise Monk with the ultimate 50th birthday party, a janitor and a patent lawyer are killed during the launch of the first vacuum with a self-cleaning filter.

Sharona's big payday is in jeopardy when Monk believes her uncle was murdered, rather than killed by an accidental fall, and the investigation will test everyone's tempers as Natalie and Sharona mark their territories.

While searching for what the department hopes is a missing woman, Monk takes in her dog.

In an attempt to woo the lone holdout on the reinstatement committee, Monk accompanies the man's troublesome son and Randy's camping group - where they soon find themselves running afoul of some dangerous armored car robbers.

While investigating the death of a man found shot and burned beyond recognition, things begin to go horribly wrong for Stottlemeyer and his bride-to-be, causing her to have second thoughts.

At long last Monk finally receives his badge - but his first case back on the force proves to be a difficult one as he attempts to tie a serial killer with police corruption.

An investigation draws Monk back to the place where he first heard about Trudy's murder - but his fate has been unfortunately sealed as he retraces his steps on that fateful day.

A videotaped clue from Trudy provides Monk with the clues he needs to solve her murder - but he has very little time to catch her killer while finding out what poisoned him.

While Natalie attempts to surprise Monk with the ultimate 50th birthday party, a janitor and a patent lawyer are killed during the launch of the first vacuum with a self-cleaning filter.

Monk makes Natalie's life miserable after he's shot trying to solve a case she asked him to take as a favor.

Natalie displays surprising superstition when Monk consults on a case that involves Voodoo. Unfortunately her uneasiness turns to terror when the killer targets her.

Adrian finds himself short an assistant when Natalie is hired to replace the local lotto girl after she's murdered.

Monk is having a hard time finding a new assistant, and Natalie might be just what he is looking for. But first he has to take her case and solve the mystery of the intruder who seems inordinately interested in her daughter's pet fish.

Natalie asks Randy to be her date to her brother's wedding. But when he's run down in the parking lot, Monk steps in to figure out what exactly is going on.

During an investigation of murders at a junk yard, Monk takes up painting and finds a patron.

Monk deals with leprosy on two fronts as he's called to testify that a leper is indeed alive so that his money isn't given away.

With work scarce from the police department, Natalie manipulates Monk into opening his own agency, but his first case may be deadly.

Stottlemeyer tries to find proof against the man who framed Monk, and Natalie may ruin everything when she learns the truth.