Leave it to a show like Grimm to try to personify the old adage about a wolf in sheep's clothing. On "The Good Shepherd," the show does just this, with a Reverend who reports a lot of stolen money from the church's funds and a bunch of followers who turn out to be just another flock of Wesen. Then, in "Over My Dead Body," the show brings back Angelina (Jaime Ray Newman, from the earlier episode "The Three Bad Wolves") while also putting Monroe at risk because of his friendship with Nick - apparently the royal families don't like it when Wesen side with Grimms.
"The Good Shepherd" is immediately too obvious in its portrayal of a wolf infiltrating a flock of sheep; that's because it plays the idea off so literally that it leaves no room for the audience to piece it together themselves. Reverend Calvin (Jonathan Scarfe) really is a wolf, he really does try to embezzle and steal from the church, and he really has been trying to get a sheep named Megan (Kristina Anapau) to help him do it.
The plot isn't entirely too good to begin with, although it does use Monroe as an undercover agent, which would be fantastic in any other scenario. There's no real hook to it, and it's too heavy-handed to leave any mystery whatsoever about the whodunnit. And this is one of the first episodes where it feels like no one is really at risk here; even though Monroe is chased by a flock of angry sheep, it doesn't seem like they could win against a ravenous blutbad like Monroe.
"Over My Dead Body" is a much better episode, because it incorporates more than just a simple weekly predicament for Grimm to overcome. For one, the episode finally tackles Juliette's loss of memory in a much more focused way, when she actually makes it a priority to try to get her life straightened out and cooks Nick a dinner to make new memories. And Monroe and Rosalee have their own bonding yet again, broken up Angelina's intrusion into Monroe's house claiming that he's the target of a recent hit that Angelina is supposed to initiate.
The bit players get their onscreen time in this episode, and unlike "The Good Shepherd", there's actually a sense of forward movement. The royal families continue their attack on Nick to try and stop the Grimm, and Captain Renard has a deal of his own going on with mysterious Mia (Alice Evans). "Over My Dead Body" also puts Monroe and Angelina at risk because of Nick's carelessness, and that strengthens the friendship between Monroe and Nick while also changing how Nick continues his relationships. And poor Angelina, who hasn't been in the show much at all, brings a ton of emotional impact to the episode by stepping in to save Monroe (if you remember, they sort of had a fling that almost looked to be like what he and Rosalee have now).
Grimm works best when it drops its procedural routine, or at least involves it in the episodic arc of the Grimm vs. Reaper scenarios. But that's not the reason why "Over My Dead Body" gets me excited for more Grimm. It's the fact that the show is not afraid to lose some of its characters, that it is building relationships steadily, that it is well-written enough to trigger such strong emotions. These qualities are the reason I tune in every week, and though "The Good Shepherd" is a bit of a misstep, Grimm always bounces back.
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