What Happened To Adrian Monk During The COVID-19 Pandemic

Though Monk ended years before the COVID-19 Pandemic, we still know what happened to Adrian (Tony Shalhoub) while he was in quarantine. Adrian Monk is probably the best-known germaphobe in television history. While Adrian’s OCD and agoraphobia are generally played for laughs, there were also some truly heartbreaking episodes of Monk that examined his mental health struggles in detail. While many of his problems went away after Monk solved Trudy’s murder, many fans of the detective procedural likely want to know how Adrian would have fared when all of his fears of germs were vindicated in the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Luckily, we know exactly what COVID was like for Adrian Monk. Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie was both released in and took place in 2023, three years after the initial lockdown. Though Mr. Monk’s Last Case was just as formulaic as ever, it also provided a fascinating insight into Adrian’s mental state and his antics during the pandemic. That, combined with a special variety show made in the midst of quarantine, paints a fairly clear and fascinating picture of what happened to Monk during COVID.

Monk Was In Quarantine And Followed Very Strict Protocols

Monk Would Microwave His Mail & Wear Surgical Gloves Beneath His Socks During The Pandemic

In the first episode of Peacock’s At Home Variety Show, we got a glimpse of Adrian’s life during the pandemic. Adrian was in quarantine for the entire pandemic, and many of his agoraphobic tendencies were actually vindicated by the lockdown. For example, Adrian, Natalie Teeger, Randy Disher, and Leland Stottlemeyer were on a Zoom call where they mentioned that “we’re all Monk now.” He also took his precautions to the extreme, however: Adrian was seen microwaving his mail to disinfect it, wearing surgical gloves on his feet beneath his socks, and singing the entirety of “100 bottles of beer” every time he washed his hands.

Molly Eventually Moved In With Monk To Help Him During The Pandemic

Trudy’s Daughter Lived With & Supported Adrian In Mr. Monk’s Last Case

Peacock’s variety show wasn’t the last we saw of Adrian during COVID-19, however. Mr. Monk’s Last Case revealed that Trudy’s daughter, Molly Evans, actually moved in with Adrian to take care of him during the pandemic. The two had finally met during the series finale of Monk, which took place in 2009, so they had a fairly close relationship by 2020. As Adrian noted, Molly “practically saved my life,” and “never left my side for a year and a half.” She also put up with even more of Adrian’s germaphobic antics, like refusing to take off a hazmat suit even while eating.

That year and a half spent living together ended up making Adrian and Molly grow even closer. By 2023, when Mr. Monk’s Last Case takes place, Molly had asked Adrian to pay for her wedding, and he had a personal relationship with her fiancé, Griffin. Adrian was even trying to write a memoir to pay for the wedding, though he fixated too much on things like his oven to get the book deal completed. Then, once Griffin was murdered, Molly and Adrian essentially became partners in his titular last case.

Mr. Monk’s Last Case Was About The Aftermath Of The Pandemic For Adrian

The Monk Movie Showed That COVID-19 Brought Back Adrian’s OCD & Deteriorated His Mental Health

COVID-19 wasn’t all funny antics and deepening a personal connection for Adrian, however. Mr. Monk’s Last Case showed that Adrian struggled significantly in the aftermath of COVID. His obsessive-compulsive tendencies came back in full force despite being alleviated after he solved Trudy’s murder. He even got worse in some ways: Adrian started bringing his own personal automatic hand sanitizer dispenser to public places, like the San Francisco courthouse. He also got much more vocal about the difficulties of his agoraphobia, and noted that everyone caring about germs as much as he does would be a sort of torture.

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Adrian’s OCD symptoms weren’t the only negative consequence he experienced due to COVID. Throughout Mr. Monk’s Last Case, Adrian was desperately missing Trudy and was even planning his own suicide to be with her again. Experiencing such a significant relapse of his mental health struggles over a decade after he finally made permanent progress really damaged Adrian, and he was severely depressed for most of the movie. Luckily, Trudy helped Adrian realize that his work as a detective helped bring justice and peace to countless victims, and he decided to continue living long after Monk.