As ‘Grimm’ enters its fifth season on NBC, I’m not really sure how the show has lasted this long. It ran out of steam a couple seasons back, and Season 4 in particular was pretty weak. I’ve stuck with the show this far, but it’s passive entertainment for me. I often let it get backlogged on my DVR and typically don’t pay too much attention to the plot. Still, I feel like I should check in with premiere episodes.

As a reminder of where things stand after the Season 4 finale, Juliette is dead. She was turned into a Hexenbiest, went evil and tried to kill Nick, so Grimm-in-training Trubel was forced to put her down. Nick is very distraught over this, especially since it comes on the heels of his mother being decapitated.

In other news, the sometimes-evil/sometimes-not-evil Adalind Schade is pregnant… with Nick’s baby. There’s a long story behind that, which I assume you know if you’re still watching the show at this point.

Season 5 picks up with Nick sobbing over Juliette’s corpse. A mysterious group rushes into the house, knocks him unconscious, and grabs Trubel. When Nick wakes up later, he’s convinced that FBI Agent Chavez (Elizabeth Rodriguez from ‘Fear the Walking Dead’) is behind everything and he wants blood.

Meanwhile, Captain Renard spends a lot of time tying up loose ends from the Ripper slayings, which was by far the dumbest storyline this show ever ran. (Essentially, Renard was possessed by the spirit of Jack the Ripper and murdered a bunch of people. His friends eventually exorcized him, and he pinned the crimes on an unrelated British baddie that Nick had killed for other reasons.) I really thought we were done with all that, and I’m very disappointed to see it continue to be referenced.

Nick really goes off the deep end. He confronts Chavez, ranting like a lunatic. She of course denies his accusations. Renard orders Nick to take some time off.

Whether Chavez is really evil or not isn’t clear yet (probably not), but we do learn that she has a secret prison for wesen. She’s also somehow connected to a mysterious group murdering wesen and leaving the crime scenes tagged with a symbol that looks like an animal scratch mark. Chavez leads Nick to a warehouse where they find the bodies of a bunch of her partners. They’re both attacked by… something, and Chavez is injured. She tells Nick, “They’re rising up everywhere.”

At episode’s end, Adalind goes into labor. Nick gets to the hospital in time to meet his new son. He’s ambivalent over this, but Adalind tells him that she wants him to be in the picture so they can raise the child together. She suggests that they name him Kelly, after Nick’s mother. He likes that.

Episode Verdict

I’m not thrilled with any of these storylines, but I will give the premiere episode credit for having a real sense of urgency to it, with an unhinged Nick running around trying to avenge his dead wife and dead mother. The show has felt very stagnant for a few seasons now, but seems to have a little vitality again. That’s a good thing.

Honestly, I’m also kind of glad to be rid of Juliette. Her character hadn’t served any purpose for a while. Nick and Adalind will make an interesting couple, if nothing else.

On the other hand, the episode is almost hilariously overburdened with characters either questioning or explaining the plot, as if trying to make sense of it both for themselves and for viewers. At one point, one of them even outright says, “This does not make any sense.” I feel that.

I’m actually on the fence with the show at this point. If the season can’t grab me within the next couple episodes, it may be time for me to drop it. I have far too many other, better shows to watch these days.