Grimm - Season 4

[Christopher]

Yes, he did murder a guy-and please writers, must we have every Wesen perp inflict the most extreme act on their victims each and every week?

Well, the one who committed the murder was the "she" personality, I think, making it even more of an injustice to make Linus serve the time, given that there seem to be two distinct personalities inside the body. (Which is itself a pretty ridiculous portrayal of hermaphroditism, and inconsistent with any previous Wesen shapechanging ability we've seen -- although I guess there have been some murmurings about the Wesen form being a sort of second personality coexisting with the human form, but nothing as separate as this.)

As for Renard not knowing everything Wesen related, I suppose we have to accept that all Wesen aren't familiar with every single member of the species. Perhaps because he wasn't reared by the Royals, he didn't receive the education regarding the various members of the culture he might have gotten, if the family hadn't tried to kill him and his mother. Who knows?

Maybe, but he's been a Wesen cop long enough to become captain, and he's immersed in the politics of his world. It stands to reason that he'd know more about Wesen than Monroe and Rosalee, who are Nick's usual sources on Wesenalia aside from the books. And yet he seems clueless about things that Monrosalee are well-versed in. That just seems implausible. It made sense in season one when we thought he was the bad guy -- he was just obstructing Nick's investigations by not revealing what he knew. But now they're all on the same side, so he just seems to have an odd lack of knowledge about his own people.

And I may have blinked or was distracted, but did Alexis Denisoff actually appear in this episode? We heard his voice, but I at least, never saw him.

Nope, just the voiceover. Presumably his schedule couldn't accommodate appearing on the set the week this was filmed, and he recorded the voiceover later, probably when he came in for the next episode where he appears.

 

[JD]

The whole thing with them forcing Linus into just his male form definitely seemed unfair, and actually kind cruel once we saw his reaction at the end. I don't really understand why they felt they had to do it. I understand they were talking about how he was the only one with a criminal record, but you would think as long as they could prove the female persona, whose name is escaping me ATM, was working with him. I understand they would have still to deal with the whole male/female shifting, but I find it kind of hard to believe they couldn't have figured out some way to handle it.
I don't really care for the whole thing with Adalind wanting to pretend her baby is another Royal. I'm honestly starting to wish they had just gotten rid of her once she had to baby. I haven't really cared for anything they've done with her since then.

 

[Thestral]

I understand they would have still to deal with the whole male/female shifting, but I find it kind of hard to believe they couldn't have figured out some way to handle it.

I agree that it definitely felt cruel - in particular with the reason Linus stepped up his game to murder - but what's the alternative that doesn't involve blowing up the entire Masquerade? Though perhaps this should have been seen as a defense of self/another and Renard orders they're kept under some sort of surveillance? It was kind of nice in a way I guess that this wasn't just some psycho.

As to the ongoing Nick/Juliet plotline.... ugh. Just ugh. I suppose Juliet's needless aggression can be explained away as something instinctual to hexenbiests (toward Grimms particularly?) and I suppose there's precedent for this from the very second episode. But it just feels needlessly toxic - in particular since we saw a hexenbiest at the beginning of the season perfectly happy to help Nick regain his powers.

The whole "is this what you want to spend the rest of your life with?!" scene felt really reminiscent of the scene in Buffy where she insists Angel show him her "game face." But in a dark and twisted way. Most importantly, in that case the Hunter wanted to see the Monster's game face and insisted he let her adjust to the reality. How would the whole scene have come across if Angel had grabbed Buffy and forced her to look at him, tried to make her kiss him?

 

[Christopher]

I agree that it definitely felt cruel - in particular with the reason Linus stepped up his game to murder -

That's the real injustice of it, though. It wasn't the Linus half who killed the guy, it was the Stacy half. So if they really are two entirely distinct personalities, then they're prosecuting the wrong person for the crime.

 

[Thestral]

I actually missed the first five minutes, was it completely clear that it was Stacy? My impression during the interrogation scene was Linus taking responsibility for it, but given the confusing nature of the case (two different personalities with two different "bodies" in the same "body") I could've just misunderstood.

Though - and I just thought of this, it might not even work - I suppose you could say that the actual killer is now locked away for some uncertain amount of time. It still feels very icky though if she was being attacked and killed him in self-defense. Given the magic of Rosalee's spice shop, perhaps it's reversible (not that we'll ever see this wesen again most likely).

 

[Christopher]

I actually missed the first five minutes, was it completely clear that it was Stacy?

