‘Grimm’ 6.01 Recap: “You’re Not a Ghost, Are You?”

NBC has been promoting the new season of ‘Grimm’, which started on Friday, as the show’s last. Quite frankly, this is not a series that needed to be on the air for six seasons. It only really had enough ideas to last about three. However, the fact that this final season will only run half the usual number of episodes may work in its favor.

Credit where it’s due, I think Season 5 perked up some of the energy that had been flagging in the previous year or so – mainly by going for broke with some really crazy storylines. Kill off Nick’s kind-of annoying fiancée, Juliette? Good idea. Have Nick almost immediately fall in love with his longtime nemesis Adalind? Uhh… OK. Turn Wu, just about the only character in the series who was still oblivious to the existence of wesen, into a werewolf? Sure, why not? Bring Juliette back from the dead, but transform her into a robotic assassin named Eve? That’s just weird. I almost can’t believe that the show somehow not only made that one work, but made Eve a much more interesting and appealing character than Juliette had ever been.

By this point in its run, the show’s writers and producers have given up any pretense of trying to attract new viewers. The Season 6 premiere jumps right in where the last one left off, with little set-up or explanation. Either you already understand what’s going on or you probably don’t need to watch this show anymore.

Nick’s loft is an abattoir following a raid by a bunch of bad guys who shot Nick full of bullets. Fortunately, he was healed by a magic stick (long story) and killed the hell out of all the henchmen. While Nick faced off against the head baddie named Bonaparte, police captain/new mayor Renard – who had turned bad and was working for him – was possessed by a spell from his own evil magical daughter (even longer story) and murdered Bonaparte, because the little girl thought he was mean to her mommy (Adalind).

Nick is confused about why Renard saved him. Renard is even more confused, but he turns around and leaves, letting Nick go for now. Renard returns home to Adalind, who’d been kidnapped by Bonaparte and forced into an engagement to Renard despite still loving Nick. He then sets about framing Nick for the murders of Bonaparte and a bunch of cops.

Eve, who was also healed by the magic stick following an injury, is slowly turning back into Juliette. Bummer. Rosalee is pregnant but doesn’t want to tell anyone other than Monroe yet. Hank and Wu return to work at the police station and act like they aren’t involved, but Renard (who’s somehow still acting as police captain even though he’s also the mayor) is just waiting for an opportunity to implicate them in Nick’s alleged crimes as well.

The episode title, ‘Fugitive’, obviously refers to the fact that Nick is now a wanted man and will have to go on the run. He isn’t in too much of a hurry to do that, though. He spends a lot of time cleaning the dead bodies out of his loft, and then sets up a new base of operations for the team in the repair shop owned by Bud, the comic relief rodent guy. The premiere ends with Renard figuring out where they are and sending a S.E.R.T. team (basically the same thing as S.W.A.T.) to surround the place. As our heroes prepare to fight their way out, Eve is unable to wogue into her Hexenbiest form anymore, which might have come in useful.

Episode Verdict

With only 13 episodes this season, I figure that I might as well see the show through. Unfortunately, the premiere episode isn’t great. It feels strangely stagnant considering the supposed desperation of the characters, and doesn’t make a whole lot of plot progress. That’s probably not a good sign, but I’ve come this far and I still find the show passively entertaining. If this one winds up like previous seasons, I have a feeling that I may let some episodes stack up on my DVR before watching them.

4 comments

  1. NJScorpio

    (who’s somehow still acting as police captain even though he’s also the mayor)

    That is just too funny.

    I’m a fan of the show, and I’m glad it’s getting an actual final season to try and wrap up some of these strange stories. You are correct though that it seems the show has given up on bringing in new viewers and is just going for broke with it’s story lines. I can dig that.

  2. Thulsadoom

    I’ve actually been enjoying Grimm a lot, the last few years. Sure, it’s uneven sometimes and the first season was just okay, but it’s a helluva lot better than many shows, and I was always surprised at how well they kept up with ‘interesting revelations’ so that you really wanted to see what happened in the next episode. Plus, the side characters especially are quite interesting (Though like you, I never warmed to Juliet till she became Eve!)

    I’m kinda glad they’ve been cancelled, but with a whole season’s warning (albeit a half-season). Too many shows either go on longer than they should, or just get cancelled with cliff hangers (or both). When this happens, it hopefully means the fans get a good send off, so that if they ever want to, they can re-watch knowing that it has a complete story and ending.

    It’s certainly justified getting to a sixth season more than certain other popular shows… *cough*walkingdead*cough* 😉

    • NJScorpio

      IIRC, Grimm and Once Upon A Time premiered the same season, and I remember thinking that Once Upon A Time seemed like a better show and better premise. By the second season, I was enjoying Grimm much more. Now, I’m soooo sick of Once Upon a Time, but I’m watching it until the end. Grimm I’m still enjoying.

      • Thulsadoom

        Yeah, same here. Though I must admit, I’m not sick of Once, I’m still enjoying it, but it’s certainly passed its peak and stretching to find stories at the moment. Grimm, on the other hand, has managed to amp things up season by season and keep it all interesting (with the odd stumble, of course, like any show).

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