Adalind Schade: If We Didn't Know Any Better.....She'd Still Be the Worst

[icewolf]

The great thing about season 3 (and second half of season 2) is that I can fast forward ALL of Alalind's scenes in Europe before she goes back to Portland without missing a beat since NONE of the other Grimm main cast are involved in them, which shows how much her plot is slapped together after adding the actress to the cast. The writers obviously never really had any real plans for her, so we got that first pregnancy mess.

I do like season 3 for the Monore/Rosaless marriage arc, the last time those two had any real focus on them before being pushed aside for that crappy HexenJuliette arc in S4.

Edited November 26, 2015 by icewolf

[Enero]

I have always liked Adalind, however I like Hexenbiest Adalind not neutered Adalind and from the little I saw of her in the season premiere, she seems neutered. I don't mind her being a gray character though, neither villain nor good guy.

Agreed. I enjoy Adalind as well and I'm intrigued by this situation she's in with Nick, but they need to give her, her edge back. She's not sweet Juliette, before she became the BSC hexanbeast, she's Adalind Schade who has always walked very close to the line and many times crossed it. That said, I'm giving the writers time to ramp things up with her again. She did after all just have a baby and can't be in play just yet. Hopefully something will come of the scene she had with the lawyer from her old firm and she'll soon get back to work.

Even if the baby was biologically Juliette's, Adalind would still be the birth mother - so the baby would have 2 mothers

A friend and I were talking about this the other day and concluded with all the twin spells used around the time he was conceived i.e., Adalind turning into Juliette to take Nick's power, then Juliette turning into Adalind to get Nick his power back, little Kelly probably has Nick, Juliette and Adalind's DNA flowing through his veins and therefore all three are his biologically parents. Lol Edited December 28, 2015 by Enero

[OtterMommy]

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2015/12/adalyn_soars_to_among_most_pop.html#incart_river_index

 

Apparently Adalind is well enough liked in Portland for people to--sort of--name their babies after her.

 

ETA: Or, maybe not..if you read the comments.

Edited December 29, 2015 by OtterMommy

[OtterMommy]

This whole transformation process of Juliette turning into Eve, is just a very poorly done version of Fred turning into Illyria on the tv series Angel.  Yes, the character transition process is much different, but the end results seem to be very similar.  Regardless, Grimm has really done a piss poor job of reintroducing Juliette as the character Eve.

 

I think that the show would probably have been far more successful in this transition if they had turned Adalind into Eve instead of Juliette.  They had attempted (and failed) to make Adalind an effective villain for 4 years...and to find a place for her in this show.  If they had turned HER into Eve, she could at least have been a strong gray character (as opposed to a character who only wears gray) and she would actually be part of the main plot of the show.  As I said in another post on some other thread, it would have been far easier to even get to Adalind--Meisner already knew she was a hexenbiest, he knew where she was, and he had Diana to dangle in front of her as bait.  It also would have made much more sense for Nick to be wary of an Adalind-turned-Eve than a Juliette-turned-Eve.  He already knew she was evil and he knew that, at least in the past, she meant to do him harm.  The angst would be gone, which is always a good thing, and we could cut to the business at hand.

 

Of course, the creators have said that

Nick and Juliette are endgame

so--maybe, just maybe, they have a plan with this mess.....

 

...oh, I crack myself up sometimes!

Edited February 19, 2016 by OtterMommy

[neuromom]

Well, OtterMommy, maybe your spoiler is true! The show runners have a "beginning" and an "end game", but all the filler in between is "fly by the seat of your pants."

[icewolf]

I honestly don't care about this character anyone.

I just want to know which dumb writer decided to neuter Adalind and change her from the screwup villain into the boring housewife?

Claire Coffee deserves better. I miss the hell out of season one Adalind.

Edited February 20, 2016 by icewolf

[OtterMommy]

From the 512 thread...

 

See, now, if they didn't tell Claire it's a long con, and they have her sitting all alone and being for real freaked out, and then tell her later it is, as an actress, she should be really pissed, because she would have played it a bit differently.

 

Oh, I can definitely see that happening.  I remember reading an article with Claire Coffee--it was during this season--where she bemoaned her acting choices for the first time Adalind gave birth (with Diana).  She said that, after having Cal, she decided to handle Kelly's birth much differently.

 

I did have to laugh, though...as someone who has popped out 2 babies, I didn't think EITHER labor and/or delivery scene was remotely realistic.  And the post-partum scenes?  Yeah...DEFINITELY written by men who think that women are ready to hop up and head back into the kitchen right after giving birth (AND have a C-section).

 

But, back to the long con.  It does look like

Adalind and Renard will be spending a lot of time together from here on out (sorry DarkLazr)

, which makes me think the long con is still a possibility.  Or they are going with the idea that being a hexenbiest makes you bad, which is something they have already debunked in this show.  But, hey, they've thrown out every other "rule" they've created, so why not that one?

[OtterMommy]

It's like when they show someone waking up from a long coma, and they're just totally okay.

 

Unfortunately, the amazing amount of beautiful actresses who have flat stomachs and selfie themselves doing Pilates five minutes after giving birth, is the reason why male writers think women can just bounce back.

