Monk's best episodes had their own mysteries to solve and could stand on their own, the series also had the overarching mystery of Adrian Monk (Tony Shalhoub) trying to uncover the truth about his wife's unsolved murder. This made Monk work well as an episodic show and when watching the entire series.

Given the show's success and enduring legacy, it was only a matter of time before a revival happened, which eventually came to fruition with a cast of Mr. Monk's Last Case, the Peacock movie featured many beloved hallmarks from the series. This included ending with a "here's what happened" explanation from Monk, one of several unique elements that made the USA Network series distinct from other procedural detective shows.

Mr. Monk’s Last Case Revealed Who The Killer Was At The Very Beginning

There Was No Question About Rick Being The Killer

From the beginning, Mr. Monk's Last Case made it clear that billionaire Rick Eden (James Purefoy) was the killer. The mystery was not who killed Griffin Briggs (Austin Scott), but rather how Rick was able to kill him, with Monk needing evidence to prove the billionaire's guilt. This is a trick that many Monk episodes used, as Monk often knew who the killer was early in the episode, but he needed to figure out how exactly they pulled off the crime, and have the evidence to prove it.

ending of Mr. Monk's Last Case be satisfying as well, with the "here's what happened" focusing on how Rick managed to kill Griffin, and how Monk was able to discover the truth. It was another way that the movie ended up feeling like an episode of Monk, only with a longer runtime.

Monk Often Revealing The Killer In Advance Made It An Unusual Whodunit

It Helped Monk Stand Out From Other Procedural Shows

While there is no shortage of procedural series, revealing the killer in advance is one way that Monk distinguished itself from its competition. Due to the episodic format of the series, the killers tended to be new characters, and were not of the core cast. With the killer usually being revealed and unmasked in the same episode, such a quick turnaround was unable to have much of an impact, and there were often a limited number of suspects. Figuring out how the crime was committed made Monk's mysteries more intricate and subverted the expectations of the traditional whodunit.

Monk excelled at always putting its titular character and his development at the forefront of the story, which was more manageable by revealing the killer's identity in advance.

The means behind the crimes frequently related to Monk's many phobias and solving the case meant having to confront his phobias head-on. This made solving the cases more personal than having Monk simply figuring out which newly introduced character was the one responsible. Monk excelled at always putting its titular character and his development at the forefront of the story, which was more manageable by revealing the killer's identity in advance.