S04.E14: Bad Luck

[theatremouse]

Well that was just about the most boring, predictable thing this show could've come up with.

[OtterMommy]

I'm glad I came here before watching. I can't take another baby storyline. I'm going to bow out.

 

I wonder if TPTB reads boards like this.  This quote is the 3rd, I think, on this thread alone and there are MANY, MANY other such comments on other boards.  You know who reads and participates in these boards?  Viewers who at least invested enough in the show to discuss it with others.  Logically, these viewers would be harder to lose than your average, tune-in-once-a-week viewer.  My guess, based on nothing but whatever, is for every participant on one of these boards who tunes out, there are at least 25 other viewers who do not participate who will do the same thing.

 

Look, the possibility of the Adalind-Nick baby has been out there for a long time, way before the promo for this episode went up 5 weeks ago.  It started when Adalind became Juliette and slept with Nick and no one liked it then and no one likes it now.  And it is precisely the sort of thing that will lead viewers to turn to another channel.  From what I've read, the two things people universally don't like in this show are the Adalind baby drama and the royals.  So, they introduce ANOTHER baby drama and 

next week we are supposed to get ANOTHER royal!

 

This is not a soap opera--it isn't even a "relationship show," so why are they doing this crap?    I get the feeling that the writers room is filled with people who think they are geniuses and that the world will love every cliche story line they come up with.  Sorry, but no...

Edited March 21, 2015 by OtterMommy

[OtterMommy]

The accordion didn't happen until after he dragged her around and quite a bit of the girl struggling by herself after he walked away.   That's when Nick should have been able to hear something.  Not during the accordion playing.

 

I think the accordion thing, in general, was meant as a distraction.  The foot chopper played the music away from the victim, so if someone heard it, they went towards the according and away from the foot chopping.

 

As for why Nick's zombie powers didn't kick in...who knows.  That whole scene just seemed really off to me.

[Starchild]

There was another show where the show runner was plowing a once--popular and critically acclaimed show into the ground by forgetting the premise of it and making it all about a couple's drama.

What show was this? Sounds awful.

 

This is not a soap opera--it isn't even a "relationship show," so why are they doing this crap?

The writer of this episode (who has written other episodes of it as well) used to be a soap opera actor. Make of that what you will.

Edited March 21, 2015 by Starchild

[hincandenza]

Which show is that, SweetTooth? There are sadly so many that could fit that description...

Juliette was insane this week. Shanna Marie might be right that she's driving him away subconsciously, but it's like her dialogue was written by an emo teenager. Imagine if she found out she had cancer, and forced Nick to fondle the lump in her breast and said "THIS is forever!". Or if she cheated on him, and when she told him also forced him to watch the sex tapes and was upset when he recoiled. Nick is trying to be understanding and mature, and she's pushing him away. Even if it is as Shanna Marie describes and she wants to be punished/isolated, I don't trust Bitsie or the writers to convey that competently.

I was thinking as I watched last night that I'm kind of okay with this show as a train wreck. I might rewatch a couple of episodes in the first season, but there's really no chance I'd rewatch this show. It's so haphazard, like LOST, that it'd be a waste of time and there isn't one of us who sees this show as having a suitable and satisfying finale at some point. It's the cheap convenience store potato chip of shows.

Lastly, nthing the absurd pregnancy plotline. I know it's still a touchy subject for some people, and one they'd avoid on network TV even in 2015, but lest we forget Adalind is (or was, as she apparently has no friends, family, or co-workers who seem to care that she disappeared off the face of the earth) a young, urban lawyer living in Portland. While not a certainty, it seems pretty likely she'd just head to Planned Parenthood and get an abortion- certainly if the father is her mortal enemy who she raped a while back.

Eh, it's still stupidly fun if I turn off my brain and stop caring about the plot lines or worse, the giant plot holes. Wu continues to crack me up, at least... :)

[ShadowFacts]

 

Lastly, nthing the absurd pregnancy plotline. I know it's still a touchy subject for some people, and one they'd avoid on network TV even in 2015, but lest we forget Adalind is (or was, as she apparently has no friends, family, or co-workers who seem to care that she disappeared off the face of the earth) a young, urban lawyer living in Portland. While not a certainty, it seems pretty likely she'd just head to Planned Parenthood and get an abortion- certainly if the father is her mortal enemy who she raped a while back.

It would be interesting if they went there.  Abortion was actually done a couple seasons ago on 'Parenthood' which was on NBC, so it's not beyond the realm of possibility.  Though the fact that they even go ahead with another pregnancy for this character really soon after she just had a baby, nah, they will stupidly milk it for the mega-drama.  Maybe

since a major character is supposed to die, it will be Adalind and that will be that

.

[CoderLady]

I liked Peter and was sad to see him die so soon. His sister was pretty awesome. I was rather proud of her for rescuing herself and having the self control not to give the creep what he wanted.

She reminded me of the coyotl girl Carly who didn't cower and cringe when she was in danger either, but tried to kick the living shit out of her kidnappers when she had the chance. And Trubel. Could be there are an equal number of ordinary helpless damsels in distress on Grimm but I think they do a fair number of proactive and resourceful women to balance it.

[Prevailing Wind]

 

What this show is good at: Oh, you hate this story line? Not only are we going to continue it, but we'll go on and on and on and on and ON with it. Then, when you're relieved we seem to be pushing it to the backburner, We'll introduce another story line just like it.

