Look at Grimm!
Continuing to shake up its patented, very familiar formula two weeks in a row!
The changes still aren’t major, and the stakes aren’t any higher, but I feel
like I’m getting so much more character in these last two episodes, and it’s
getting me invested in a way i hadn’t managed before.
Okay. So instead of a new Wesen appearancing along with the
accompanying crime Nick has to solve, “Eyes of the Beholder” has three stories,
all of which have equal prominence, and two of which are directly connected.
Remember the “Wesen Street Gang” the “Next week on Grimm” preview from last week? They’re not the threat, they’re the
victim, and after a regular human
gang murders one of the “North End Crew” they barely figure in.
That’s right, this time it’s regular humans that are the bad
guys, murdering a leopard Wesen called a Yaguarate for the sole reason that they’re
from Seattle and want to move in on Portland’s turf. A young boy, visiting his
girlfriend in a shitty diner, sees the murder of the Wesen gang member and
runs. Turns out the boy is Jared, the young brother of Zuri, Hank’s physical
therapist! You know, the one that shot him down last week? He’s gets a second
chance when he and Nick have to
protect Jared while they track down the gangbangers who know his face, know
he’s a witness to the murder they committed, and want him dead.
So while Hank gets some bonding time with Zuri, Nick investigates;
don’t worry, it’s not for long, because the gang are the ones who find Jared’s
girlfriend, capture her, and force him to come to them so they can kill him. On
the plus side, Nick seems as baffled as anybody that the only role a Wesen
plays in this crime is as the murder victim. Of course, that’s not at all true,
because it turns out Zuri and Jared are also Wesen — Yaguarate, possibly not
coincidentally. Jared uses his powers to escape with his gal pal just as Nick
and Hank and Zuri arrive; there’s some shooting and confusion but it all ends
with Zuri tearing out the throat of the last guy in order to save her brother.
Hank leads her away, and Nick stays behind to take care of the mess (although
the chances of it having any kind of impact on the next episode is pretty much
nil).
And while all this is going on, the Alicia situation is
coming to a head, AlicIa being Juliette’s friend who has run off from her
abusive husband, and who Nick noticed was a Klaustreich Wesen last ep. Nick
tells Juliette that her longtime friend is a Wesen, and Juliette, well-meaning
but not brimming with tact, tries to confront Alicia about it. Things are
weird. So Juliette seeks Rosalee’s advice, who tells her that a Wesen just
accepting herself is hardcore, so she should give her friend time to “come
out,” as it were (Grimm’s joke, not
mine).
Juliette almost immediately ignores that advice and tries
again to tell Alicia she knows the deal, because Nick is a Grimm; Alicia
immediately freaks the fuck out (exactly as Nick predicted earlier in the
episode), things are crazy, and that’s when Alicia’s shitty Wesen husband shows
up, floors Nick with one punch, and tries to drag Alicia away.
And this is when Juliette goes into fucking berserker mode.
Actress Bitsie Tulloch looks like a stiff breeze could knock
her over, but that just made her incredible beatdown of the shitty husband all
the more satisfying. This dude knocks her around — I swear she gets far worse
than a punch to the face, a la Nick — but she holds her own and she doesn’t
stop kicking this dude’s ass until Nick wakes up and draws his gun. The
husband, realizing Nick is a Grimm, basically wets his pants and promises never
to bother Alicia again; Alicia is touched by Nick’s not killing anybody and by
Juliette’s thorough destruction of her husband, too.
Remember, two of these three stories — Hank’s relationship
with his therapist, the whole Alicia deal — started last episode. They’re so
utilized so much better one episode
later than they would be if Grimm had
introduced both in this same episode. One episode earlier isn’t much, but it’s
enough to show that not everything that happens in Grimm directly related to the plot of the week, and that makes both
the world and the characters so much richer, because they have a chance to
react to things that seem, at the moment, inconsequential.
Now, if Grimm can
make start having its characters all make smart
decisions — e.g., Juliette not
confronting Alicia about her Wesen-ness immediately after asking for Rosalee’s
advice, who told her specifically not to sat anything, or, Jared, who
needlessly tried to rescue his girlfriend from armed thugs by himself when he’s
kind of a spaz and there’s a cop literally in the next room — then Grimm will be firing on all cylinders,
as far as I’m concerned.
Look, I don’t want to sound bitchy; these last two episodes,
Grimm has felt more Buffy-like than
it has since I started reviewing it — characters we like and understand,
storytelling that isn’t one threat per episode (along with one threat per whole
season). By shaking off its regular formula, Grimm has blossomed, and I find myself looking forward to next
week’s episode more than I ever have before — although next week’s episode does
look a lot like a Wesen o’ the Week episode. But even if it is I’ll still give
it a pass for Juliette’s as-kickery this week alone.
Assorted Musings:
SERIOUSLY, IF YOU ARE IN PORTLAND, RAISE YOUR HAND IF
YOU’RE NOT A WESEN. Eight people? That’s what I thought.
Juliette’s “Wha…?” when Nick tells her Alicia is a Wesen
was perfect.
Another thing I loved: Instead of the normal research
combing-through-dusty tomes books, Nick asks about this gang, and Rosalee,
replies, “Oh, yeah, that’s who I used to buy drugs from.” That, my friends, was
refreshing.
And yet anoter thing I loved: Hank and Zuri not working
out, not because Hank has a problem with Wesen, but because Zuri has a problem dating
humans. A very nice, interesting touch. Well done, Grimm.
“I’m glad you’re not perfect. I’m glad you had a crippling drug addiction.”
When Nick keeps his pistol drawn on Zuri, with blood
dripping from her mouth, Hank yells, “She didn’t have a choice!” I feel like
she could have chosen not tear out his throat after pushing
him to the ground, which rendered her brother safe from gunfire, but I enjoyed
this episode so much I won’t quibble.
ª KLAUSTREICH’S GOT NARDS.
