Grimm season 2 episode 10 review: The Hour Of Death

Grimm’s post-Halloween episode shades in a little more of its mythology. Here’s Frances’ review of The Hour Of Death…

This review contains spoilers.

2.10 The Hour of Death

After last week’s seasonally spooky extravaganza comes a pacey, eventful episode that nicely plumps out the so-far sketchily drawn mythology of Nick’s ancestors. Tons of fun stuff went on in The Hour of Death, from Juliette and Renard finally locking lips, to clumsy intern Ryan turning out to be a self-hating serial killing Grimm stalker, and – wait for it – another welcome appearance from The Fridge Repair Beaver!

The episode opened with a business-as-usual kidnapping case for the only cops in Portland, a crime perpetrated by – you guessed it – a couple of Wesen. (Do you think Nick dreams of investigating a nice human garrotting or disembowelling for a change?) The victim was soon recovered, at which point the story switched to a sort of Grimm/Scream mash-up, complete with its own caped, voice-changed murderer given to taunting Nick on his promotional consideration cell phone.

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In a rare example of narrative efficiency for Grimm, Ryan – a character introduced just three episodes ago, was unmasked as a villain and sent off in the back of a police car. Ryan’s secret identity was unveiled uncharacteristically swiftly for the show, which is wont to draw out storylines to the point of hair-pulling frustration (eight episodes for Juliette and Renard to get to their second kiss? Ross and Rachel had a baby, broke up and didn’t move to Paris in roughly the same period of time).

It’s always fun to venture a little deeper into the world of Grimm and Wesen, so learning about that über-motivated branch of Nick’s forefathers who had a jones for genocide and branding their victims like cattle was a satisfying addition.

It’s interesting to remember that for most Wesen, Nick and his ilk are the bogeymen, and should Grimm choose to take Det. Burkhardt down a dark Angel-to-Angelus-type path, I’ll be one happy viewer. Perhaps losing Juliette to foxy Renard will be what finally pushes our crossbow-happy hero over the edge of moral certainty? Doubtful, but we can only hope.

And so to the Fridge Repair Beaver, the Clem to Nick’s Buffy. Despite the sky-high percentage of criminal activity in the Wesen population, the FRB is a harmless genus, more likely to suffocate you with crocheted Americana and baked goods than he is to commit a violent murder. His appearances, like those of Sgt. Wu, provide much-needed levity in Grimm’s serious stories, so each furry, anxious return he makes is cause for celebration in my book.

Speaking of levity, it was also good to welcome Monroe back into the fold after a couple of episodes spent side-lined into wacky spice shop antics and Halloween rivalries with sixth graders. It’s difficult not to feel that Monroe’s character is just treading water until Bree Turner (Rosalee) returns from maternity leave, and that without the escalation of his romantic life, the writers are somewhat stuck as to where to put him. As long as it’s somewhere good and central (as Nick’s post-Juliette housemate perhaps?) you won’t hear any complaints from me.

Read Frances’ review of episode eight, The Other Side, here.

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