Grimm "Headache" Review

Grimm resolved the Jack the Ripper story in “Headache.” The silly accent belonged to Captain Renard, who had been possessed after dying, and being brought back to life by his mother, another hexenbiest who may be of use as Juliette continues her transformation to total villainhood, by the wesen Nick, Hank, Wu, and Monroe researched in the previous episode. The resolution of Renard’s blackouts, the bleeding out from the bullet wounds, and the reveal of who killed prostitutes in Portland, means that no longer must the viewer endure the aimless and seemingly purposeless flashes of Renard being shot, bleeding, waking up in pools, in the ball room at a Chuck E. Cheese, and covered in his own imaginary blood after jolting awake from nightmares.

The bulk of “Headache” resolves to cure Renard of possession. Rosalee and Monroe work on a cure, because that’s all they do. Rosalee’s less tolerant of helping people that try to kill her or Monroe. “Headache” began by continuing the cliffhanger that ended last week’s episode. Hank pushed Monroe out of the way of the bullet. Juliette left, satisfied by her attempted murder of Monroe, and Rosalee announces she’ll kill the bitch. Renard threatened her when possessed by Jack. The boys asked each other what they’d do if the cure didn’t work. Rosalee said, “You kill him” or something to that effect. I like that evolution for her character. If Rosalee becomes the character that doesn’t forget about another character’s past atrocities, whether possessed or no, character choices suddenly have more lasting import and consequence. Maybe Juleitte won’t re-join the gang.

Of course, I think, and would wage a hill of beans, that Juliette, after a redemption story during season five, becomes reacquainted with the gang. The Grimm writers have gone all the way writing her villainy. Juliette slept with Kenneth in Nick’s bed; Juliette sat still upstairs while the Royals’ henchmen attacked Kelly; Juliette took Diana to the Prince. The cliffhanger of the episode is Nick’s discovery of his mother’s head in a box. The fight between her and the Royals happened off-screen. The camera followed Juliette’s reactions. She was less total evil in that scene and more contemplative. I wondered what the director, Jim Kouf, told Bitsie before filming the scene.

“Headache” moved at a fast clip. Trubel returned during the action-packed episode and even sliced off the head of one of the Royals’ henchmen. Her return is convenient unless Nick, or someone else, tipped her off about Juliette. Trubel did her thing: she investigated, watched, observed, and had enough to tell Nick that something bad seemed imminent. Soon, though, Nick’s a shell-shocked mess, screaming “No!” over again after finding the more-than-likely fake head of his mother inside the box. The Royals had been a non-factor since forever, comparable to gnats, annoying but insignificant. Nick, the hero of the show, never had consistent motivation to fight the Royals. Now he does.

Season 4 has been hit or miss. That’s true of all their seasons. Kouf and Greenwalt always deliver during finale seaso, though. The last two episodes of Grimm have been good, entertaining, engaging, and I look forward to next week.

Other Thoughs:

-“Headache” reminded me a little of ANGEL and Buffy. Greenwalt’s former two shows wrote in demons that hitchhiked from another dimension.

-Jim Kouf and David Greenwalt wrote “Headache.” Kouf directed. I haven’t seen Greenwalt direct an episode of television since “The Girl in Question.”