GRIMM Sides Are Being Drawn
An overall theme of this episode was making alliances. Several characters examined what they stand for and who to join forces with. Or they reconfirmed who they are loyal to. The police case was not integral to the episode. This week was much more about the main characters.
The police case centers around a Wesen camp for dads and their pubescent sons. It’s meant to help reconnect Wesen who have lost touch with their primal side and help young Wesen boys deal with their first woge. The campers give up their electronics and overnight in the woods. The highlight is a hunt for rabbits, which are then dressed out and cooked over their camp fire. Only someone isn’t just hunting rabbits. Someone is picking off hitchhikers and other solitary humans.
At the crime scene, Nick spots a large animal track. He snaps an image of it with his phone. There is a fun moment in which Hank acknowledges that they always go to Monroe for help. At the Spice Shop, Monroe and Rosalee agree it’s Wesen, but not what type of Wesen it might be. Of course Hank and Nick request Monroe return to the crime scene to check for any Wesen clues they may have missed.
Monroe is able to track whoever left the body to a fence. In an oddly legal move, they don’t trespass but drive to the landowner’s farm to question them. It’s the same camp headquarters we saw in the opening. Monroe remembers the camp. He even attended when he was a youngster.
The camp owners invite Monroe to come out and speak to their campers. They encourage him to give back. They don’t know what all he’s been through. He doesn’t have a score that he needs to settle. He’s given more than his share. They question Monroe about befriending a Grimm. They also all comment that they’ve heard of Nick. I wonder what they heard. Did he live up to what they heard about him?
Monroe agrees to go out to the camp to help Nick and Hank with the case. I was getting upset with the way I thought the episode was going. I thought that Monroe was in mortal danger again. Everything, from the facial cues, the lighting, the lines of dialogue, to the pacing made it seem like he was going to be hunted. I was glad to see that was just a red herring.
Monroe quickly learns that it’s the camp owner’s daughter Maggie that has been doing the human hunting. This time, her intended target is armed with what looks like a short sword. Somehow, everyone gets to Maggie at about the same time. She shares a good-bye with her father and brother and dies in their arms. This hitchhiker survived but, he’s carrying on about being attacked by a wild animal. How are they going to explain that one?
On to our main characters’ stories; there’s a lot going on this week. There are only three more episodes left for this season. Granted, they won’t tie up all the storylines. The question is whether they’ll set up something new for next season? Or simply continue what they have going on at this point?
Renard has all sorts of problems going on. Last week the incident with the gentleman in the coffee line was not clear if he knew what he was doing. This week, I got it. He is committing acts of violence and has little to no memory of what he’s done. Anyone want to speculate what’s going on? Is this another side effect of his Mother bringing him back to life? Did Kenneth do something to him? Or does this have something to do with his relations with Juliette? I’m not sure, and I’d be interested to hear what my dear readers think this is all about.
Nick pays a visit to Juliette in jail. They are both frustrated and neither has a solution for how to go forward. Juliette admits that she enjoys her new power. She now has some insight into Nick’s world and understands why he wouldn’t want to give up being a Grimm. That’s all well and fine, but if she doesn’t learn to temper her power, she won’t be able to function in society.
Juliette has changed so much. Being a Hexenbiest doesn’t agree with her. I guess it’s the Hexenbiest talking, but blaming everyone for what has happened isn’t in character for her. I don’t understand if this nasty personality change is due to the way she became a Hexenbiest, or just meant to contrast the Juliette we’ve come to know? We’ve met other Hexenbiests, and while none of them have been especially cuddly, they haven’t been as consistently mean as Juliette has become.
Kenneth’s plan is working perfectly, so far. Juliette has come to his dark side. Nick is grudgingly guarding Adalind to protect her unborn child. Now he just needs to put Nick in danger that will bring Kelly Burkhardt running to her son’s side. There are a few loose ends he may not have counted on. His plan can’t go perfectly. First off, he’s a bad guy. Bad guys don’t get to win on this show. Second, Grimm always ends the season with at least one cliffhanger.
At the end of the episode, Juliette is at Aunt Marie’s trailer. It’s not clear if she went there just because, or if this is the beginning of her work with Kenneth. Either way, her destruction of the books and the whole trailer was hard to watch. All I could think was, how will Nick ever replace that stuff? And how will he solve any more cases without that resource?
My favorite camera effect was on the last two shots before the final shot of the burning trailer. First, Juliette is on the phone to Nick, and then it cuts to the same effect with Nick on the phone. Some people call it a Jaws shot or a dolly zoom shot. It worked well to pull them away from what was going on in the background and single out their experience. Nice.
On the other hand, this may be what brings Trubel back to town. I don’t think her books were in the trailer. They may be the only known Grimm resources left. What would she make of Juliette’s transformation? Juliette had a soft spot for Trubel. Is there part of her that would remember how she used to feel? Or is that part of her lost to the Hexenbiest side?
Last week, I predicted that Adalind might be the character to be killed off by the end of this season. I saw an image online that has me wondering if there will be a real death or not. I think that Juliette is going to befall a long sleep, not a death. Maybe that is the method to subdue her Hexenbiest powers.
