Episode Title: 'Of Mouse and Man'
Writer: Alan DiFiore & Dan E. Fesman
Director: Omar Madha
Story:
Nick (David Giuntoli) and Hank (Russell Hornsby) investigate the murder of Louis Drake, a man with a violent past, found dead in the back of a garbage truck. They learn that Drake and his girlfriend, Natalie (Amanda Walsh) had an argument the night he was killed. According to Drake's landlord, neighbors Marty Burgess and Mason Snyder came to her rescue.
The detectives head over to Marty's junk shop, where they question him about the murder. There, Nick witnesses Marty (Fred Koehler) transform into a rodent-like creature.
When Juliette (Bitsie Tulloch) arrives home, she spots a man and a woman watching her from afar in a pick-up truck. She manages to write down the license plate before the truck speeds away. Meanwhile, Hank and Marty visit lawyer, Mason Synder (Doug Brooks), who claims he had nothing to do with Drake's murder. Nick sees Synder transform into a snake-like creature before his eyes.
Nick stops by Monroe's to ask about the creatures. Their talk is soon interrupted when Monroe gets a call for work. Elsewhere, a belligerent auto mechanic is killed with a tire iron.
When Monroe goes to the location to fix the clock tower, he's attacked and knocked unconscious. Meanwhile, Marty stops by Natalie's apartment. She tells him she's moving and Mason soon appears, carrying one of her boxes. Outside the apartment, Mason tells Marty that Natalie is his. Elsewhere, Monroe wakes up outside the clock tower and finds a scythe painted on the hood of his car, in blood.
Nick and Hank visit Marty's apartment where they find his father dead. Marty visits Mason and tells him to leave Natalie alone. Mason threatens Marty, who kills him with a statuette. Marty then meets Natalie, who's waiting for Mason and takes her to dinner.
At the restaurant, Marty intervenes when a father loudly berates his son at a nearby table. Marty confronts the man and then punches him. He and Natalie leave the restaurant in Mason's car, which Marty claims to have purchased from the lawyer. He races over to his shop, as Natalie begs him to slow down. Nick and Hank soon arrive. Nick catches Marty and tells him his father is dead. However, Marty says his father isn't dead, in fact, he sees his father's face everywhere.
At home, Juliette tells Nick she stopped by home of the couple who were parked outside their house. She tells Nick that once the woman recognized her, she rushed inside the home with her children. Later, Nick stops by Monroe's, where he learns of the attack. He tells Monroe he won't ask for his help anymore, but Monroe says he wants to keep working with Nick, despite the reapers' warning.
Breakdown:
This week, we were introduced to the mouse-like Mauzhert and snake-ish Lausenschlange in the supernatural zoo that is "Grimm." And it turns out the snake is a lawyer and the mouse is a pack rat. Go figure.
"Grimm" is a vastly improved show from its pilot episode. However, while the "Grimm-verse" continues to expand, our main man, Nick Burkhardt remains dramatically stunted.
As he and Hank (who's still somehow ignorant to all the weird cases they keep picking up) encounter more and more of Oregon's supernatural criminal element, Monroe is the only character showing any real growth or change. At first reluctant to get involved with a Grimm, he's since learned to find a balance between his Blutbad and human side, while working with Nick.
Meanwhile, Nick remains mostly unfazed, despite watching seemingly average people transform into rodents, lizards, pigs, etc. There's way more intrigue surrounding Monroe and his journey as a Blutbad working with a Grimm than in Nick learning to deal with his new found abilities. Other than Juliette inching closer to learning the truth about Nick, there isn't much about his character to draw us in.
As for Hank, it's getting harder and harder to believe he isn't sensing something odd about the cases he and Nick work. In this episode, the first victim appeared to age rapidly after Marty killed him. Perhaps that's something only Nick can see, yet if we're to believe Hank is a competent detective, something's gotta give, soon.
Despite its shortcomings, "Grimm" is still turning out to be one of the fall's better offerings. "Of Mice and Man" turned up the heat on both Nick and Monroe, which has me interested to see what's next. For Monroe, at least.
Crave Online Rating: 7 out of 10.
