Grimm "Maréchaussée" Review

I’m never sure when Grimm’s sneaking in a second part of a story and when it’s not. Nick doesn’t become the target until very late in the episode. The Wesen council’s involved. The Marechaussee is seemingly unkillable. I dreaded a second part to the story, because ‘Marechaussee” is not good. I should’ve guessed Juliette would use her powerful hexenbiest powers for something; but should I have? Sometimes, Grimm uses fragments to develop character that never figure into Nick’s case. “Marechaussee” bided time until the council put the hit on Nick for interfering too much, assisted by Rosalee’s nonsensical phone call and question to the council.

Juliette’s the secret star of the episode. The hexenbiest storyline involves secrecy, which is a staple of the series, but one of the worst aspects of Grimm-characters needlessly not communicating for the sake of dramatic tension. Henrietta did magic for Juliette to test her hexenbiest nature. Between that scene and the end when she killed Wilde, aka the manticore, she ambles around. Juliette treated a dog; she scared all the animals in her practice upon learning that Adalind returned to Portland when she hexenbiested out, and, finally, she happened to be home when the bounty hunter tried to use her as bait for Nick. The manticore was previously seen in “The Good Soldier.” The creatures are hard to kill, lion-like, and vicious. Nick, Hank, and Wu repeat multiple times the danger and impossibility of killing the manticore. The repetition of the beastly wesen’s beastliness sets Juliette up for her first major to kill. Henrietta sees that Juliette’s more powerful than she knows and that the hexenbiest nature will not reverse. Wilde meets her at the house after a long, frustrating, and disappointing game. Adalind’s back, which Juliette hates; she’s stuck as a hexenbiest forever; and she needs to tell Nick in another seven seasons. Wilde picked the wrong time to threaten her. She used his stinger to kill him. Her strength was greater than his. Nick comes home to the murder scene and accepts Juliette’s simple, “He missed” reason. For a detective, Nick’s the least probing and critically minded. He accepts and moves on. “Yes, yes, he missed, yes.”

It’s a cool turn for the episode to take in an otherwise dreadful story. Juliette, for so long, has been relegated to the ignorant girlfriend, the sort of involved girlfriend, and now she’s one of the most powerful characters in the show-two polar extremes, formerly useless within the other world of Grimm, except as emotional support for Nick, but their relationship seems sort of miserable in season four.

The Wesen Council’s Grimm’s own Watcher’s Council. They’re, like many of the organizations in the show, antiquated. One expects to see portraits of the Royal elite and the Wesen Council in Flemish portraits. Preferably the return of the council would’ve revealed a new element. They kill their own who step outside of the rules and regulations of wesen life. Two fortunetellers used woge to make a living; another threatened strippers with his woge if they tried to leave. The well-dressed European man who acts as liaison between the council and the bounty hunter notes that no one will miss those on the list. Nick’s caught between his grimm responsibilities and his police responsibilities for the third episode in a row, but there’s still no hint of Nick thinking he needs to decide (but May is still three months away).

So, no, “Marechaussee” did not engage this here insignificant reviewer. There’s a lot of stuff in the episode. Viktor and Adalind come to Portland. Nick hears from his mother. The Wesen Council returns, terrible as ever. Monroe and Rosalee returned and immediately became involved in the case of the week. There were a number of puzzling scenes, though: Juliette can’t control her magic, hit her head with pepper, Nick didn’t see it, ask what happened, and she lies. Yes, all she does is lie to him now. The 45 seconds she treated the dog. The scene contrasts her inherent gentleness with her later violence. Perhaps Greenwalt and Kouf wrote it because she’s never working her job.

Other Thoughts:

-NBC renewed Grimm for a fifth season. It premiered in 2010 after reviews pronounced it the first show cancelled. TNT syndicates Grimm during the week. I don’t think NBC loses money producing the show. It is the #1 scripted show Friday nights. Congratulations to the writers, directors, production crew, and the cast.

-Jim Kouf & David Greenwalt wrote the episode. I wrote last week about the ghost episode reminding me of an X-Files episode. I learned the next day that David Greenwalt joined The X-Files in season four. Eric Laneuville directed.