The Grinder Review: Genesis (Season 1 Episode 18)
At its core, The Grinder is a love story. It’s just not the love story we thought we were going to get, not the love story we expected. Not the common love story, as it were, but a new, groundbreaking one.
Or, maybe, not so new – but still revolutionary nonetheless.
Male relationships don’t get much airtime on TV, not sexual relationships, not friendships, not even familial relationships. I’m not sure why that is entirely. It might be because of a big part of the people in charge are still somewhat homophobic, or sexist, or it might just be that the status quo has worked for a long time, and changing it is hard.
Stories about female friendships are common. There are plenty of movies and television series centered on sisters. But a love story between two brothers? Now, that’s rare.
But that’s exactly what The Grinder is – a story about Dean and Stewart Sanderson. Yes, the supporting cast is great, the writing is smart, and the acting is superb, but what makes this show groundbreaking is not that list of achievements, but the fact that they manage to make them all work towards one common goal: Showing that two brothers can be as close as two sisters, while still being different, still disagreeing and still, occasionally, wanting to kill each other.
That’s what family is like, after all.
And though I’ve waxed poetic about the concept and said almost nothing about this episode, trust me, if there was one episode where we were going to wax poetic about this subject, it’s “Genesis.”
Because, in going back to the beginning, The Grinder shows us that Stewart helped Dean become who he is, all those years ago. Stewart is part of The Grinder, because Stewart was the first person to believe in Dean, the first person to tell him he could do it – he could be whatever he wanted to be. And if the Dean of today is lost, then the one thing that he needs to pick himself up is the one thing he’s always had: the love and support of his brother.
And that’s pretty much how they’re going to find out who’s going after the firm and trying to bring down their father – the way they’ve done everything this season – together.
Other things to note:
- First there’s “My brother believes in me” and then “You are what allows me to Grind.” But I’m not emotional. I’M NOT. Because this is a comedy. And comedies are not supposed to make you emotional. Right?
- Did you really not see the bluff coming, Stewart? We expected better of you.
- The scene where Stewart wakes up Debbie is the most hilarious scene those two have had to date, and the perfect way to show both that Debbie is Stewart’s partner in everything, and that she’s the rational one of the two.
- Ethan is either an evil genius or …wait, evil genius is right.
- We’re starting a prayer circle for The Grinder Season 2. You’re all welcome to join us. This show is too smart to be canceled after one season
What did you think of this week’s episode of The Grinder? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Reviewer rating:
User rating:
The Grinder airs Tuesdays at 9:30/8:30c on Fox.
Lissete Lanuza Sáenz
Lawyer. Writer. Columnist. Geek. Falls in madly in love with fictional characters. Hates the color yellow, misogyny, and people who are late. Can always be found with a book. Watches an absurd amount of TV every week, often, while eating coffee ice cream. She has no regrets. You can check out her blog here: Absurday. Lissete is a senior writer for Tell-Tale TV. Follow @lizziethat