The first thing that should be noted about this episode is that it's one of the relatively few (so far through season 3 midway) where Monk not only has to solve a murder, but has to clear an innocent man. That right there gives the story some added impetus - usually Monk is just trying to find a killer. Here he's not just avenging the dead but actively protecting the innocent. He doesn't have to be heroic about it (when he does, it seems a bit unusual - see "...Sleeping Suspect"), and here it works better when he doesn't have to dramatically save the person he's trying to protect.
The identity of the actual killer is also a nice touch - it's about as sympathetic a murderer as we get in the series. The mystery itself plays pretty fair - you can indeed pick up the clue to who the killer is if you watch carefully. Sometimes the writers toss the audience a bone, sometimes they don't, sometimes they toss us a really obvious one (...Meets the Playboy comes to mind).
Tony Shalhoub takes and keeps center stage in this episode - Sharona, Stottlemeyer, and Disher have their moments (particularly the streaker subplot, and the police reactions - although this seemed kind of similar to the "fraidy cop" bit from Millionnaire Mugger). Arguable this is Shalhoub's best performance of the first season - you can't help but sympathize when Monk can't fulfill his lifelong dream of playing with Willie Nelson because of the vagaries of fate. The OCD moments aren't overdone and while the "Georgia..." studio scene goes on too long, it serves a purpose - it isn't painful for the audience, but rather we see how painful it is for _Monk_. Some writers tend to forget that Monk's OCD is a curse to himself (or just have him say it but not show it). Otherwise they play up the OCD in short funny bits - disrupting the poker game (although it's a surprise he doesn't get punched out), the record store scene with his soulmate, the constant clarinet finger-practicing, etc. We also get more insight into his marriage and his deceased wife.
Overall I'd consider "...Red-Headed Stranger" one fo the best episodes of the series to date.moreless
When his manager is murdered, Willie Nelson himself is the prime suspect. Monk, a fan of the country-western singer, is skeptical of the evidence and seeks out to prove Nelson innocent.
 Tony Shalhoub |
Adrian Monk |
 Bitty Schram |
Sharona Fleming (episodes 1-38) |
 Jason Gray-Stanford |
Lt. Randall Disher |
 Ted Levine |
Captain Leland Stottlemeyer |
 Willie Nelson |
Himself |
Guest Star |
 David Anderson |
Sonny Cross |
Guest Star |
Neil Crone |
Terry T |
Guest Star |
Max Morrow |
Benjy Fleming |
Recurring Role |
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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions
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TRIVIA (6)
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When Captain Stottlemeyer invites Monk to watch the video footage of the alley, he says, "What you are about to see must not leave this room." However, the blinds on the window are open, and people are standing outside where they could easily watch the footage through the window.
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In the last cemetery scene as the camera pans around, you can see a tombstone that refers to Toronto. I suppose you might find something like this in a cemetery in San Francisco, but it's basically a giveaway that the show is filmed in Toronto rather than San Fran. The camera pan of the tombstones in the cemetery Trudy is buried in shows the place of death for one person as being Toronto, Canada. It's unusual for a body to be transported such a long distance--all the way to San Francisco--for burial.
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Although Disher describes the streaker's sneakers as "gray," they're a nice clean white in all the shots we see.
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Clarinet mouthpieces are not packaged with reeds, and if they were, they'd be all dry and unplayable without soaking. It's possible Monk had his own reed with him, but it sure doesn't look like he or Sharona attaches it.
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Jackie Richardson does an excellent job of being "blind," but once Monk reveals that Ms. Maas can see with her left eye (and thus is still blind in her right eye), the actress looks at people and both her eyes track and coordinate in synch.
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It's standard police procedure to run a simple paraffin test that determines whether someone recently fired a gun--the blowback leave tiny gunpowder particles imbedded in the skin. As in most TV and movie mysteries, the police never do this, although if done here it would have cast doubt on Willie's guilt.
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QUOTES (18)
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Monk: I think it's "C".
Stottlemeyer: "C"? What the hell is "C"?
Monk: I don't know yet. -
Sharona: (to Monk) Look at all these plastic bags. You must be in heaven.
