Monk Predictions

The end is near. Just a few more weeks until the last episode of Monk airs. We don't have cable, but we've been able to watch the new shows online within a day or two of their original air date (either through imdb or hulu.com). (Update - It's actually 8 days after the air date) The final episodes are: "Mr. Monk Is The Best Man;" "Mr. Monk And The Badge" (much excitement in our house when they read that); "Mr. Monk And The Ending, Part 1"; "Mr. Monk And The Ending, Part 2".

For the past few months, we've been trying to figure out how the last episode of Monk will play out. Every once in awhile, someone will make a random statement or question ("Does anyone know if Mitch's body was ever recovered?"). Normal people wouldn't understand what we're talking about, but we do.

There are times we've thought that the only happy ending would be if Monk would die. That would be the only way he can find peace and be with Trudy. I think that might be too risky for the producers.

Here are my predictions:

Randy and his new girlfriend will get engaged
Stottlemeyer will marry his girlfriend (we'll probably find that out within a few days)
Natalie will end up with Mitch's friend from the submarine (unless Mitch's body never was recovered and he returns)
Julie and Benji will get together (that one's for Madeline)

Monk is going to unwrap the Christmas present from Trudy (or it will accidentally get unwrapped). There will be a clue in that present which will lead him to her killer. He will confront the killer and be on the verge of death. He will have a vision of Trudy. She'll thank him for finding her killer and tell him he needs to move on. He'll wake up surrounded by his friends. And he'll be happy.

Or, we'll see a vision of Trudy greeting him with her arms outstretched. And he'll die, with a smile on his face, surrounded by friends.

Added: A few kind of wild possibilities ran threw my head. I thought I'd post them here because, really, what do I have to lose?

1. Monk has always regretted that he and Trudy never had a baby. Maybe he'll fall in love, perhaps someone from a previous episode. At the end they'll flash forward to him walking in the park with a child.

2. Michael Douglas will make a guest appearance in the role of Steve Keller from The Streets of San Francisco. I couldn't think of any other San Francisco based TV cops, but maybe there are others out there.

Spoilers in the comments.