A trip down memory lane can be a dangerous thing, especially in a town as peculiar as Grimsburg. This week’s episode of the animated comedy, titled Evidence Locker, uses the tedious task of cleaning out the police department’s evidence room as a framing device for a series of flashbacks. It’s a format that could easily be a lazy shortcut, but for a show built on a foundation of strange one-off cases, it could also be a clever way to revisit its most memorable bits of absurdity.
At the center of it all is Marvin Flute, the self-serious detective voiced by Jon Hamm. Flute returned to Grimsburg to reconnect with his family, but his true talent lies in solving the town’s most inscrutable crimes. This episode seems designed to put that talent on full display, stringing together a collection of cases that define the show’s darkly comedic tone. The flashbacks will presumably give the writers a chance to go for broke with gags that might not sustain a full half-hour on their own.
The voice cast, which includes Erinn Hayes, Rachel Dratch, Alan Tudyk, and Kevin Michael Richardson, has been a consistent strength, and a flashback-heavy episode should give them plenty of material to work with. While Flute struggles with his personal life, his professional life is a parade of the bizarre, and Evidence Locker looks set to be a highlight reel of his greatest, and strangest, hits.
Grimsburg airs on FOX, Thursday, June 19, at 10:30 PM ET.
