by Tiffany Logue
Staff writer
“Grimm” is NBC’s new drama series which I found to be intriguing and suspenseful.
The pilot episode, which aired on Friday, Oct. 29, was directed by Marc Buckland. Buckland has directed some episodes of “Scrubs” and “My Name is Earl.”
“Grimm” stars David Giuntoli, who has appeared in other shows such as “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Without a Trace” and “Love Bites” as Portland detective Nick and Kate Burton (“Law and Order: Criminal Intent,” “The Good Wife” and “127 Hours”) as his aunt Marie.
In the pilot episode, Nick learns he is one of the last Grimms and that Marie is one of the most feared. While viewers are not told how long Marie has been hunting evil, they do learn that she has been a Grimm long enough to have many knife wounds. Therefore, she gives Nick a quick breakdown.
Grimms are able to see things that no one else can see. Therefore, throughout the episode, Nick deals with seeing these unusual sights for the first time. He is briefly filled in on his gift by his aunt Marie. She informs him that his ability is to see a glimpse of people’s true selves when they are not in control of their emotions.
In the pilot episode, Nick and his cop friend Hank must catch a killer. Hank is played by Russell Hornsby (“Big Fat Liar,” “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit” and ‘The Good Wife”).
The killer selects only females wearing red jackets/hoodies. When the killer takes a little girl, Nick and Hank work together to find out who he is before he kills her. Nick uses his ability to figure out who the killer is. However, first he “cries wolf” on a man who is innocent, losing the trust of the police.
The man he falsely accuses decides to help Nick. His name is Eddie Monroe, who is played by Silas Weir Mitchell (“Prison Break” and “Halloween II”). Nick struggles not to get upset when Eddie loses control and shows his true form–a wolf.
The pilot ends abruptly. The ending chosen leaves viewers wanting to watch the next episode to find out what happens to Marie and Nick.
Despite the suspense, I found the show not to be as bloody as I anticipated from my familiarity with some stories written by the Brothers Grimm. I found that to be a plus because I feel the blood and gore was not needed to keep my interest in the show.
The interest, for me, was the suspense the show held the entire hour. Suspense was created by showing glimpses of the girl Nick, Hank and Monroe were looking for throughout the episode to show the audience her fear of being taken.
Given the show’s title, I expected for “Grimm” to be more about the twisted fairytale writers Jacob Grimm and his little brother Wilhelm Grimm, who together wrote over 200 stories that are similar to Stephen King or Edgar Allan Poe. However, “Grimm” took a different approach by giving a man a special ability.
The connection between “Grimm” and the brothers is simply the twisted plot. Nick has to help protect humans by stopping human and mythological creatures.
The approach made the plot more interesting. Along with the suspense, the approach seems to be effective because the writers started the show in a great way. Instead of giving Nick the information he needs regarding his ability, they make him have to work to figure it all out as he goes along.
I feel the audience would have gotten confused if Nick had already known about his ability. If he had, viewers would need to watch flashbacks to memories. However, starting the show with Nick’s learning process helps viewers to keep up easier and not become so confused.
The second episode, “Bears Will Be Bears,” was equally as suspenseful. It was directed by Norberto Barba (director of a few episodes of “The Mentalist,” “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit” and “NCIS: Los Angeles”).
This episode involved a couple breaking into a house to be alone. The couple heard the family who lives there returning and attempted to sneak out.
The woman made it out, but the man did not. Something pulled him back inside.
Amy Gumenick (“Supernatural” and “Natalee Holloway”) is Gilda, the woman who escaped.
Gilda tells the police that her boyfriend is missing and was last seen being dragged into the home they broke into. Nick and Hank investigate.
Once at the house, Nick notices a weird totem pole that leads him into the mysteries of the family who lives there.
Marie tells him about the family’s tradition to sacrifice someone to respect their ancestors. Nick must stop them in time and rescue the man, all while trying to keep Marie safe.
Nick recruits Monroe from the first episode to watch over her, which made Monroe very uncomfortable seeing as Marie hunts his people.
This episode was suspenseful because it showed viewers the man several times, just like in the first episode, and kept going back to Marie and Monroe to help viewers stay aware of her danger as well.
The smaller subplots in “Grimm” help add both drama and more suspense to keep viewers interested and more alert of the lesser characters in the show as well.
I feel adding the subplots was a great idea. It helped me remain interested and makes me excited to watch the next episode. “Grimm” airs Friday nights at 8 p.m. on NBC.