It was to me. The victim confronted Stacy, overpowered her, and said he'd call the police. She said he was brave taking on a woman, then Woged into the intermediate form and pressed her head against his face, burning him fatally with her acid. So it was Stacy who made the decision to attack him.

Also, it seemed to me that when the full transformation was shown later, it went from Stacy to a feminine intermediate to a masculine intermediate before becoming Linus (or vice-versa). It was apparently the feminine intermediate that killed the guy, since at that point they hadn't yet revealed that they were the same person.

Though - and I just thought of this, it might not even work - I suppose you could say that the actual killer is now locked away for some uncertain amount of time. It still feels very icky though if she was being attacked and killed him in self-defense.

Well, technically she and her "partner" had conned him out of his money and threatened him at gunpoint, and he was trying to take her into custody. He was pretty angry, but it didn't seem to me like he was trying to hurt her, just restrain her until he could call the cops. So I wouldn't call it self-defense, I'd call it trying to elude justice. Then again, from her perspective as a woman being roughly handled by a larger, angry man, it might've felt like self-defense.

Anyway, no matter how you slice it, this was kind of a screwed-up story. This show often has Nick et al. handling these crimes in questionable ways, but this was one of the sketchiest ones yet.

 

[Thestral]

Thanks for clearing that up. Sounds like things didn't go down as sympathetically as Linus claimed.

 

[137th Gebirg]

Plus I don't like how ill-tempered Juliette is becoming. I hope that's not supposed to be a permanent character change resulting from her transformation.

This has been greatly bothering me as well. Her dragging out the intentional obfuscation of her new nature from Nick, going to Renard behind Nick's back and now her flippant attitude towards everything is making her immensely unappealing. I was actually starting to like her since she was let in on what's really going on (after despising her worthlessness in the first season), and I really felt her becoming a Hexxenbiest (sp?) would be a great asset to Nick's team, but it hasn't played out that way. She's quickly becoming my least favorite character again, and that is a shame.

 

[Christopher]

I always liked Juliette before, even when the writers didn't use her well. Bitsie Tulloch brought a lot of warmth, intelligence, and poise to the character, and she's beautiful too. Now she's losing that warmth, and that's disappointing.

 

[DWF]

I always liked Juliette before, even when the writers didn't use her well. Bitsie Tulloch brought a lot of warmth, intelligence, and poise to the character, and she's beautiful too. Now she's losing that warmth, and that's disappointing.

She was turned iinto a hexenbiest agaisnt her will afer selflessly helping Nick get his powers back,so her anger is understandable. And it alll appears to a part of the show's bigger storyline, not the Wesen of week that we've been getting for a while now.

 

[Christopher]

Oh, good grief. This is the second week in a row that this show's Wesen-of-the-week plot has had some creepy and rather offensive gender implications. So these frog-princess Wesen are really beautiful, men sometimes "can't control themselves" around them, and so they secrete a poison as a defense mechanism against rape? And the only way to stop it is to ruin their beauty? That's playing right into the myth that rape is the woman's fault for being desirable, that the rapist is a helpless slave to her allure. That's literally true in these Wesen's case. And that's just offensive.

It's also a stupid episode on most other levels too. Back in seasons 1 and 2, when this was still a halfway decent show, we saw the Wesen community in Portland getting to know Nick. But now, the show routinely assumes that the Wesen-of-the-week have never heard of the Grimm on the police force. And that makes no sense.

Another thing that doesn't make sense: Adalind's ploy to fake the baby's parentage. Has she never heard of DNA testing? Meanwhile, whose idea was it to replace Alexis Denisof with some pugilistic guy with the face of a 12-year-old?

And Juliette is just being arbitrarily unpleasant now, for no reason other than to generate conflict. She's unrecognizable at this point.

I am this close to walking away from the show altogether.

 

[DWF]

Adalind knows the baby is Nick's but clearly she doesn't want anybody to know she's carrying the chld of a Grimm. And really in a show about myths and legends this week's Wesen of the week story isn't all that far out of place. At least now she can have a proper relationship. I can still understand Juliette's anger but she's been keeping things to herself so she's as much to blame as Nick. Still I have to wonder if Renard's mother knew about the side effects.

 

[Taylirious]

I always thought people hated Juliette from the beginning. I always liked her and still do.

ETA: Nick getting an email from Trubel made me miss her.

 

[Dream]

Wow, Juliette really is the WORST. I can't believe she had the nerve to treat Renard so badly even while she is staying in his house.