Which leads me to think these writers used to write for Letterman.  He's proud of beating a dead horse.

[Happytobehere]

I agree with the Henrietta asserting that ere is no cure cannot be trusted. It was however interesting to note that as I believe that Juliette and Renard have more romantic chemistry than Juliette and Nick, so too do Henrietta and Nick have more chemistry than Juliette and Nick.

I just can't with Adalind or the Toyals, so the thought of being stuck with Juliette and her hexengrimm progeny is just too much. If I stick with the show, which is a big if becuase who needs more baby crap, I will have to ff through all scenes relating to the child; which will likely mean missing 90% of the show, at which point you realize there is no point in bothering. Too bad, I likeNick, Hank Renard, Rosalee and Monroe and will miss them when the inevitable break with the show occurs.

As for the COTW, those couples looking for kids really are their own special brand of scum. They know full well what is happening but becuase they don't have to confront the reality of their dream, they get to pretend otherwise. They have to know that the reason Footsy is able to provide his service is because there aren't footless rabbit witnesses walking around.

[possibilities]

I have no trouble believing there are wesen specialists in the area. Imagine how weird it would be to see a non-wesen doctor and not be able to explain your actual problem, or to woge in pain during an exam and hope they don't feel anything while they touch you. It does seem like wesen have different problems than non-wesen. The number who go through Rosalee's spice shop demonstrates quite a number of problems that a non-wesen would not have (like Bud's issues in the webisodes or Sean's bleeding). I remember in Season 1, Juliette finding some "chimera" hair she couldn't identify by DNA, before Nick told her he was a Grimm.

[catrox14]

Man, seriously, show? Adalind's pregnant with Nick's spawn? ...sigh. 

 

I was so enjoying this season and this just really makes me annoyed. 

[Yeldarbe]

Sometimes I kinda like writing down my thoughts as I watch. A bit stream-of-consciousness-y but hey, thats just me. Here goes!

Opening scene...So that's what it's like when Juliet emotes!

I don't like it.

Okay, so that was Peter Rabbit who just got killed by Mr Todd, right? Or was that Tommy Brock? Bad luck, indeed. If it were me, and I heard creepy accordion music in the woods. I would hop my little bunny butt home! Curiosity killed the cat! Not the bunny!

Nick's broody Walk o' flashbacks! He looked so much younger in the early days!

Back to Peter Rabbit. Is he going to have a dead father? I hope their last name is something like Rabbit. Oh look, it's Bennett.

What do you know, Dead father!

Okay, who are these two? Trying?? For a baby? WOW. severed wesen rabbit foot. CRAY.

"It always does" so does that mean this crazy foot chopper is a legend? If it always works i'd assume there are a lot of dead one-footed people out there. We shall see.

Holy shit, Seriously? Ever hear of adoption?? Apparently not!

I confess I missed the Henrietta episode. I don't like her line delivery But I do agree that it's not really THAT big of a problem is it? He should be there for her just like she was for him.

So are they trying to say that hexenbiest are some sort of.....sex demon?

Oh-ho! We've had a foot chopper before! Good on Wu for being a quick study, although I figured everyone in the know re: wesen would jump to that conclusion immediately.

A trailer scene! So.... what kind of wesen are the people using the foot? They surely can't be human...

Yes, Wu. I do think this is messed up!

Love his joKes. I'LL HOP RIGHT ON IT.

Hey look! It's Renard. I bet we won't go 15 seconds without him getting on his phone.

Quelle surpise! It's Adalind, in the flesh! I still say he makes or gets a call before too much longer.

I'm glad Renard doesnt just fold like a cheap card table, even though his kid is involved.

I loved Rosalee's little rant. "Don't get me started!...you're getting me started!" And then Monroe's "See? That's what happens when you get her started."

But why do I have the feeling this is setting up at least a discussion about a Monrosalee Baby and quite frankly I've had enough babies on this show (even if it would be pretty cute).

See? It is a thing! Peter's poor father was also a victim. No wonder mama had her shotgun at the ready.

Okay I'm sorry but that GPS tracker was SO obvious and lame that it took me right out of the story. If I were mama rabbit under these circumstances, running for my life without even burying my child, I would at least be a little more observant. Isn't there someone who can help the hunted rabbit wesen? Doesn't the council deal with that sort of thing?

Oh mama bennett, never say that you'll be right back. That never ends well.

Alright! Scooby spy gang in action With the fertility doctor mission!

Did Renard replace his celly with A coffee cup??

I immediately ping on the nurse at the clinic, she was lingered upon a bit too much there When they woged.

Okay this doctor is a bad liar. Tossing the file in the trash and angrily yet politely dismissing your would-be patients seemed like the equivalent of Backstrom'Backstrom's "Absolutely not!" Rule.

But waaaait, it's the shady receptionist again! I knew it..

Hooray at least now we should be able to settle in for a nice Scooby gang takedown and rescue of the Chloe girl.

I had the same reaction to Rosalee's TKO as Munroe did. DAMN!

Okay on to the scene in the house with the infertile couple. I have to call shenanigans here. I didn't say anything before but nobody I know has such a spotless under-the-bed area. Perhaps it had been specially cleaned for the, uh, guest.

