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TheSinistralBassist

That looks like an AI-generated photo on the right. She was never that young on Monk


the_anxiety_queen

Pretty sure that was the person posing as Trudy


TheSinistralBassist

Same actress. That was the point of the episode


HattieJaneCornchip

Could it be the synthetic wig making it look like AI?


TheSinistralBassist

It’s her having no wrinkles on her face


atreyu947

Doesn’t look like a wig looks like airbrushed hair. And face. Also her eyes aren’t black.


HattieJaneCornchip

But it does look like a wig because it is. That is shown in the episode. Also, her eyes are dark in that episode as well. I welcome you to view Mr. and Mrs. Monk again and see for yourself. I assume she is wearing dark contacts because she is playing an actress playing Trudy.


atreyu947

Ooo you’re right about the eyes but this pic still looks ai/ heavily edited / digital drawing [cause](https://resizing.flixster.com/UHgGWAPtpRe7uXueBdQTyuuN-6M=/1100x618/v2/https://resizing.flixster.com/-XZAfHZM39UwaGJIFWKAE8fS0ak=/v3/t/assets/p2689405_e_h8_ab.jpg) I’m not talking about the episode wig I’m talking about the pic- it doesn’t look like a real pic.


loupiotttt

can't take her seriously because of the office 😂


Top-Construction9271

The dinner party from hell. 😂😂😂


etzo666

Exactly my thoughts 😅😂


Cookie_Crumbzi

More people still remember her as Jan Levinson


tipustiger05

It's really hard for me to not see her as Jan


Both-Friendship-6520

Love her portrayal of the character


Ghidorah_Stan_64

I watched Monk before The Office, so I didn’t really typecast her as Jan like other people did.


ambr111

Me neither... more or less. I watched Monk years before watching The Office for the first time, so I took a while to figure out it was the same actress...


Summerof5ft6andahalf

I'm rewatching The Bold Type at the same time as watching Monk for the first time, so it's a little weird, but not quite enough to really take me out of it.


rolo989

I still don’t like her.


loupiotttt

why so ?


rolo989

She looks evil. Or better said, she doesn't look like a person who would take care of Monk.


atreyu947

Have you seen the office? lol I thought the same after seeing her there but she grew on me when I watched the bold type.


ambr111

I think you're just seeing her as Jan. I went through Monk years before watching The Office for the First time and once I realized it was the same actress it was quite funny.


rolo989

Probably.


venti-latte12

loving her made monk’s better only for short spawn of time (not seen for viewer in general) but spiralled him into new obssesions and sadness after her death (which obviously isnt her fault). It’s better to love once than never but from viewer perspetive it’s quite frustrating since Monk trauma is going on in all seasons. Average Monk enjoyer just wants to see him being happy despite the odds.


MrGeekman

He recovered a lot after finally solving her murder. It’s just that Covid set him back.


venti-latte12

it happened at the end of 8th season i presume, because I was binging the show and at the beginning of 8th season the case is still unsolved (i didnt reach the end yet). I wont even imagine what people thought about the show when they were able to watch it only in the tv periodically back then…


HattieJaneCornchip

I bet you can find old fan posts about it when it was airing.


venti-latte12

My parents are old fans and they never used reddit.


HattieJaneCornchip

He didn’t “recover.” He had a brief period of happiness. IRL when people have a break from the pain of mental illness, they often think it is recovery and stop taking their meds and spin out in a big way. It is bad. Monk is still seeing a therapist often. He still requires an assistant. He isn’t back to a normal state of mental health. And, as you noted, his mental illness becomes more acute. I know he is just a tv character, but it is nice they acknowledge there are levels of mental illness that never go away.


MrGeekman

Okay, but he was still a lot better off than before. Medication? He was never on medication except for that one episode with The Monk.


HattieJaneCornchip

Never and in one episode are two different things. One negates the other. I was obviously talking about that situation IRL, so I have no idea what you are replying to. Yes. Better for a period. That happens a few times in the show and it never sticks because his character needs to be mentally ill. That is the premise.


MrGeekman

Have you seen the movie?


HattieJaneCornchip

Maybe 6 or 7 times.


NotJimmyMcGill

Why not make it an even ten?


HattieJaneCornchip

That isn’t the show. That is like complaining that everyone wants House to end his pill addiction and find a place of joy. So essentially you want the character to not be the character. As a mentally ill person, I don’t long for Monk to be happy because his level of mental illness is never going to get wrapped up with a bow.


venti-latte12

it’s fictional work that is low-key a comedy. I didnt watch House ever so I have no comment about that, but I dont blame people for wishing to fictional work have a happy ending. It’s not a masterpiece without it either tbh. Especially since back then the tv show was only available through tv only, at least in my country, so many people didnt even saw the ending, only endless and repeatable grief about Trudy in short episodes that people watched while eating dinner.


HattieJaneCornchip

Perpetuating the idea that Monk can have a happy ending sets up some viewers to think severe mental illness will just go away. And then those people expect that of the mentally ill in their own lives. Yeah it is tv, but tv influences people. But mostly why watch a show with a primary character who is mentally ill if all you want is for him to not be mentally ill? And the writers have shown again and again that the character will always return to mentally ill stasis. The happiness of meds, the dog, the kid, etc. always revert to him being mentally ill.


venti-latte12

mental sickness depicted in this show is not accurately shown. The therapy wasnt working for Monk, im med student and the only case of such heavily recurring mental disease is schizophrenia (that requires hospitalization every now and then etc). It’s early 2000s show so I can forgive a lot, but in many episodes they were just ignorant, like this one time when medication made Monk maniac. It’s hardly possible for legal meds to make such radical transition. And another one when Monk couldn’t speak or had short-term amnesia, it’s just not possible, this is writers fantasy to create environment for „what-if” episode. And even if it was possible then he would certainly uncapable of solving high level crimes. He is eccentric, has OCD and phobias at best for most of the times. The long time grief of Trudy is pathological and irl wouldnt go away even after solving the crime. It’s a therapeutic failure that was going on too long. I’ll say that MM in the boys is more realistic representation of OCD than Monk


NotJimmyMcGill

> why watch a show with a primary character who is mentally ill if all you want is for him to not be mentally ill? ...because it's plaguing his life and was caused by a severely traumatic event? Why would anyone _not_ want to root for a fictional character with a notable chance of "getting better" (note that he was doing much better in the episode with Trudy's doppelganger before, well... _Trudy's doppelganger showed up_, an extremely illogical and nonsensical occurence) to recover in some manner?


BetterMacaron4868

The original Trudy was portrayed by Stellina Rusich. She is Canadian, and when they moved filming of the series from Vancouver to L..A., they replaced her with Melora Hardin..


Summerof5ft6andahalf

Oh I thought she was Trudy #3. Although maybe one Trudy face was just used for photos.


sukii93

I love Melora but I wasn't a fan of her being cast as Trudy... I know her from The Office so I'm used to seeing her very stern and fierce. Trudy gives me soft, sweet vibes while Melora gives off powerful ones. That's not to say that Trudy isn't a powerful woman - it's just about the vibes. I personally liked the original actress for that role better.


ambr111

That's just the effect of great acting. But she did really well as Trudy as well


RiverOhRiver86

Lisa on the left actually. She's a fucking stunner.