GRIMM Walks Like An Egyptian
Episode 3.14 “Once We Were Gods”
[photos: Scott Green/NBC]
This is a great concept, that the Egyptian gods were Wesen. There’s some nice writing in this episode. Some of the lines are spot on. And while there’s plenty of ambiguity about the varying rules that our Wesen friends themselves live by, there’s also some genuine respect for their heritage.
This week there were three story lines; the police case, Sgt. Wu, and Adalind and baby dearest. Each of the stories had some interesting things about them, not all of them made sense.
The police case is about an Egyptian Anubis mummy found by contractors taking down a wall and finding a room that was not supposed to be there. The discovery is covered by the television news and it attracts the attention of the Beati Paoli, a vigilante group. They are dedicated to preservation of Wesen culture. Apparently all young angry Wesen want to join, at least that’s the story according to Monroe and Rosalee.
The twin sides of this edge is the way that Monroe and Rosalee approach some of the more dangerous Wesen and their belief in honoring their Wesen heritage. Monroe continues to insist that the Aswan is not a good Wesen by which to introduce Wu to the Wesen world. While he may be right about that, letting Wu think he’s lost his mind is also not a kindness. He acts like Blutbad are cuddly puppies. The whole wishy washy way many issues are handled doesn’t fit into a nicely packaged system. It’s like they pick and choose which Wesen and Wesen traditions should be respected and honored and which ones are to be feared or disregarded. I’m not sure the writers have figured out the rules for all this and until or unless they do it will be a confusing mess.
These two young Anubis Wesen take on the task of stealing the Anubis mummy to give it the honored burial it deserves. They are repulsed by the idea that their ancestor is to be studied and examined. The whole way that the Wesen think about the mummy reminds me of the ongoing struggle of many people to regain ownership of their ancestors’ remains and archeological items that are currently on display or being studied. Many will see the parallel with the Native American people and the treatment of their ancestors’ remains and other items. But this issue is not isolated to Native Americans; it goes on around the world. The Egyptian government is negotiating with several other governments and individual museums to have Egyptian antiquities returned.
The theft of the mummy goes wrong. One of the two young men is shot and killed by a security officer. The other robber attacks the officer and shoots a second officer that comes running in response to the shooting. The mummified Wesen and the death of the security officer attracts the attention of the Wesen Council. Alexander pays a visit to Monroe and Rosalee asking to have a word with Nick. He wants Nick to dispatch the Anubis that killed the security officer. Of course this is not how Nick works. He and Hank stop the thief, save the scientist. Only to find that Alexander used the police action as a distraction to steal the mummy himself. In the end Nick helps out with giving the mummy a ceremonial pyre funeral. Alexander, Monroe, Rosalee, Hank and Nick all attend the send off.
Sargent Drew Wu is still in the mental hospital. He’s still having nightmares and is trying really hard to process what he saw. Not surprisingly, talking to the therapist there really doesn’t help him. There’s still the two camps of thought about what the main characters should do to help Wu. They decide to wait and see if treatment will help. Juliette goes and talks to Wu. I think she may have given him the most help. It’s clear he’s not all well even at the end, but he’s made enough peace with himself to walk out of the mental hospital. I’m pretty sure this story is not done. I won’t be surprised if they end up bringing him into the circle before it’s all said and done. What will that look like? How will that change the dynamics of show to have Wu in the know?
We all knew that Miesner would be caught by the Royal family. I actually thought he’d be killed before he’d give away any information. I was wrong. Adalind’s baby is still playing tricks. While the bodyguard is out collecting fire wood he hears a baby crying. He finds the baby at the base of a tree. He picks her up and carries her back to the cabin. It’s all very mysterious. He asks Adalind what she did only to see the baby safely in her arms and what he thought was the baby is now fire wood. He lays the wood in the fireplace and without lighting the wood, it bursts into flame.
This baby is going to mix things up. I think the Royal family has a lost cause on their hands if they really think they’ll get their hands on that baby. It also looks like Adalind is in for a surprise. She thought she was using the baby to get her powers back and while yes, she does have her powers back she has also gained something else. She’s become a mother and she doesn’t seem to be immune to the emotions that come with that. She’s always been
