tpel

If that were true, I would expect his German would be better than it is.

Yeah, that was a bit puzzling. But I wonder if it was simply pragmatic: the little girl looked to be about 3 at the end of the year, making her a toddler at the beginning of it. The ex-wife might have felt that Randy didn't have the physical ability to give Chloe the hands-on support and supervision she needed. True, there were other family members around who could chase the little tyke, but I could see an ex not being comfortable with that situation.

This made me smile, Darklazr, because my first thought was that I'm pretty sure that the outcomes of on-screen fights are not determined by the actors' own fighting prowess! They don't just put Damien Puckler in a room with whatever other actor he's supposed to be fighting that week (Bitsie Tulloch?) and see who wins ;-) Obviously, what you are getting at is how plausible the fights look, and I agree that DP's real life skills are probably a big part of that. OtterMommy, maybe I'm too cynical, but I don't think the writers really have a clue or a plan with Meisner. They are just lucky that, in this case, lack of information has lead to intrigue rather than annoyance.

OtterMommy makes a good point, though, questioning whether a normal human would be able to do the things we've seen Meisner do, namely best Wesen and Hexenbieste in hand-to-hand combat. I think it kind of depends on just how super-strong these Wesen/bieste are supposed to be. Among humans, a highly skilled fighter could defeat someone much stronger who is much less skilled -- think Bruce Lee vs. a body builder. But there's got to be some upper limit here. And the strength level, and perhaps imperviousness to injury, of Wesen has never been made clear, so that makes it hard to assess the plausibility of the KSK hypothesis.

Ah -- I didn't remember the exact timing of Adalind's re-biesting. If Diana's birth was the trigger, then that shoots down my theory. Plus, yeah, it is a bit too subtle for these writers! If Meisner is some kind of Wesen, it is odd that he never woges. Even the most controlled, like Renard, will woge while fighting -- maybe it gives them some kind of power boost? I'm not sure. But we've seen Meisner fight a gajillion times without transforming. Eh, there's probably nothing to this. If they do reveal him to be some kind of Wesen, it'll probably be that he's such a badass he doesn't need to woge to do the job. I'm still rooting for him to be KSK (can't spell it either ;-), because I think that would be more interesting.

Yeah, 'stoic' is a good word for him. As for whether or not he is a Grimm, I'm trying to remember times when he is around Wesen who are woged. I don't think he particularly reacts, but that could be interpreted as he doesn't see it, or as he sees it but doesn't get worked up over it -- back to the stoicism. When he went after that Black Claw member in the elevator at the hospital, she was woged. But she might have been doing that intentional-everyone-can-see-it kind of woge. She didn't seem to react to him looking at her, as Wesen sometimes do in the presence of a Grimm. As long as we are considering pet theories, TVSpectator, here is my evidence that Meisner is not a Grimm: Adalind had been re-hexenbiested by the time Diana was born, right? (I know we see her woge at least once while she and Meisner are on the run.) And when she was giving birth, she bit Meisner's hand. Thus, if he were a Grimm, getting his blood in her mouth (and presumably swallowing at some point during labor) would have de-hexenbiested her. OK, I know, it's not conclusive -- maybe she didn't break the skin. But it could be a fun clue.

I was impressed with this episode. There were two Moments Of Awesome that got to me. First, Lily telling Ashley to shut up. Mitch and Cam were so busy channeling their inner 8-year-olds that the audience saw things from their perspective as they tried to fix a party gone awry. But, of course, the only one who can really put a mean-girl in her place is a peer who simply decides she's not all that. Little Lily stepped up to the plate, an the others followed. Yeah, swimming outside in a thunderstorm was a bit nuts. I hope the adults realized that and quickly summoned them back inside . . . perhaps to change into those suddenly-much-cooler princess costumes while their own clothes dry. The other moment was Phil and Jay in the garage at the end. It really showed that, while Phil may be a bumbling fool a lot of the time, he can be a hero when he needs to be.

He does seem to be a mercenary, but I got the sense that some of the anti-Royals business was personal: they killed his girlfriend. I wouldn't think he would jump ship from the Resistance just for a better paying gig. I guess it is possible, though, that after killing the head of the royal family, he figured that his vendetta against the Royals was resolved. As for Sebastian's characterization of him as ruthless and maybe cruel, well, we've definitely seen the ruthlessness. He pushed the king out of a helicopter right in front of the guy's little granddaughter! OK, she thought it was funny, but still. And he's willing to beat a woman to control her inner hexenbiest, as well as kill various people. I'm not sure if I would necessarily call him cruel, though. He likes to fight, but I don't think the suffering of other's is especially fun for him -- it's just a means to an end. For instance, he didn't stick around for Eve's torture of their captive Black Claw member, though he had no problem with ordering it and using the results.

