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Grimm 2.19 "Endangered" TV REVIEW
THE ONE WHERE Grimm goes all X-Files as cow mutilations and mysterious glowing beings start turning up, leaving Nick to figure out if the Wesen truth is indeed out there. Meanwhile, Juliette’s memories of Nick return in a flurry and Nick and Renard swap information on the keys.
VERDICT An assured episode with, in Jocelyn and Vincent, some above average guest characters who you were actually rooting for and hoped made it off with their smurf-like baby. Those first few minutes genuinely made it seem like the Grimm -verse was suddenly going to go intergalactic, so the swerve back to Earth-bound wesen was surprising – and a bit of a relief because, frankly, in a world with so many other strange occurrences, everything going a bit Alien Autopsy might have been a step too far.
This episode's wesen-of-the-week is the Gluhenvolk, a neon blue, big-headed creature that, paired with the steady stream of cow entrails, leaves Portland PD pondering close encounters of the third kind. Of course, nothing is ever quite that simple here, and it turns out our Alien Bounty Hunter (posing as a UFO-logist) is actually trying to nab some “lucky skin” from the rare wesens to sell to the highest bidder, while the cow killings are a by-product of quite possibly the most disgusting (and typically Grimm ) pregnancy craving ever: bovine ovaries. Yum. What with this and Adalind, mothers-to-be aren’t being portrayed in the best light here.
Speaking of our favourite psychotic ex-hexenbiest, there is no Adalind or Hank this week sadly, and while the former's evil machinations are much missed, the latter's presence isn't really. Sgt Wu steps up to be Nick's procedural buddy, while Rosalee and Monroe have his back elsewhere (even while he's playing gooseberry to their more romantic moments). Bree Turner and Silas Weir Mitchell’s chemistry and the sweetness of the blooming relationship between their characters is lovely, and remains much more interesting than the Nick and Juliette pairing. On the plus side, at least the flashbacks and angst of Juliette getting her memories back (and her fears that all these weeks of acting like a whiny idiot mean Nick won't like her anymore – duh!) took a back seat.
Meanwhile Nick and Renard swap info on the keys and we get a chunk of exposition and a sense of exactly where Renard's loyalties lie. Although of course he could be lying...
BEST BIT As the bounty hunter comes to take Jocelyn and her baby, first Monroe and then Rosalee woge to protect her. George barely bats an eyelid, fronting up to Rosalee and pointing out that as a Fuchsbau she’s worth more to him than a Blutbad. Nick then squares up to ask how much a Grimm is worth and George’s moment of fear is a joy to behold. Great stuff and as ever proof that some of the most fun, interesting and inspiring moments of Grimm now involve the full team together.
( EDITOR ADDS One of the most interesting aspects of the episode for me was the way the Gluhenvolk was shown committing manslaughter and ABH, and yet Nick was quite happy to help him and his partner escape without so much as a bit of finger wagging. Has Nick now instinctively decided that Wesen life is more valuable than human life? It may just be a case of the writers not thinking things through but it would be more intriguing if it’s an early sign of a direction Nick’s headed in.)
BEST LINE Monroe’s resignation at Nick’s latest supernatural gooseberrying:
Monroe: “I see you have a book open there, which more likely than not portends some kind of catastrophic disaster, which in turn, can only mean my date with Rosalee has been put on hold.”
Narin Bahar
Grimm season two airs in the UK on Watch on Monday nights at 9pm
