Monk: Season Eight (Blu-ray Review)

• Reviewed by: Tim Salmons
• Review Date: Sep 30, 2025
• Format: Blu-ray Disc
• 

Director

Various

Release Date(s)

2009 (July 16, 2024)

Studio(s)

Mandeville Films/Touchstone Television/USA Cable Entertainment (Kino Lorber Studio Classics)

• Film/Program Grade: B+
• Video Grade: A
• Audio Grade: A-
• Extras Grade: C+

kinolorber.com/

Review

Adrian Monk, the obsessive-compulsive, phobic, and lovable police detective, returns for another series of investigations while strengthening the bonds between his friends and colleagues in the eighth and final season of Monk, which initially aired on the USA Network from August to December of 2009. The show’s popularity was as high as ever as Monk (Tony Shalhoub) and the rest of the show’s characters had hit their creative stride, with Monk continuing to deal with his sometimes unbearable OCD, yet always haunted by the tragic death of his late wife, Trudy.

For the show’s final season, we see many loose ends tied up, new relationships beginning, old friends stopping by, and old enemies resurfacing in some surprising ways. The usual main cast includes Natalie (Traylor Howard), Monk’s longtime and faithful assistant, Captain Stottlemeyer (Ted Levine), and his right hand Lieutenant Randy Disher (Jason Gray-Stanford). Héctor Elizondo reprises his role as Monk’s psychiatrist Dr. Bell; Tim Bagley makes another unexpected appearance as Harold Krenshaw, Monk’s greatest rival; Emmy Clarke briefly appears as Julie, Natalie’s daughter; Casper Van Dien resurfaces as Natalie’s love interest, Steven; and Melora Hardin steps back in as Trudy, whose character we learn much more about before the end. New to the fold is Virginia Madsen as Stottlemeyer’s love interest Trudy K. Jensen (TK), and Craig T. Nelson as Judge Rickover in the final two episodes. Bitty Schramm also returns for a single episode as Sharona, Monk’s former assistant. After eight seasons, we finally see Monk reconcile with and solve the lingering mystery behind his wife’s death, leading to a very compelling, satisfying, tearful conclusion. Other appearances are made by Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Ed Begley, Jr., Elizabeth Perkins, Daniel Stern, Meat Loaf, Carol Kane, Brooke Adams, John Carroll Lynch, Dylan Baker, Jay Mohr, Eric Balfour, and Alona Tal, among others.

Monk closed its final season on top as the “highest-rated series in cable history,” at least at the time. Today, the show continues to stand as one of the most popular TV series of all time and continues to garner new fans, thanks in no small part to a small but likable cast of characters, chief among them Adrian Monk, played perfectly by Tony Shalhoub.

All sixteen episodes of the eighth and final season of Monk were shot by cinematographers Joe Pennella and Anthony R. Palmieri on Super 35mm film with Panavision cameras and lenses, finished on HDCAM SR videotape, and presented in the aspect ratio of 1.33:1. Kino Lorber Studio Classics brings the show to Blu-ray for the first time using new 4K masters created by NBC/Universal from the original camera negatives, framed at 1.78:1, and presented on dual-layered BD-50 discs. As with previous seasons, the overall look of the show is organic and much sharper than any disc-based presentations that have come before it. Each disc features bitrates that range from 25 to 35Mbps, and every episode is crisp with excellent detail and color, as well as solid levels of grain. The palette offers a nice variety of hues with deep blacks and good contrast. All of the episodes are clean, stable, and true to their film-based source.

Audio is included in English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio with optional subtitles in English SDH. It’s not a mind-blowing sound experience, but it offers good separation with plenty of push for dialogue, sound effects, and score. It’s more than satisfactory.

The 4-Disc Blu-ray release of Monk: Season Eight sits in a blue Amaray case with a double-sided insert, featuring episode titles and their synopses on the opposite side. Everything is housed in a slipcover featuring the same artwork. The following episodes and extras are included on each disc:

DISC ONE

1. Mr. Monk’s Favorite Show (43:07)
2. Mr. Monk and the Foreign Man (43:05)
3. Mr. Monk and the UFO (42:05)
4. Mr. Monk Is Someone Else (43:02)

• Interview with Tony Shalhoub (SD – 4:03)
• Interview with Traylor Howard (SD – 4:37)

DISC TWO

5. Mr. Monk Takes the Stand (43:01)
6. Mr. Monk and the Critic (42:38)
7. Mr. Monk and the Voodoo Curse (41:36)
8. Mr. Monk Goes to Group Therapy (42:09)

• Interview with Jason Gray-Stanford (SD – 3:52)
• Interview with Andy Breckman (SD – 10:47)

DISC THREE

9. Happy Birthday, Mr. Monk (42:19)
10. Mr. Monk and Sharona (42:07)
11. Mr. Monk and the Dog (42:21)
12. Mr. Monk Goes Camping (41:57)

• Set Tours: The Making of the Final Season (SD – 18:19)
• Mr. Monk Says Goodbye (SD – 10:00)

DISC FOUR

13. Mr. Monk Is the Best Man (42:45)
14. Mr. Monk and the Badge (42:19)
15. Mr. Monk and the End – Part I (42:56)
16. Mr. Monk and the End – Part II (43:08)

• Video Commentary with Tony Shalhoub, Andy Breckman, and Randall Zisk (86:08)

All of this final season’s DVD extras have carried over, including a single video commentary on the last two episodes combined, as well as interviews with some of the cast and crew, an assembly of set tours with co-producer Doug Nabors, and a featurette dedicated to talking about the ending of the show. As is always the case, every season of Monk on Blu-ray, including Season Eight, is a home run for Kino Lorber. Highly Recommended.

- Tim Salmons

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