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Monk: I love it. It's the bomb.
Sharona: "It's the bomb"?
Monk: "Bomb" is good. -
Sharona: This is Benjy's interview.
Monk: Then what am I doing here?
Sharona: I don't know. I never know. -
Dispatcher: Description?
Disher: (pursuing the streaker) He's wearing grey sneakers.
Dispatcher: Is there anything else?
Disher: He's not Jewish. -
Stottlemeyer: (seeing the streaker again) San Francisco. You've got to love it.
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Stottlemeyer: What was that?
Disher: A streaker, sir.
Stottlemeyer: What is this, 1974? -
Monk: Who was that?
Sharona: None of your business.
Monk: Can I take a wild guess?
Sharona: You never take wild guesses. -
Willie: (to Monk) You know more about me than I do.
Sharona: He knows more about everybody than they do. -
Sharona: What's so special about him? He's just a regular guy who happens to sing and play guitar.
Monk: No, he isn't. You take that back. -
Sharona: I thought you were going to write a report on . . . (gestures at Monk)
Benjy: It only has to be two pages. Mr. Monk is a whole book. -
Stottlemeyer: I'd have to be crazy, plumb out of my mind, to arrest Willie Nelson.
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Disher: Sir, are you ready for this?
Stottlemeyer: What is this, a game show? Can't you just walk in and say it? -
Sharona: Ow! Why do I always have to be the victim?
Monk: Because the victim usually ends up on the ground, in the dirt. And . . . I'm me. -
Monk: Maybe I should drop by?
Sharona: Adrian, I love my job, but if I have to get a restraining order, I will. -
Stottlemeyer: Call your mom and have her set the VCR. We're going to be on the six o'clock news.
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Monk: Do you smell that?
Willie: No, and neither do you. -
Monk: Should I bring my clarinet? I could practice in the car.
(Sharona glares)
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NOTES (4)
ADD NOTES-
Music: "Sharpening Pencils" by Jeff Beal, "Georgia On My Mind" by Willie Nelson & band
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Wendy Maas is named after Wendy Mass, who co-wrote the episode "Mr. Monk Goes to the Theater."
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Coincidentally or otherwise, there are allusions to and borrowed plot elements from several Columbo episodes in "Red-Headed Stranger." "Fade in to Murder" used the clue about the bullet hole in the jacket not matching the hole in the body to determine whether the victim was on good terms with the killer. Johnny Cash played a sympathetic country singer accused of murder in "Swan Song." And the idea of a blind witness with a twist is used in "State of Mind." For more information, go to the TV.com Columbo pages.
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"Red-Headed Stranger" was the name of a 1975 Willie concept album about a jilted lover. . . a complex, not unsympathetic man, who goes on a killing spree. The famous song, "Blue
Eyes Cryin' In the Rain" (which was not written by Willie Nelson, but by a man named Fred Rose in the 1940's) was on that album. When it was remastered and re-released in 2000, it was hailed universally by critics as his most compelling work.
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ALLUSIONS (4)
ADD ALLUSIONS-
Stottlemeyer: Well he may be live from Folsom Prison.
This is a reference to another country-western artist, Johnny Cash, who really did play a concert at Folsom Prison in 1969. The idea for the concert came when Cash received letters from inmates, writing about how his music had been influences to the prisoners.
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Adrian Monk: Oh, yeah, the Ramones. . . . I love that song they do about loving that woman all night long.
The Ramones, although quite prolific, don't have any songs or covers that feature this subject or these lyrics. It's possible that Monk was jokingly referring to the AC/DC song "All Night Long," instead. -
Willie Nelson: No I don't, and you don't either.
Willie's response to Monk's question, "Do you smell that?" alludes to Willie's well-known marijuana use. -
Band members: I'm Willie Nelson. I'm Willie Nelson. I'm Willie Nelson.
This line echoes the famous scene in Spartacus (1960) where the other slaves step forward and say, "I'm Spartacus!"
It also can allude to the old game show, To Tell the Truth, in which contestants had to guess which of three people was not an imposter.
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