(Courtesy NBC Universal)Friday, Oct. 24 was the long awaited premier of season four of the NBC series "Grimm." For those of you who aren’t already aware, the show is based around the famed "Grimm’s Fairytale" stories.
These are the original versions of narratives I’m sure you all grew up listening to: "Cinderella," "Rumpelstiltskin," "Hansel and Gretel" and "Snow White" made appearances in everyone's childhood. What Disney's reincarnations of these classics didn’t reveal to us as children was how gruesome and frightening these tales can be.
"Grimm" delivers a more accurate representation of how these stories were written (with a pop culture spin). Every episode is a new adventure with detectives Nick Burkhardt (David Giuntoli) and Hank Griffin (Russell Hornsby) pursuing a not-so-friendly fairytale creature across the urban metropolis of Portland, Ore.
So far, this show’s first three seasons have really delivered with a kick-butt narrative and characters that anyone could fall in love with. Even with an occasional grim plot, there’s a quirky humor that shines through the characters’ relationships, leaving me with a broad smirk for the majority of the episode. "Grimm" had me hooked since episode one, but will season four keep me addicted?
Sitting down to watch the premiere of season four, this was the one thought rushing through my head. After all, I’m in college, I have work to do constantly and the media world is changing. Does "Grimm" have what it takes to keep me watching every week? My first impression is that it just might.
There was so much happening at the end of season three. A new grimm named Trubel had just rolled into town, the Hexenbiest Adelaide had just begun a rampage in the name of her new born baby, long time character Captain Sean Renard (Sasha Roiz) had just been shot and Nick was shocked to discover that he was no longer a grimm. With all these conflicts left unresolved, season four was, at the very least, a welcome relief to a very long waiting period between seasons.
And that’s really all it was — a relief of our waiting pains. This episode was missing most of the meat that makes the average episode so fantastic. The problems were addressed by the main characters and the groundwork was laid for the new season. Don’t fret yet, it seems clear that this season’s just beginning. Nick remains powerless, Trubel is now the only grimm in town, Adelaide remains at large and Captain Sean Renard… dies?
Yes, this heart breaking loss of a character is what brought episode one to a close. Captain Renard had been around since the first episode of the series and losing him was a bit of a shock. At first, I was in denial. I was thinking everything would be OK in the next episode because there was a woman standing outside of his hospital room watching as the doctors tried to revive him. This woman was someone that had never been seen before. I wanted to believe that she was going to some how magically revive the Captain Renard. Unfortunately I’m more inclined to believe that this new mystery woman is his character’s replacement, not his salvation.
The other major issue introduced in this episode was the new wessen creature stealing people’s memories. By the end of the episode, Hank and Nick identified the subject (with Trubel’s help) and were in pursuit.
Both of these events piqued my curiosity and left me thinking about what direction the series could be headed. How is Nick going to deal with not having his grimm abilities? Who is this new mystery woman? And where is Adelaide? All in all, season four has the potential to be a wicked roller coaster filled with surprising plot twists and new Wesen that are sure to make your hair curl.
Reach the reporter at William.Schliesmann@asu.edu.
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