Grimm Season One (1 Viewer)

[WaveCrest]

Already knew that Grimm had been renewed for a second season (see post #66 of this thread). Just posting my comments on the episodes.

 

[Cees Alons]

That's a problem I encounter very often too with US TV shows that were licensed in Europe later (think Mad Men, House MD, etc.).

We simply cannot receive the shows here from US broadcasts. The best I can have sometimes, is the season's Box Set even before that season is shown here. But if a show is "hot", I even cannot participate in the thread about it - in fact it may contain several spoilers and might be disadvantageous to be read too carefully.

Of course when great shows originate in, say, the UK (Rome, The Tudors, The Office, Foyle's War, Downton Abbey, etc. etc.), it is the other way around. Fortunately for most posters here, a fresh discussion of the latest BBC-show is often not present, or the thread isn't very active (and thus prominent) anyway.


Cees

 

[Stan]

Sorry WaveCrest, didn't mean to insult you in any way. Didn't realize you were on the UK schedule which is apparently a few weeks behind the US times.
Actually wish we could receive more of your BBC programming in the US. Glad that Grimm makes it to the UK, nice for the fans and of course nice for the studios bank account.
Wish more of the UK shows would make it here. I get BBC America and luckily a few decent shows do get broadcast. But 90% of what they show seems to be Gordon Ramsay reruns, some going back 5-6 years and the rest is filled with Top Gear reruns. Might be time to drop it and go to a cheaper package with Dish Network. Other than the Graham Norton show, I probably wouldn't miss it.

 

[WaveCrest]

Some new shows from this season have Region 1 sets in the works (Revenge for example), but nothing yet for Grimm. My concern is, is that when Grimm is eventually announced for a home video release, it won't also be available on Blu-ray. Now I'm not going to go all the way to the dark side and be only interested in Blu-rays ( ), but with some shows there is some improvement with a HD picture. Haven't watched any episodes from the first season of Grimm in standard definition yet, but off the top of my head I can't think of many titles which Universal Playback have also released on Blu-ray. Am hoping Grimm is one of them. It does look really good in high definition, but I'm sure in standard definition the lighting on Grimm would still be atmospheric (whoever does the lighting on the show should get a technical award).

The channel which shows Grimm in the UK is Watch (they also show Alcatraz). They promote Grimm very well and have neat ad bumpers. One of my pet peeves with how a channel/station shows a UK, US, Canadian, Austrailian or European (French, German, Scandinavian, Nordic, Danish for example) show, is when the screen gets squashed in half or shrunk and shoved into the bottom right-hand corner. Am sure there are other people who want to read the end credits, even if they're mostly the same for each episode. On the whole so far, Watch haven't done this with the late night repeat showings of Grimm. What I miss though, which was a regular thing with the 1013 shows, is showing the production number at the end of the end credits. The Grimm episode "Game Ogre" was the first new episode to be shown on NBC this year, but when was it filmed? Always wonder how many episodes of a US and Canadian show are filmed from around midsummer to before the Christmas and New Year break. I was thinking around 13-16 episodes.

 

[Stan]

The whole credit squishing thing happens in the US to, especially on the cable channels. Credits are compressed, sped up and literally unreadable while the next show starts playing on a small portion of the screen.. Normally see it when there are multiple showings of series shows, for example three or four episides of Bones or House.
As usual, it's probably their way to make another almighty dollar. Overlap the end of one show with the beginning of another and they probably end up with another 30-60 seconds of commercial time, maybe more.
Along with all the commercials, editing, channel logos and animated things that play across the screen while you're trying to watch something, it's almost better to just wait for the DVD or BD to come out.
Oddly enough I've gotten so used to it I don't even pay attention any longer, so it really caught me by surprise when WGN started showing full size credits and show endings. They weren't complete, but they would show 15-20 seconds before they went to the compressed mode. Didn't happen very often, but certain episodes they seemed to leave alone and show full screen.

 

[WaveCrest]

The episode "Of Mouse and Man" was very good, formed by three different plots (the detectives' case about a hoarder, Nick's wife doing some investigative work of her own (something to do with the detectives' boss?), and Monroe being attacked whilst going to check out a clock). It looked like this episode was the first one with back and side projection, during the driving scene with the hoarder and his female friend. One of the visual highlights was the restaurant scene, where all the male customers had the face of the hoarder's father.

 

[Greg_S_H]

This is becoming so good right now. The blend of humor, action and drama is spot on. I feel like I should spoilerize since Richard is one of the main participants here and is many episodes back.

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

The Wu storyline was the perfect example of how they are juggling the emotions perfectly. There was a touch of humor, but it was also one of the most disturbing things I have ever seen.
I wonder if Hank is going to be brought in now. I also wonder if Adelind is going to become an ally, since she has now been rejected by her kind. It occurs to me that we have no idea what the Captain is. He could be a "normal" who is wrapped up in this somehow. We haven't seen him monster out, have we?
I have a tough time with deception. I can't stand these bad seed movies where the evil kid does evil things and the parents think he's an angel. "The suspense is terrible. I hope it doesn't last." (sorry Hitch) This episode brought a close to a few of those threads. Nobody knowing about Wu and Adelind working Hank without Nick's knowledge was driving me nuts.