 

Yes, if you have millions of dollars to invest in trainers and nutritionists, I"m sure it's possible.

 

But actresses are not allowed to maintain baby weight, so they will starve themselves to make sure they look even better than they did pre-baby. 

 

It wasn't that Adalind was suddenly thin after giving birth--it was that she *did* after giving birth that was so ridiculous.  Within 24 hours of having Diana, she's spending days hiking through the forest.  I can swallow that one a little easier because they were on the run, but still.  After giving birth, especially to your first child and especially under more "rustic" conditions, you just aren't able to do that.  

 

When she had Kelly, she had a C-section and was SITTING up right afterwards?  When you have a c-section, they have to cut through your abdominal muscles--it isn't even possible to sit up.  Then she goes home the next day (a c-section usually requires you to stay in the hospital for 2 days afterwards...again, it is MAJOR surgery) and is walking around, going upstairs, like nothing happened.  A woman isn't even supposed to carry her own baby for something like 2 weeks after having a c-section.  And, it was all unnecessary.  There was no plot reason for Adalind to have to have a c-section, no reason why she had to go home the NEXT day, no reason she had to be walking around....so why even do it?

 

As for the labor scenes--every labor is different, of course.  Mine were absolutely nothing like hers (and, trust me, it wasn't fun the first time!) and I don't know of anyone who went through the typical TV histrionics that Adalind did.  The first thing they tell you in childbirth classes is that labor is absolutely nothing like it is shown on TV.  It's not a big deal--I just thought it was "interesting" when Claire Coffee said Adalind's 2nd delivery was more realistic.  It wasn't.  Both were sort of typical TV fare, but I actually thought her first labor was more believable.

 

***Again, this is not a big deal to me...it is just a tangent I went off on.  Oh, well, other than the fact that it is YET ANOTHER example of how these writers know absolutely nothing about women.

Edited March 16, 2016 by OtterMommy

[FrancesL]

"I mean, they've put her in Juliette's role, and she's a better Juliette than Juliette ever was."

 

I don't know if Adalind is a better Juliette than Juliette , but she definitely was a better person as a Hexenbiest than Juliette, because of the range of emotions that she showed.  Adalind may have been selfish and destructive as a Hexenbiest but she was also fiercely loyal to people she loved and probably made a lot of poor decisions because of it.  Even when Renard and her mother rejected her after becoming a human, she didn't try to ruin their lives. Instead, she tried to regain their affections by going to great lengths to become a Hexenbiest, which  was actually very sad. I think that the way that Adalind has reacted  to adverse events is what make me empathize with her circumstances despite everything she does.  For example, her reaction at losing Diana was heartbreaking. Juliette, on the other hand, became somewhat sociopathic after becoming a Hexenbiest, which is what makes her less likable. However, prior to being a Hexenbiest, I had no problem with Juliette. 

[OtterMommy]

"I mean, they've put her in Juliette's role, and she's a better Juliette than Juliette ever was."

 

I don't know if Adalind is a better Juliette than Juliette , but she definitely was a better person as a Hexenbiest than Juliette, because of the range of emotions that she showed.  Adalind may have been selfish and destructive as a Hexenbiest but she was also fiercely loyal to people she loved and probably made a lot of poor decisions because of it.  Even when Renard and her mother rejected her after becoming a human, she didn't try to ruin their lives. Instead, she tried to regain their affections by going to great lengths to become a Hexenbiest, which  was actually very sad. I think that the way that Adalind has reacted  to adverse events is what make me empathize with her circumstances despite everything she does.  For example, her reaction at losing Diana was heartbreaking. Juliette, on the other hand, became somewhat sociopathic after becoming a Hexenbiest, which is what makes her less likable. However, prior to being a Hexenbiest, I had no problem with Juliette. 

 

I agree with what you say here...even though I don't believe in the Juliette/Eve distinction, I'm going to use it here.  I understood Adalind as a Hexenbiest--I didn't understand Juliette as a hexenbiest.  I don't think anyone--the audience OR Bitsie Tulloch were really given the information needed to connect the dots there.  I also don't think that sort of role is really in Bitsie Tulloch's wheelhouse (whereas Claire Coffee can do it well).

 

However, I do want to point one thing out--Bitsie Tulloch has said in interviews that she has been directed to play Eve as robotic (she even used that word). I think that a lot of people criticize BT here saying that her acting is robotic, whereas I think that is they way she was told to play the role.  Whether or not it was a good choice, well we can argue that.  But it wasn't BT's choice.

[OtterMommy]

I agree that they made Adalind more nuanced. You felt sorry for her at times. That's the sign of a good actress. Someone who is a villain, but you still have a soft spot in your heart for them. It's not just in the writing but in the nuanced way they are able to evoke an emotion from the watcher.

 

Honestly, I think Adalind was probably the most nuanced character in this show behind Monroe.  Of course, I still don't think she was well-written character in a lot of ways, but Claire Coffee has done the best that she can with what she has been given.

 

However, I may be the only person, but I don't have a soft spot for Adalind.  I thoroughly despise the character, although I really wish I loved to hate her instead of just hating her.  Sigh....

