Wes's Guide to Grimm: Pilot

“The wolf thought to himself,

what a tender young creature.

What a nice plump mouthful…”

The Brothers Grimm

1812

Welcome friends, to the start of a new retrospective, and despite a few false starts after Gargoyles ended, I really mean it this time. Grimm is 2011 Fantasy Drama that’s very much in the same vein as Supernatural or Buffy the Vampire Slayer. My girlfriend talked me into watching it and it has since become one of my favorite shows. Now, this is going to be a lot different from Gargoyles. While Gargoyles was a scant two seasons, one of them a mere thirteen episodes, Grimm is a whomping six full seasons with episodes twice the length of Gargoyles. Nevertheless, this is a show that has stuck with me and a show I believe deserves a second look so I am dedicated to the cause. Let us begin with The Pilot.

As will become standard for the show, we open with a quote, the same quote that’s at the top of the article. And from said quote, it can be very easy to determine that this episode will have something to do with Little Red Riding Hood. And indeed, the first thing we see is a young college student going out for a morning jog while wearing a red hoodie. She puts in her headphones and starts listening to Sweet Dreams by Eurythmics, and yes, it is necessary that I point that out because believe it or not, it’s a plot point. As the young woman jogs through the park, she spies something odd, a Hummel figurine sitting on a log. As she picks it up to examine it, the girl is suddenly mauled by some kind of monster.

Elsewhere, we meet our main character, Portland Oregon Homicide Detective, Nick Burkhardt, who has just finished purchasing an engagement ring for his girlfriend. Nick’s partner, Detective Hank Griffin is sarcastically taking pictures so he can remember Nick when he was “Young and Innocent.” Apparently, Hank has been married several times before and it didn’t pan out too well for him. However, Nick seems confident that things between him and his intended, Juliet will work out. However, discussion of Nick’s impending proposal will wait as Nick sees something odd. A young woman walking out of a nearby law office briefly appearing to transform into a decayed old hag. This is something that we will later learn is called a Hexenbiest, a witch for all intents and purposes, but for now, Nick just thinks he’s seeing things and dismisses this. Besides, the two detectives have to respond to a call.

Out in the woods, Nick and Hank find the body of the young woman from the cold opening, or what’s left of her as she was attacked and brutally dismembered by what appears to be a very large and very vicious animal. However, the only tracks found in the woods near the body don’t belong to any animal, but rather a boot. Nick says that this sounds very similar to a case from a month ago when the two detectives hear music off in the distance and recover the girl’s iPod. Strangely, Eurythmics is still playing, which means that either less than three minutes and thirty four seconds passed between the girl leaving to go jogging and the detectives arriving at the scene of the attack, or her entire playlist looped back to the beginning before her iPod ran out of battery life. Both are equally implausible, but whatever, it’s a TV show. At the precinct, Nick and Hank are set to investigate whatever leads they can dig up on their case when Nick once again sees something odd, this time a suspect brought in for questioning briefly transforming into some kind of Lizard creature.

Elsewhere, we see an older woman who’s clearly not in the best of health given her lack of hair and need for a cane, pulling up at what we’ll soon learn is Nick’s house in a truck that’s towing a very large trailer and entering. Nick returns home to find the woman waiting for him, and despite the show’s attempts to make us believe that this is an ominous situation, it’s actually a complete fake out as the woman is Nick’s Aunt Marie, who apparently raised him after his parents died in a car crash when he was very young. Marie has been entertaining Nick’s Girlfriend, Juliet (Played by Bitsie Tulloch, Lois Lane from the CW’s Supergirl), with humorous stories of Nick’s childhood while they waited, but Marie’s jovial mood soon changes when she tells Nick they need to talk in private. As the two go for a walk, Marie reveals that her illness has progressed to the point where there’s not much that can be done other than wait for the end. However, before she passes on, she needs to make sure Nick knows something important about their family. She asks if Nick has been seeing strange things, things he can’t explain. Nick doesn’t respond but Marie can tell that the answer is yes which apparently means the misfortune of our family is passing to her nephew. Marie advises Nick to end things with Juliet and never see her again as his life is about to get a whole lot more dangerous. Before Marie can explain further, a monster wielding a large scythe attacks them both, Marie using a blade hidden in her cane to defend herself. The creature knocks Marie unconscious and is about to deliver a killing blow, forcing Nick to shoot it dead. As the monster lays dead, his features revert to that of a normal human. Nick rushes to Marie’s side. Marie is in rough shape but still alive. Apparently scythe boy is one of many individuals who have been hunting Marie. Before she passes out she hands him a pendant, insisting that he guard it with his life and informs him that his parents did not die in a crash but were murdered. Later, at the Hospital, Marie has regained consciousness and Marie finally explains what’s going on. Please note, parts of my own summary will include some things that are explained later in the show but are details I felt necessary to make sure we’re all on the same page. It seems the world is filled with monster-like creatures called Wesen (spelled with a W, pronounced with a V). Wesen come in many different varieties and to ordinary eyes they appear completely human. However, Nick’s family, who are apparently descended from The Brothers Grimm, have the ability to see Vessen for what they really are and are therefore uniquely qualified to hunt them. Marie says that any further information he needs can be found in her trailer. As Nick leaves, he examines the pendant Marie gave him and learns that it’s actually some kind of key.

