Grimm stalls with a visit to Hotel Hell

The Grimm team stakes out a murder/dream hotel in an episode that spins its wheels.

Let’s bitch it out…

Wesen of the Week: 6×06 “Breakfast In Bed” opens with the murder of an unfortunate Good Samaritan by Dan Wells, a meth-addict looking guy who is suffering from night terrors at the Englewood Hotel. Seeing the run-down establishment and the focus on disenfranchised people living at the margins, it’s hard not to think about the drug-addicted Downtown East side of Vancouver (Grimm, of course, films in Hollywood North). Barring that unpleasant connection, the identity of the Wesen in question – the Alpe – is arguably the most interesting aspect of this week’s case. “Breakfast In Bed” offers up a rogue’s gallery of potential candidates: the manager, the creepy other employee, the voyeuristic old man in the wheelchair or the prissy hotel owner.

The casual murder of both the manager and, inadvertently, the hotel owner feels out of character for the show. We’ve seen Nick kill at the end of fights, but traditionally that’s when he and Hank (Russell Hornsby) are in grave danger. This doesn’t feel like that, though; the confrontation with the manager is relatively brief, and yet crack goes the neck.

More disturbing is the death of the Alpe, which is treated for comedy. Both Nick and Monroe (Silas Weir Mitchell) crack-wise about her accidental death and alost as soon as she goes down, we’ve moved on. The corpse is a punchline that simply doesn’t matter. Case closed, I guess?

Other Observations:

• The look of the Alpe is…interesting. It’s a cross between an ape, something from Ghostbusters, and the animated ghosts in The Nightmare Before Christmas. The slightly cartoonish look contrasts with the creepy image of the Alpe unhinging its jaw to envelop its victims faces. It doesn’t complete work, but it’s unique.
• Are we meant to assume that the old man has been watching and/or waiting for the Alpe to be vanquished? That final stinged didn’t entirely make sense to me, so feel free to contribute your opinion below if you have an idea.
• Hallucinatory Visions: Thanks to some sage advice from Meisner (Damien Puckler), Renard (Sasha Ruiz) narrowly escapes assassination by Black Claw, who want him to “pick up where he left off.” Why? Unclear. That will be a story for another day…which is unfortunately Grimm‘s M.O. on this particular storyline.
• Eviette and the Stick: Thanks to Monroe and Rosalee (Bree Turner), Eviette’s (Bitsie Tulloch) drawings are deciphered as a series of constellations – an ancient calendar from a bunch of unconnected civilizations such as the Mayans and Sumerians. The revelation that the event in the stars is in the future is hardly surprising, though the cheeky reveal that the date in question is also Grimm‘s series finale is a bit of fun.
• Baby Watch: Nada. The triplets go mostly unmentioned this week.
• Trubel Watch: Also nada. Screw you, Grimm!

Best Lines:

• Hank (when the Englewood owner names another hotel): “Also not the deluxe.”
• Nick (as Dan freaks out): “We need a chemical restraint in here!” (Hank punches Dan several times in the face) “Or that.”
• Monroe (paralyzed, slowly reclining on the bed): “You can’t leave me like this!”
• Monroe (when Nick and Hank draw their guns): “I left mine at home”

That’s it for this week. What do you think of the revelation that the symbols refer to a future event? Is Renard going to be tempted back to the dark side? Are the cases detracting from the mythology as we count down to the finale? Sound off below.

Grimm airs Fridays at 8pm EST. Please note that next week’s review will go up late (possibly not until Sunday or Monday)