Grimm "Cry Lusion" Review

The episode began with a scene of comic exposition about the specifics what needs to happen for Nick to regain his powers, his Grimm-ness-his sight. The scene is like a thesis statement for the episode. Nick needs it. The audience, possibly identifying with Juliette, may not want Nick to become a grimm again. A number of threats, new to Trubel and Juliette, appear in “Cry Lusion.” Nick, still saddled with wesen only cases, can’t adequately perform his job and solve crimes without his sight for wesen-he brings Monroe in to finish off the case-of-the-week. Other troubles roll down a mountain like an avalanche: shadowy men in search for the keys, and intolerance, signified by a fiery symbol, for the marriage between Monroe and Rosalee.

Grimm’s writers seem opposed to making the scenes breathe or to making any character thoughtfully consider a situation by discussing it with another character. Grimm episodes tend to move from beat to beat, with little introspection by any of the characters, besides the barest, most basic plot-dependent exchanges. “We may need to tell Wu things,” after Wu clearly states the existence of a wolf chasing a woman seems not only a possibility but the reality-the lone explanation for why the woman would drive erratically down a road, killing a runner during her erratic drive. Juliette expresses only that she would like a normal life with Nick, but she does not express why. Later, her decision to do the spell, spurred by the fiery symbol and what she overheard about the threats facing Nick, slips past her tongue.

The case-of-the-week in “Cry Lusion” serves to further motivate Nick’s desire to regain what he lost after Adalind’s spell. Hank and Nick suspect the husband of the mentally ill woman at the center of the case of intentionally making her crazy for the purpose of assuming the estate and all the assets. Nick and Hank can’t prove he’s wesen. Monroe, when brought in, proves the woman’s husband is a wesen and working with his two identical brothers to drive his wife crazy. There’s a therapist character that supports the woman’s hallucinations of a wolf in a well-tailored suit. The detectives consult with her about the case because that’s what detectives do; however, they know, or suspect, what’s going on. The therapist is an unnecessary part. She adds nothing to their understanding of the case. Perhaps the writers added her as a way to show the audience that this is grimm without the wesen element-the same tired procedural format of every other procedural case. The case is borrowed from a thousand Lifetime movies.

Trubel, at least, actively takes part in a story. Bud tells her about the threats facing Nick in Portland since he lost his power. Trubel begins a mini-tour of fear and intimidation, with Bud guiding her. She showed more aggression and anger than Nick has in four seasons. A running theme with her has been her habit of not listening, ignoring orders, and finding bad situations because of it. She’ll spiral, right? She almost cut the throat of Shaw because he, well, he was of a violent temperament, and he did want to kill her until he saw her eyes.

Adalind’s romp through prison continued to combine elements of Alice in Wonderland and Invitation to a Beheading. V.N. would rap my knuckles for using his novel in a post about episode five of Grimm. Invitation to a Beheading dwells on consciousness more than social commentary about injustice and totalitarian states. Viktor enchanted Adalind because he wanted to influence her consciousness. The baby does not lie in an Austrian bedroom; where is she? Her ‘escape’ through the castle leads to her prison cell. Viktor greeted her-similar to how the warden and the executioner greeted Cincinnatus after he emerged from the tunnel, which is where the faint—one might contend even indistinguishable-parallels end. Adalind will not go forth to a place where beings like himself, giant and uniquely independent, reside; she will follow the villain Viktor and allow her hexenbiest nature more reign than her more humanistic instincts.

Other Thoughts:

-NBC will air a new Grimm Black Friday night, a sure sign the network cares not for the series. Perhaps Grimm will end after four seasons. TVByTheNumbers disagrees with me. I do not know.

-Renard lives in an expensive house, thanks to his mother. His mother will soon pursue Nick’s mother because she wants to see her granddaughter.

-I had no idea who Josh was. I do not remember whether or not he appeared previously. The writers plopped the character into the middle of the episode.

-Michael Golamco wrote the episode. Eric Laneuville directed.