A-ha! So the wesen council DOES have something to say a out this! No sympathy for the "We just wanted a baby!" couple. Yeah, at the expense of someone else's child.

Of course Nick and Hank find the exact spot with the only direction of "a cabin off RT 22"

I half expected hank to be like "look it's her SHOE and SOCK and omg we might be too late!" But he stuck with a short and sweet finger point and a panicked "Nick!"

Why is the killer dragging the girl around? Just put the foot on ice and call it good. It's not like I'd believe that a guy who makes his living killing innocent people would have any qualms about exaggerating the freshness of his product just a smidge.

Again with the accordion. This must be some sort of ritualized killing.

Okay so the fight scene has the big bad woged from the start. Bad choice as it clearly is a stunt guy in a mask and it completely took me out of the story.

why did he just run away and leave his cool axe?

Who cares cause here's Chloe the BADASS.

Back go Juliette and Nick. I just don't understand why he is having such a visceral reaction to her biesting out. I get that it's freaky and everything but given everything he has been thru to this point it seems a bit out of character.

her turn to take a brood!walk.

Uhoh I fear for Henrietta.

Nooooooo they are going there with Adalind and I literally had the same reaction she did.

Until next time!

[theatremouse]

I just had another thought. If the wesen can tell Nick's a Grimm, because they can see in his eyes their true nature and all of that, why isn't Juliette also freaking out about it? I mean, veteran wesen have a hard time dealing with it.

Good point. Puts a little spin on that whole "you can't even look at me" moment with Juliette. He played like he was trying not to look at her hexenface but if he were slick he could've tried to play it as protecting her from the freakiness of seeing whatever they see.

Or writing staff forgot because they were too busy with trite drama.

[johntfs]

I just had another thought. If the wesen can tell Nick's a Grimm, because they can see in his eyes their true nature and all of that, why isn't Juliette also freaking out about it? I mean, veteran wesen have a hard time dealing with it.

 

And can I just say about the constant "Juliette will be SOPOWERFULSPESHUL" already has me eye rolling. Because of COURSE the brand-new hexie would have more powers than any other hexie. She's snowflake hexie.

 

I don't think Juliette's ever "half-Woged" in the way that lets Grimms see her but not others.  She's always full-Woged in the way that lets everyone see her.  I don't think the full Woge triggers Grimm vision.  Even if it does trigger Grimm vision, most of the reason veteran Wesen have a hard time dealing with it is because it tells them that they're face to face with a Grimm.  That ship has already kind of sailed for Juliette.

 

Meanwhile, I am completely fine with Juliette being a "super-spechel piece of frozen water crystal," because we might meet other hexenbiests like her.  Hexenbiests with names like Morgan le Fay, Circe or Baba Yaga.  We might get a better view into hexenbiest society and politics.

 

On another subject, I tend to trust Henrietta if only because she consistently tells people things they really don't want to hear and encourages them to deal with their situations in a realistic way like with her "you can kill Juliette, or you can accept her for who and what she is" to Nick.  It's like if you got hit by car and you consult with two doctors.  The first one tells you that you're never going to walk again and that you need to get the therapy and education you need to cope with your new life as a paraplegic. Doctor 2 says that he can get you to walk again but you have to so what he says and pay what he asks.  I'd want to believe Doctor 2, but realistically I should probably trust Doctor 1. 

[Commando Cody]

Adelind and I had the exact same reaction at the end of the show.  

 

The writers were good about hiding Bree's pregnancy.  TV shows have been hiding actresses behind big coats and laundry baskets for years.  They made the first baby disappear from the show pretty quickly.  I thought maybe they learned their lesson about adding a baby to the show.  Are they going to make the second baby disappear as well? 

 

With all the nausea going on with Juliette, I wondered if some sort of pregnancy transference occurred during the body double plot line, so it was really Juliette's baby that magically ended up with Adelind.  The point is moot anyway.  They have to quit with the baby stories.  This show is getting more like a night time soap opera than it was before. 

[OtterMommy]

I just had another thought. If the wesen can tell Nick's a Grimm, because they can see in his eyes their true nature and all of that, why isn't Juliette also freaking out about it? I mean, veteran wesen have a hard time dealing with it.

 

I will go back to my theory, which is that Hexen- and Zauberbiests are not Wesen.  The only time either one has had a "reaction" to Nick was when Adalind woged in the pilot and even that was far less terrifying than how Wesen usually react.  And, as far as we know, no other Wesen can be made or unmade.

 

Again, just my theory.

I don't think Juliette's ever "half-Woged" in the way that lets Grimms see her but not others.  She's always full-Woged in the way that lets everyone see her.  I don't think the full Woge triggers Grimm vision.  Even if it does trigger Grimm vision, most of the reason veteran Wesen have a hard time dealing with it is because it tells them that they're face to face with a Grimm.  That ship has already kind of sailed for Juliette.

 

She "half-woged" when she blew the dude's car up.

[laddibugg]

Ok, while i was watching this episode, one thing kept running through my head: If you know your kind is being hunted for one specific body part, why not preemptively get that part surgically amputated? Like women who have family history of breast cancer. But that's probably me thinking too much 

[Ghost of TWOP Past]

I didn't think it was a terrible episode, but it sure wasn't great, either. 

 

I was pleased by the cliche-breaking surprise when the girl defended herself. Then I was aggravated that she had to fail so that the men folk could rescue her after all. So dreary. 

