Grimm "Inugami" Review

Eve told Adalind, when she threatened her, that “things are happening very fast”; really, Grimm writers? Things are happening very fast? Meisner has disappeared. Hadrian’s Wall sent Trubel to Costa Rica for an urgent mission. Eve learned from Rachel, in “The Believer,” the reason why Black Claw assassinated Andrew Dixon: they want power in government, and it’ll begin in Portland, with Renard. Presumably, the revelation will bring Meisner and Trubel back from exile. Hadrian’s Wall and Nick’s crew will work together, probably with Renard, to stop Black Claw from taking control of the city of Portland. Hadrian’s Wall looks terrible as a secret government organization for failing to connect the dots about Black Claw killing Portland’s no-doubt-about-it next Mayor. Renard’s involvement adds a complicated wrinkle, but his involvement didn’t motivate Black Claw. Black Claw’s motivations for power brought them to Renard.

Black Claw has used the idea of family in converting Renard, and Adalind through Renard, to their cause. “Inugami” concluded with the return of Diana. Did Meisner rescue her from the Royals only to leave her vulnerable for a bad organization to find and use? No. Meisner likely lost her in a department store or a Denny’s to Black Claw, which has motivated him in joining the secret government organization. Maybe embarrassment about losing the girl he heroically rescued precluded him from sharing info with Nick and Adalind. The various pieces of the overarching Black Claw story leaves one scratching one’s head, sometimes.

The Eve and Adalind scene had a modicum of tension, but Eve continually mentions she’s not Juliette in a way that suggests she really is Juliette but her behavior suggests she wants to change and won’t hurt Adalind unless Adalind’s returned hexenbiestness harms Nick. Her lone purpose for visiting Adalind is the threat. Nick wouldn’t tolerate Eve threatening Adalind, but he didn’t like Adalind keeping her hexenbiest a secret, and she woudn’t like Nick asking Nick and Rosalee to investigate the tunnels while out of the house. These characters love a good secret. Even Monroe didn’t know about Tony’s crazy visit during his and Nick’s trip to Germany.

Monroe and Rosalee learned nothing more about the tunnels than Nick. Monroe observed they’re similar to the Shanghai tunnels where it was rumored to be used for the practice of kidnapping people to serve as sailors. The tunnels, whatever the purpose, will be Wesen-related. It could be a long set-up for next season’s central story arc, or not.

Nick and Hank investigated the potential vengeance killing of a teenager in the case-of-the-week. The case introduced the Inugami, Japanese wesen, who had a tradition of honor and vengeance in the form of a guardian ghost dog, a sort of modified Cerberus. The Inugami deny the soul passage into eternal life by burying the body beneath the earth and slicing off the head of its victim. Two teenage boys accidentally shot their friend, Kuma. The story set up the mother or father as the killer, but the lawyer, bound by honor to the mother’s father, killed the one boy because he couldn’t win justice in the courts. Jin, Kuma’s father, nearly gave his own life to save the life of Roger, the other boy present the night Kuma died. Nick and Hank were bystanders. Nick didn’t research the Inugami in his books. Once they learned what really happened the night Kuma died—he woged, and the gun dropped, firing off a second shot—they cut the pretense and went in off-record and had everything figured out in minutes. Maybe next season finally drops the police precinct from the narrative, unless the writers aim to make it more of a conflict for Nick if Renard becomes Mayor (remember, they did in season three—maybe fur—and quickly dropped it), or the wesens in Portland start preparing to see the Grimm show up for any crime, however minor.

Eve said “Things are happening very fast,” but they’re not; however, it seems everything’s about to move very fast. Or not. One never knows with Grimm.

Other Thoughts:

-Adalind had a small scene with her law firm. Her hexenbiestness is her biggest draw.

-I listened to the Sofa Dogs podcast, with Tim Minear as a guest. Minear discussed the “Sonambulist” episode from ANGEL’s first season, and shared some tidbits about making the first season. He didn’t like the hack directors brought in to direct early ANGEL episodes. I loved hearing about that. TV writing podcasts rarely offer a critical perspective of TV directors. I understand why. Writers can’t torch relationships. Tim shared a tidbit from writing “Hero” with Howard Gordon. Greenwalt read his half of the script and told him he wanted to wipe his ass with it. I thought of Grimm and the various scenes he could’ve wiped his ass from this season alone. A Tim Minear written and directed Grimm episode would be awesome.

-Kyle McVey wrote the episode. Sharat Raju directed.