GRIMM Gives Renard a Lot of Rope
Episode 602: “Trust Me Knot”
Written by Jim Kouf and David Greenwalt
Directed by John Gray
[recap by Maia Ades]
Both of the first two episodes were written by Jim Kouf and David Greenwalt. They are the creators of the show and when they step in to write an episode I always feel that signifies it’s an important one. Since these are the final thirteen episodes I suppose that each of them carries more weight than some of the previous episodes. Knowing that the series will end and when has given this creative team an opportunity not all shows get. It’s not uncommon for a series to simply not get picked up between seasons. Meaning that how ever the show ended the previous season becomes the show’s finale.
I think fans can be grateful that Grimm has the opportunity to wrap up their story in this last half a season. It’s all most as if even the TV executives realized that a show with a five year run needed to be able to give the fans a satisfactory wrap up.
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The episode starts right back with the SERT team surrounding Bud’s repair shop. This whole scene is much more TV reality than what would actually happen. Even if the Captain / Mayor elect is giving orders to raid a business. I just don’t think it would go down like this.
Just as Renard (Sasha Roiz) is about to give the command to raid Bud Werstner’s shop, Hank (Russell Hornsby) and Wu (Reggie Lee) swoop in and arrest him for Rachel Wood’s murder. Yes, of course they know he probably didn’t kill her. They do have his finger prints all over her room and it happens to be the only way they can stall Renard.
Unfortunately for everyone in the repair shop the raid still goes off. The SERT team first searched the empty freezer. I still don’t know why they put the freezer in the back of Bud’s truck. I think it was supposed to be some sort of diversion, but they left it empty. The whole 2-3 seconds that it took to open the freezer and find it empty didn’t buy Nick (David Giuntoli) enough time to do anything. Either this was a bad plan, or it was only half a plan that they didn’t get to execute.
The Splinter of Destiny is doing some mighty odd things. Apparently it’s powers go well beyond curing injuries. It defended Nick and then it seems to be making him paranoid and Gollum like. His friends were right to try to have a splinter intervention. I wonder how far this addiction thing will go?
This was a Renard centric story. His witch hunt for Nick is ridiculous. I know he needs someone to hang Bonaparte’s death on, but really? Not long ago he was putting all his energies into helping Nick. Now his focus is bent on destroying Nick and anyone around him.
While in the judge’s chambers following getting his murder charges dropped, he mentioned that he would clean house once he’s in office. I don’t know exactly what he means by that. He already asked Hank and Wu for their resignations. Who else is he after? Who else does he have authority to remove? Surely the Spice and Tea Shop is not part of his domain. I suppose he could come up with some trumped up charges on anyone known to associate with Nick, but surely that would raise someone’s eyebrows.
Diana may be diminutive and cute, but she strikes fear into the hearts of grown men, specifically Monroe’s (Silas Weir Mitchell) heart. Monroe and Rosalee (Bree Turner) are asked to watch both of Adalind’s children while she was called away to consult with Renard. Monroe babysitting Diana gave us some of the best facial expressions in a while. It also brought Diana to the Shroud of Destiny and she can see a whole lot more than even Eve (Elizabeth Tulloch) could.
Renard had a pretty heavy duty hallucination while in the jail cell. First he heard bullets fall to the floor. Then it gets even stronger when he can pick them up and a gun appears on his cot. He even picked up the gun. That’s a lot of weird mind stuff going on. All of his hallucinations have been about him killing Meisner. I don’t understand why that killing would affect him so much more than any of the others he’s committed. It makes me wonder if somehow Meisner is haunting him.
It occurs to me that between the hallucinations Renard is having and the extent things seem to be going his way, may signal his undoing. Even at the very conclusion of this episode, Renard has gotten everything he wanted. There were moments that he was down but, by the end he had all the cards. Which to me also means that Rendard has enough rope to hang himself. He’s losing his mind and the respect of those that have served under him. If a man loses his reputation, what does he have?
I am so glad we get some time to wrap things up, too. There’s nothing worse than watching a show for five years and not getting a proper ending. Great review!
If I remember correctly from last week, the whole point of putting the freezer in the back of the truck was for Bud to take it and drive off as a decoy, and get followed by the team watching the shop. But the whole SERT team showed up too soon and blew that plan.
I’m still very frustrated with the lack of motivation for Renard. As you said, not so long ago he was doing everything he could to HELP Nick. They never motivated his shift to Black Claw last season, and here where he’s got the chance to get out from under, he seems more determined than ever to stick with it. I know that he’s always been ambitious, but they haven’t really showed that as a motivation, either. He went along with being the candidate for mayor, but he never seemed to be really wanting it. He was just going along.
I’m glad they’ve got a chance to wrap this up, but I’m not convinced I’m going to enjoy sitting through 11 more episodes.
Oh, but I was really glad that Nick was able to pull back from the Gollum moment with the stick. Clearly, considering that the Crusaders (or whoever it was that hid it) went to so much trouble to hid the thing and to split up the keys and info leading to where it might be, whatever good uses it may have, it’s also a great danger. I’m sure we’ll have to deal with the siren call of the stick again, but at least Nick’s acting under his own auspices at the moment.
I encourage you to stick with these last episodes. I think it gets better. (as someone who has the privilege of viewing press screeners)
If the point of the freezer in the truck was for Bud to drive off with it, why didn’t he jump in and … drive off? It just felt like a poorly laid plan. Much like might happen in real life. Except I have come to expect plans to go off without a hitch on TV. It’s not real life after all.
I fear that the lack of motivation for Rendard’s switch to the dark side is purely for the sake of creating more drama and conflict. It’s not a character motivated choice. That always bothers me. It seems to me that within Renard’s character, one that has been developed over the last 5 seasons, there are plenty of things that might have motivated this shift. But, either we just didn’t get to see them or they weren’t used.
Characters acting contrary to how they’ve been presented usually rubs me wrong. Unless you can see a shift happen that explains the change. Then it can be very interesting.
Thank you for your thoughts. I enjoy hearing from our audience!
Maia
That’s a pretty good explanation of what was supposed to happen with the truck, Lee.
And motivation is bothering me, too. I think I mentioned in Grimmly Speaking http://scifi4me.com/category/podcast/ that Nick isn’t actually the cause of Renard’s problems. He didn’t kill Rachel or cause Renard to kill Bonaparte.That was Diana. Also, I don’t think Renard is jealous of Nick and Adalind. I don’t think he wants her that much. It would be really good if they addressed why he is so hell bent on getting Nick.