 

Am I confused, or would the wesen council not care about the fertility shenanigans? Weren't we told that the council only intervenes when there's danger of revealing the wesen world to humans? 

 

I agree that we don't need another baby. I don't find the first one interesting, and now there's another. 

 

But the most aggravating thing about the episode is Nick and Juliette having issues. Every god damned show does this now. Every couple has to split. reconcile, split, reconcile, split... etc. The thing is, unless they write Juliette out of the series, there isn't a scintilla of tension to any of it. She's a regular on the series. We know for a fact that she is going to get back together with Nick. And then split, and then reconcile... ad nauseum all over again.

Edited March 22, 2015 by Ghost of TWOP Past

[Actionmage]

There's a difference between the official Wesen Council and the fringe group that kidnapped Monroe a few episodes back. The latter has a special name which I cannot recall but they are not sanctioned by the Wesen Council.

 

I wasn't thinking of the wesenrein, but of killing children who aren't wesen but woge ( "Stories We Tell Our Young"). Just as barbaric as cutting off feet for someone else's procreational needs. "We don't know what it is, but we're going to kill it anyway. Not wesen? Who cares."

 

Then I was aggravated that she had to fail so that the men folk could rescue her after all. So dreary.

 

 

I saw no fail in Chloe's game. Even tied with a leather-appearing strap, she used that metal pole to cut through that strap and again to give some awesome payback, for her just-murdered brother and just a year earlier-murdered father!  Yes, I was urging Chloe to keep swinging until he was down and not moving.  That she had Hank blow a hole in that asshat doesn't make her a damsel in my book, at least. That she refused to woge on cue for a murderer, who had murdered her family members and kidnapped her to murder, and fought back quite well all in a 36/48 hour time frame is impressive. Especially as she probably holds herself partially responsible for Peter's death- the not actually telling Mom about Peter sneaking out part.  I don't understand how the show having Hank do the actual killing/murder of the Rabbit Hunter takes away from Chloe's act of saving herself and fighting back.

 

What boggles my mind is that no cop ever swept the family's car for anything!  We even got a The Amazing Race cameraperson's shot of the tracking device Rabbit Hunter used. It wasn't teeny either. I am supposed to buy that Portland PD, when faced with a family that disappeared from their house and chose a randomly-picked motel, doesn't check that family's car visually while waiting for CSIs?  Sean needs to put his phone down more.

 

As for Schroedinger's Guest Room? Maybe it's like Brigadoon, where it only becomes tangible for a month every 100 years ?  Or it's solopsitic and only becomes reality when there is a third person in the house?  ( Then again, I don't think we saw the guest room when Juliette's college buddy came to hide from her abusive hubby.  Continuity, Show; look into it!)

[Ghost of TWOP Past]

I get what you're saying, but the girl "failed" in the sense that she still would have fallen victim if the guys hadn't come along. She surprised the villain, had him down, and would only have had to swing the fence rod (or whatever it was) a couple more times. Instead, as written, she pauses for no good reason, allows him to get the upper hand again, and then has to be rescued. If she was that close, why not just let the character have the moment? 

[shapeshifter]

ETA (thanks to Yeldarbe for jogging my memory): I wonder if they had to do a bunch of takes of the scene in which Nick finds the rabbit's foot under the bed and thrusts it accusingly at the couple. I'm pretty sure I saw DG almost smiling. Except for the fake bloody part, it sooo looked like some animal feet slippers I've seen at places like Walmart. Hee.

...As for the show that fired the show runner, that would be Sleep Hollow. He LOVED the actress who played Crane's wife, so the whole thing became about the CRANE FAMILY DRAMA to the point that Nicole Beharie, the actual star of the show, was pushed aside...

Ooohh! That show. Yep. Exactly why I quit it.

I'm not as worried about the baby drama in this show because they've so far managed to avoid shoe horning any baby actors into the show. Plus, before they even mentioned "baby," I was eyeing Claire Coffee's lose fitting coat suspiciously anyway--which to me means they could have hidden it if they wanted to. I guess.

A reason she would not abort would be the same reason she decided to have the first one--it was supposed to net her a tidy profit. The reason she would scream "Noooo!!!!" could mostly be because it could zap her powers.

Interesting that they had Juliette remind us of her nausea that she thought was morning sickness. Since it was her body that Adalind used when she got pregnant, it wouldn't surprise me if the baby that Adalind is carrying turns out to be Nick and Juliette's (like CommanderCody suggests too). They could go for a surrogate custody court case based on DNA. *cue soap opera music followed by L&O notes*

Good point. Puts a little spin on that whole "you can't even look at me" moment with Juliette. He played like he was trying not to look at her hexenface but if he were slick he could've tried to play it as protecting her from the freakiness of seeing whatever they see...

Yes, good point. I thought DG did a good job of expressing his inability to look at her hexenbiest face--which is how I've felt about it since Adalind first did it in the pilot--but now I really wish they'd had him steal a look into her eyes and had her recoil in horror the way the wessen do. Edited March 22, 2015 by shapeshifter

[johntfs]

You guys are all assuming that Adalind will actually have Nick's baby before Juliette uses telekinesis to shove a butcher knife into her belly.