There might not be much of a mystery here. Perhaps Monroe's mom moved to the USA when she was young, while her brother remained in Germany or returned there as a young adult. If each has spent the last 40 years in a different country, their accents would differ, regardless of blood relations. I kind of hope we don't get bogged down with fake keys, copies of keys, etc.

Those "good guys" in Hadrian's Wall sure do engage in a lot of torture to achieve their ends . . . But I see your point about the Royals. I'm not sure if we even know for sure whether the Royals are anything different from regular humans. I mean, I don't think they woge, but I vaguely remember Kenneth being kind of super strong. I'm afraid, however, that the gang's heading off to Germany might put them in the range of the Royals once more. In a way, I wish the Black Claw folks were more nuanced. I mean, the basic idea that Wesen shouldn't have to hide their true nature from humans sounds kind of like a civil rights movement. Not necessarily a bad thing! Some of the Wesen could adopt a non-violent approach to this goal, while others act more like terrorists, and some walk in a gray area in between. Instead, they all seem to go for violent methods that cast them clearly as the "bad guys".

^^^ Or, you know, all of the above at one time would be good . . . If I recall correctly, he's only taken off his shirt that one time, when he was pretending to be Adalind's lover -- unlike Renard who doffs his shirt at the drop of a hat! Obviously, there are many things we don't know about Meisner: Has he left the Resistance for Hadrian's Wall, or are the two organizations allied? Is he a wesen or a grimm or a regular human or something else? What exactly is his role in Hadrian's Wall? Does he know where Diana is? I wasn't paying attention to him early on, so I missed some things relating to his history. One thing I've seen puzzles me. Someone mentioned a while back that: This is odd because Meisner doesn't strike me as particularly artsy, and he's definitely not flakey, and, in any case, this doesn't seem to be much of a reason to distrust someone. I mean, aren't there better reasons to distrust him, such as the fact he regularly assasinates people?

Yea, literal translations often don't work so well for idioms. Of course, there is no reason why the thread title would have to be in German, I was just amused by the idea. And saoirse has helpfully started a thread which references another of Meisner's important qualities ;-) It's not clear that the books were really Felix's to sell, but that didn't seem to be Nick's objection. I wish I liked Nick better than I do.

Are we sure this accurately translates the idiomatic meaning, rather than the literal meaning? Want to get across his badass competence, not reference actual defecation . . . The scene where Trubel talks to Eve was one of my favorites, because it reminded me of the really nice interactions that used to take place between Juliette and Trubel. Everybody else's reactions to Eve seem somehow forced -- just incredulously repeating that she's dead, or not dead, or a different person, or whatever. But Trubel reached out to see if there was anything left of the woman who had been kind to her. That struck me as sweet.

Anyone know how to say that in German? :-) At least he's not keeping them in his desk at work any more. Seriously, Nick is the worst hider-of-important-things ever! Honestly, I can't get too worked up over a discrepancy in the number of keys. I'm just glad the writers remembered that there were keys out there at all!

I don't think Eve is in charge, but I don't think Meisner is in charge either. I think he, like Trubel and Eve, are assets of HW. His skill set -- which includes all manner of Getting. Shit. Done., from assassination to organizing troops to beating hexenbieste -- generally puts him in a position of some authority. But he's a tool to be used by the higher ups. The question is, why would he go for this arrangement? I mean, Eve was basically brainwashed and Trubel is young and looking for meaning, but Meisner was a successful mercenary who already had, it seems, a mission of vengeance against the Royals. Has he left the Resistance to work for Hadrian's Wall, or are the two groups connected more deeply than we might think? Of course, I may be looking for sense where there is none. It is quite possible that the writers had this name "Meisner" that they threw in when they needed something violent to be done off-screen, then eventually it moved the plot along have him show up on-screen. Fortuitously, the guy they cast happened to be hot and magnetic, and a good actor to boot, so they expanded the role without thinking it through much. Usually that doesn't work very well, but in this case, it kind of did. Hey, doesn't he deserve his own thread? I would start one, but I don't know what to call it :-)

Yeah, this story line is kind of dull, but I am amused that what might make Renard relapse into his more shady ways isn't the crapstorm of wesen related stuff around him, but is POLITICS. Besides being funny, it is totally in character for him: his coin-induced delusions revolved around gaining political power -- not necessarily abusing it, but definitely having it in abundance. Makes sense for that to be a weakness of the bastard son of a powerful family. I agree, OtterMommy. There is something intriguing about the character, despite the fact that he's been around a while and we know next to nothing about him. The writing for him is uneven, sometimes giving the character a chance to shine, but often just serving the convenience of the plot. An example of the latter was, I think, when he prevented Trubel from helping her friends retrieve the books. With a blutbad and a Grimm against two hyena-like wessen (one of whom was already injured), the fight was already a bit anticlimactic. Adding Trubel to the fray would have made it even less of a challenge for our guys. So having Meisner hold her back was an easy way to preserve some excitement at the end of the episode. Yet the way DP plays his scenes is interesting, even when the scenes are pretty functional.

