List of episodes that relied on inaccuracy/had obvious plot hole
As much as I love the show I´ve always known that it has fair share of goofs and sometimes plot holes. It was only after reading severel websites (including this one) that I realized how much of them was and sometimes, the mistake was pretty critical to the overal plot. Without any intention to mock it, I´ll try to list them all. Sorry in advance for the long list. Spoilers obviously:
1. Mr. Monk and the Earthquake(taken from TV.com): "If phone service to Sharona's house was down as a result of the earthquake, how was Rutherford able to stay connected (or call her back), and how was his wife able to redial the number to see who he called? (Contributed by nelamm.)" (However, this is kinda debatable, as the malfunction could simply kick a little later).
2. Mr. Monk Goes to the Circus: It stretches credibillity how murderess was able to passing her recent injury for an older one.
3.Mr. Monk Meets the Playboy(taken from TV.com): As brilliant as the method of murder seems, it is physically impossible. Due to the fact that magnetic field-lines have to be closed, the force of a magnet decreases dramatically with the distance to the magnet. "Strong enough to lift a car" is always referring to the holding-force on contact with the magnet, but no man-made magnet (except maybe a superconducting magnet from high-energy physics) would be able to deliver a force as strong as shown in this episode over the distance of approximately 1m. The magnet in this episode wouldn't even be able to lift a weight of 1 kg at a distance of more than 5 cm.
4. Mr. Monk Gets Married: I remember discussion on these very forums how stupid was the idea of mixing gold with ink, which would vaporize immidiately.
5.Mr. Monk Goes to Jail: This one is just extremely plagued by supposed inaccarucies about the transplantation processess, inner workings of prison, etc.
6.Mr. Monk and the Game Show: It is commonly cited as naive premise that rigged show as this wouldn´t be noticed earlier, given how usually the strict conditions are.
7.Mr. Monk and the Astronaut: The deed should not be possible so shortly before the launch, considering that astronauts are required stay in isolation.
8.Mr. Monk and the Class Reunion:(taken from IMDB)
Kyle Brooks's plan to kill his wife and then utilize the suicide note she wrote in college never would have worked for a number of reasons. First off, paper ages and the note was written over 25 years ago (and any cop who saw that note would have been able to determine the age of the paper). Secondly, we are to assume that the hotel was booked full that night. As a result, there would have been plenty of people that would have heard Dianne screaming, indicating that her death was not a voluntary thing. Lastly, just before Monk, Natalie, Stottlemeyer and Disher burst into their room, as Kyle is about to push Dianne off the balcony, Kyle is not wearing gloves. Yet he comes into contact with Dianne's clothing, leaving fingerprints and DNA behind in the process. The cops would have found these prints, and would have known that Dianne's death wasn't suicide.
Diane says that she attempted suicide 25 years ago from depression over the recent death of her mother. That her suicide note mentions her dog, dinner with specific friends at a favorite restaurant, and her breaking a window, but not her mother seems highly improbable.
9.Mr. Monk and the Really, Really Dead Guy: The presence of FBI is simply not justified.
10. Mr. Monk and His Biggest Fan: Again, I remeber people here discussing how nobody recognized that animal was dead for days by smelling alone.
11. Mr. Monk and the Rapper(taken from TV Tropes):when Extra Large's limo is blown up, the limo driver is seriously injured and hospitalized in the ICU. The real killer then strangles him a few days later before he can give his statement. In reality, sole eyewitnesses to a homicide investigation tend to be put under police protection on the grounds the killer might try to eliminate loose ends. Had this been done to the limo driver, it would've provided a trap to catch the real killer.
12.Mr. Monk Is Up All Night: As I understand from the various notes, cornea transplants have nothing to do with either Retinitis Pigmentosa nor the eye color.
13. Mr. Monk and the Genius: My personal addition. The ending is dependent on fact that murderer somehow switched the tombstones without anyone noticing.
14. Mr. Monk Is Underwater: Again, the climax, not the entire episode, it is that one with Monk and Natalie being trapped in unaccesible ballast tank.
15. Mr. Monk and the Miracle:The entire thing just doesn´t hold up.
16. Mr. Monk and the Foreign Man (From the Tv Tropes Your Mileage May Vary section): Mr. Monk and the Foreign Man" relies on everyone being a complete idiot, even for the character development Monk gets. The crime in question goes like this: restaurant owner Kenneth Nichols drunk dials a friend of his who happens to be on vacation while he's driving. However, said friend left his cell phone at home, so the housekeeper answered. Nichols runs over a visiting Nigerian woman while he's talking, so he then proceeds to drive over to the friend's house and kill the housekeeper to cover up evidence of vehicular manslaughter. Where it becomes an idiot plot is this: ◦ The fact that Nichols runs over a woman in his delivery van, that has the name of his business "Le Poisson Bleu" on it in great big letters at 8:15 PM, while recklessly driving down a busy street (and under the influence of alcohol) and he thinks nobody is going to notice. More so, he thinks the broken headlight is going to be the dead giveaway, as opposed to, say, the words "La Poisson Bleu" written in big ass letters so conspicuous that even a stoned slacker sees them.
◦ That says nothing of the unseen Sergeant Kramer who was in charge of the hit and run investigation and failed to find that the tire tracks were made by a van or the shattered headlight glass left in the street, or failed to realize that there was a gas station nearby with potential witnesses and security cameras.
◦ Plus the fact that Ansara Waingaya steps into the crosswalk the moment the cross street's light turns red, when common sense dictates that you should look both ways before crossing to make sure that traffic on the cross street actually stops, or at the very least, notices you.
17. Mr. Monk and the Dog: Relies on incorrect information that Australian shepherds have no tails at all.
18. Mr. Monk and the End: For some reason, everything Monk has bought is tested, except the wipes.
Well, that was really long. Any additional thoughts?