[Mrs OldManBalls]

I would agree about the NOOO except next week's preview had her fantasizing about Nick embracing her Leave it to Beaver style and talking about how happy he is she's having his baby. 

 

She's probably having a nightmare. 

 

I wonder if Rosalie and Monroe will be able to give Juliette any good tips for her new reality? 

[marys1000]

I keep thinking that what you are dictates your personality. Monroe seems to be a real exception to his kind and even he has to consciously work at it. The mice seem to be universally incapable of being anything but frightened. If I were a rabbit person being hunted why wouldn't you get together with other rabbits and set a trap and take out all the hunters? Because you're a rabbit?  In that sense Chloe was indeed acting a little out of rabbit character when she fought back.  Obviously not 100%, nothing is,  I think my theory holds true. 

So if Juliette is now a Hexenbiest, and a super powerful one, it stands to reason that her personality will change, she is and will become a different person. She'll get more heartless, more manipulative or whatever a hexenbiests basic behavior and character boils down to. Witch right?  She's already killed without having any qualms about it which I think is a good example. Unless maybe she consciously fights it.  Which could be the story arc....lots of out of control actions and reactions while she fights it, then figures it out in the end.  Or is she going to become Glinda (the good witch of the south)? Or the good hexenbiest of Portland

 

I think Henrietta's control of Nick was sort of a cheap shot by the writers that I'm not buying. Adelind would have done it if she could have. Adilind's mother would have.  No where has there ever been a hint that any Wesen could control a Grimm unless it was by serious drugs/spells etc.  If that were the case wouldn't hexenbiests be used against Grimms all the time as weapons?  Wouldn't we have heard about that by now? It seemed so easy for her, she said it was easy.   That was a real misstep that took me out of the show.

 

I suppose Henrietta is going to use Adelinde's pregnancy for her own goals, whatever they are. Poor Juliette, what's she going to do when she hears about the pregnancy? She had a pretty hard time with Nick sleeping with Adelind even though she knows that Nick thought he was sleeping with her. Someone is going to use that pregnancy against them somehow.

And I wonder if somehow the baby thing and the pregnancy thing doesn't join up...FYI I am not a fan of the all babies all the time storylines either.  But I suspect that if any showrunners are reading boards they probably stick to the ones run by the network, or tweets, and I am always amazed by the number of people who love storylines that I hate (usually shippers).

 

Peter Cottontail - worst boyfriend ever.  Who lets their girlfriend walk back to wherever when there is something running around the woods? 

Edited March 22, 2015 by marys1000

[shapeshifter]

...Peter Cottontail - worst boyfriend ever.  Who lets their girlfriend walk back to wherever when there is something running around the woods?

Seriously! It was a nice switch that she wasn't the one attacked, but still!

[ShadowFacts]

 

Since it was her body that Adalind used when she got pregnant, it wouldn't surprise me if the baby that Adalind is carrying turns out to be Nick and Juliette's (like CommanderCody suggests too). They could go for a surrogate custody court case based on DNA. *cue soap opera music followed by L&O notes*

 

I posed that question upthread as well, will the baby have Juliette's DNA?  That would be only slightly less bad than it being a hexen-Grimm.  But I don't know how it would work since Juliette (and her eggs) was out getting her hair done at the time the deed was done.  This whole mess needs input from Renard's mother and maybe Rosalee.  There better be some nifty twist or it really is close to being shark-y. 

[FrancesL]

I liked this episode. Juliette being a Hexenbiest is heartbreaking, but an interesting development. I wouldn't be surprised if She and NIck separated completely, unless they find a way to reverse the "side-effects".. Their relationship has become more and more tense with time (understandably) and Juliette seeking shelter with Renard (as the promo implies), will not help the situation. I also think that her process of becoming a Hexenbiest is going to change her in a lot of ways and I don't think she'll be the same Juliette that Nick fell in love. BTW, Juliette asking Nick to kiss what looked like the equivalent of a decaying cadaver, was asking for too much, too soon. 

 

I don't mind the Adalind-is-pregnant-with-Nick's-baby story and I'm actually looking forward to Nick's reaction. I think that Adalind is a very underutilize character and despite the bad things she's done, I still find her fascinating, especially when I think about her history in the first few seasons, and how Renard and her mom both used her to carry out their dirty deeds, until she was no longer useful to them. I wonder if the twist with having a half-Grimm baby will be that it takes away all of her powers as a Hexenbiest...again. (Adalind  and Nick are probably cursing the day they met each other!) It's unfortunate that Juliette ended up as collateral damage in their ongoing feud. How much can one character take???

 

What kind of villain purposedly using sex to trick the hero but then too stupid to not taking care of her own birth control?

 

My theory on this issue is that. 1. She couldn't use condoms because it would have defeated the purpose of sleeping with Nick and 2. If she hadn't been on the pill before (which would make sense since she just gave birth), then suddenly going on the pill wouldn't have been effective since the pill can take up to a week to work reliably (depending on timing). Given Adalind's state of desperation, I just don't see her waiting that long.

[blueray]

 

Peter Cottontail - worst boyfriend ever.  Who lets their girlfriend walk back to wherever when there is something running around the woods? 

I was thinking that too. It would have been better if she was there and maybe saw the whole thing, and was shown all shaken up being interview, or was killed too. I doubt that guy would have any problem killing a bystander.