I may have to start fastforwarding all of the Juliette scenes from now on while watching new episodes, like I do whenever I rewatch any Adalind scenes after her stupid endless pregnancy storyline(s) started in season 2. This storyline is ruining my enjoyment of the show, and Bitsie Tulloch can't elevate herself above the bad writing.

What is going on with Monroe and Rosalee? Do they even have lives outside of being Nick's sidekicks anymore?

I thought the frog storyline was fine with an interesting ending. No, the first guy didn't deserve to die just for drawing a few pictures of Bella. I always enjoy the episodes when the Wesen of the week isn't a villain.

 

[propita]

Adalind slept with Hank, Sean, AND Nick. Wu only got to eat carpet.

Did she and Sean ever sleep together again after Diana was born and taken, when Adalind was in Portland before?

Adalind is the show slut and I’m pretty tired of her character. They’d’ve been better looking at the Royals v. Damn! Can’t remember the name--Nick’s mom and Diana getting her powers.

Just think about the phrase "eating carpet".

Yeah, I know.

Wu literally ate the carpet on the floor. It also juxtaposes nicely that the other three got actual sex; Wu got...less (and not actual sex).


Different topic...

I actually like the idea of Juliette and Sean. I have no idea why, I just do.

 

[JD]

Yeah, they seem to be doing everything they can to make Juliette as unlikeable as possible at this point. I think it would be a lot better if they actually had her working with Nick to try learn to control her powers.

I didn't think the Wesen of the Week story was that bad. I didn't really read any of the stuff into it that Christopher did. I'll admit, I'm not always good at picking up on that kind of stuff, unless it's really blatant and in your face, and I didn't really think this was.

 

[DWF]

Is Juliette supposed to be somehow happy to have turned into a hexenbeist?

 

[137th Gebirg]

Certainly not, but she's effectively alienating all - and I mean all - the people who could potentially help her. Nick isn't the brightest bulb in the tree, admittedly, and he has screwed things up in the past, but all that aside, his feelings for her are genuine. I'm sure he bears the brunt of the responsibility for her current situation. When he tried to express those feelings in an aspect of honest support to her, she just contemptuously laughed in his face. Such an attitude goes well beyond mere disrespect and resentment, but to outright spitefulness and hatred. We all recognize that she didn't "ask for this" to happen, but remember, neither did Nick ask to be a Grimm. He was simply at the mercy of his genetics, as are we all for various afflictions. That doesn't give her the right to lash out blindly at everyone around her.

The only thing that could possibly fix this (and I don't even really think this could reverse the character assassination that Juliette has suffered this season), is that her current shitty attitude originates squarely from her transformation into a Hexxenbiest. If that change is somehow removed from her system and she reverts back to her normal human self, she may find herself completely horrified at what she has said and done to everyone and redemption may occur. That is, provided she doesn't piss everyone off before that time comes and leave her to her own devices.

The preview for next week shows her revealing her true nature to Monroe & Rosalie. Here's hoping she doesn't screw that relationship up too.

 

[DWF]

Juliette's been told by Henrietta that there's nothing that can be done for her, now it's questional if Henrietta has an agenda or not. But Juliette has been attacked in her him twice and if hadn't be transformed she'd be little more than a victim. In a number of ways she's much stronger now and she's not a victim or a damsel in distress needing Nick to save her. If she can come to terms with what's happened to her, her relationship with Nick will be a stronger one.

We really don't know much about hexenbiests, but given Nick's reaction to Henrietta there seems to be some kind sexual attraction coming from them. Adalind showed some of that in the car to Renard but he was able to resist her. Nick's abilites are magical though not genetic, that's how Adalind was able to his abilities from him.

And I wonder what happened to Renard during the fight. Does the prince have his own supernatural powers? Sean's wounds returning aside, the prince took beating that most men couldn't have walked away from.

 

[JD]

I believe the Royals are all regular humans.

The only thing that could possibly fix this (and I don't even really think this could reverse the character assassination that Juliette has suffered this season), is that her current shitty attitude originates squarely from her transformation into a Hexxenbiest. If that change is somehow removed from her system and she reverts back to her normal human self, she may find herself completely horrified at what she has said and done to everyone and redemption may occur. That is, provided she doesn't piss everyone off before that time comes and leave her to her own devices.

In an interview I read after the second episode after she changed, they made it sound like that was their intention, but if that is the case they really haven't done enough to make that clear.