Grimm executes a comedic, histrionic Freaky Friday

David Giuntoli takes the week off as Grimm does a classic body swap episode.

Let’s bitch it out…

Body swaps are a classic genre trope and Grimm has had a lot of fun with them over the years. Obviously this isn’t the traditional format where characters literally swap bodies, but this is the Grimm equivalent and it works well for all of the same reasons. Adalind as Juliette and Eve as Renard have produced some of the most memorable episodes of the series over the years (hell, Nick wouldn’t have a kid without the former!) so it’s fun to see Nick and Renard (Sasha Roiz) get in on the action.

Thankfully Nick’s latest plan to use the sorting hat to pose as Sean more or less undoes everything from the last few episodes. I say thankfully because the first two episodes were propulsive, but unsustainable – it would have been hard to convincingly keep Nick on the run for nine more episodes. I can, however, understand if some fans feel slighted by the sudden reversal of fortunes; it is hastily executed and essentially resets the series back to status quo. How the rest of the season develops now that the police precinct is one big “happy family” again and everything to do with Bonaparte, Black Claw, HW et al. is partially forgiven (and mostly forgotten) will depend on how the writers execute the next few episodes.

But for now we can revel in “Oh Captain, My Captain”, which is one of the most comedic episodes we’ve seen Grimm do. It’s loads of fun watching people’s reactions to Nick’s transformation (Russell Hornsby’s is my favourite) and seeing Sascha Roiz play off himself in the rooftop confrontation is surprisingly enjoyable. I could have done without the false conflict around Nick getting stuck as Renard, however, since it was obviously going to be rectified by either the Stick or Diana (Hannah R. Loyd). There’s simply too many magical ciphers on this show for any spell to be permanent!

Other Observations:

• Now that Nick is no longer a wanted man, I guess we won’t get as many scenes in the tunnels where he still gets perfect cell reception. Oh well, I guess I can do without that weekly chuckle.
• While most of the comedy bits work like a charm, some performances – particularly Silas Weir Mitchell’s Monroe and Claire Coffee’s Adalind – both come off slightly unhinged and histrionic. I’m specifically referring to the classic sex farce where Monroe ends up in the closet and Adalind has to delay Sean. Series star Giuntoli (making a directorial debut) definitely needed to tell them to dial it down from 11.
• Two inevitable dangling plots threads to keep an eye out for:
  • Lt. Grossante (Chris McKenna) and the blackmail murder of the former campaign dweeb is definitely going to come back to haunt Sean
  • Eviette (Elizabeth Bitsie Tulloch) is clearly developing feelings for Nick again
• Considering how powerful Diana is, is it really a good idea to let Renard raise her? Seems a bit obvious that he could poison her against his enemies with minimal effort.
• What to make of Eviette forcing Nick to disrobe under the guise that Renard is “bigger”. I’ll suppress the sassy gay comment that’s obvious, but real talk: do you think the writers realized it’s been a while since we’ve seen Giuntoli shirtless and threw us a bone?
• Meisner (Damien Puckler) is alive?! That’s fun if it’s for real.
• Weeks without Trubel: 1

Best Lines:

• Wu: “We should have killed Renard when we didn’t have the chance.”
• Eviette (forcefully, when Hank reminds them she slept with Rachel): “I was Renard at the time.”
• Monroe (yelling at woged Nick): “You just have to zen yourself!”
• Nick as Renard: “It’s weird being this tall.”
• Hank (immediately, after realizing that Renard is playing with him): “Nick?”
• Renard (petulantly, to Nick): “Shut up, you’re not me!”
• Adalind (to Nick as Renard): “I wanna hug you right now, but I can’t hug this“

Your turn: what did you think of this week’s episode? Did you enjoy the body swap shenanigans? Are you disappointed that the conflict between Renard and Nick was resolved so easily? Is it a good idea to leave Diana with Sean?  Is Eviette totally in love with Nick again? Is Meisner actually alive or is this simply another hallucination? Sound off below.

Grimm airs Fridays at 8pm EST. Next week it looks like we’re back to Wesen of the week, so prepare yourselves.