Initial remarks:
Who else enjoyed the homage to Silence of the Lambs?
Loved the bit at the end with the roses.
Mr. S had to point out the musical treat at the very end – I wasn’t paying attention.
What did you think?
Anyone? Anyone? I could have sworn there were other Monk fans here. 
What musical bit? I missed it completely!
I assume you mean they played the first-season theme song. They’ve been doing that from time to time this year.
I laughed at the beginning when they were pulling stuff up and down in the basket, and again with the night-vision goggles. Even though that movie scares me. When I first started watching Monk, I had no idea Stottlemyer was Jame Gumb. He looks so different.
This was a really good episode, more like the first season. I loved how Monk had all the note cards laid out for his phone call to the power-company woman, with all the possible topics - and the “Trudy” pile was so much bigger than all the others.
:smack: big whoosh
Even though I knew he was “Buffalo Bill” (that voice is unmistakable) those allusions you just pointed out went right over my head. Thanks for deepening my appreciation for a very good episode. 
The big thing I noticed? Is Adrian on the road to getting well? OK, the date was forced on him, but the end, where she says “If I didn’t have cooties, I’d kiss you” he replies with “If you didn’t have cooties, I’d let you.” The date, the shrink, maybe they are coerced. That wasn’t. Reflection on his problems, and a desire to end them?
Don’t look at me, I wasn’t home in time to catch the whole episode.
I caught the episode, but only by sheer luck…I didn’t see a single promo announcing the new season. (Speaking of which, I hope this “season” is longer than the last - what was it, six episodes last time?)
I thought it was a good episode and Monk on a date was fun…but this was an episode where the quirks were far more interesting than the story…blackout so no one would see him at a Willy Nelson concert? Hmm…kinda lame. But everything else about the show was a hoot.
I loved the cards. And the problem with the night vision goggle plan. (Somehow, I didn’t make the SotL connection).
The mystery wasn’t that great, but everything around it was.
IMHO this episode was better than previous “new season” episodes, but there’s still something not quite right with this series. Tony Shalhoub is wonderful, but sometimes his character is just stupid. And I still don’t understand why he has to have a full-time nurse.
That was my favorite bit. One of the things that I really enjoy about Monk is that the character is capable of loving, and at one time, he must have forced himself to conquer his fears to live a somewhat normal life with his loved one. I mean, I ASSUME that Adrian actually kissed his wife, and did other, even less sanitary things with her.
I do hope that they’re going to allow the character to grow and get a bit better over time.
I thought that the premise of the show was that Monk had his OCD completely under control until Trudy was killed. He was always meticulous and super-observant, which made him a good cop, but it wasn’t until she was murdered that he went over the edge.
That’s what I thought. There was a flashback to high school where he lost a track event because he had to relace his tennis shoes.
I loved the cooties bit–it was delightful. I did enjoy seeing Monk on a date.
I see her more in the role of a psychologist than a nurse. Besides, he needs someone “normal” to play off of.
Just caught a repeat. I haven’t seen Silence of the Lambs and would appreciate someone pointing out what the homage was.
I don’t catch Monk nearly as often as I’d like. Great show.
Anyway, I’ve never seen Silence of the Lambs, so if anyone could fill me in on all the allusions this episode, I’d very much appreciate it.
The antagonist of SOTL is the serial killer Buffalo Bill, so named because he skins his victims, played by the guy who plays Shuttlemeyer (sp) in Monk.
Buffalo traps Clarise, the protagonist of SOFTL in his home in the dark. He has a pair of night vision goggles, but she manages to whack him anyway.
In addition, he had kidnapped a young woman, and has her trapped in a deep hole in his basment (a cistern?) and passes her down lotion in a basket on a rope (to keep her skin soft). Passing stuff up to the guy in the tree via a basket was also a nod to SotL.