Peacock’s comedy-drama film ‘Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie,’ brings the adventures of the famed private detective, Adrian Monk, recognized for his brilliant mind and eccentric OCD. After a lifetime of career-defining cases, as an SFPD cop turned private eye, Adrian is ready to hang up the hat. However, the man finds himself dusting off his skills to be plucked right back up after his beloved stepdaughter, Molly’s fiancé, Griffin, dies in a tragic accident that the woman doesn’t believe to be an accident at all. As the older man investigates the journalist’s death, his paths cross with many personalities, new and old.
If you have become a fan of Adrian’s sharp mind and endearing quirks, his newest and possibly last case must have caught your attention, compelling you to wonder where it leads our protagonist. SPOILERS AHEAD!
Mr. Monk’s Last Case Plot Synopsis
Following his departure from detective work, Adrian Monk works on his book, detailing the thrilling cases he has worked on in his life. Yet, much to the chagrin of his editor, the man’s mammoth drafts continue to be filled with mere paragraphs about the actual crime. Instead, there are obsessive tangents upon tangents about inconsequential details. As such, Monk finds himself out of a book deal ten years in the making, as well as his advance payment, which snubs the man of the ability to pay for his stepdaughter Molly’s wedding.
Even though Molly is more than happy to have a small wedding, Adrian continues to stress over the same. In fact, this shortcoming, paired with his increasing suicidal ideation, threatens to result in an adverse outcome. Still, the ghostly memory of his wife and Molly’s mother, Trudy, manages to stave the detective off the edge. Meanwhile, a few days before the wedding, Molly’s fiancé, Griffin, a journalist, visits billionaire entrepreneur Rick Eden for an interview.
Griffin has been closely following particular public speculation surrounding Rick regarding his involvement in the scuba diving freak accident that led to his business partner’s death. Consequently, the journalist successfully makes an enemy out of the other man when he refuses to drop his investigation despite Rick’s attempts at bribery. Soon afterward, Rick meets an uncanny demise when he goes on his bi-annual bungee jumping event, where his cord ends up being two feet too long and lands the man to his death.
Nevertheless, Molly, who accompanied Griffin to the event, refuses to believe his death was an accident. Griffin was an experienced bungee jumper and measured his cord himself. Thus, he would have never made such a rookie mistake. Even though Adrian is reluctant to believe there’s a case to be solved and more than eager to stick to his plan to commit suicide through medication overdose on Trudy’s death anniversary, he agrees to investigate for Molly’s sake.
As such, with Natalie and Randy in town for the wedding, the band gets back together. As they work the case, they come across a lead tying a man, Kubrick, to Rick Eden. As a result, Adrian manages to set up a meeting with the billionaire in his mansion with the help of his acquaintance Leland Stottlemeyer, ex-police Chief who heads security for Eden. Although the meeting expectedly doesn’t end well, it enforces Adrian’s belief that something about Rick is amiss.
Furthermore, Adrian also comes across news of an animal shelter that received violent threats in the past few days. Interestingly, the man briefly glimpsed the same address on Rick’s desk the other day. Therefore, Adrian concludes that Rick planted a bomb in an Eden delivery truck driven by an unwitting Kubrick. As such, by detonating the bomb inside the vehicle, Rick can tie up the loose end that is Kubrick while playing it off under the cover of the shelter’s controversial threats.
Ultimately, even Leland realizes Rick’s culpability and advises Adrian to steal the businessman’s laptop to retrieve information. As a result, Adrian finds himself sneaking into Rick’s party. However, the man is awful at disguises and gets caught by the other man easily. True to his character, Rick tries to buy Adrian’s silence. Moreover, he even admits to his involvement in Griffin’s death, entirely too confident that Adrian— nor anyone else— could ever figure out his perfect crime.
Mr. Monk’s Last Case Ending: How Did Rick Kill Griffin?
Rick Eden’s introduction to the plot comes with a general menacing air surrounding his character. The man has big aspirations and spares no expense in bringing them to life. For instance, his latest endeavor involves being the first civilian in space to orbit around the Earth. However, the source of his wealth comes into question in his following interaction with Griffin.
A while ago, Rick’s business partner mysteriously died while scuba diving. Although the incident was presented as an accident, many believe the former had something to do with the death. Likewise, in his journalistic investigation, Griffin had found that the boat carrying Rick’s partner received hush money from an off-shore account near the man’s death. Therefore, Griffin confidently concludes that Rick got the other man killed to get his hands on his company shares.
