John Turturo guest stars as, and wins an Emmy for playing, Monk's brother, Ambrose, in a powerful, masterful, and, ultimately, heart-breaking, bravura performance. Sure, there's the usual, somewhat silly mystery that needs to be solved, but the real meat of this episode is the tension that exists between the two brothers. Usually, when a character in a series "suddenly" has a new sibling, (The Cosby Show, I'm looking at you...) the reasoning for never being mentioned is silly. Not so here. The reason is simple, and very understandable. Ambrose's quirks make Monk look downright normal, and the secrets he's carrying are a heavy burden, indeed. My two favorite, stand-out scenes are when Sharona asks Ambrose what it is that Monk has, that he doesn't. And when Monk confronts him about the reason Adrian has denied his existence for the last several years. Bot scenes broke my heart. Watch this. He'll break your heart, too.
Review of Mr. Monk and the Three Pies
