"Grimm"
was solidly my favorite television series for a good three years. That started
to waver a bit in the fourth season. I continue to watch the show, but is has
been less rewarding.
I write
this without knowing that I can even get anyone to see it because I care about
the show. I care about the power of entertainment in general, but I care about
this show in particular because of what has gone before and because of my
fondness for the people involved.
I have had
some thoughts about (and even blogged about) this before, but since then I have
seen the Showrunners documentary. Joss Whedon's interview provides a
good way of talking about this, which feels like a sacrifice of
"moments" at the expense of "moves".
(There is a
quote captured at the end of http://io9.gizmodo.com/so-you-want-to-be-a-tv-writer-showrunners-share-their-1629692078.)
Moves are
the big dramatic things that happen. For the most part I think "Grimm"
is still doing great with the plot twists it chooses. Even some of the moves
that seem more questionable could work if they were given the appropriate
moments, but it feels like those character moments are being neglected. This
ends up damaging the characters.
This may be
easiest to see in the arc of Juliette becoming a hexenbiest. That was a big
move, but one for which the groundwork had been well-laid and which had amazing
future potential.
It should
have been the most exciting thing to watch. Instead it got very repetitive as
Juliette went around angrily demanding her life back and then angrily not
wanting her life back, with very little feeling of any of it being emotionally
real.
This was
most obvious in Juliette's interactions with Rosalee. To hit one plot point
Rosalee was acting so out of character that it had to happen in a dream. The
"She's a freaking hexenbiest" line was funny, but it didn't feel
right in the context.
What was
really needed was a scene where Juliette was able to talk about her fear of
losing herself, and Rosalee was able to listen, and promise to try and help
her. They were robbed of that time together.
It wouldn't
have to take away from Juliette's ultimate turn to the dark side. There could
have been the initial struggle, and an attempt to make her new identity fit in
with her old life and friends, with the news of Adalind's pregnancy still pushing
Juliette over the edge. That would have been more believable and more
compelling.
It does
feel like this shift has served the female cast worse, but for a few episodes,
especially Hibernaculum and Double Date, it really did seem to make all of the
cops worse as cops. That was unfortunate, because Nick, Hank, and Wu being good
cops is part of why we like them.
I have seen
other feedback online that indicates similar complaints. That's a concern, but
fixing this doesn't even require a major overhaul. It's a fairly minor
adjustment that would have a huge payoff. "Grimm" has a great cast,
and a large part of the popularity of the show is their likeability. It would
be a shame to squander that potential.
I
appreciate any consideration that this gets.
Sincerely,
Gina Harris
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