How Does the Monkey's Grip Affect the Movement of the Bananas?

[Questlove]

A monkey is susspended by a rope and he has a firm grip on the rope, which leads up to a pulley. On the other side of the pulley, a bunch of bananas that way the same as the monkey are suspended by the rope.
a) if the monkey sees the bananas above him and climbs up, which direction do the bananas move?
b) if he loosens his grip on the rope and begins to fall, what is happening to the distance between the monkey and the bananas?

a) I think that the bannanas will not move, since both sides of the pulley still have the same weight.
b) I think they distance will be constant since both will be falling at the same rate.

 

[ZenOne]

For case (a) T will be > than mg because the rope has the same tension T for both sides but as the monkey goes upwards so will the bananas because they will have the same magnitude and direction of acceleration (up).

You are right, the distance would be constant exactly because they are falling at the same rate (for the same reasons mentioned above).