One of the main problems that I’ve had with Grimm‘s opening nine episodes is that the cases of the week tended to be very hit-or-miss. I don’t know if it’s where I’m not used to the feel of a procedural or what, but more often than not, I’ve not been that drawn in by the plethora of missing children and women in peril. The supernatural elements that the show has been playing around with in said cases, from fairy tale-esque settings to different creature interactions and brutal imagery, have masked that fact until this point, but there has to be some other pull to get me interested in a routine police investigation. I like seeing what kind of new creatures or impressive lighting schemes Grimm can come up with, but at some point, the cases need to start having a bit more meaning, a bit more resonance with the main characters.
“Organ Grinder” was a step in the right direction in that regard, as it allowed the three main folks we keep in touch with (Nick, Monroe, and, to a lesser extent, Juliette) to stretch their wings a little bit. Most notably, it was a fantastic episode for Nick, a likable enough “good guy” that has been treading pretty lightly here lately. Granted, after you find out you’re a descendant of a long line of creature hunters, you might become a little closed off for a while, since your entire identity is up in the air, but this is the first episode (perhaps ever?) that Nick really stood out in the madness. He’s gained a noticeable amount of confidence in his role as hunter in his time with Monroe and it was especially gratifying to see him intimidate one of the geier working at the corrupt clinic and the gallenblase salesman. The Nick Burkhardt in the pilot wouldn’t have been able to handle himself that well with two “bad guys”, so as much as this is a supernatural procedural, it’s also the story of a man growing to accept himself and Nick’s growth in his “other life” only bodes well going forward. I like watching him catch on and figure out how to navigate the creature world, but it feels like the training period has ended and Nick Burkhardt, Professional Hunter is ready to step on the scene.
But if you think Nick was all muscle and aggression, you’re wrong, as “Organ Grinder” was careful to keep his humanity front and center. His interactions with Monroe have been a series highlight, but they were taken to another level with the Buffy-esque scenes tonight that highlighted their bond in bright yellow highlighter. In the beginning, there was this tension to their conversations as the two felt one another out, but by this point, Nick and Monroe are at the old married couple state of their friendship, the occasional dust-up (this time over the fact that they only talk about Grimm stuff) with an undercurrent of deep affection from shared experience. It’s deep personal relationships like this that keep Nick from becoming too much of an enigma and sinking too far down the Grimm rabbit hole; also accomplishing that is the seemingly small feat of asking homeless siblings (and jewelry merchants) Gracie and Hanson to dinner and overpaying for some of their product. As much as I like Nick/Monroe and Nick/Juliette, he doesn’t really have a lot of personal connections outside of those two and if it was kept that way, Grimm could turn into something a little suffocating and redundant. By showing Nick feeling for their situation, Grimm let down a wall that its leading man had up since the pilot and seeing him soften a bit makes the aggression he showed later that much more impressive.
Nick’s been able to keep the core of who he was pre-Grimm in tact while adding on traits that he’s learned from his time exploring the underworld with Monroe.
Intriguingly, it’s Juliette that had a bit of an expanded role in “Organ Grinder”, particularly relating to Nick’s gesture toward Gracie and Hanson. It’s been thrown around the blogosphere that the veterinarian would be slowly stepping into Nick’s world and allowing her to bring her personal touch to getting information was just enough of a step to feel important but not too much of a step to feel overwhelming. She showed a very natural ability to empathize with people, connecting with Gracie in a way that Nick hadn’t been able to; combine that with her ability to crack a joke and break out medical knowledge and I could see her being a terrific partner for Nick and Monroe in the future. The fun of it, though, will be watching her journey from outlier girlfriend to valuable asset in Nick’s hunting, especially since it’d be another person to fight Monroe for Nick’s attention. Plus, though we’d be able to see the world that has become second nature to Nick (and us) through new eyes, which could be a neat way to see just how Juliette stacks up in terms of psyche and ability to adapt to new situations.
As much as I liked the moments for Nick, Monroe, and Juliette, “Organ Grinder” had its share of faults. The ending conversation between Renard and Mysterious Ear-sending Man that hinted at someone/a group of someone’s coming for Nick felt a little like an empty threat. We’ve had the same song-and-dance before (the woman in “Beeware” warning Nick that “he’s coming” before dying) that didn’t exactly pan out, so as much as I want to believe that our hero may be in danger, I’ll have to see it to believe it. A big bad, even a recurring big bad, would do Grimm a world of good in terms of storytelling and focus, but I’d rather they just pulled the trigger if they’re going to do it rather than settling for multiple false starts. Additionally, I feel weird for saying this, but I wanted more time at the “organ farm”; I know that a show with Grimm‘s structure can’t really luxuriate for too long, but it was such a striking, dark set-up that it was a shame that we only got a minute of it before the bust. The puka shell/bread crumb allusion to Hansel & Gretel was, indeed, clever, but it cut short what could have been a truly gruesome, captivating discovery for Nick and Hank.
“Organ Grinder” may not have been my favorite Grimm episode to date, but it did a lot right and was a nice rebound from the previous few installments. Delightfully dark and not afraid to revel in it, the episode was arguably Grimm‘s most visceral, which makes all the character development/payoff stand out that much more. At the same time that homeless children were being harvested for their organs by new age-y monkey/bird hybrids called geier, we finally got Juliette participation, playful bickering between Monroe/Nick, and Nick’s emotional state becoming a little more open. Thus, “Organ Grinder” is sort of in the show’s sweet spot, juggling two vastly different tones/turns of events and managing to make the case-of-the-week the catalyst for the character development we saw. Grimm‘s cases may be hit-or-miss, but “Organ Grinder” delivered a solid ground-rule double at a pretty crucial time.
Thoughts, Quotes, & Observations:
-“He didn’t look like a Hallie to me.”
-“Our exotic animals are you.”
-“There’s a place that I’ve heard of. Not that I’ve ever been there or anything.”
-“I think it’s pronounced ‘capitalism’.”
-How bad ass were some of the images in “Organ Grinder”? The shot of the blade coming for Kevin, the Jeepers Creepers-ish make-up on the body in the river, and the rows of hospital beds with defenseless kids were all nice touches.
-Raise your hand if you had the doctor being in on it from the beginning. (For the record, I didn’t, but I knew something was up with all the focus on Tom’s sandwich.)
-Am I the only one that wants to know more about the medical examiner? She’s been in several episodes, but if you offered me a million dollars to give her name or any personal details, I couldn’t do it.
-Monroe’s favorite color is red, for those of you wondering.
-Did anybody notice the two teenage boys (one mohawked, one in red flannel) in and around the clinic? I kept looking for them to be more included in the action.
-When Nick and Hank got into the trailer and discovered the organs, the plastic hanging in the doorway put me in mind of Dexter.
-In case you didn’t recognize him, Hanson was played by Daryl Sabarra from Spy Kids.
-If you’ve yet to read Nightfly’s interview with Grimm creators David Greenwalt and Jim Kouf, check it out here.
-Next week on Grimm: Nick and Hank investigate an oft-married woman whose husbands end up dead, while Nick’s presence in the creature world is putting a target on his back. Can he keep himself (and Juliette) safe?
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