Grimm
I almost blush to admit that I'm enjoying "Grimm", but I'll cop to it (ha ha): a strong parochialism makes me feel I should give second, third, and fourth chances to a show that's not only filmed here in my little town, but set here--which is to say that, unlike Leverage, Grimm goes out of its way to find specifically Portlandy locations, rather than generic city-and-river shots that might, if you squint, pass for Boston.
(Though I hear that Leverage is moving its storyline to Portland next season, so aren't we just the flavor of the month!)
The concept--a special class of humans known as Grimms who can perceive (and presumably do battle with) other special classes of folk who can pass as human but who are the stuff of fairy tales--is pretty fresh, and the actors are solid. The show is shot in some lovely gloomy-light conditions, and the production design is heavy on wood-paneled interiors and rich colors, a nice Portland-meets-Bavaria kind of look that I find appealing. The special effects--human-to-creature-face, swarms of untrainable critters like rats and bees, really gruesome dead bodies--are very good.
What's weird is the writing. The stories are...well, okay. Not bad. There are some great action moments. The overarching storyline is intriguing, with secrets, lies, and backstories aplenty--will Nick's wife find out that he's a Grimm? How long will it take for Angel Monroe to give in to his true nature and start drinking human blood wilding in the woods tearing off people's limbs? Stuff like that. Every episode is leavened with comedy, some of it (like the pig-man coming up out of his mud bath) very funny.
But the dialog. Dear god. It's as if they have two writer's rooms, where the old hands write the stories, then turn them over to the high school interns to put actual words into the characters' mouths. I honestly don't know how the actors manage, but bless 'em, they do their best.
I'll probably keep watching because, besides the hometown connection, Grimm strikes me as having a lot of potential if NBC gives it a chance. Besides, David Giuntoli, the lead, is the next best thing to Sean Maher runnin' around Portland, and that makes me smile.
Crossposted from Dreamwidth, where there are
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(Though I hear that Leverage is moving its storyline to Portland next season, so aren't we just the flavor of the month!)
The concept--a special class of humans known as Grimms who can perceive (and presumably do battle with) other special classes of folk who can pass as human but who are the stuff of fairy tales--is pretty fresh, and the actors are solid. The show is shot in some lovely gloomy-light conditions, and the production design is heavy on wood-paneled interiors and rich colors, a nice Portland-meets-Bavaria kind of look that I find appealing. The special effects--human-to-creature-face, swarms of untrainable critters like rats and bees, really gruesome dead bodies--are very good.
What's weird is the writing. The stories are...well, okay. Not bad. There are some great action moments. The overarching storyline is intriguing, with secrets, lies, and backstories aplenty--will Nick's wife find out that he's a Grimm? How long will it take for Angel Monroe to give in to his true nature and start drinking human blood wilding in the woods tearing off people's limbs? Stuff like that. Every episode is leavened with comedy, some of it (like the pig-man coming up out of his mud bath) very funny.
But the dialog. Dear god. It's as if they have two writer's rooms, where the old hands write the stories, then turn them over to the high school interns to put actual words into the characters' mouths. I honestly don't know how the actors manage, but bless 'em, they do their best.
I'll probably keep watching because, besides the hometown connection, Grimm strikes me as having a lot of potential if NBC gives it a chance. Besides, David Giuntoli, the lead, is the next best thing to Sean Maher runnin' around Portland, and that makes me smile.
Crossposted from Dreamwidth, where there are
comments. | Comment at Dreamwidth.