What I'm Watching: Monk

Monk: Season 8, Episode 2 “Mr. Monk and the Foreign Man” (B+)

The continuing parade of recognizable guest stars on “Monk” turns out to be truly terrific this week with the brilliant casting of Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Mr. Eko from “Lost”) as a grieving husband from Nigeria who comes to the United States to find out who killed his wife. Akinnuoye-Agbaje is an extremely talented actor capable of displaying a broad range of emotions, but I had no idea he was comically skilled. It turns out he’s the perfect companion for Monk, eager to please and to learn what true Americans do, according to Monk, that is. Monk’s initial gesture of friendship to Monk was touching, and their further adventures were really great. The laundromat scene where Monk divided all the clothes into an absurd number of categories and used all the machines to run pre-wash cleansing cycles was particularly entertaining. I also loved Monk’s reworking of certain American phenomenon, giving Samuel the smoking bag and explaining that the woman’s middle finger was a thumbs-up gesture. This is a typical case for Monk, an accident and a coincidence mixed together and connecting two cases, but it still worked extremely well. I enjoyed Samuel’s summation of Monk’s character, declaring “sometimes you are like a big crying infant.” Monk’s refusal to take Samuel up on his offer to come visit him in Africa was expected but still terrifically entertaining. The inclusion of Randy’s attempt to impress the CSI woman with his incredible resistance to the smell of rotting flesh was a nice bonus; it’s nice to know that the writers on this show are committed to keeping the supporting characters in the spotlight.