Considering this was the last episode viewers were going to see of "Monk" until at least December for a holiday special, "Mr. Monk Gets Hypnotized" was far from impressive. As an ordinary episode it may have been amusing, but for a half-season finale it really fell flat - especially after the excellent 100th episode. Monk has to solve the disappearance of a wealthy actress, but he regresses during hypnotism to a childish state of mind. Can he solve the case even as a child? Of course he can, this is Adrian Monk!

It starts out with the actress Sally Larkin selling her jewelry at a small unknown store. She seems nervous and frightened, talking about seeing her husband outside. The owners hear her scream a few minutes after she leaves, and her car is empty. At the crime scene, everyone stands in awe looking at a double rainbow that Monk simply does not appreciate. He is grumpy that Natalie pities him for this, and his mood worsens after seeing rival Harold Krenshaw happy and 'cured' of his OCD due to a hypnotist. Monk takes the hypnotist's phone number from Harold.

They go to question the husband, but all Monk can think about is Harold's happy state of mind. Despite Natalie's warning, he secretly makes an appointment. After a funny little session with the hypnotist, Monk starts acting strangely. He wants to play and adopts a frog named Hoppy - right out of the dirty pond! Instead of fixing Monk, the hypnotist brought him to a childish state of mind and left him there. Dr. Bell suggests they just treat him like an adult and bring him through the motions until he snaps himself out of it.

Everything changes when Sally shows up alive, and she apparently killed her captor husband. She was chained up for days and when he came to kill her, she managed to get free. Monk is acting ridiculous but accuses Sally of lying, his mind as sharp as ever. He gets bored and chews a piece of gum right off her heel. No one will listen to Monk, and he runs off in a tantrum, getting lost. He ends up back at Sally's house to release Hoppy, and meets her face to face. He solves the case: she kidnapped herself so she could kill her husband as self-defense, and it's all because of the gum on her shoe! It was Captain Stottlemeyer's, and he spit it out at her house.

There is a hilarious moment when Monk comes out of it and realizes he was chewing a piece of gum from her shoe. He throws it away, then remembers he needs it as evidence! Tony Shalhoub is just incredible sometimes with his facial expressions; they can be subtle or downright cartoonish and yet always genuine. So Mr. Monk saves the day again but will probably never appreciate a double rainbow.

As an ordinary episode this would be cute, and Tony Shalhoub delivers as always, but it feels very unsatisfactory as an ending note until it comes back full time January. There was no real drama, no tension, and nothing really big has happened this season at all, which is a shame since it felt like it was going somewhere at the end of last season. There have been mentions this could be the last season, and if it is, every episode should really count. Or perhaps the sad truth is that "Monk" is slowing down and may just have lost momentum entirely.

In any case, there is a holiday episode coming out in December, and then "Monk" will be back in January to wrap up the seventh season. Check out the Emmy Awards on September 21st to cheer Tony Shalhoub on; he's nominated for Best Actor in a Comedy Series!

Story by Chelsea 'Dee' Doyle

Starpulse contributing writer