Love Can Be Such GRIMM Sweet Sorrow

Episode 3.21 “Blonde Ambition”

[photos: Scott Green/NBC]

Wow, there was a whole lot going on in this episode! Normally this would be something I’d complain about, but somehow the writers managed to get it all in and not make the story feel short changed. In several scenes there were multiple storylines going on at the same time. I think that’s how they pulled this off.

*SPOILERS*

There has been so much going on the last several episodes you may have overlooked the wedding that more girly types have been waiting for. I’m sure there are fans that felt a bit short changed because the wedding was not even close to the only thing going on this episode. There was Adalind’s plot to take Nick’s powers, or Grimmness, if you will. I’m not sure which storyline you’d call the A or the B one. There is so much intertwined in the Adalind storyline that it’s closely woven with the wedding storyline.

The fact is, for this episode to work it had to have a lot of setup over the previous weeks, and we’ve had that over the last few weeks. That’s how the writers were able to pull off putting so much into one episode without it feeling like we were missing huge parts of story. Also, I think the way the stories were cut lent themselves to some really smart story telling. Particularly the last part of the episode was really well edited.

The Monroe and Rosalee wedding is in rehearsal for the next day. The way that Monroe’s parents have come around and embraced this union is not too believable. Real families can take generations to heal from this sort of thing. This is one place that we’ve not seen the whole story. I’m sure that there was a lot going on to get them to this point that we’ve not been able to share since there were other Grimm stories that were told. And let’s be honest; except for the drama scenes, working out family differences doesn’t make for great screen time. The show sticks to only those characters that we’ve already met. So, for instance, Bud does not have his wife and kids with him at the rehearsal or wedding.

Rosalee’s sister, Deana, is that relative that we all have that makes trouble at large family gatherings. Yes, she drinks too much, but there’s also other tension. I’m sure there’s more back story that we haven’t gotten. It still plays even with what we know of these characters. Deana gets very drunk and ruins the family heirloom wedding dress the night before the wedding. In the end though the dress disaster allows Monroe’s parents to contribute to the wedding by purchasing Rosalee and new dress. It becomes a way to forge stronger ties with this newly forming family.

I may be the only one that heard it, but Monroe and Rosalee were planning a tent wedding up on Mount Hood. Somewhere along the way it changed to a mountain lodge. Maybe the crew explained the headaches of trying to set camera lights and all the rest of the equipment necessary in a tent to the writers. I don’t know. I wasn’t there for those discussions. Too bad, I’d love to get to sit in on at least some of their production meetings.

The whole time that preparations are being made for the wedding, Adalind has her own production going on. Sean Renard has been trying to figure out what Adalind is up to. Unfortunately he’s about three steps behind her. She uses her polyjuice potion to trick Renard that Juliette still has or has renewed feelings for him. One of the bits that bothered me: Adalind kisses Renard full on the lips as Juliette. This is a man who has kissed both women; wouldn’t he be able to tell them apart? In any case, Adalind calls Juliette to further stir the pot. The next day Renard, thinking he was visited by Juliette calls with an awkward case of mistaken identity conversation that further irritates Juliette. In fact much of this episode Juliette goes around being irritated.

Adalind manages to fool even Nick with her spell work. The details of this are not spelled out but somehow by “sleeping” with Nick she removes his powers as a Grimm. She really just slips up in a couple of small ways. First she flippantly tells Trubel as she’s fleeing Nick’s house that she can’t stand bacon. Second she lets both a cabbie and Trubel see her back in her Adalind form in a cab. This is enough for everyone to start putting the pieces together.

Renard breaks into the storage unit Adalind has been using to make her potions. He figures out what she’s up to and races to Nick’s house with a small bottle of the green potion. This is where things start to really go bad (for the characters, not the show). Renard meets Trubel, confirms that Adalind was there, gets the address for the wedding. He tells Trubel that Nick has to drink the potion he has in the bottle. Only as he rushes out of the house, Stuart, the FBI/Verrat, shoots him three times in the chest. Then he sees Trubel and chases her through the house up to her bedroom, where she has her handy machete. She decapitates Stuart, grabs the bottle, his keys and calls 911 to report the shooting. Then she’s off to save Nick. That part doesn’t go off the way she’d planned. When she enters the wedding scene many of the guests are in full wolge. They freak out, the bottle is broken, and Nick’s already lost his ability to see Wesen. The episode ends with Hank, Juliette, Trubel and Nick driving off. Monroe and Rosalee are rocked with the knowledge that Nick is suddenly not a Grimm. Renard is being rushed to the hospital. And Adalind is off to Vienna to enter the trap that Prince Victor has set for her.

Whew, that was exhausting just writing it. So, there’s lots to think about before the show comes back in the fall. I expect there will be some video shorts released through out the summer on the NBC website. Just in case you’re having withdraw symptoms and need a little Grimm fix.