Written by Richard Hatem
Directed by David Solomon
Airs Mondays at 10pm ET on NBC (Fridays at 9pm ET starting 9/14)
This week, redneck Coyotls try to abduct/induct a new female into their pack, Juliette remembers everything but Nick, and Hank starts to lose it completely. This episode is a mix of a standard “missing child” procedural with one-dimensional villains and a slow reveal for Hank at the appropriate moment. Not only does omnipresent Mark Pellegrino guest star, but so do John Pyper-Ferguson, currently recurring on Alphas, and Maddie Hasson, who played a wayward gypsy on the underrated gem The Finder.
Hank takes the news awfully well, as opposed to Juliette’s freak out when Nick tried to tell her the truth. Perhaps the fact that Hank works side-by-side by Nick and has actually seen the unexplainable means that there are only two choices: continue to go crazy or accept it. The added presence of a High School friend, who just happens to be a Coyotl, also softens the blow. Hank’s line about still being crazy, just no longer alone, is appropriate. It signifies that he’s ready to accept this new worldview. The other surprise is that Hank does not lash out at Nick for letting him struggle with his visions, though maybe there will be some backlash if he learns about Adalind’s love potion or some other specifics. The new dynamic within the partnership has great potential to liven up the show; Hank working with Monroe alone could be classic.
Except for a quick scene about finding Adalind, Captain Renard’s intriguing storyline is set aside yet again. Instead, we are introduced to a new kind of Wesen, the Coyotl, that traditionally considers incestuous gang rape to be an appropriate initiation of women into the pack. And of course, no one can escape the pack. It’s a rule. The ceremony alone is frightening without the writers borrowing every creepy redneck cliché ever put to film. Old trailers, trucker hats, inappropriate southern rock music, and crude behavior toward women all appear at the abandoned farm. There is no real indication that they are doing this as a tradition or feel any reverence for it- it just seems like they want to torment the girl for fun. Where were the other Coyotl females? This exact scenario plays out as it would if the villains were human beings (see Criminal Minds). While the pack is pretty much cardboard on the acting front, the makeup and “Voge” effects continue to improve. All in all, the plot is built to fill Hank in on what’s really at work and the Monsters of the Week are just the means to an end.
Nick approaches Juliette with pictures of their life together, but this fails to jog her memory. It feels like, at this point, Nick should just walk away from her. He lies to her constantly (doing so this week as soon as she came home from the hospital) and she even rejected his marriage proposal. There seem to be bad signs aplenty and this latest hiccup separates the couple even more. Monroe and Rosalee, in comparison, have far more chemistry than our main couple. It’s unclear if the writers mean to contrast the two relationships or if it’s simply unintentional, but their far more equal partnership only makes Nick and Juliette’s issues all the more glaring. At the very least, Juliette remembers Monroe, but who could forget him? Once again, Monroe gets the best lines in addition to bringing much-needed levity to a dark show.
Next week, “Monroe-mance” (NBC’s word, not mine) and Wesen zombies. Could be fun.
Matt Marquissee
