Contributor: John Keegan
The various problems with “Grimm” continue to mount with this installment. Despite offering hints and allegations of a more substantial story arc earlier in the season, the writers remain bogged down in the procedural format and “clever” explorations of the creature world’s expression in mundane society. While there is a bit of progression in the more interesting world-building, it’s just not enough to overcome the drawbacks.
At this point, one can all but predict how a certain kind of creature will be portrayed. The snake-like Lausenschlange is, of course, a ruthless lawyer with a reputation for dirty tricks, while the mousy Mauzhert is a hoarder. Marty, the Mauzhart in question in this episode, has some serious daddy issues, and also a massive crush on Natalie, a fetching young human woman. But their neighbor is the slimy Mason, who sees Marty as natural prey.
None of this has the likelihood of ending well, especially as Marty’s inferiority complex gives way to a manic desire to show Natalie just how “impressive” he can be. Despite the snake/mouse dynamic and how it relates to Nick’s role as a Grimm, there’s nothing about the story that actually requires Mason and Marty to be part of some supernatural predator/prey situation. If Mason was just a rich, arrogant lawyer and Marty was just a timid pack rat, the story could have progressed the exact same way.
And that, as mentioned before, is the biggest issue with the series. When the events of an episode are dependent upon the peculiarities of the supernatural world, the episode tends to succeed. When it’s just a standard procedural story with a bit of creature window dressing, it’s nothing special (and often boring).
It’s also getting ridiculous to think that Hank, otherwise a fairly good detective, is unaware that Nick is looking at things from a very different perspective. After all, Nick and Hank are supposed to have been partners for a while. It’s impossible to think that Hank wouldn’t notice or comment on the changes he must have noticed in Nick. Even Juliette is commenting on things that aren’t adding up anymore!
The only subplot that worked in this episode was Munroe’s encounter with the reapers, because it actually completed the process of bringing him fully into Nick’s little team. It should have happened some time ago, but it does make me wonder why his involvement is considered something outside the status quo. Haven’t we already seen that some creatures have aligned themselves with the Grimms? It always seemed that Munroe’s issue was that his Blutbad “clan” is typically anti-Grimm. Hopefully this will be clarified in the future.
Writing: 1/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 1/4
Final Rating: 6/10