After a short three-week hiatus, Grimm returns with the first of four episodes. It will take a lengthy break for the winter Olympics, but then we’ll have ten episodes that will likely run consecutively to finish out this third season. Not bad. It also returned with a 1.4 in the preliminary 18-49 demo. Also, not bad.
“Red Menace” was enjoyable. The Adalind/Royals plot – for me – takes the place of last season’s amnesia plot: long and drawn out with very little movement. Is it me or has she taken a year thus far with this pregnancy and still isn’t showing? Ah, the make believe world of television. Once Renard and Adalind had their little tete-a-tete where he told her he knows she’s pregnant and she played the game of “I’m not telling you if you’re the father” and then Renard warned her to be careful, Renard returned to Portland where he immediately joined Nick and Hank out in the field. While Renard’s ultimate motives towards Nick remain in flux, he’s an ally right now, and I enjoy when he and Nick and Hank work together. Renard clearly likes Nick, both as his detective and as the Grimm, but whatever and wherever his ultimate allegiance lies, I don’t see continuously calm seas between them. Oh, well, drama can be fun.
Nick, Hank, and Wu have some good times together this episode as well: first the ‘special of the day’ at the restaurant and then the public health crisis at the motel. How that guy got himself out of the tub so that he could fall on Hank I’ll never know, but we got a blue man trio walking somewhat shamefully back into the precinct. I like it when Grimm has a little bit of fun at its heroes’ expense.
Monroe makes an all-too brief appearance while still getting a great line regarding Koschie: “They’re Russian, which makes them all Greek to me.” Oh, Monroe, can’t wait for more of that dry, silly humor. Plus, I love his fascination with all things – well, all things! Rosalee, unfortunately, made no appearance this episode, but it was a bit full, so I’m not surprised.
Juliette is going to be going deeper into the Wesen world; that journey began here. Juliette has truly embraced Nick’s Grimmness and all that it means to and for him. I love that. Now she has a dear friend who has been hiding her true Wesen identity from Juliette. Based on previews, and interviews, Juliette will discover the secret her friend has been hiding. I like this. Not only will Juliette be involved in the Wesen world because of Nick, but she will find that her life has always been linked through friendships she’s made personally. Perhaps the show is striving for the idea that we all have secrets that we hide and wouldn’t it just be great if we all accepted one another for who and what we are. I’m sure that’s an underlying notion in the series, and as long as this idea isn’t wielded like an anvil — *cough* Supernatural *cough* — it will be just fine.
Red Menace doesn’t really move the mythology of the Royals and Grimms that far along, but it does do a little character building. We know that Hank is looking for something in his life outside his work; Juliette is a source of comfort and safety for a friend – who happens to be Wesen, which will expand Juliette’s character beyond her relationship with Nick. Already Juliette has become more proactive and recent interviews hint at that proactivity increasing again. I’ll not spoil anything; these are reviews/recaps, not spoilers. Wu continues his steady presence as grounding everything in ‘the world of humans.’ Nick’s zombie aftereffects get a brief mention as he goes for a run and doesn’t sweat or breathe hard.
Red Menace is heavy on the case of the week and, as such, the characters that are a part of that case get a fair bit of screen time, from the would-be assassin who is felled by radiation poisoning – and through camera angels and shadows behind curtains we are supposed to believe his accomplice is the wife, not the maid. The other part that Red Menace is heavy on is Juliette and her friend who is escaping from an abusive husband. This story carries over into next week and I’m glad it does. I like little min-arcs in shows. These allow certain characters to step into the limelight a bit and show us more about themselves. Rosalee and Monroe, while having either nothing or minimal duties tonight, have had some mini-arcs already this season and those will continue as their relationship moves forward.
The writers did a nice job of juggling multiple stories here. They fixated on two that were to be front and center, case of the week and Juliette’s friend, and then gave most of the other percolating stories a brief mention: Adalind, Royals, Nick’s zombie effects, Hank’s possible love interest. There was a lot to do and once again the writers timed things well so that the ending didn’t seem terribly rushed and blended nicely into what will continue next week: the arrival of the abusive Wesen husband and Juliette duking it out with a Wesen in her own home. Shades of Season 1’s Game Ogre, only this time Juliette is doing battle.
Final notes:
- Good job having the detectives wear gloves at crime scenes.
- Nick didn’t seem very sudsy in the decontamination shower compared to Hank and Wu.
- Portland has changeable weather: snow in Twelve Days of Krampus, beautiful fall foliage here 😉
- Had to rewatch the opening scene; totally missed that it was Nick jogging on that path.
January has arrived and brought with it lots of cold and snow in the northeast – and other places – as well as a brand new Grimm. Fridays just got a whole lot better…again.
Thanks for reading, Elle
