GRIMM: SEASON ONE – Episode 1
Grimm I must say does have a lovely concept. If you have not seen the many adverts that have swamped the TV land over the last few weeks, Grimm is that new supernatural series from the makers of Buffy and Angel, two TV shows that help this new one gain viewers immediately because lets face it, those two are the greatest serials of all time. As you can guess by the title, the show and plot lines are inspired by the classic Grimm Fairy Tales, hence the beginning where we see a woman in a red top going for a jog while then getting attacked and eaten by a Wolf. Now if any of you do not know the tale that inspires this pilot then please….read up on some literature.
We meet up with the lead character who is Portland homicide detective Nick Burkhardt (David Giuntoli) who thanks to his visit from his dying Aunt, discovers he is descended from a line of criminal profilers known as “Grimms”, ah yes like many discover in their lives. The Grimms are in this world to keep humanity safe from the mythical evil creatures who roam the world looking for blood and mayhem. First of all we could understand if Nick thought he was losing his mind, he sees normal human faces morph into demon-like creatures that would actually freak many sane people out. The fact he just brushes this off and when his Aunt drops the bombshell of who he is and what he needs to do, could make some viewers shake their head at the ease he adapts, but being a pilot episode and the need to get things swinging straight away, Nick is straight into action.
There is a beast roaming around the town and likes the colour red, Nick being a cop is called into the case and with the help of partner Hank Griffith (Russell Hornsby), they both try to investigate this mysterious case, especially when a young girl goes missing and soon Nick meets up with a Blutbad named Eddie (Silas Weir Mitchell)- bare with me here- a reformed creature who no longer kills for joy and in some weird back story reveals that he knows what Nick is and also he and many other creatures in the city are actually afraid of him. So already we know that the city is littered with good and bad things and Eddie seems to be set up to be some sort of partner to Nick, someone for him to go to when he needs advice, a bit like Spike become in the later seasons of Buffy.
With the plotline for the pilot established and also enough hints of what to expect in later episodes, Grimm did just enough to keep me entertained even though it did not set my pulse racing. At the moment it seems on Auto pilot and did not really set itself up different to what we have seen before and with Supernatural leading the way in the concept of all things spooky, Grimm already after one episode may have to up its ante to make an impression.
Giuntoli did not really gel for me with the character of Nick but then that is understandable considering this is the first episode (I do remember having similar feelings towards Jack in Lost) and I assume that when we start getting our teeth more into the plot then Nick will come into it his own more. There does seem to have a dark vibe running through it which was a bit of a surprise -more Angel than Buffy, in sense of which direction this series is aimed at. There was also a nice touch of comedy at times that made me smirk which hinted that the show can only improve if given the chance too. Knowing the vicious battlefield of American Network though the question is will this be given the legs to run because the climax suggested a much bigger field out there for the story to go…..lets hope its given the chance!
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