Grimm musings: The Thing with Feathers
I wasn’t overly impressed with the villains, but I think that was the point: they were bullies, and they didn’t stand a chance against anyone who couldn’t be kept under their heels. Though I have to say, I *did* want the husband more roughed up than he was; he had that coming.
It’s no secret that I’m a sucker for those moments when this show reminds us that Monroe isn’t all Pilates and vegetarian cooking, and his discussion with Nick about the klaustreich who wronged his high school girlfriend was, not surprisingly, a highlight of the ep for me. It’s not just the revelation that he’s done this - the first actual named incident of violence from his past - but that even now, from the view of a reformed life, he seems quite satisfied with himself over it. Monroe’s not losing any sleep over this one. (SWM even sort of rubs his hand over his stomach at the end of the tale, like someone remembering a particularly delicious meal.) And then, to top it all off, Nick’s response to that little not-quite-confession is a *grin*.
I also loved Monroe’s incredulous and just a little jealous reaction to Nick calling Rosalee for help instead of him. What a far cry from the surly, “why are you at my door, annoying human?” demeanor he had when Nick came calling in the beginning of the season.
But the best moment of the night, strange as it may sound, was, for me, Nick’s proposal and Juliette’s refusal. Don’t get me wrong, I want them together. I think they’re sweet and sexy and natural together, and I think they’re a hell of a team. I want them to get married. But Juliette is so, so right in her decision here, and she handles what is an awkward, awful, painful conversation with tremendous grace and kindness. Nick broke my heart in this scene, which I think might have been DG’s best moment so far, but as much as I ached for him, he needed this. I really think he was clinging to this hope that he could keep Juliette out of that part of his life, keep her untouched by it, and in turn, leave himself a harbor of normalcy, and still move forward with the next stage of a life together, and she made him face that that isn’t going to happen. She isn’t leaving him, and she isn’t forcing her way into whatever he’s protecting, but neither is she going to enter into a marriage with somebody who’s hiding things from her. Juliette’s not stupid, and she’s not blind; on the contrary she’s tremendously wise and perceptive.
One of the things that I’ve really enjoyed about Juliette is that from the beginning, she felt like a real person. There is something about that character, about the dialogue they give her and the choices she makes, that feels natural and almost unscripted. The way she has been handling Nick and the parade of weird that’s made its way through their lives feels *extremely* realistic to me, and I know that flies in the face of what a lot of people who are dissatisfied with both Juliette and the N/J relationship have been arguing. But honestly, what do most people do in the real world when something starts to creep in and disrupt a relationship? There aren’t many cleverly-worded confrontational monologues at key dramatic moments in real life. We wonder, we doubt, we overthink or underthink, we dismiss, we rationalize - and even when we know damn well something’s up, we often wait to see if it resolves itself or worsens without turning a spotlight on it and demanding answers. There’s been a sense of “why hasn’t she called him out, or left him,” in places in the fandom, and an outcry that such behavior is totally unbelievable. I have to say, I think it’s completely believable and rings very true. People in real life tend to take a long time to pull problems out and examine them. Juliette’s explanation of her refusal (which is, let’s remember, not an “I don’t want to marry you,” but rather an “I won’t marry you while things are shaky and hidden”) did an excellent job of letting us see her mindset through everything that’s been going on. She’s been watching, and absorbing, and processing - and probably procrastinating, too, because most people do. She hasn’t pushed the issue, partially because Nick’s been grieving, and it probably took her a while to decide that what she was seeing changing in his personality was something beyond the normal pain of losing a very close loved one, and partially because it was a confrontation that she wasn’t looking forward to having - which is completely understandable.
But with the proposal, the holding pattern is broken, and now the confrontation *has* to happen, because Juliette is too smart and too respectful of what they have and have been to each other to enter into a commitment with Nick knowing full well that *something* important is wrong. I think their relationship has been handled very well and very realistically, and this moment cemented that for me.
This is also about Nick growing up. I love him, and I think the character is a very good, kind, strong person, but there are areas in which Nick really has to mature - that’s the point. He’s the fairy tale’s hero, the youngest son, the innocent, the untested child who has to *learn* and become more. Nick wants his happy ending with Juliette, but to get it, he has to get his head out of his ass and stop living in a fantasy. In their own ways, Marie and Monroe both tried to convey that: face this and deal with it. He knows Juliette’s right. He’s upset, but a big part of that is because he’s being called on something he knows damn well he’s guilty of. He’s caught, and now he knows he can’t get his heart’s desire without doing the thing he’s most terrified to do.
Then there’s Hank, who seems like more of a pawn than ever. My Impending Death Radar is still pinging away on this guy. Potion or not, his threatening of Adalind’s other “suitor” is another of the show’s disturbing moments - I think because we’ve already been shown that Hank is more than ready to step into murky moral ground to get what he wants. This is unnatural, and so of course we can’t say for sure how much is Hank and how much is Adalind’s spell talking. But in the fairy tale of Grimm, Hank seems to be the rash, womanizing “elder brother”, the one who is tainted, who is ensnared by the witch. Time will tell if he’s saved or doomed.
Parting thought: *loved* the use of Season of the Witch. Seriously, I bounced when they played that. Love it. (And hey, side note - Donovan just got inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.)
Overall, I thought this was a solid, compelling ep with a couple of really great - and important-- highlights. Thumbs way up. Now Grimm, please don’t ever show me worms in a blender again.