Grimm "Fugitive" Review

“Fugitive” continued Grimm’s fine tradition of producing riveting season premieres and season finales. Nick’s status in Portland as the Most Wanted Man suggests that the case of the week procedural formula won’t continue in season six. It will. He was wanted for murdering a FBI agent a few seasons ago, and the case of the week episodes resumed in the third episode. We shall see if Grimm resets by episode three. By the end of the episode, Renard and the Portland PD have him surrounded at Bud’s repair shop. Will Nick survive episode two? (Yes).

No time passed between the fifth season finale and tonight’s season premiere. David Greenwalt and Jim Kouf promised and teased that the final season would pit Renard vs. Nick, and the season premiere quickly got to that central standoff. I wrote in my season finale review last May that ‘neither Nick or Renard wanted to watch the world burn.’ I misunderstood Renard. He wants to control the world. It’s Nick he wants to burn to death. Well, he wants to shoot him dead, and he doesn’t even want to shoot him himself—he wants his officers to shoot him dead. And, actually, his pursuit of Nick has more to do with him covering himself with Black Claw because he drove the sword through Bonaparte. Grimm’s writers always want to make sure there’s a way to redeem or rehabilitate a character. I mean, look at Juliette. The magic stick purified her soul.

So, the majority of the episode follows the characters running around as they clean up the mess from the previous night’s melee with Black Claw. It’s fun to see the gang against Renard, Black Claw, and the Portland PD. It reminds me of when Buffy and her friends, and Angel and his friends, only had each other. In between the running around, Nick has a sparkles reunion with Adalind before he disappears from the grid (only to be found not long after), Monroe suggests leaving Portland after Rosalee, in a true network TV moment, asks that no one know about her pregnancy, and Kouf and Greenwalt throw in various flashback scenes to remind the viewer of what’s what after a long hiatus.

“Fugitive” teased or set up a few plotlines beyond the immediate ‘Kill Nick’ problem, such as the continued redemption of Juliette, which probably won’t satisfy the fandom. The audience learned about her pure soul during a scene in which one of the dead Black Claw members tried to pull her into death with him via a death grip.  If that’s not a deliberate troll move by the writers, what else is? I’m sure the writers know how much the vocal Grimm fans loathe Juliette. I wonder if they brainstormed what would piss their fans most, like, how do they top bringing Juliette’s personality back, and then one of them shouts, “Purify her soul!” Throughout the episode Juliette loses more and more of superhuman powers. She can barely woge by the end. Also, she told Nick, “I’m so sorry” as the Renard and Portland PD close in on Bud’s. The stick not only purified her soul but it purified her. She’s returning to original Juliette.

The episode ended when Renard ordered the SERT team to take them all, which continues Grimm’s season premiere two-part tradition. I look forward to that. Overall, “Fugitive” hit the familiar premiere beats. It cleaned up some loose ends from the finale, introduced new storylines, and delivered an engaging episode.

Other Thoughts:

-Adalind resembled a fairy tale princess. Bonaparte’s damned engagement ring for her and Renard adds to the fairy tale quality. Remember her Alice in Wonderland/Cincinnatus C. in Invitation to a Beheading arc in Viktor’s castle? I want more strange Adalind fairy tale stories. Her character’s been too dependent on the men in her life throughout the series.

-Hank and Wu were pretty great as a duo. I found their plan to work in the precinct as normal to be somewhat curious considering everyone knows they only work with Nick. The writers can’t have Renard threaten them if they’re hunkering down with Nick. Also, Trubel continues to be a badass. Will she rebuild HW?

-Renard suffered from Macbeth’s madness in two scenes. He saw his hands bloodied in his office, and, later, Franco became Meisner for a moment. Meisner’s parallel is Banquo. Is Diana Fleance?

-Jim Kouf and David Greenwalt wrote tonight’s season premiere. Aaron Lipstadt directed.

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-Welcome to the final season of Grimm. Critics expected Grimm to fail hard when it premiered in 2011. It did not. I will review every episode of the final season. I look forward to hanging out with this fever dream of a show until it ends in May (or April. NBC, hook a blogger up with an exclusive finale date).