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GRIMM |
Nick Burkhardt - David Giuntoli Hank Griffin - Russell Hornsby Juliet Silverton - Bitsie Tulloch Eddie Monroe - Silas Weir Mitchell Captain Renard - Sasha Roiz 
OTHER GRIMM SEASONS Season 2 OTHER SUPERNATURAL DETECTIVE SHOWS Buffy The Vampire Slayer Angel Blade The Series The Dresden Files Blood Ties Moonlight Lost Girl 
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PilotNick's aunt is dying. She is also in his house trying to convince him that the visions that he is seeing really are monsters and that he comes from a famly of monster killers, known as Grimms. Since females dressed in red are disappearing, he is going to need some odd help to find the latest victim. GRIMM comes from a long line of detectives in the hidden underworld and so it needs to have something new to bring to the table to mark it out from all the others. Unfortunately, basing your stories on the Grimm's fairy tales isn't going to cut it and neither are stories as weak an unoriginal as this one. There's a girlfriend who doesn't know what's going on, a cop partner who will soon start to suspect and a shapeshifting reluctant ally who has all the best lines. Are we yawning yet? This is is a pilot so there is a lot of set up to get through so slack can be cut, but the show will need to improve quickly. TopBears Will Be BearsA couple break into an empty house, but then the family come home and only one of them gets out. Nick has to find out who, or what, has the missing boyfriend before tradition kills someone. There are a couple of things that are likely to kill this show before it gets to the end. The first is leading man David Giontoli who is a pretty boy, but a charisma vacuum. The second is the monster design because the bear people on show here are pretty poor to say the least. The plot tries to set the traditional against the modern, but is too obvious for its own good. TopBeewareNick is forced to protect the woman who tried to kill his aunt from beasts that can control bees and who claim to be his friends. This is a mix of investigation and witness protection stories, but there's not enough to make it stand out, barely providing enough plot to fill the running time, leaving longeurs that can't be filled with the cameo by Nana Visitor. The bee people effects are awful, but the opening sequence aboard a tram is pretty fun and actually original. TopLonelyheartsA case of missing women causes Nick to bring Monroe in search of a creature that is irresistible to women. This is a straightforward police procedural that is enlivened only by Silas Weir Mitchell as Monroe. Take away the fact that the villain is a supernaturally-powered creature and it could be a bog standard cop story. The frog-eating is a bit gross though. TopDanse MacabreSome rich kids at a music school target a poor student for bullying and find themselves attacked by hordes of rats, but who is really to blame? The arrogance and corruption of the rich and school bullying are the targets for this episode, but it's the same old thin story with some pretty awful ratpeople effects and some kids who really are just too stupid not to walk into the world's most obvious trap. TopThe Three Bad WolvesAn ex-girlfriend of Monroe's walks back into his life when her brothers are threatened by a bomber. They are wolf shifters and they may being targeted by pig people in a race feud. It's nice to see some of Monroe's hidden past and for the show to flesh out the character more. There's also a fiesty cameo from Jaime Ray Newman as Monroe's motorcycle riding, bra-wearing ex-lover. Unfortunately, the story is thin and the identity of the killer is obvious from very early on. The pig effects are also pretty dire. TopLet Your Hair DownA forest killing leads to the opening of an old case involving a girl believed dead for nine years. At last, a plot with a bit of complexity to it (not too much of course) that isn't necessarily as obvious as it at firs appears thanks to the mixing up of pot fields, feral girls and vengeful rednecks. It also helps that the monster of the week isn't necessarily the villain of the piece. This is perhaps the first time that the show has shown some promise. TopGame OgreAn ogre put in prison five years ago is back and killing off the people that put him behind bars. Hank is next in line. This is a tired, tired story that's been done far too many times for the show to be able to bring anything new to it beyond putting the main hero in hospital and having Monroe bring the big bad down. There's a brief attempt to show that the shock of violent crime doesn't just vanish as soon the threat is over, but all the macho posturing drowns out all that. TopOf Mouse And ManSome bad people are being killed. They are connected by a housing complex and a woman within that housing complex. This is predictable and dull, peopled with characters that are impossible to care about. In fact, both of the support stories in which Eddie is beaten up for associating with a Grimm and Juliette starts to suspect that things are not quite as they should be are both more interesting. Which is not to say that they are interesting in their own rights, because they're not. TopOrgan GrinderSomeone is taking kids off the streets and harvesting their organs to sell to the underworld community. GRIMM starts to live up to its name with this episode. Apart from a dead man having his eyes pecked out, the story about street kids having their organs taken out whilst they are still alive has both a social aspect and a down and dirty nastiness that finally gives the show the edge that it has been missing. The climax actually manages to be exciting. This could be the week that GRIMM comes of age. TopTarantellaNick is on the tail of a spiderwoman who sucks the youth out of her conquests, but learns that his own reputation is likely to cause him problems. Amy Acker guest stars in a story that gives a bit of depth and danger to the show. It's not a straight bad guy tale since the villain is acting in response to a curse that they didn't ask for and that ruins their life and blights their family. This is the second week in a row that the show has shown a bit more of its dark side and it might just be a sign of better things to come. TopLast Grimm StandingSome murders in the woods lead Nick to an illegal cage fighting club where the monsters are forced to fight each other to the death. And Monroe is next up. Ah the old forced-gladiator episode. This is a tried and tested storyline that is a dull and original in this show as it has been in all the others that have come up with some variation on it. It adds nothing new to the basic storyline and even the revelations that it makes about Nick's immediate superior officer aren't anything that we didn't already know. A tired and lazy episode. TopThree Coins In A FuchsbauCriminals are after three coins that turn their owners mad. Nick is on the case and gets some help from a man who knew his dead aunt and might be able to shed light on the death of Nick's parents. This episode takes the whole 'Gollum and the precious' scenario from THE LORD OF THE RINGS only turns the ring into three coins and makes Nick's partner and his boss the men being twisted. Following on from the last episode, this is a disappointing lack of originality that doesn't bode well for the show's future. There are no surprises in the story of the man claiming to want to help Nick and the hints about the death of Nick's parents might set up future events, but aren't exactly groundbreaking. TopPlumed SerpentA female fire-eater turns man-eater after encountering Nick. She comes after him aggressively, but is it just his body that she's after. This episode perks up the show after the last couple of lacklustre efforts and once again it's down to a female villain to shake things up. Danielle Panabaker's Ariel is a great deal of fun as she plays with a Nick who is spectacularly unprepared to deal with a sexually aggressive woman. Unfortunately, it then degenerates into a straight kidnapping/rescue thing that will have fallout on Nick's relationship, but it far too obvious in its resolution. TopIsland Of DreamsTwo killers high on a serious drug and some hopped up cookies threaten Nick's colleagues and introduces Monroe to a new love interest. The central romance between Monroe and the victim's sister in this episode is very sweet and very cute and almost makes up for the fact that everything else is completely formulaic. The tactics of Renard, giving drugged cookies to Nick's partner don't seem to make sense at the moment. TopThe Thing With FeathersNick's romantic getaway with Juliet is interrupted by a neighbour who apparently has a woman held hostage for a golden egg she is growing in her throat. Whilst there is a very strong sense that this has all been done before, the hard edge that is given to the show by the scenes of force-feeding is welcome, although surely there must be easier ways to make your money than the one that the bad guy picks. The twist towards the end is predictable long before we get there. TopLove SickCaptain Renard's plan for Nick's partner is put on the fast track, leaving Nick to try and convince Hank that his girfriend is not what she seems. Exactly how it benefits the Captain to have Hank die through some tortuous drug-induced romance is never explained in this episode. This undermines everything that goes on here. The solution to the curse is the blood of a Grimm, but no explanation is given for that either. It is because the plot writer decided it had to be. The situation with the carpet-eating cop is funny enough and the conclusion leaves you feeling sorry for the villain, but otherwise this is pretty standard stuff. TopCat And MouseA ruthless assassin comes to town in search of a freedom fighter and both Eddie and Nick are dragged into the battle between the two. Some important background comes out in this episode as it emerges that there are 'Royal families' slowly infiltrating all levels of human life (pretty much like Renard) and that there is an underground resistance to that process. The Grimm family seems to be on the wrong side of it. This is spoken about, but no great details are given. The main storyline concerns the assassin closing in on his prey, mainly through a process of killing people who cross his path. It's not the most subtle of tales, but it at least moves quickly enough to stop you thinking about it too much. Top |
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