[shapeshifter]

What kind of villain purposedly using sex to trick the hero but then too stupid to not taking care of her own birth control?

My theory on this issue is that. 1. She couldn't use condoms because it would have defeated the purpose of sleeping with Nick...

Do you mean that Nick would've questioned the use of a condom and suspected something was up? Or do you mean it was necessary to have the Grimm swimmers inside of her for the spell to work? Or both? Even if both, she could have tracked her ovulation cycle to avoid pregnancy. But since we have seen in the past that Adalind is not the best student of spells and their side effects, maybe she just missed the footnotes about getting pregnant.

[catrox14]

Given the showrunners pedigree of angel/buffy I could see them take the route of the spawn of nick being sent off screen just like they did with Adalinds spawn. Cut to next season and maybe two teenagers who grew exponentially fast because magic Wesen reasons come looking for nick. I liked Trubel so maybe the casting would be fine.

[iMonrey]

 

The show is called "Grimm," not "Nick Burkhardt of Portland PD" - so we only see the Grimm-related cases.  The same way on "McMillan & Wife" - we only saw the cases that involved Mac's wife, not ALL the cases he was involved in.  There may be other non-Wesen cases Nick & Hank catch that we never hear about.

 

At this point the show is serialized enough that it feels like we see all of Nick and Hank's cases. For example this show picked up right where the previous one left off. So there were no other cases between Human Torch guy and Bunny Killer.

 

And you know what? That wouldn't necessarily be a problem if the show just maintained a procedural format and explained why all these Wesen were coming to Portland. Like if it were some kind of Wesen Hellmouth. Explain it, and I'm willing to go with it. Don't explain it, and it seems like the population of Portland is just 95% Wesen by chance.

 

And even if it is by chance, acknowledge it. Maybe Portland is in fact where the heaviest concentration of Wesen live in the U.S. and maybe that's even why Renard moved there. The fact that Nick has been doing this for four years now, and has never once said "Geez, how many Wesen are there in Portland anyway?" makes him look like an idiot.

 

There are lots of simple ways they could make this more plausible and they never bother. It's irritating. Like how it took them three years to tell us why Wesen know Nick is a Grimm. It just doesn't seem like the writers are very good at defining the "world" this show lives in and that's why all the crap with the Royals seems so vague and and convoluted.

[Actionmage]

Instead, as written, she pauses for no good reason, allows him to get the upper hand again, and then has to be rescued. If she was that close, why not just let the character have the moment?

 

I see what you're saying. ITA, but an out-of-show/ Standards and Practices thing could be that they didn't want a teen to kill the killer? Or with that thin metal pole? Again, I agree in that Chloe could have been whalin' away on him when Hank and Nick roll up. No one really had to die and Chloe still kept a clear moment of Awesome. Maybe we need a thread to talk about the writers and their choices?

[OtterMommy]

Maybe we need a thread to talk about the writers and their choices?

 

Oh, lord, yes...because they have certainly made some, um, interesting ones!

[orza]

Yeah, there are legal and industry limits to what is possible with child actors that writers have no control over. You can't put a young girl in a violent, physical scene with an adult male without a bunch of people overseeing it and telling the director exactly what he can and cannot film, first among them being the parents of the child actor. That has nothing to do with writing choices.

[catrox14]

I see what you're saying. ITA, but an out-of-show/ Standards and Practices thing could be that they didn't want a teen to kill the killer? Or with that thin metal pole? Again, I agree in that Chloe could have been whalin' away on him when Hank and Nick roll up. No one really had to die and Chloe still kept a clear moment of Awesome. Maybe we need a thread to talk about the writers and their choices?

It seems to me they wanted Chloe to be awesome and she was. But you can't have a show about heroes (Nick and Hank) and not have them be heroic. It gave us both Chloe being her own hero and Nick and Hank being heroes. I don't see the issue with that personally. It's the best of both worlds. If Chloe had been the first victim instead of her brother and then her brother did the same thing as Chloe they still needed to give Hank and Nick their hero moment.

[CoderLady]

Yeah, but most females in jeopardy of any age do that stupid thing where they only momentarily incapacitate the attacker and then run away. Stupid, stupid, stupid. They never get far -- cue the trip and fall scene -- and the guy comes after them madder than ever. Personally, I'd let my suppressed rage issues (don't judge me!) take over and I'd pound the guy's head into jelly. I'd still be turning him into a grease spot on the ground when the cops got there.

 

It seems to me they wanted Chloe to be awesome and she was. But you can't have a show about heroes (Nick and Hank) and not have them be heroic. It gave us both Chloe being her own hero and Nick and Hank being heroes. I don't see the issue with that personally. It's the best of both worlds. If Chloe had been the first victim instead of her brother and then her brother did the same thing as Chloe they still needed to give Hank and Nick their hero moment.

 

You make an interesting point about the order of victims. Guys are the usual killed victims, girls are the saved ones. Why not change it up sometimes?

[catrox14]

Yeah, but most females in jeopardy of any age do that stupid thing where they only momentarily incapacitate the attacker and then run away. Stupid, stupid, stupid. They never get far -- cue the trip and fall scene -- and the guy comes after them madder than ever. Personally, I'd let my suppressed rage issues (don't judge me!) take over and I'd pound the guy's head into jelly. I'd still be turning him into a grease spot on the ground when the cops got there.

