'Grimm' Review - 2.09 La Llorona

        On the newest episode of NBC's Grimm, a series of horrifying child adductions make their way to Portland, spoiling the Halloween spirit; Nick and Hank are joined by Albuquerque detective Valentina Espinosa (Kate del Castillo) and Juliette, as the precinct's Spanish translator; Nick sees a pattern between the kidnappings and the famed Hispanic horror story "La Llorona" which is also intertwined with his family's history; and Monroe celebrates the holiday by teaching the neighborhood bullies a lesson.

        Grimm has hit a bit of stump over the last few weeks in its second season. The show keeps on pumping out standalone episodes that focused heavily on the case-of-the-week with a very separate subplot for Monroe. These episodes have helped build up the evolving dynamic between Hank and Nick as partners now that Hank knows about the Wesen world. But it does so at the expense of so many of the other elements that the show is dealing with. I mean I'm not a fan of the whole Juliette subplot but I contribute most of that fact to its glacial pacing and the fact that we only get less than five minutes of it each week.
        With all that being said about the current contours of the season, tonight's episode was wrought with much more solid tension and was able to give a unique interpretation of a classic story - something that the season's other episodes haven't effectively done. Yes, the overall "La Llorona" police case story included some annoying minor quibbles - it took them forever to figure out she drowns them where the rivers meet - but it was overall very solid. Although sometimes her accent was too thick for me, Kate del Castillo's turn as an obsessive detective also added a distinct and outside angle to the proceedings.
        Sadly, Monroe has become less and less vital to Nick's ongoing venture into the Wesen world logistically because now he simply has Hank there to better bounce the knowledge off of. Monroe has been relegated to separate subplot after separate subplot for the some reason of bringing a comedic element to the episode. I would be more upset by this if I didn't really love what Silas Weir Mitchell is able to do each week. This episode had him get way into the Halloween spirit and scared a group of kids wonderfully. Now, this story has been done before and it followed the same kind of pacing but because of Mitchell's nuances in the story I was engaged by and found it to be very funny.

So what did everyone think of the episode? Does the show's lack of clarity with supernatural powers bother you? Share your thoughts in the comments.