Awww . . . a Valentine's Day episode! Let's not kill the scary monster we recklessly animated a while back, let's give him a girlfriend instead! It was so wacky it worked! Betsy Ross continues to be kind of pointless, and while I liked Zoe OK in the past, I think after this episode I've had enough of her. Still love Jenny and Joe. I didn't take Joe to mean that, as a matter of principle, Jenny ought to look up her Dad, just that since he was obviously on her mind (breaking into his house when there were probably easier ways to get family relics, carrying his lighter around with her), she might regret not following up on this impulse.

Yeah, while I might look back fondly at the "good old days" of the show, I don't want the characters to be frozen in amber. I know someone who laments that Penny is no longer as ditzy and skanky (his word, not mine) as she used to be -- she cut her hair and has a professional job now. But while early Penny is a hoot, what was cute when you are in your twenties is less cute when you are in your thirties. Even if the characters acted the very same way as they did in the first season, the audience perception of them would be different, since their behavior would now be evidence of stagnation. With regard to Bernadette getting pregnant, if the writers wanted to go that route at any point, now is a good time. As a biologist, I would think she would appreciate the benefits of conceiving while she is not too far into her thirties (I assume the character is meant to be somewhere between 30 and 35 or so; the actress is 35).

The karaoke was lame, but otherwise I enjoyed the episode. I don't see why a Howard/Bernadette baby would be a show-killer. Since both are secondary characters, the writers can mine the pregnancy and parenthood for comedy without changing the basic direction of the show. Now a Penny/Leonard pregnancy, that would worry me more . . . I liked drunk!Sheldon. Funny how alcohol makes Raj more of a jerk and Sheldon less of one :-) His comment about Howard and he knowing what it's like to grow up without a father, and therefore Howard will be a great Dad, was downright sweet -- almost made up for his initial selfish reaction. And I love how Raj noted that, even drunk, Sheldon is still smarter than everybody else.

Hooking up with her ex for closure and a self esteem boost is fine, unless he is still madly in love with her, in which case it seems kind of cruel. Not sure that's the kind of "progress" I want for Alex. I thought that they might be giving their relationship another try -- no strings attached, maybe it won't work, but not necessarily just a one-shot-deal either.

Though maybe it is better than what she's been doing lately -- hooking up with a high school guy whom she doesn't even seem to like much.

I liked Haley going with Alex to Sanjay's house and being kind of supportive. It was cute when Alex and Sanjay start talking about parallel universes where they might still be together and Haley says something like, "Is this nerd foreplay? I didn't understand any of it." Then, amidst all the science talk Sanjay mentions that his parents are out and he's home alone, and Haley says, "I understood that!" pushing Alex toward him. That's what I like about the sisters' relationship. Haley doesn't always get Alex and often finds her annoying, but she still looks out for her.

I liked the loch-ness-wesen story -- maybe not the most riveting of plots, but enjoyable. While I used to like Juliette, I don't care much about Eve, nor, sadly, Nick. The political aid flirting with Renard was kind of cute, and I like it that Nick and Renard FINALLY shared enough information that they could put together that Meisner was involved in both the resistance and Hadrian's Wall. Nick seems to think that Meisner is in charge of the latter, but Meisner's comment that "they keep us all here" (referring to the cell-like rooms) may indicate that he's subordinate to some higher power. Most important, no Nick/Adalind, so I didn't have to leave the room retching! Yay!

All this talk about finding the mole in the PPD makes me hope it is an actual mole-wesen ;-)

I would be happy with that. But, as OtterMommy noted, it is unlikely that the-powers-that-be would let him stay single long. Thus, I would have liked it even better if they had kept Juliette sane and low-key -- if, say, Nick had told her about his Grimm-ness and they mutually decided that she needed to be his touchstone to normality and she mostly stayed out of the Grimm-y portions of his life, just occasionally using her vet skills to patch up an injured Wesen or something. But that ship has sailed; even back from the dead (sort of), she can never take on that role again. So, the writers are left with four choices: (a) keep Nick single, (b) have him date various humans/wesens in kind of a "girl of the week" model, © introduce a new character to be a love interest, or (d) pair him with an existing character, no matter how inappropriate. They seem to be going with (d). Speaking of general fan reaction, I got a disturbing peek at it recently when I looked at an Adalind/Meisner fan video on YouTube. The video was cute, and some of the comments were positive, but a lot of commenters were like, "this is nice but Nick and Adalind OTP!" And along the side, there were links to various Adalind/Nick fan tributes. Honestly, I was stunned. Hanging out here, I've not encountered much Nick-and-Adalind shipping. But apparently it is out there. What was particularly striking was that this was not from people who had missed the hotness that is Adalind/Meisner -- they had just watched a video of it! -- yet they still liked Adalind/Nick better. So, it is probably hard to assess, in any general way, what "the audience" wants from this show.