 

 

You make an interesting point about the order of victims. Guys are the usual killed victims, girls are the saved ones. Why not change it up sometimes?

 

I think this show has been pretty good with mixing that up in general IMO.  I think that is part of the pedigree of Greenwalt being Whedonverse alum.  I was speaking  more to the idea that the heroes some heroing duty at some point, especially Hank, which for me was the best part.

[CoderLady]

Ah. True dat.

[TVSpectator]

What a disappointing episode.  Adalind is pregnant with Nick's child?  GAH!  I can't even!  Nick and Juliette are going to have another relationship crisis…again, I can't even! 

 

This is a show about Grimms and Wesens, and while probably a few side stories are necessary, I don't watch this show for drama.  I have enough dramas on my TV plate as it is. 

 

If this becomes too angsty, I'll probably have to show myself to the door.  This isn't the stuff I signed up for. 

 

 

I agree, Henrietta seems to have an agenda, and I am hoping she cannot be trusted, because right now, I am just about at my wits end with where the story seems to be heading.

 

 

I am hoping that either Henrietta is lying to Adalind (for whatever reasons) or that Adalind got the baby's father wrong and Nick isn't the real father (please, please let it not be Nick's). I really don't want a Nick/Adalind child and I am hoping that it is revealed that Adaline slept with someone else (maybe with Victor) and that she just got the timing wrong.

 

That being said, I can buy into some of Nick's anger over Juliette being a Hexenbiest, and also maybe it's also connected to Adalind's hijinks,  but I don't buy into that their relationship is in danger. 

 

Overall, everything it feels way too soap oprea-ish for this to be an actual Grimm plot. Man, I do hope that it ends soon. 

 

Finally, to the episode:

 

-Like that Wu was the one who was able to connect rabbit wesen to rabbit feet. 

-The son's name was Peter- get it-Peter as in Peter Cotton Tail. Also I would have really liked it if the bad guy's name was Farmer McGregor (well, I thought that the bad guy had a Scot's accent, but that was it). 

-I also felt like that rabbit family should be larger, maybe with a few more kids. 

-Rosalee and Monroe should really have a kid (or kids). Now that is a pregnancy story I do want to see on this show. 

-Also were we to assume that Renard has fallen back to the dark side because he talked to Adalind for like two minutes in his car?

Edited March 22, 2015 by TVSpectator

[Reo]

Seriously, death after grabbing the foot?  Sounds a little extreme to me.  How are we gonna get more baby bunnies with two feet that way?  Wear one of those spiffy masks to disguise your face, catch, chop, and release.  How tough is that?

 

Lots of sad little one footed bunnies then.  Maybe they could have a support group.

 

Edit to add that yes, I also find it disgusting that these people are used as fertility charms.  As cool as it can be to be wesen, there are some seriously lame types out there.   Who the hell would want to be a rat or a rabbit?

Edited March 22, 2015 by Reo

[TVSpectator]

Seriously, death after grabbing the foot?  Sounds a little extreme to me.  How are we gonna get more baby bunnies with two feet that way?  Wear one of those spiffy masks to disguise your face, catch, chop, and release.  How tough is that?

 

Lots of sad little one footed bunnies then.  Maybe they could have a support group.

 

Edit to add that yes, I also find it disgusting that these people are used as fertility charms.  As cool as it can be to be wesen, there are some seriously lame types out there.   Who the hell would want to be a rat or a rabbit?

 

Death happens when you bleed to death from the cut foot (hence, that is why Wu told Nick and Hank that Peter bled out, meaning that he died from losing too much blood). 

Edited March 22, 2015 by TVSpectator

[Reo]

Yeah, I  understand about the bleeding out part.  Tourniquet and ice bath in a remote hotel room?  The guy got $10,000 beans for a foot, he could spring for a dump.  Real life criminals don't usually slaughter organ theft victims, the charge is much higher for death.  (Although, of course, in the Grimm world they have their own special wesen monster hell beasts for that.)

 

I guess I just find it really disturbing how casually the axman whacks off a part of his prey  and throws the rest away.  Almost as disturbing as having there be a remorseless market for the whacked part, by people who know EXACTLY where it comes from.  It's denying the prey any right to life, they don't count as human beings and they don't count as wesen.  Who gets to decide that?

Edited March 22, 2015 by Reo

[Prevailing Wind]

Gee, kinda like rhinocerous horn as an aphrodisiac.  Or elephants for their tusks.  There's human precedence for this kind of godawful behavior.

[OtterMommy]

-Rosalee and Monroe should really have a kid (or kids). Now that is a pregnancy story I do want to see on this show. 

 

 

I can't say that I'm waiting with bated breath for a blutbad-fuchsbau baby, but I don't think it would bother me if they went this way.  Babies don't ALWAYS equal baby drama and, in the case of Monroe and Rosalee, it would seem like a natural next step.  Plus, they don't do a lot of "how wesen exist in a non-wesen world," but when they do, it works with M&R and I think a baby might give them more opportunities for that.

[theatremouse]

I guess I just find it really disturbing how casually the axman whacks off a part of his prey  and throws the rest away.  Almost as disturbing as having there be a remorseless market for the whacked part, by people who know EXACTLY where it comes from.  It's denying the prey any right to life, they don't count as human beings and they don't count as wesen.  Who gets to decide that?

