Mr. Monk Gets Lotto Fever - Recap

The Gold Rush Lotto Girl, Marissa Kessler, announces the numbers for the night. A few hours later, she runs out of the studio yelling for a help as a shadowy figure pursues her. She tries to get away in her car but the stalker shatters the window. She climbs over a gate but the figure catches up to her and kills her.

Monk and Natalie go with Stottlemeyer and Disher to the murder scene the next day. Monk notices metallic paint under the corpse’s fingernails and realizes that the killing was deliberate although the murderer tried to make it look like a random mugging. Adrian is flattered when an officer asks for his autograph, and Natalie ends up having to bend over so Monk can use her back to sign the autography. Disher starts trying to come up with “zinger” catch phrases but gets upset when another officer uses the line he just wrote down. Production manager Stan Lawrence starts chatting with Natalie, recognizing her from the news stories on Monk. He suggests that she fill in the as the new Gold Rush Lotto Girl. Flattered, Natalie accepts despite the fact that Monk is reluctant to lose her.

Natalie prepares for her first performance and despite some initial nervousness, soon gets into the swing of things. Lawrence congratulates her while even Monk has to admit that it was fun. Once. Lawrence offers her a full-time based on the audience response and Natalie accepts: Monk is left alone in the studio.

Monk is trying to get to the apartment of Malcolm O’Dwyer, who Stottlemeyer and Disher have discovered was an obsessed lotto fan. He keeps getting interrupted when Natalie has to stop and sign autographs. Meanwhile, Stottlemeyer and Disher talk to O’Dwyer, a young journalism student obsessed with the lotto. He has photos of all the cast and crew, puts out a Lotto newsletter, and picks numbers as part of a sacred quest. Stottlemeyer, who keeps losing at the lottery, decides that O’Dwyer is harmless and starts to go just as Adrian arrives: Natalie is still busy signing autographs. Stottlemeyer figures something is up and gets Adrian to admit that Natalie’s newfound popularity is bugging him.

Natalie starts turning into a prima donna and giving orders around the set. When she almost stumbles over a cable, sound engineer Billy Logan fights with her and Lawrence jumps in to the argument to fire him for upsetting Natalie. Natalie realizes she’s gone too far but Billy gets escorted off the set.

Adrian talks to Dr. Bell about his (new) feelings of paranoia about everyone leaving him. Monk thinks her job isn’t as important as his, and that anyone could do it. Bell is skeptical, and Monk notes that Natalie is changing, and had a man fired from the set.

Billy arrives at O’Dwyer’s apartment and asks to come in. O’Dwyer is thrilled to have a member of the crew with him. When he goes to get a notepad, Billy knocks him unconscious with a baseball bat and then takes some photos off the wall.

Later, O’Dwyer is found dead on the sidewalk below his window, apparently having committed suicide. Monk is skeptical despite a suicide note, noting that O’Dwyer jumped to his death with only one contact lens in. When he needs a wipe, he realizes that Natalie is down below signing autographs for an increasing number of fans. She tries to give Monk some of the limelight but they aren’t interested. He examines O’Dwyer’s body while trying to impress the crowd, but they still aren’t interested. Monk finally gives Natalie an ultimatum and she quits… as his assistant.

Later, Stottlemeyer goes to the gym while trying to reassure Monk over the phone. After he goes to the gym, Billy breaks into his locker and replaces Stottlemeyer’s Lotto ticket with one of his own.

That night Monk is in Stottlemeyer’s office bemoaning his fate about everyone leaving him when the Lotto show runs. Natalie draws the numbers… and Stottlemeyer wins the $212 million jackpot. He celebrates, promising to pay Disher’s student loans, and Monk is left alone as everyone leaves him.

The next day, Monk is eating supper when Natalie comes in and asks for his help. She tells him to turn on the news, where it’s revealed that two people won the Lotto drawing: Stottlemeyer and truck driver Eugene Maddox. First they show a newscast of the two men splitting the jackpot, Maddox wearing a jacket with a logo. Then it’s revealed that the lottery commissioner has determined that Natalie cheated to help Stottlemeyer win, and that they have evidence of fraud.

The next day, Adrian goes with Stottlemeyer and Natalie to talk to Lawrence and the lottery commissioner. They explain that thanks to an anonymous tip they found that the six winning number balls were painted with metallic paint, and a magnet in the overhead microphone pulled them up. Monk notices Billy’s cap, left behind, and asks what happened to Maddox. The commissioner explains that they’re settling with him so he doesn’t sue.

Stottlemeyer tracks down Billy at a hotel, the same hotel where Maddox is celebrating. The two men try to deny knowing each other but Monk notes that Billy’s cap has the same logo that Maddox’s jacket does: the two men worked on several movies together. Monk explains what happened: Billy rigged the Lotto to deliver the winning numbers, and Maddox bought the ticket. However, Kessler discovered Billy was using metallic paint and got some on her fingernails. He caught her and killed her. When Natalie got Billy fired, he couldn’t remove the magnet from the microphone, so he slipped a second winning ticket to Stottlemeyer and then made the anonymous tip so people would find the magnet that he would have removed if he was still working there. O’Dwyer had a photo of the two men together, so Billy killed him and took the photograph. Billy and Maddox go to jail, and Natalie and Monk are back to normal.

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