Of course, Rick doesn’t take the accusations lightly and continues to dodge them. Yet, he proves his guilt by trying to buy Griffin off with lucrative career-defining job offers. Nonetheless, Griffin holds onto his morals and turns the other man down despite his vague threats. Consequently, Rick’s culpability in Griffin’s death looms over the narrative from the beginning, as does the character remains Adrian’s prime suspect.
Eventually, Adrian’s investigation leads him to Rick’s party, where the man finally confronts the detective, no longer willing to entertain his investigation. Rick has indelible faith in his plans’ seal-proof nature. Consequently, he finds no qualms in admitting to the murder in front of Adrian behind closed walls. However, Rick is less willing to allow Adrian to continue his snooping. As such, after the former turns down his bribery offer, Rick has no choice but to chase him down with a gun, willing to commit another murder to cover up his last one.
Although Adrian manages to evade the man for some time, he finds himself sandwiched between a cliff and Rick’s gun barrel soon enough. As a result, Rick pushes him into the unforgiving night ocean to kill and dispose of his body without leaving a trace. Yet, Adrian manages to survive and makes his way back to the shore with the help of other sailors. By this point, Molly is ready to give up all hope of ever solving her fiancé’s murder. Her pitiful situation parallels Adrian’s own reality before he figured out the truth behind his wife’s death. Therefore, the man empathizes with his daughter but still admits defeat.
With Griffin’s murder investigation no longer a concern, Adrian returns to his previous suicidal plans. He has been hoarding pills for some time now and has garnered enough to ensure a swift death. In line with his intentions, he arrives at a funeral home to arrange for his own casket. Nevertheless, he has an epiphany after coming across a pair of twins identical physically, save for a third of an inch of difference between their heads’ circumferences.
Through this incident, Adrian cracks the truth behind Rick’s perfect crime. The night before the bungee jumping event, Rick hired Kubrick to break into Griffin’s shed and replace his measuring tape with another one with slightly off-set measurements. Through magazine interviews and such, Rick knew all about Griffin’s daredevil habits and tendency to prepare his equipment himself.
Therefore, by messing with his cord’s length, Rick secured a way to ensure the journalist’s death while absolving himself of the suspicions. In the end, Adrian solves the mystery behind Griffin’s murder, which leads to Rick’s arrest. Yet, the same leaves the detective finished with his last case, granting him the time to go through with his initial suicidal plan.
Does Adrian Monk Die?
Crime, investigations, and cases have made up Adrian’s life for a long time. Even after Trudy’s murder, the man found a way to return to his profession and proved to be brilliant at it. Still, he has now reached a point in his life where the same stops being a reason to live anymore. Furthermore, like Trudy’s death had exponentiated his OCD, so did the pandemic, rendering him in a tough spot.
Without Trudy and his career, Adrian has become lost. Worse yet, he’s become so despondent that he refuses to find other reasons to live. Therefore, even after he’s offered a job as a consultant by the new SFPD Chief or when Watson the dog proposes a shot at companionship, Adrian turns it all down. As far as he’s concerned, his time in the mortal realm has come to an end, and it’s best if he joins Trudy in the afterlife. The fact that he keeps hallucinating Trudy’s ghost doesn’t help either.
As with most things, Adrian becomes obsessed with the idea of ending his life and is only able to put it in the backseat when an oblivious Molly reaches out to him for help. However, once Griffin’s case is solved, nothing is holding him back from going through with his secret suicide attempt. That is until the day actually arrives.
As planned, Adrian visits the Park with Trudy’s ghost and plans to overdose on his pills. However, ghost Trudy dissuades him from his decision by convincing him that she’s not truly alone in the afterlife now that she has Griffin to keep her company. Moreover, much like Griffin, there are numerous others whose murder cases Adrian has solved who are all keeping Trudy company in the afterlife until he can.
Similarly, there are others waiting for Adrian to solve his case so their souls can rest in peace. As such, Trudy convinces Adrian not to give up on his life yet and to continue his work that brings real change to people’s lives. In the end, Adrian decides against committing suicide and continues to live his life. Thanks to Molly and her gentle guidance, the detective also decides to continue as a consultant for the SFPD. Likewise, Natalie forces Watson into Adrian’s life, knowing that the dog’s company and affection will help the detective find happiness.
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