Mr. Monk and the Candidate

"Mr. Monk and the Candidate" is the 90-minute pilot episode of the TV series Monk on the USA Network. During the Monk Cast Favorites Marathon, the episode was listed as one of Traylor Howard's favorites. Former San Francisco police detective Adrian Monk is called in by a friend in Santa Clara's police department to investigate the stabbing of a woman named Nicole Vasques in her home. Turning up a number of clues, the obsessive-compulsive detectiv... more

"Mr. Monk and the Candidate" is the 90-minute pilot episode of the TV series Monk on the USA Network. During the Monk Cast Favorites Marathon, the episode was listed as one of Traylor Howard's favorites. Former San Francisco police detective Adrian Monk is called in by a friend in Santa Clara's police department to investigate the stabbing of a woman named Nicole Vasques in her home. Turning up a number of clues, the obsessive-compulsive detective completes his evidence gathering, but rushes home because he's convinced he left his stove on. During a political rally in San Francisco's financial district, mayoral candidate Warren St. Clair's (Michael Hogan) bodyguard, Jason Ronstaff, is killed by a sniper. The incumbent mayor instructs Captain Leland Stottlemeyer (Ted Levine) to bring Monk in on the case, and reluctantly, he does. This is also much to the dismay of Stottlemeyer's sidekick lieutenant (Jason Gray-Stanford), who seems to regard Monk as a joke. Monk soon begins turning up... less