I don't know if it's Silas, the writers, or both, but Monroe continues to be spot-on with every single scene and line. And, I'm a broken record, but Richard? I think you're going to really like the addition to the cast you haven't met yet. Sometimes new people throw off the balance and chemistry, but it feels like the one element that was missing.

 

[Matt Hough]

I agree about Monroe and about the new addition. The best thing to happen to the show during its second half of the first season. I thought this week's episode was one of the strongest in the entire season. Great combination of humor and suspense.

 

[Greg_S_H]

Yep. One of the best. Big things happened in a very entertaining way. This show has become the surprise of the season--a rare, deserved hit for NBC.

 

[WaveCrest]

This next episode "Organ Grinder" (first shown on NBC at the start of February) sounds quite good.

Now I thought she was a very good addition to the cast, but I know there were many X Files fans who didn't like it when Annabeth Gish's character Monica Reyes joined the show. Shall have to wait and see what this new addition to Grimm is like.

 

[Craig S]

Originally Posted by WaveCrest /t/315821/grimm/60#post_3916733
...I know there were many X Files fans who didn't like it when Annabeth Gish's character Monica Reyes joined the show. ...

That was a different situation. Gish was brought in near the end of a long-running show to basically replace a beloved main character (Scully). The addition to Grimm is early in the series, and like Greg says, it feels like the team is finally complete.

I just hope they don't pull a Jenny Calendar on her.

 

[WaveCrest]

Originally Posted by Craig S /t/315821/grimm/60#post_3916932

That was a different situation. Gish was brought in near the end of a long-running show to basically replace a beloved main character (Scully). The addition to Grimm is early in the series, and like Greg says, it feels like the team is finally complete.

Wouldn't say it's a completely different situation. Yes, Annabeth Gish joined the cast of a long running show late in it's run (and a good addition she was too) and the new addition to Grimm is early in the show's run, but different people interpret a series in different ways to others. Shall have to wait and see what the possibly permenant new addition to the cast is like. We'll have to agree to disagree.

 

[Doug Wallen]

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

What about Adelind, will she now be covert and help Nick?

So many ways this show can now head into. Looking forward to the rest of this season.
So, can anyone become evil.

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

Since the death of the hexinbeast(sp) only killed the beast and not the human, what is the relationship. Does the beast inhabit new bodies or was she immortal until the blood death?

Doug

 

[Doug Wallen]

Deleted, double post.

 

[Greg_S_H]

This discussion all relates to last week's episode:

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

I don't think she was possessed and is now a good person. I think she is who she was, but just without the power. It's like in Marvel comics where many mutants lost their powers--they hadn't changed mentally, but they had to learn to live as "normals." Some couldn't do it and killed themselves. In the case of Adelind, I think the thing that will probably push her over to becoming an ally is more the way she was treated by her mother and the captain. She is a diseased thing as far as they are concerned, but Nick is a forgiving person and will probably give her a chance to earn his trust. I think she'll jump at the chance, while always looking for a way to get her powers back. If so, she'll become one of those characters the audience can never fully trust.

 

[Matt Hough]

I guess everyone saw the news today that the new addition to the cast this season has been named a series regular for season two. I was very pleased to read this today.

 

[Greg_S_H]

Didn't hear, but very welcome news.

 

[PaulHeroy]

I just hope they don't pull a Jenny Calendar on her.

I've been watching Grimm from the start and love the tone and emerging mythology, so reminiscent of the Angel/Buffy stuff that I miss. And funny you mentioned that - I just started rewatching Buffy S1 last week (first time to rewatch since it aired) and have such mixed emotions seeing Calendar again, knowing what's coming.
Anyway, I am pretty happy so far about the new character on Grimm. Not only is she purty and all, but she's pretty sharp and the role she's stepping into will obviously provide a lot more story hooks into the mythology. I'm really curious to see how long they play things out with Juliette and her eventual discovery of what Nick is & does. Is he going to realize that she has to eventually find out and just tell her? Or will she continue to get hints and put together enough on her own? For his and their relationship's sake I hope it's more the former.

 

[Stan]

I really enjoy this show. Haven't watched the last five episodes so planning a mini-Grimm marathon this weekend. Looks like a few episodes are still coming up, and the network actually made a good decision by renewing it. Hopefully they don't pull a Heroes and screw it up.
Thanks for using spoilers. I take quick glances at the forum, but kind of at my own risk.

 

[AlexF]

We're now three episodes behind, but this is one of those shows that we've sat down and bombed through 2-3 episodes in a sitting without really realizing it.