Grimm season 3: the pacing so far

Spoilers for 3.01 and 3.02 ("The Ungrateful Dead" and "PTZD")

Grimm came back two weeks ago and it's probably too early to say much about the pacing of season 3, but so far I think it's too slow. Did we need to devote four episodes to this mashup of zombie breakout, Grimm kidnapping, Juliette joining the Scooby gang, and Adalind getting her powers back?

Because even though that's a lot of stuff going on, there wasn't much forward movement when you take into consideration that these stories were the focus for the last two episodes of season 2 and the first two episodes of season 3.

We'll take the story bits one by one, shall we?

The zombie breakout

I don't know if this was connected to the popularity of The Walking Dead, but last I checked, Grimm is not that show. I don't tune in to watch scenes of zombies disrupting traffic, scaring people, and breaking stuff. The writeres could have gleaned over those destruction scenes and used that time to develop other things. The zombies keep coming and they wreck everything in their path, we get it. The most important part out of the zombie breakout was that Nick was infected and went on a rampage, and even so, did we need all that time to watch Nick trudging through the forest and beating up people? (The answer is no.)

Grimm kidnapping

This is the most interesting piece for me because we don't know Eric's motive. If he wanted only to kill Nick, then why make plans to transport his body? If Eric wanted to use Nick, did he have the antidote to the infection, or did he want a zombie Grimm? And if Eric wanted to snatch Nick away from Portland, why now? What else is going on with the Royal Families and the wesen that we aren't seeing? It seems like Sean knows more about what's going on and of course he doesn't say much, so I would have liked to see the other characters investigate this (maybe Monroe and Hank). That would have been better than most of Zombie Nick.

Juliette joining the Scooby gang

Not much to say here except that I'm glad she is more involved now. I hope it stays that way.

Adalind getting her powers back

These scenes were such. a waste. of time. By now we know there are rituals and certain ways things have to be done in the wesen world. Two scenes of Adalind messing with dead body parts would have been plenty. The cross-cutting to her and the icky stuff she had to do was unnecessary nastiness. Sidenote: I hope the writers have actual plans for what Adalind will do with her regained powers. I like her character but I don't want to retread season 1 stuff with her.

Overall, I think Grimm is setting up great things for season 3: Hank, Renard, and Nick working together; Juliette in on Nick's secret; Nick dealing with killing a human; a broader scope of wesen and Royals. But episodes need to be structured differently so that we see forward motion and significant story details, instead of fight scenes and B-movie horror tropes to fill episodes.

Why doesn't Nick talk to Juliette?

After all the weird stuff that has happened to Juilette, I'm still surprised that Nick hasn't told her that he is a grimm.

Nick doesn't know about Juliette's hallucinations. From his point of view, Juliette is getting her memories back, but she is having a rough time. She asked him to leave her alone, which is fine, but the self-imposed isolation isn't helping her.

I like Juliette, but at this point, I'm waiting for a wesen to attack the house. She won't be able to respond because she won't know what's going on. Hopefully Nick will be there to save her because the way her character is, Juliette won't be able to protect herself.

Hank found about about wesen and is still a detective. He can better help Nick with research and fighting wesen. The writers should give Juliette the same chance.

Grimm moves to Tuesday nights

NBC announced that it canceled Ready to Love, and Grimm is moving to fill its slot on Tuesdays at 10 p.m.

Up to now, Grimm has been airing on Friday nights, also known as the "death slot." So on the one hand, it's a good sign that NBC thinks Grimm will do well in a more competitive, prime time slot.

But on the other hand, Grimm is doing well on Friday nights, and this change asks the audience to follow the show to a new night and time.

I watch Grimm on Hulu (and hardly ever on TV, the night it airs), so this change won't affect me. I wonder how large Grimm's online audience is, and if networks take that into consideration when they re-assign TV time slots.

Monroe the Clockmaker

I've always liked that Monroe is a clockmaker, but only recently I realized why. Over the past two seasons, we've seen that Monroe puts in a lot of effort to be a normal man and not give in to his violent Blutbad nature. He is a vegan, practices yoga, and generally tries to maintain a calm mood.

Then there's working with watches, which requires a disciplined, delicate skill. Monroe has to be patient and focused in his work. It's probably another form of meditation for him. Clockmaking is an old trade and it ties back to his German heritage, so Monroe found a method of discipline and control that doesn't completely break with his identity.