I think the difference here is that the axman is moreso considering the prey a rabbit than a person. I'm not saying that's sane or wouldn't still be animal cruelty, but a lot of your logic is most obvious when applied to a person as victim, but more easy to see how someone could be so cruel to what they consider just* an animal. Doesn't make it right, but I think one can look at it two ways:

Either the axman is just that creepy-cruel-violent-leave-no-witnesses, and that's the point: to show just how scary he is.

or

He views it no differently than a hunter does a rhinoceros, which is also creepy and cruel, but slightly different.

*words I'm putting in the character's mouth, not reflective of my own opinion or a phrase I'd use, but rather that many people consider it a far worse offense to kill a person than an animal.

Edited March 22, 2015 by theatremouse

[Reo]

On the Juliette question, I can see her responding out of character because she has had a part of her identity fundamentally changed.  As far as she can see, it's going to be forever.  She's gotta be having some pretty strong feelings about that.  Add to that emotionally charged brew the new hormones or magic juice or whatever that is coursing through her, and it's like puberty on turbo.

 

Her whole bullshit maneuver on Nick was about as emotionally mature as an emo tween.  Trying to force a kiss on her lipless new reality was a bitch move, but she is a hexenbiest now.  At least she didn't try to kill HIM.

 

Baby for Addie?  Sure, why not, if it will only move this royals plot along!  Otherwise, meh.  I like soap operas and I don't mind all of the personal interactions, but I would like things to make sense and not drag out for f'ing ever.  I would like to know as a viewer what the stakes really are, and right now I don't.  It's okay to have a little ambiguity but this is so ambiguous I don't know why I should care.

 

I think the show suffers for trying to be a police procedural in addition to a show about a secret society of shape shifters that live among the rest of humanity.  It's hard to do both well and tie the stories together in a way that makes organic sense. I just want something to happen.  

[Ghost of TWOP Past]

Allow me to clarify and expand upon a point that possibly no one else cares about. :) 

 

What bugged me about the Chloe scene is that: 1) She had the villain defeated and simply needed to hit him a couple more times. She needn't have killed him, if that is a problem with minor actors. (Are you guys sure about that? I've never heard of it before.) 2) Nick and Hank have plenty of hero moments, including the fact that their detective work brought them to the place in time to prevent her death once already. It wouldn't have diminished them to give the moment to the girl. And 3) because this show does have a bit of Buffy heritage, and they do at times allow their female characters to be strong, I was expecting Chloe to stomp the guy. But instead, despite having already set her up for the victory, 4) she hesitates, loses the initiative, and the victory goes to the men folk. I'm not so much offended on behalf of feminism as I am disappointed that they reverted to the trope.

Edited March 22, 2015 by Ghost of TWOP Past

[FrancesL]

 

Do you mean that Nick would've questioned the use of a condom and suspected something was up? Or do you mean it was necessary to have the Grimm swimmers inside of her for the spell to work? Or both? Even if both, she could have tracked her ovulation cycle to avoid pregnancy. But since we have seen in the past that Adalind is not the best student of spells and their side effects, maybe she just missed the footnotes about getting pregnant.

 

I mean that she most likely needed an exchange of fluids for the spell to work and a condom would have prevented it.  She just lost her baby and was desperate to get her  back as quickly as possible, which is understandable. I really doubt that she would have been willing to wait for a birth control pill to be functional, much less, sit around waiting to get to the safest point in her cycle. She also just delivered a  baby within the past week or so and it often takes at least a few weeks for one's cycle  to normalize (your'e not at your most fertile period right after giving birth either). So with respect to birth control, I really don't think she was being stupid. She just wanted her child back. Was she crazy to use the spell? Well that's another story!. 

[OtterMommy]

I mean that she most likely needed an exchange of fluids for the spell to work and a condom would have prevented it.  She just lost her baby and was desperate to get her  back as quickly as possible, which is understandable. I really doubt that she would have been willing to wait for a birth control pill to be functional, much less, sit around waiting to get to the safest point in her cycle. She also just delivered a  baby within the past week or so and it often takes at least a few weeks for one's cycle  to normalize (your'e not at your most fertile period right after giving birth either). So with respect to birth control, I really don't think she was being stupid. She just wanted her child back. Was she crazy to use the spell? Well that's another story!. 

 

Um, actually, you can be fertile right after giving birth, especially if you aren't nursing.  The resulting phenomena are known as Irish Twins (no offense to those of Irish descent here...I didn't make up the term).

 

Still, is doesn't explain why it has taken anywhere from 7 months to a year for this pregnancy to actually happen.  Dear showrunners:  believe it or not, we can do math.

[Reo]

I guess the point I was trying to make is that Show has set it up that most wesen are humans with special abilities, not animals.  (Although some certainly are more in touch with their monster side and gleefully prey on people and other wesen).  They live the majority of life as human.  Nick is doing his best to enforce human law on wesen behavior.

 

Hey, I eat meat.  I've even whacked a few rabbits for dinner (and they were delicious).  But they weren't capable of transforming themselves into a human boy who attends high school.  Or I hope they weren't.  

 

I'm not gonna argue who has the most right to live, animals or humans.  Clearly we all value our lives and want to continue on.  Animals don't feel guilty about killing to eat, although they don't take trophies or kill for fun.  Humans do.  Humans will eat damned near anything.