Game Ogre

"Game Ogre" is the 8th episode of the supernatural drama television series Grimm of season 1 and mid-season premiere, which premiered on January 13, 2012, on NBC. The episode was written by producer Cameron Litvack and consulting producer Thania St. John, and was directed by Terrence O'Hara.

Plot

Opening quote: "Fee fi fo fum... I smell the blood of an Englishman..."

A judge, Logan Patterson (Anthony De Longis) is attacked at his home by a man (Eric Edelstein) and then killed. Sgt. Wu (Reggie Lee) and a fellow police officer are called for break-in and report the homicide. Meanwhile, on a car, the man treats his wounds. Nick (David Giuntoli) and Hank (Russell Hornsby) are sent to investigate, where they find fingerprints in the gavel. Hank later reports to Captain Renard (Sasha Roiz) that the gavel revealed the DNA of a jury foreman. Hank, Renard and the PPD raid a house to discover the foreman's corpse.

The jury foreman holds a woman's watch, so Nick and Hank go with Monroe (Silas Weir Mitchell) to get help. Monroe reveals that the owner of the watch was Mary Robinson, an assistant district attorney. When the police arrive at her home, they find her dead. Hank realizes that the murderer is Oleg Stark, a contract killer who's killing the people who sent him to jail, including him. Captain Renard then suspends Hank for his safety.

Nick arrives home where he is attacked by Stark, demanding to know where is Hank. While fighting, Nick discovers Stark is a creature and Stark discovers Nick is a Grimm. Juliette (Bitsie Tulloch) arrives and pours hot water on Stark, which causes him to escape. Nick is transferred to the hospital while Monroe is notified and realizes that Stark is an ogre. Monroe then goes to Aunt Marie's trailer to get a rifle that's the only weapon that can kill the ogre.

Hank lures Stark to a quarry while Monroe follows with the rifle. Stark brutally attacks Hank but Monroe manages to kill the ogre before he can kill him but flees before Hank sees him. In the station, Captain Renard chastises Hank for his actions and then tells him that the bullets that killed Stark are from an English rifle that's over 100 years old and it's also a rare elephant gun. Hank asks who would possess such a thing.

Reception

Viewers

The episode was viewed by 4.65 million people, earning a 1.4/4 in the 18-49 rating demographics on the Nielson ratings scale, marking a 10% decrease in viewership and ranking third in its timeslot and ranking seventh for the night in the 18-49 demographics, behind two episodes of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Kitchen Nightmares, 20/20, CSI: NY, and Blue Bloods.^[1] This means that 1.4 percent of all households with televisions watched the episode, while 4 percent of all households watching television at that time watched it.

Critical reviews

"Game Ogre" received positive reviews. The A.V. Club's Kevin McFarland gave the episode a "B-" grade and wrote, "Grimm is about as minor of a hit as possible thanks to being on NBC, but it's sticking around admirably. It holds onto a decent Friday night audience week after week, and turns out consistently average episodes that hold my attention, but we've hit a bit of a rough patch, where the fairy tales are window dressing, plot movement is still barely taking baby steps, and Nick is literally sidelined at the most important time during a case. Stranding a protagonist with a witty, knowledgeable buddy instead of a mentor is already tenuous, but Grimm feels even more in flux than that, almost so surprised of how assured its status is through the end of the season that it doesn't know which direction to go. Does it need more character development for the soon-to-be-engaged couple, retooling to make Eddie Monroe more of a lead, or a toned down amount of fairy tale references? Tonight's episode was a mix of all three, and only the Monroe change made a positive difference."^[2]

Nick McHatton from TV Fanatic, gave a 4.5 star rating out of 5, stating: "Overall, 'Game Ogre' was a fun change of pace for a series that hasn't taken many risks other than it's premise, and it paid off beautifully. Now if only I knew what Renard was thinking about at the end."^[3]

References