Mr. Monk and the Secret Santa (2 Dec. 2005)

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

Director:

Jerry Levine

Writers:

Andy Breckman (creator), David Breckman

Stars:

Tony Shalhoub, Traylor Howard, Jason Gray-Stanford

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Tony Shalhoub	...	Adrian Monk
Traylor Howard	...	Natalie Teeger
Jason Gray-Stanford	...	Lt. Randall Disher
Ted Levine	...	Captain Leland Stottlemeyer
Rachael Harris	...	Cpl. Alice Westergren
Gill Gayle	...	Frank Prager
Emmy Clarke	...	Julie Teeger
Clare Carey	...	Sister Heather
Michelle Azar	...	Charlotte Prager
Casey Longstreet	...	Dori Prager
Chet Grissom	...	Detective Chasen
Burnadean Jones	...	Toddler's Mom
Dylan White	...	Detective Robbins
Clint Jung	...	Sweater Detective
Emma Bretthauer	...	Coughing Girl

Storyline

When an officer dies after drinking poisoned wine sent to Captain Stottlemeyer as a Christmas gift, the captain suspects Frank Prager, who tried to shoot him outside a bar several months earlier. Searching the crime scene for clues, Monk notes that the bullet holes seem to form a pattern, but neither he nor Stottlemeyer can figure out the message they're intended to convey. To solve the case, Monk is forced to go undercover... as Santa Claus.

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Plot Keywords:

christmas

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Mystery | Crime

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 December 2005 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mandeville Films, Touchstone Television, NBC Universal Television

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Goofs

In the opening, the killer is shown poisoning the bottle of port by using a syringe to inject the poison through the cork and into the port, but when Detective Chasen opens the bottle and pours a drink, the bottle has a typical port stopper: a cork stopper with a hard plastic cap. The syringe and needle would not have penetrated the plastic cap.

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Quotes

[During the gift exchange, Alice gives Monk a whisk broom and dustpan combination]
Adrian Monk: [overcome] Alice, this... this I love.

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Soundtracks

"Silent Night"
(uncredited)
Music by Franz Gruber
Lyrics by Joseph Mohr
Sung by Tony Shalhoub and Traylor Howard

User Reviews

Good Christmas Episode

This was a nice - and funny - Christmas episode with some nice messages.

It opens with a Christmas party at the police station. Capt. Stottlemeyer receives a bottle of port wine as his gift from his "secret Santa" but isn't interested in it. He can't find the gift he supposed to give to someone so he gives that instead. It's poisoned and the cop who drinks it dies. I won't say anymore because this has a few twists to it that are interesting.

The funniest part of the show was when Monk went undercover as a Santa in the mall. That was only a short scene, but it was very good.

There are some warm, sentimental moments in here, too, for most of the cast members and a few others. This is an episode that leaves you with a good feeling....almost perfect for the Christmas season.