A GRIMM Name Game
2:16 “Nameless”
[photos: NBC.com]
Grimm is ratcheting up the tension for the last part of this season. Each week the story gets tighter and the noose is getting smaller.
Spoiler Alert
I like puzzles. I’m not particularly good at solving them but I enjoy stories with puzzles or mysteries with clues. This was a good show for me. There are clues and riddles of sorts to solve in the police case. At a lunch party for a new video game, Black Forest 2, a couple on the creative team withdraw for a more private party. Jenna thinks she hears someone in the room with them. She leaves her lover, Brody, and is about to return to the party when she hears something fall. She goes back to the room they were in and finds Brody literally cut in half. Boy, can this girl scream.
This is the first clue that they find at the scene of the crime. The question everyone is asking is what does it mean and who is the game for? Nick wonders aloud if it’s meant for the police. While questioning people from the Black Forest 2 creative team the desk phone rings. One of the employee answers it on speaker phone. It’s the killer and he’s still in the building. In fact he’s calling from Brody’s office downstairs.
When Nick and Hank get into the office they find more clues left by the killer. They include Brody’s work ID cut in half and three title pages from books. Each one has a word hand written in red ink at the top, What’s, My, Name? Each is from a work of fiction by authors who used pen names. It’s a puzzle with out all the pieces. They don’t know why Brody was killed. After questioning the Black Forest 2 team and the company owner, Dominic, they have few answers. It seems no one there had a strong motive to want Brody dead.
This was the Wu episode. It was great to see more of Sargent Wu this week as he showed us a different side of his character. We’ve seen him before as the detective who figures out technology. This week he’s also the video game guy and at least better at puzzles. He’s also better read than the rest of the police gang. In fact he’s the one that breaks the case. There’s a shot where it dawns on him and he has this knowing little smile. Then he goes into Renard’s office where Jenna is being questioned again. He’s the one that realizes that Jenna took credit for the IT guy’s work and didn’t keep her promise of a date with him. But it seems the bigger motive is that the entire team took credit for the code that he wrote.
This episode is one of the best at following the story that it originated from. The story this week is the tale of Rumpelstiltskin. The scene where the case is solved in Renard’s office is so true to the Rumpelstiltskin story. Except there isn’t the promise of a first born child. But the rest is there, a mysterious, unmemorable man who comes to the fair maiden’s aid in the middle of the night. His offer of help comes with her promise of going on a date with the IT guy. When Jenna is questioned further she admits that he did more than fix her computer; he also completed the code. This breakthrough code is game changer that will bring the video game company huge profits and each of the programers on the Black Forest 2 team a bunch of money.
While Nick hangs out at Monroe’s, Juliette still struggles with the visions in her living room. The visions are becoming clearer and one vision of Nick is talking to her. If you saw the episode it’s from you’ll remember that this was Nick trying to explain who and what he is to Juliette outside the trailer. Juliette sees him in the same drenched condition he was at the time. She can’t yet make out what he’s saying, but it’s clear she’s making ground in gaining her memories. Juliette visits the spice shop and asks Monroe and Rosalee to come over to her home. She is less scared of her hallucinations and more excited. She hopes that having them there when the hallucinations occur will help her figure what’s going on. Last week, Monroe and Rosalee had dinner with Hank and Nick. This week they dine with Juliette at her house. She looks so happy to have them over.
Rosalee is better at measuring her responses to Juliette’s inquiries. Monroe gets caught up in Juliette’s excitement and says too much. He lets out that he knows about Aunt Marie’s trailer. Immediately Juliette latches onto the idea that if she visits the trailer it will trigger more of her memories to return. Her hope is that if her memory returns she’ll stop having the hallucinations and return to normal. Of course Monroe realizes that he’s over stepped what he should have shared. He explains that he’ll have to talk to Nick. Juliette feels left out of the loop and unhappy that Nick may have say in this. But wisely Monroe sticks to his decision that he must have Nick’s blessing before he will help her in that way.
Sean Renard talks to his castle contact about things I don’t understand. They reference the Resistance and how the six royal families are trying to take control. I’m not sure how involved Rosalee is or has been with the Resistance but her brother was and her ex-boyfriend certainly was. They mention a Meisner and that he is still important to them and their plans. It sounded like he would be discarded once he was no longer needed. The contact’s cell phone was taped and a spy has followed them to the cafe where they are meeting. He comes in but departs shortly after leaving a briefcase behind. Renard notices and grabs the briefcase and rushes to the door and flings it as the bomb inside it is detonated. Renard shoots the spy as he prepares to kill either the contact or Renard himself.
Following research in the trailer discover that what they are up against is like a goblin. He has been using puzzles and games for centuries. One of his games is about his name. They use the same letters in various combinations. Hank and Nick have the letters that will give them the killer’s name. It takes some newer technology but they are able to get his name and track him down. Next they lure him to Jenna when she kills Nameless’s avatar in the game. He takes the bait. This goblin thing is a really sore loser. When he’s trapped he dives off the highrise roof top rather than admit his defeat.
This episode struck a great balance of police case to solve and furthering the stories of our leads. I must say this is getting be a really fun show to watch. It seems as time goes on this show is maturing well.
>>>>>
