The relationships of Captain Leland Stottlemeyer, the tritagonist of the USA drama comedy Monk.
Friends[]
Adrian Monk[]
Stottlemeyer hugging Monk.
Best Friend (1990-present)
- Main article: Adrian Monk and Leland Stottlemeyer
Adrian Monk had been Leland Stottlemeyer's best friend and former partner for more than two decades. They go way back since Adrian's rookie days at the San Francisco Police Department. It is revealed in "Mr. Monk Takes His Medicine," that after going through with three partners, Monk and Stottlemeyer became partners and were the first to immediately connect. It also appeared they were good friends with each other's families, as they were each familiar with their respective wives, Trudy and Karen (who was married to Leland at the time).
Since their partnership, the two became very close, even as brothers. However, after Trudy's death, Stottlemeyer saw Monk had fallen into sadness and the two grew distant. Season 1's episode "Mr. Monk and the Candidate" further implies Stottlemeyer and Monk have grown distant and it was the first time the two saw each other in three years. Throughout most of the first and a half seasons, Leland would get frustrated with having to contact Adrian to come to a crime scene, feeling he just wasn't ready to come back to work and feeling somewhat jealous of Monk'd talents. However, during Season 2, the bond between the two men seemed to improve, as Stottlemeyer became less irritated with Adrian.
A turning point in Stottlemeyer and Monk's friendship was in the episode "Mr Monk and the Captain's Wife." Stottlemeyer's wife, Karen was in a car accident courtesy of her crashing into a repo truck after the driver had been shot dead by Evan Coker shooting a repo truck driver. Throughout this episode, Monk becomes increasingly protective of Stottlemeyer, worrying about his emotional state right now, which is where Adrian has been in his life since Trudy died. Later, Stottlemeyer tells Monk he finally understands why he can never move on from Trudy and that he should never let go of the watch she gave him. Afterwards, Monk and Stottlemeyer become closer again.
In Season 3, "Mr. Monk Takes his Medicine," Adrian was very concerned when Stottlemeyer was shot and quickly ran to the scene with Sharona even ending his therapy session with Dr. Kroger. After failing to stop the suspect who shot Stottlemeyer from getting away, Adrian felt guilty so he decided to take the medication that Dr Kroger recommended he take to help with his OCD; however, the drugs turned Adrian from a mild-mannered, observant, into a carefree, self-absorbed narcissist. After he stopped taking the meds, Adrian apologized to Sharona at the victim's apartment, where they learned through the victim's suicide note about a robbery. On the drive there, Stottlemeyer (over the phone), asked if Monk was back. When Sharona turned the phone over so Leland could hear Adrian complain about driving through a red light, Stottlemeyer realized Monk was not under the meds and "welcomed" him back.
Stottlemeyer may still experience frustration with Monk's idiosyncrasies, yet he remains steadfast in his support for him. He now initiates contact with Adrian without needing a prompt, demonstrating a deep sense of protectiveness whenever Monk faces danger. Additionally, Stottlemeyer ensures that Monk remains focused during investigations, often adapting the environment to suit Monk's needs and serving as his rational counterpart. Their mutual respect is evident, as they exhibit a protective and nurturing demeanor towards each other. In grave situations, they occasionally address one another by their first names (Mr. Monk and the Other Woman, Mr. Monk Bumps His Head, etc.)
Sharona Fleming[]
In 1998, at least a year after the murder of Trudy Monk, Stottlemeyer was forced to honorably discharge Adrian from the San Francisco police force. Growing worried for his best friend's health, Stottlemeyer hired Sharona to be Adrian's nurse. Despite this gesture of Goodwill, throughout most of Season 1, Stottlemeyer acted cold and aloof towards Sharona and Adrian, clearly not wanting them in his investigations, especially Adrian. In "Mr. Monk and the Candidate," Stottlemeyer greeted Adrian and Sharona with smiles and handshakes but showed his disdain bringing them in. However, when Monk's acrophobia kicked in when he couldn't stop a suspect, Stottlemeyer yelled at Monk in front of the entire police force, causing Sharona to snap "Bite me."
In "Mr. Monk and the Billionaire," Sharona tried to charge Stottlemeyer her and Adrian's fee at the crime scene when they were investigating Sydney Teal's murder. Leland found it to be an inappropriate time, with Stottlemeyer and Monk finding the murder more important than money. Sharona could have waited to charge them the fee after they left the crime scene and Stottlemeyer found her $500 fee to be extreme. Despite whatever misgivings Sharona and Leland had in the first season, they appeared to be getting along better as season 2 unfolded.
However at first, their relationship was still strained, as Sharona was upset that Stottlemeyer was able to get his son, Jared eligible for playing a little leader's game. Even though Stottlemeyer's son won the game, Sharona still found it unfair because most boys were under 13. When she confronted the captain about it, Stottlemeyer told Sharona that their conversation was over. However, Stottlemeyer later congratulated Sharona's son Benjy for winning the second game.
In "Mr. Monk and the Playboy," Sharona and Adrian are heading up to Sapphire mansion. Sharona was disgusted by their reasons for heading up to the mansion in the first place, as they were more interested in seeing attractive women than helping her and Adrian in the actual case. She immediately deduced that Stottlemyer had been up at the mansion before and he admitted that he was there 10 years ago. He also admitted that Karen found out about his visit during therapy when Sharona asked if he ever told his wife.