I'm impressed because he wants to be a better version of himself, and he's doing it. But his success is more than personal. Ever since he met Nick, Monroe has helped to stop violent wesen who can't control themselves. He has constant reminders of what could happen to him if he slips up, and he never lets that intimidate him.

Grimm's Sandman: What doesn't kill you makes you stronger

Spoilers for 2.15 "Mr. Sandman."

Temporary blindness is a common plot device in TV: How does the hero cope without his sight? It's been done on realistic shows—like M*A*S*H, MacGyver, and Monk—and in sci-fi and fantasy series too, such as Doctor Who, Charmed, and Smallville.*

This week, we saw Grimm's take on this trope, and the good thing about fantasy shows is, anything goes. When Nick loses his sight, we don't know if there's a cure. And that means when Nick lost his sight, I immediately thought, what if he doesn't get it back?

When the gang is in the spice shop looking for a cure, we notice that Nick's hearing has become more sensitive. He can hear Rosalee whispering across the room, and he listens in on Hank's phone conversation. One sense goes away and another becomes stronger. That's nothing new.

From that point, I imagined two paths: Nick regains his sight by the end of the episode and goes back to normal OR Nick stays blind. What would Grimm be like with the second option? Nick couldn't be a detective anymore, but he still might be a grimm. The fight scene later in the episode proves that Nick can fight well, even without his sight. Wouldn't that be a brave move for a TV show, to make the hero permanently blind and keep him fighting? I don't think that's been done before. It would be a huge character development, and season two is probably too early to do that to Nick. But still, I couldn't help thinking about the possibility.

The actual outcome of the episode is good, even if it's expected. Nick regains his sight and he's fine. But oh, there's a bonus—he keeps his enhanced hearing.

Nick has become a better fighter over the course of the series, and that makes sense: the more he fights wesen, the more experience he gains, and the better he fights next time. But this is the first time he has come out of a fight physically changed and stronger in a specific way. Besides being able to see the true forms of wesen, this is the first super-human ability that Nick has.

This episode brings up two questions: Have past grimms been changed by wesen? And what other changes are possible?

Hopefully this is something the writers will explore in future episodes.


* Check out TV Tropes for more examples of temporary blindness.

An open letter to FOX

Dear FOX, 

 

I’m writing this open letter to tell you that for the next three Fridays, I will be watching Grimm on NBC. I do this, however, with no ill intent. I am a firm supporter of genre television—it’s all I watch. Since Fringe is taking a break, I will watch another genre show in its place.

I might have continued watching FOX in March, but I see you scheduled Kitchen Nightmares specials for Friday nights. Dysfunctional restaurants do offer some drama, but they lack the imagination, surprises, and mind-blowing stories of Fringe. This replacement is not worth my time.

It’s a shame genre shows struggle with ratings and recognition, and so I’d rather spend an hour supporting Grimm, which is entertaining and finally finding its rhythm. The last few episodes have been great. I’m excited to see where Grimm goes in the coming weeks.

FOX, thank you for giving Fringe a home on your network. I wish more people watched this intelligent and well-written show, but I suspect most television viewers look for shallow distraction. Fringe is high above that caliber.

I will see you again on March 23. In the mean time, we part ways.

Best wishes,
Kali, a Fringiphile

On Hypable: Why I Keep Watching Grimm

I wrote a piece about why Grimm still interests me, and Hypable featured it today. You can read it here.

NBC's Grimm - Pilot episode

Whoever schedules shows on NBC needs to take a look at Friday nights. The 9 o'clock slot already has Supernatural and Fringe. Most of Grimm's potential audience will be tuned to FOX or the CW, but that's okay. That's why we have Hulu.

I don't want to spoil the pilot episode, so I'll say it is a re-imagining of Little Red Robin Hood. The main character, Nick, is a policeman and he inherits the family gift/curse: he sees monsters who are blending in as humans. Everything has a Buffy feel (but the dialogue isn't as good) and the original Grimm fairy tales will offer great episodic material.

Grimm has the potential to be a great series, a mini scary movie each week, much like how Supernatural started out. But Fridays nights are Fringe nights for me, so I'll be watching on Hulu.

Did you watch the Grimm pilot? What did you think of it?