Courtesy of NBC
A busy episode of Grimm finally lays the foundation for Nick’s return to Grimm status.
Let’s bitch it out…
Case of the Week: Ava Diaz is a woman haunted by apparitions of a polite, well-spoken Wolf (Mark Bloom), the titular Luison. Naturally her husband and doctor think that she’s batshit crazy and after she runs over a pedestrian, she’s in danger of being institutionalized. Thankfully rather than employing the usual “Trubel (Jacqueline Toboni) is called in to help”, Nick (David Giuntoli) and Hank (Russell Hornsby) press Monroe (Silas Weir Mitchell) into action. It’s just like old times! In a fun spin on expectations, it is revealed that the husband is one of four brothers, all Luisant, and all trying to drive Ava crazy for her inheritance. It’s a fun little story that displays more flair than the usual case of the week. Good job, Grimm.
Meanwhile: The wrap-around interpersonal stuff finally addresses Nick’s condition in a mostly heads-on way. A series of events makes it abundantly clear just how ingrained being a Grimm is in Nick’s everyday life: the always amusing Bud (Danny Bruno) confirms that Wesen with a bone to pick are circling Nick like sharks, there’s a suggestion that the Royal Key is about to return, and the final (literal) stake that reintroduces the desperate need for Nick’s return is the threat to Monroe and Rosalee (Bree Turner) that is left burning on Nick’s front lawn at the end of the episode.
It’s enough to drive Juliette (Bitsie Tulloch) to accept the solution proposed last week. The first scene of ‘Cry Luisant’ clarifies what’s involved and it’s a bit of an emotional doozy: the potion will turn Juliette into Adalind (Claire Coffee) and then she’ll sleep with Nick. Both Nick and Juliette understandably balk at the idea, but by the end of the episode Nick has finally admitted out loud that he not only needs to be a Grimm, he actively misses it. It’s an encouraging development after so many episodes downplaying Nick’s power loss. Although the episode as a whole is a bit overstuffed and frenetic (the cuts back to Austria in particular might have played better as a single focused scene), it appears that Grimm is finally coming around.
Courtesy of NBC
Other Observations:
- Out of the blue, Josh Porter (Lucas Near-Verbrugghe) – first seen in last year’s ‘The Inheritance’ – calls Nick to announce that people have broken into his father’s home and are chasing him. Josh hops on a bus, which is rather anticlimatic, but it does suggest that the Royal Key storyline is now back in play. I would be more excited if this storyline had been handled with more care in the past, but there’s always hope that this will be the season that the storyline pays off.
- Fun fact: Halloween masks are the result of Wesen hiding tricks. I love it when the show includes these little tidbits.
- Renard (Sasha Roiz) moves into some swanky new digs (nice view if you can afford it!). He also tells Elizabeth (Louise Lombard) that Kelly Burkhardt is the person who has her grandchild, which automatically sounds alarm bells.
- Wu (Reggie Lee) isn’t even trying to be subtle about the fact that he knows that Hank and Nick are lying to him. Even Nick and Hank are acknowledging that the deception can’t last much longer.
- Finally, in Adalind’s continuing adventures in Wonderland: she chases herself, holds a pig and falls down a trapdoor…and ends up right back in her cell. Turns out all of the hallucinations are courtesy of Viktor (Alexis Denisof) who is buttering Adalind up so she will work with him. Much like the Royal Key, let’s hope that this actually leads somewhere. As enjoyable as it is watching Claire Coffee run around like a madwoman, this storyline needs something to tie it into the main action back in Portland. Last season proved that the Austria stuff can be entertaining, but it needs to be fleshed out and imbued with real stakes.
Best Lines:
- Hank (when Monroe insists on the presence of a second husband): “What’s he been drinking?” Monroe (on the phone): “I heard that.”
- Monroe (seeing all three brothers voge): “Holy crap, that is a litter”
Your turn: did you enjoy the case of the week? Are you happy that the show is acknowledging Nick’s loss of powers heads on? Is Monroe and Rosalee’s marriage going to be a driving storyline? How long until Wu just flat-out snaps? And how long until we see a Kelly Burkhardt/Elizabeth smackdown for baby Diana? Sound off below
Grimm airs Fridays at 9pm EST on NBC. Here’s a sneak peek of next week’s episode: