Love, friendship, trust, and acceptance: all were on display in tonight’s episode. Rosalee shared dark parts of her past and found Monroe completely accepting. Juliette discovered her friend is a Wesen and accepted Alicia as she did Rosalee and Monroe and Nick’s revelations; however, Alicia was a bit more reticent. Hank discovered the lady he’s interested in is also a Wesen, and while he completely accepted the difference, she did not. It was a nice layering for all the characters, as well as for us viewers. We try so hard to be accepting of the differences of others that it sometimes catches us off guard when they can’t accept the difference that is us. To put it another way, Zuri’s refusal to be all right with Hank being human and her Wesen really just shows that sometimes we get it wrong when we say things like: “It’s okay. I’m fine with you being different.” Really? What an insult. To be fair, I don’t believe Hank was meaning to insult Zuri. He simply fell into the trap that so many of us do: I’m okay with who you are…what if the other person isn’t?
The case of the week was fairly routine: young, silly teenager who is rebellious (there’s a stretch) does something he shouldn’t (‘borrow’ sister’s car without permission), sees something that is awful and rather than call for help or talk to the police he tries to hide. Thankfully the writers gave it a bit more depth by making the young kid a Wesen with a troubled past and a reason to distrust the police, so it wasn’t as grating as it could have been when the inevitable happens: Nick and Hank find him, question him, tell him they know he’s innocent but want him to help identify the bad guys. When he doesn’t help – as all formulas like this have to go — he goes home, promptly finds his life threatened and then, when all else fails, assists the police. Yeah, should have done that in the first place, but, we have to have the angst.
Hey, while the case of the week is routine and mundane, it does provide the proper environment for Hank to have some spotlight. So, I’ll turn to the great parts of this episode. Since the character moments were the bulk of the episode, this episode was quite enjoyable. Hank gets to be romantic hopeful, big brother, vigilant detective – it’s a great episode for Hank. While he still strikes out in the game of love – sorry, Hank! – he shines all around in this episode.
Rosalee and Monroe also shine here. Their relationship is just so much fun to watch. They comfortably support each other in their professional pursuits, readily accept the uninvited intrusions of Nick or Juliette – at any time of the day or night, so as to provide friendly advice or support, and most of all they simply light up every scene they’re in. Thankfully we got to see some continued deepening of the characters this evening as Rosalee shared some of her dark past and Monroe responds with a witty throwaway line (that he utterly does not throw away): “Oh, our shady past,” which Rosalee deftly catches and returns with relief that they survived. Next week we meet Rosalee’s parents. Good timing. I’m ready for some more Monroe and Rosalee goodness!
Then we have the most refreshing couple currently reigning on television – all right, you hardcore Castle and Bones fans will no doubt roll your eyes mightily. That’s cool. But my reasoning comes from the absolute honesty that these two are expressing week in and week out. Juliette discovers Nick has zombie aftereffects; Nick tells her about each of them as they occur and what the doctor says. No hiding. No lies. Juliette discovers that someone wrote Nick an email and signed it “love” and Nick tells her that it’s his mother – back from the dead. Neither hides. Neither lies. Nick discovers that Juliette’s friend is a Wesen and he tells her. Juliette in turns reveals her knowledge to her friend – sure, there’s a bit of awkwardness as Juliette tries to reassure Alicia by telling her that Nick is a Grimm. Um, yeah, that’s not going to help. But the point is that these two are sharing everything that they’re encountering. Refreshing!
Also, Juliette kicks some serious butt! I love that fight sequence with Juliette and Joe and Alicia with Nick coming in at the end for the save – to save the jerk Joe, that is. I’m hoping that Alicia is someone that doesn’t disappear completely. Juliette and Alicia can go for coffee, have lunch and other such things. I’m basing that on the idea that Alicia got an apartment in Portland and is moving there. I just like the idea of the show expanding the characters’ personal lives a bit. Nothing big, just building upon the foundation already laid.
Eyes of the Beholder really summed itself up with one word: Trust. Of course that’s an easy thing to say, not so easy to do. I don’t know how much of the title was influenced by the Twilight Zone episode similarly titled, but the premise behind that was of a woman attempting to look like everyone else. Something Rosalee mentioned to Juliette regarding how hard it is for Wesen to show themselves; even to other Wesen, because they want to fit in.
Final thoughts:
“Oh, God, a Grimm!”
“I don’t ever want to see you again.” “If she ever does see you again…” “She’ll never see me again!” Hah! I think Alicia appreciates that Nick is a Grimm now.
Nick to Jared at the end: “We need to talk.” Um, yeah, you really do.
310 was Zuri’s apartment number. This episode was the tenth episode of the third season.
Sorry if this was a bit rushed this week. I’m getting a new puppy tomorrow and I know that there is no way I would be able to write this. Alice offered to pick up the slack – and she is more than able to do it too, but I enjoyed the episode and wanted to offer some thoughts.
So, with that, as always, thanks for reading! Elle2