Back at the preccint, Hank apparently looked into the man who attacked Nick and Marie. Apparently, the perp was wanted on multiple accounts of rape, assault and murder. A seriously bad dude if ever there was one. It’s here where we’re introduced to Nick’s Police Captain, Sean Renard. Turns out the attacker was the first person Nick has killed since joining the force and Captain Renard wants to see how Nick is holding up given everything he’s just been through. Nick seems to be okay, but the Captain insists he get some rest.

Later that night, Nick understandably can’t sleep and decides to check out Marie’s trailer. In it, Nick finds tons of ingredients for potions, every kind of bladed weapon imaginable and books containing information of various forms of Wesen. Some strange stuff to be sure. Nick is soon interrupted by Juliet who’s just as confused as Nick is by the contents of the trailer. Nick, seemingly in denial of the what Marie told him, decides to deal with it all later and go back to bed.

The next day, Hank has found a match for the boot print found in the woods. We then see a brief scene of a man wearing a pair of bloodstained boots walking after a small child in a red hood. Nick soon gets a call when the girl is reported missing. It seems the girl was last seen wearing a red hoodie, just like the College Student who was torn apart in the woods. Nick believes that there may be a connection. While investigating, Hank surmises that the girl may have taken a shortcut through the park. In the woods, Hank finds the little girl’s backpack with a pair of boot prints leading to the edge of the forest. Across the street, Nick sees a man checking his mail who briefly transforms into a terrifying werewolf-like creature. Nick assumes that he must be the killer and tackles him but a search of his house proves that he’s innocent and without hard evidence, Nick has nothing to go on, at least nothing that wouldn’t get him locked up in an insane asylum. Convinced that this is the guy, Nick decides to stake out his house alone. In a rather humorous scene, Nick spots the man taking a piss on his fence, marking his territory like a dog. As Nick moves in, he gets jumped by the man in his wolf form. While at first he threatens Nick, he makes it clear that all he wanted to do was scare him and invites Nick in the house for a beer. This is Monroe, my personal favorite character in the show. No, we never learn his full name. What we do learn is that Monroe is what’s called a Blutbad, a Wesen that served as the inspiration for the Big Bad Wolf, though it seems to Monroe’s kind, the Grimm are the real monsters, his folks having told Monroe stories about Grimms that kept him up at night when he was a kid. Despite that, Monroe stil seems fascinated to meet one of the Grimms of legend, even if he can tell that Nick is new at this. Monroe insists that he doesn’t know anything about the missing girl. While a typical Bludbad has a reputation for being a savage killer, Monroe doesn’t go in for that sort of thing. Instead, Monroe maintains a vegan diet and a regular exercise routine and a rewarding career as a clockmaker in order to keep his killer instincts in check. However, Monroe thinks that he may know that Blutbad that did abduct the little girl and agrees to help Nick track him using the heightened sense of smell inherent in his species.

Monroe leads Nick to a cabin in the woods, because of course there’s a cabin in the woods, and assures Nick that the girl is more than likely still alive, the bad guy using the time to fatten her up. Monroe insists that they put Wolfsbane on their bodies so the bad guy won’t smell them coming. In a moment I really enjoyed, Nick asks if he’s going to need silver bullets to which Monroe responds “What are you, an idiot?” Monroe leads Nick as far as he can, but fears that if he gets to close, he may not be able to control his special tendencies. As Monroe leaves, Nick calls Hank, insisting that he found the kidnapper. Hank arrives, confused by Nick’s insistence on rubbing him with Wolfsbane. Nick also chooses not to call for backup since he’s already called for backup. Hank is skeptical of Nick’s hunch, but still follows his partner’s lead. The man who lives in the cabin is definitely a creepy customer, but unless giving off serious Norman Bates vibes is a crime, there’s no visible evidence that he’s the one Nick and Hank are looking for. Hank is about to call the whole thing off, until he hears the man humming Sweet Dreams by Eurythmics. See, I told you that was a plot point. Hank is convinced and the two cops draw their guns. The man attacks in his Blutbad form but is shot down by Hank, Nick finding the little girl via a trap door hidden under the rug.

Later, Nick is back at the Hospital, Marie having slipped into a coma. Nick tells her that he’s willing to learn what it is he has to do, but also insists that Juliet will be safe with him. Nick then recognizes the Hexenbiest from the beginning of the episode disguised as a doctor attempting to inject Marie with a syringe willed with Green liquid. Nick stops her from injecting Marie but ends up getting injected himself and passing out. And so our episode ends with the big reveal that this mysterious woman was actually working for Captain Renard.

The Pilot Episode of Grimm does exactly what it’s supposed to do. It firmly establishes the premise, introduces most of the major players, shows Nick hunt down his first hostile Wesen, but also leaves a few mystery threads to entice the viewers. What’s up with that mysterious key and why is it so important that Nick protect it? Who was the guy with the scythe and will there be more like him coming after Nick? And finally, what does Captain Renard have to do with all this? It’s an excellent pilot to an even more excellent show. I look forward to reliving this show and doing a deep dive on it. Join me next time for episode 2, Bears will be Bears.