After further investigation, Leland and Randy were presumably informed by Monk and Sharona that Dexter was blackmailing them to stay away from the case. Given Leland's protective nature towards his friends and family, he decided to help them expose Dexter to Elliot's death. It is also evident that Stottlemeyer disapproves of some of Sharona's boyfriends, even initially calling her current one, Kenny, a weasel.
In the Season 3 episode "Mr. Monk Takes his Medicine," Sharona interrupts Adrian's appointment with Dr Krogan and frantically tells Adrian that Leland has been shot. Both of them are concerned for him, and Stottlemeyer nearly being shot caused Adrian to take pills that were supposed to help with his OCD. After Sharona decides to move back to New Jersey, Stottlemeyer does indeed miss his close friend and sees how much it has told on Adrian since Sharona left.
The two were reunited in mid-late 2008 when Sharona came back to San Francisco to settle her uncle's estate. Leland was happy to see Sharona and hugged her. She saw a picture of Leland's girlfriend on his desk and was happy to see him in a relationship with someone, saying TK was pretty.
Randy Disher[]
Stottlemeyer also refers to Randy as "son," further showing their closeness and how Stottlemeyer thinks of Randy as a son-like figure.
Natalie Teeger[]
In "Mr. Monk and the Three Julies," Leland takes on a protective role towards Julie and Natalie following the recent murders of two individuals named Julie Teeger.
Although the initial reports of the victims were false alarms, Natalie had previously damaged the captain's car while responding to the incidents. Leland exhibited patience towards Natalie, recognizing that her reaction was typical of any concerned parent, yet he could not help but express frustration over the damage to his car. He stationed two lieutenants outside the Teeger residence and arranged for Randy to accompany Natalie to ensure she was not alone.
When Stottlemeyer couldn't locate any Julie Teegers within a thousand-mile radius, Leland grew increasingly anxious that Natalie's daughter, Julie, might be the next target. By the conclusion of the episode, after the true perpetrator was apprehended, Natalie received a call from her daughter's school, where she was dismayed to discover that Julie had successfully passed her driving test with excellent marks. Leland attempted to suppress his smile and apologized to Natalie for her fears coming true, yet he found a sense of irony in the situation, given that she had previously damaged his car.
Julie Teeger[]
Julie is considered like a daughter to Stottlemeyer, but her relationship with Monk is closer.
In "Mr. Monk and the Three Julies," Leland became protective of Julie and Natalie when two Julie Teegers had been recently killed. The first two victims had been false alarms but Natalie had damaged his car when she drove to the locations in a previous. Leland kept his patience with Natalie because due to him being a father himself, any parent would have reacted like her but still showed anger at her for damaging his car. He had two lieutenants posted outside the Teeger house and even had Randy sit in with Natalie so she wouldn't be alone.
After Stottlemeyer could not find any Julie Teegers within a thousand miles, Leland was afraid that Natalie's daughter, Julie was next so he had her and her mother moved to the precinct. When he overheard Julie and Adrian having a father/daughterly argument about her driver's license, Adrian tried to pass off the "parenting Julie" to Stottlemeyer, who wanted to no part of the argument similar to a mother or father staying out of an argument their child is having with their partner. Unfortunately, the suspect, Matthew Teeger, who had a strange obsession with his mother Juliet Teeger, escaped custody. He was hoping to catch Julie and give her his lucky rabbit's foot for good luck since he knew a killer was on the loose. When they got to the driver's ed course, Stottlemeyer and Natalie thought that Matthew was going to harm Julie, so he had a sniper get ready to either wound Matt or take him out.
However, Monk figured out Matthew was not the guy coming after Julie and quickly misdirected the sniper's gun, where the bullet hit Leland's car. After exposing the true culprit, Julie was driving in her car with a few friends, when she saw Leland sitting on the bench outside the car repair shop. She offered the Captain of the SFPD a ride home which Leland accepted. He teased Julie to drive a little faster and more like her mother but the two laughed it off.
Love Interests[]
TK Stottlemeyer (second wife)[]
TK is Leland's second and current wife after his divorce from Karen and his last girlfriend becoming a murderer. When the two first met, Leland was immediately taken with her to a self-cleaning vacuum seminar, almost in the wake of his best friend Adrian Monk's upcoming 50th birthday party. Soon, the two started dating. In "Mr. Monk and Sharona," Sharona asks about TK when she sees her picture on Stottlemeyer's desk and sees that she is very beautiful. Leland Stacy feels like a hit the lottery winning her heart.
When Leland started dating her, he asked what the "T" in her nickname stood for and she revealed that it stood for Trudy. This made him uneasy due to his fear of hurting his best friend Adrian Monk's feelings that he was marrying a woman with Trudy's first name. However, when Stottlemeyer asks Monk if he resented him for marrying someone who shared his late wife's name, Monk simply tells Stottlemeyer that he didn't because everyone needed a "Trudy" in their life.
After their wedding, Leland and TK don't get into flights and his wife seems more amicable with her husband's busy work schedule. They are last seen in Season 8 when Stottlemeyer kisses TK goodbye when he is called away on a new homicide case with Monk and Natalie.