Grimm

Grimm

Episode 7: The Bottle Imp

By: Carlos Uribe

Grimm is a show about a man, Nick, who hunts monsters which look human.

Spoilers Ahoy!

This episode's Opening Quote: “'Let Me Out, let Me Out,' the spirit cried. And the boy, thinking no evil, drew the cork out of the bottle.” The Spirit in the Bottle by the Brothers Grimm

This Episode's Monster(s):

Drang-Zorn: Badger-like creature with rage issues.

Mauzhertz: Mouse-like creature who are timid and shy. They were featured in the episode “Of Mouse and Man”

Lowen: Lion-like creature who are viscous. They were featured in the episode “Last Grimm Standing”

The weekly case began with a man named William Granger and his daughter, April, going on a trip together. The series leads the audience to believe that William is a man with rage issues. This is because when a gas attendant notes that his credit card is being rejected, we see that attendant being brutally killed. We don't actually see the killer but it's very suspicious. We later see William having to ditch his truck and being forced to hitchhike with another man. When an amber alert is heard on the radio, they're forced to beat up the man and steal his truck. William takes April to a bunker that he has built and the two plan to hide out there. He does have to leave to get some supplies and it's while he's gone that the police raid the bunker. They find April. By this time, William's wife had been found nearly beaten to death. The police believe that William had not only killed the gas attendant but had been the one to beat his own wife. This is reinforced when Nick and Hank learn that William is a Drang-Zorn, who are infamous for their rage problems. This is a weekly case that feels familiar because what procedural hasn't had the guy who beat his wife and then promptly takes their child into hiding? All it seemed was that Grimm took this familiar story and then added the Drang-Zorn creature and called it a day.

That is until the ending. William is visiting his wife at the hospital but he's not there to kill her. He's checking to see she's fine because he wasn't the one who beat her. He wasn't the one who killed that gas attendant. It's his daughter. Most Dang-Zorn start to transition into their wessen sides at the age of 13. April is younger than that and she's started to transition. This causes her to lose control of herself and isn't able to stop herself from killing anyone. Her own mother couldn't handle her and the gas attendant was no match for April's wrath. The characters have to rush to her temporary foster home to ensure that the foster family isn't threatened but they're almost too late. She had bitten her foster dad and tried to kill him. She's taken into custody by a man she likes, Nick, and she's going to be in juvie until she's eighteen. We don't have to worry about her accidentally killing anyone in jail because her prison guard is going to be a Lowen. This twist to the whole story helped add an interesting and needed layer to the familiar story but it came too late. Everything that had preceded it was boring due to it's familarity. If this episode had been able to introduce the twist earlier or had let the audience know before the characters then it would have made for a much better weekly case. By being so late, the twist loses most of it's impact and it doesn't make what came before it interesting. It actually makes it more frustrating.

There's some development in the Juliette and Nick relationship. When the episode began with her memory suddenly reappearing, it came as a surprise. It would have been a disappointing end to this story but it turned out to be a dream. A dream that continued the second season's progress at making us care about the couple. This season has been accomplishing what the previous season couldn't and that's at making us realize just why this relationship is special for Nick. It begins at such a hopeful note but it ends in a dreadful note for the two of them. When Juliette drops by at work during lunch, she happens to see Renard. She's immediately stricken in love with him. When Nick and Juliette do kiss at the end of the episode, she immediately sees Renard's face. Making this even more complicated is that Renard is starting to be obsessed with Juliet. This brand new love triangle situation is conjured by magic. It goes against the interests of Renard (he needs Juliette to keep Nick in Portland) and it's going to cause personal drama for Nick. This is a complication I can get behind.

Monroe and Rosalee had their own sub-plot this week. Rosalee is still at her aunt's home but she's keeping an eye on Monroe over the phone. Monroe seems to be doing fine but he accidentally uses the wrong ingredient in a potion for a Mauzhertz patient. Monroe doesn't realize this until after the potion has been taken and has to find the patient to give him the antidote. This is largely played for comic relief and it doesn't really add much to the world of Grimm, the serialized story, or the weekly case. It felt like it was added on just to give Monroe and Rosalee something to do. This is fine but I would have preferred it if Monroe had somehow been worked into the story. This is because the sub-plot was more distracting then anything and I didn't really find it that entertaining. It had it's moments but it never justified it's existence.

Grimm had a weekly case that was dull until it's twist that came too late and a Monroe sub-plot that didn't really add to the episode. It did successfully complicate the Juliette and Nick relationship by looping in Renard for a love triangle situation. It's because of Juliette that this episode wasn't a complete failure. It managed to elevate this episode into a good one. Without it, this would have been a dull episode.

Other Notes:

The dream sequence had me fooled at the beginning but by the time they were kissing I realized it.

This is the first episode where Hank goes to the trailer, which I could have sworn had happened earlier.

Adalind is back in this episode.