Mr. Monk Gets Drunk
Mr. Monk Gets Drunk is an episode of the USA Network series Monk.
Plot synopsis
Template:Spoiler Natalie goes with Monk to a small bed-and-breakfast in wine country, where he and Trudy honeymooned. They meet Sylvia Willis, the proprietor, who explains some of Monk's past history at the place: he goes there every year at the same time, because he went with Trudy on his honeymoon. Sylvia mentioned Monk ruined the "mystery weekend" last year, he had figured it out in 12 minutes.
That evening, Monk has a glass of Trudy's favorite wine poured in the restaurant, and makes a toast to her. A man calling himself Larry Zwibel shows up, rudley interrupting Monk's ritual. Zwibel speaks Spanish, reeks of Aqua Velva, takes heart medication, and says that "not even a week ago, he couldn't afford a bottle of pop." Monk has a bad reaction to the one sip of wine he took and excuses himself, but not before noticing Zwibel play poker with the other people in the room. They ask him to take their picture, and he attempts to--but of course, he is unable to get a perfect shot, and the waiter does it for him. Zwibel says he has a guaranteed cure for a hangover, and Monk leaves.
The next morning, Monk goes to find Zwibel to inquire about his hangover cure, but another man is staying in the room that Larry formerly occupied. Monk asks Sylvia where Zwibel is staying, but she says that nobody checked in except for him and Natalie. His name is absent from the guest register, and there are no extra cars in the parking lot. Monk suggests that something suspicious is going on, but Natalie wants to chalk it up to his hangover.
Monk asks around about Zwibel, but the other guests say they do not know him. He tells the same joke Zwibel told the night before, and they react as if they never heard. Monk says that there is a conspiracy to conceal Zwibel's identity, but again, Natalie is very skeptical. One of the guests, who is a psychologist, approaches Natalie later. She is drinking a wine which she says has a strange aftertaste, but the psychologist says that he can't taste it. He suggests that Monk invented Zwibel as a method to cope with the stress of dealing with Trudy's death. He also points out that the name "Larry Zwibel" is the signature on one of the paintings on the wall. Natalie suggests this to Monk, but he says that the man who called himself Zwibel didn't want his real name known, and so used the name on the painting.
Monk remembers the camera they used to take the group photo, and insists that they check it to see if Zwibel indeed exists. They follow the camera's owner to a wine tasting taking place outside. Natalie eventually gets the camera away from the couple for a second, but the man Monk saw is absent from the photo.
Just as Monk is about to chalk it all up to a hallucination and leave, a man pulls up claiming to be looking for his brother. He shows a photo, and monk identifies the man as Larry Zwibel. The man, who identifies himself as Alan Gruber, says that his real name is Ben Gruber and that he stole $3.1 million from a bank that he works for. Monk realizes that Ben had been paying people off to say they never met him. Monk asks Alan what car Ben was driving, and notices that it matches up with a car that was concealed outside of the main parking lot.
Monk, Natalie and Alan go on a tour of the vineyard, and Monk has a bad reaction when he learns that Trudy's favorite wine is a "foot wine," made by pressing grapes by foot. Alan offers to get Monk a "soda" to wash his mouth out, and Monk notices the inconsistency with Ben, who said "pop." Monk tests Alan by saying a phrase in Spanish, which Alan does not understand. Monk hatches a plan to get Alan drunk so Natalie can break into his car and find out why he's lying. Monk has a bottle of wine ordered for Alan and an unlabeled carafe of a non-alcoholic wine ordered for himself, but the waiter pours real wine into the carafe. Monk gulps down the wine, thinking it is safe, and quickly becomes very, very drunk. Meanwhile, Natalie finds airplane tickets in "Alan's" car with the name Al Nicoletto on them. She calls Stottlemeyer in San Francisco, and finds out that Nicoletto is a contract killer with five previous arrests. Natalie attempts to get Monk away from Nicoletto, but Monk is too inebriated and the two are taken captive. However, Natalie breaks away and Monk hits him over the head with a bottle of wine.
Stottlemeyer and Disher show up and arrest Nicoletto. Monk gives his summation of the case, but he is completely wasted. He says that Gruber fell behind in the poker game, and went up to his room to get more money. He had a heart attack and died, and when the people went looking for him, they saw all the stolen money. They decided to hide the body and split the cash, and then pretend that he was never there by hiding his car and removing the page with his name from the guestbook. The psychologists points out that they don't have a body, and Stottlemeyer has to let everyone go. Natalie has Stottlemeyer taste wine she has been drinking, and he recognizes the odor as Aqua Velva. They realize that Gruber's body is hidden inside one of the wine barrels, and he is quickly found. All the guests and Sylvia are taken into custody, and Natalie leaves with a passed out and quite drunk Mr. Monk.