Courtesy of NBC
Axes, swords and golden feathers. Grimm is getting downright mythological.
Let’s bitch it out…
Case of the Week: Daniel Troyer, a mob boss uses a super outdated tradition to select a mate for his eligible daughter, Emily (Madeline Zima): suitors must prove their worth by murdering oafish ‘F Bomb’ nightclub owner Frankie Atkins. First up: Isaac Proctor (Alex Hurt), who fails to even survive until the credits. Eli (Michael King) is up next and though Emily seems much closer to him, Eli doesn’t get the job done. Ultimately it’s no big surprise when Emily is revealed to be the killer, as the case seems relatively cut and dry from the start. Chalk this one up as interesting, but insubstantial.
If nothing else, the case of the week, like last week‘s, is a stand-in for larger issues involving our main cast. Troyer’s “maiden quest” actually speaks more to Emily’s desire to be her own person and his near-death confession reinforces that the antiquated ritual was nothing more than a ruse to confirm her strength and convictions. This ties-in nicely to Adalind’s (Claire Coffee) desire to be a contributing member in her new makeshift family with Nick (David Giuntoli). It’s obvious that Adalind loves Kelly and is nursing a growing attraction to Nick, but she remains an independent woman. Last week I praised the show for complicating Adalind’s character, so this is an encouraging step in the right direction.
Co-Parenting: Nick and Adalind are adjusting to life as new parents, dealing with the usual round of uncertainty about how to handle a newborn (Adalind asks Bree Turner’s Rosalee how to tell if Kelly is colicky and Rosalee’s amusing response is that they’ll know because nothing will work. That probably rang scarily true for some parents). Most significantly, the growing sense of attraction between the new parents continues to escalate, particularly when they find themselves in one of those meet-cute rom-com moments involving nudity and women wearing nothing more than a man’s shirt. Geez, bring on the smoochies already!
Trubel: There’s still a lingering concern about the safety of the new abode (Nick’s uncertainty about where the tunnels lead should sound like an alarm to anyone who has actively watched the show for any length of time). The episode ends in an apparent confirmation of that: a sound is hear in the back alley and Nick sees the scene has been disturbed. Instead of throwing someone dangerous at him, though, the writers bring forth Trubel (Jacqueline Toboni), who has either escaped with bad injuries…or had been set loose to lead the rebels to Nick’s new location.
Courtesy of NBC
Other Observations:
- Adalind repeatedly comments about how exhausted Nick looks, as though the case is super onerous. The truth is that the repeated attempts on Frankie’s life are more comical than anything, so it’s hard to believe that this case is really testing Nick all that much. It’s more silly than anything.
- How awful is it when we cut from Nick and Adalind and a crying Kelly to a serene, peaceful wine-infused night in with Monroe (Silas Weir Mitchell) and Rosalee? It’s hard not to feel bad for Monrosalee whenever the phone rings.
- Monroe would definitely slay a group of dragons for his wife, but he wouldn’t do it in armour because, you know, nickel allergy. Obvs.
- Renard (Sasha Roiz), Hank (Russell Hornsby) and Wu (Reggie Lee) are all present, but their screen time and contributions are so minuscule, it’s barely worth mentioning. So let’s close this down…
- Finally, the letter from Rosalee’s ex suggests a big future development. Where is this dangling plot thread going?
Best Lines:
- Rosalee (refusing to read more of the letter about her dead ex): “I’m not going to read anymore. Those were bad guys and that was a terrible song.”
Your turn: what did you think of the episode? Are the cases paralleling the personal story lines of the regular case more than usual? Do you feel bad for Monrosalee when the phone rings? What’s the story behind Rosalee’s letter? Sound off below.
Grimm airs Fridays at 9pm EST on NBC