Grimm "Double Date" Review

The teaser for “Double Date” made little sense. Renard woke covered in blood after a nightmare about being shot in the chest. He didn’t learn anything about why he woke covered in blood. Next, the villainous Wesen of the week was introduced in a bar, crying over a broken marriage, and lulling some dope into a con. They kissed, ripped off clothing, and then she left for the bathroom. Her husband, Linus, burst into threaten the future victim for coming to his house with his wife. The future victim died before the end of the teaser after demanding his phone and wallet back from Stacy. Stacy responded by killing him.

The twist of the story is that Stacy/Linus share a body. The ending of the “Double Date” teaser makes the conclusion blurry and ambiguous, but if that’s not the twist, then the entire teaser is nonsense without context. It’s the Kouf family and David Greenwalt thinking, “We’ll start here and see where it takes the story.” Writing without a clear direction isn’t a mortal or venial sin. It’s not even a sin. Every writer’s different. Joss Whedon knew where he wanted the story to go, but the writing staff wouldn’t finish a script until the day shooting began. Tim Kring had no idea what he wanted Heroes to be, and that was a mess. Vladimir Nabokov had completed every novel in his mind before he began while William Gass has said he didn’t know where he wanted to go when he began a story, adding that’s why he re-wrote however many times needed so that he knew where he wanted to take the story.

“Double Date” tried to shroud Stacy and Linus with ambiguity but very sloppily. Stacy yells at Linus. Linus yells at Stacy. Neither yells at the other in the same room. Well, I suppose they do, but they don’t face each other-unless Linus had switched in front of a mirror. It’s silly the way the writers decided to keep the mystery of Stacy/Linus as one person, a less powered up Glory and Ben. Monroe went undercover for consecutive episodes to catch Linus. The payoff to Monroe’s undercover work was a jealous Rosalee. Nick, Hank, and Wu would’ve had no leads if not for Monroe. The pursuit of Linus and the confusion about the disappearance of Stacy was comical, because the cops never met a male/female Wesen. It happened in the second to last act, a Grimm staple, and the guys were at a loss to catch Linus/Stacy. They chose the right bar soon after and caught Linus after dosing him with Rosalee’s hormone-made shot.

Nick and Juliette don’t share a scene in this episode. Juliette goes to Renard’s place after sleeping in her car. Renard began to help her by using blood rituals. “Double Date” concluded with a series of scenes, montage style, of the relationship between Juliette and Nick. It ended with a question, “Do you want to be with me?” I don’t remember the line verbatim.

Adalind received one scene after her unexpected positive pregnancy test. The writers wrote off Viktor in a better way than Renard’s brother, who died in a car explosion. Viktor hadn’t done an adequate job. Alexis Denisof probably doesn’t have time to guest on Grimm and be a regular on Finding Carter. Viktor follows a line of poor, ineffectual, pointless, aimless villains. What did Viktor do since his introduction? He locked Adalind in one or two dungeons. He failed to develop any leads on Kelly’s whereabouts. Viktor did take away Nick’s powers for a stretch that now affects his relationship with Juliette because of magic. So, yeah, he did that. Adalind will work with another German. Let’s stop with the Royals. It’s not good, Grimm.

Other Thoughts:

-Briana Lane portrayed Stacy. She’s among the most beautiful actresses I’ve watched on television. She’s stunning. I liked the edge she brought to Stacy. I hoped that the shot would’ve permanently fixed her visage instead dopey Linus.

-Karen Gaviola directed the episode. Brenna Kouf wrote it.