[FrancesL]

'Honestly, I think Adalind was probably the most nuanced character in this show behind Monroe.  Of course, I still don't think she was well-written character in a lot of ways, but Claire Coffee has done the best that she can with what she has been given.

I have to admit that I have a lot of issues with how a lot of the female characters are written in Grimm (Even the writing for Trubel has been a bit disappointing this season). And I agree about Claire Coffee. I think that a lot of Adalind's appeal is a result of the actress' ability to make viewers see the vulnerability in the character. I think I first noticed how good Claire Coffee was at the end of season 1, right after she fought with Nick and realized that she was no longer a Hexenbiest.. The actress has also done a great job portraying Adalind's character progression. From being a hexenbiest to being human to being a mother (but once again a Hexenbiest) and then being a human again.....I think we've definitely seen a softening in her personality with each change.    However, I do wish the writers would portray her as a more empowered and independent person.  I have to keep reminding myself that at one point, she was a successful lawyer....It would be nice to see her return to having her own career. 

Edited March 16, 2016 by FrancesL

[Darklazr]

"I mean, they've put her in Juliette's role, and she's a better Juliette than Juliette ever was."

 

I don't know if Adalind is a better Juliette than Juliette , but she definitely was a better person as a Hexenbiest than Juliette, because of the range of emotions that she showed.  Adalind may have been selfish and destructive as a Hexenbiest but she was also fiercely loyal to people she loved and probably made a lot of poor decisions because of it.  Even when Renard and her mother rejected her after becoming a human, she didn't try to ruin their lives. Instead, she tried to regain their affections by going to great lengths to become a Hexenbiest, which  was actually very sad. I think that the way that Adalind has reacted  to adverse events is what make me empathize with her circumstances despite everything she does.  For example, her reaction at losing Diana was heartbreaking. Juliette, on the other hand, became somewhat sociopathic after becoming a Hexenbiest, which is what makes her less likable. However, prior to being a Hexenbiest, I had no problem with Juliette. 

 

I disagree.  Adalind screwed Hank knowing that she was messing up the original plan that Renard had laid out to gain Nick's key and she did it without caring how the cop SAVED her life month's earlier.  Adalind sicced her poisoned cat on the special snowflake, because she knew that Renard was the ONLY one that could wake the twit and this led to an obsession with someone dying in the end.

 

 As far as Catherine is/was concerned, she taught Adalind that just because the man is NOT in love with you (Renard) you keep hanging on in hopes of one day changing his mind or get even down the road which is why she manipulated him into having sex while he was vulnerable from the obsession.

 

I like Claire Coffee having watched her on General Hospital and think GRIMM made a HUGE mistake in not casting her as Juliette, because she has a better range acting wise.

[Darklazr]

When Catherine ran her hand up the inside of Renard's pant leg, all I could think was "ewwww" this is your daughter's man and this was the day BEFORE Adalind tried to kill Hank with sex.  Adalind went after Eric in order to hurt Renard and told him all kinds of crap about the man, Nick and her mother.  She wanted to hurt Renard which is why she sexed him up the first chance she got in order to sell his or Eric's kid and her mother's grandchild.  Adalind could have easily turned herself into Rosalie if she knew Monroe helped get Kelly out of town with Diana.

[OtterMommy]

When Catherine ran her hand up the inside of Renard's pant leg, all I could think was "ewwww" this is your daughter's man and this was the day BEFORE Adalind tried to kill Hank with sex.  Adalind went after Eric in order to hurt Renard and told him all kinds of crap about the man, Nick and her mother.  She wanted to hurt Renard which is why she sexed him up the first chance she got in order to sell his or Eric's kid and her mother's grandchild.  Adalind could have easily turned herself into Rosalie if she knew Monroe helped get Kelly out of town with Diana.

 

She could have, but there was no reason to.  Turning herself into Rosalee would not have de-Grimmed Nick and I don't think that raping Monroe would have de-blutbaded him (or de-Grimmed Nick).  But, yes...if she was told to go after Monroe instead of Nick, she would have done it in a heartbeat.

[icewolf]

She could have, but there was no reason to.  Turning herself into Rosalee would not have de-Grimmed Nick and I don't think that raping Monroe would have de-blutbaded him (or de-Grimmed Nick).  But, yes...if she was told to go after Monroe instead of Nick, she would have done it in a heartbeat.

Monroe is in the exclusive "Not slept with Adalind" club with Wu. Lucky him!

[Darklazr]

She could have, but there was no reason to.  Turning herself into Rosalee would not have de-Grimmed Nick and I don't think that raping Monroe would have de-blutbaded him (or de-Grimmed Nick).  But, yes...if she was told to go after Monroe instead of Nick, she would have done it in a heartbeat.

 

Let me be clear, Adalind would have screwed a goat if it meant getting her powers back or hurting Nick, Renard, her mother, etc.

[Prevailing Wind]

You can say that again!

[OtterMommy]

From the spoiler thread...

Quote

I'm glad I wasn't the only one squicked out by all the Adalind-sharing (with Catherine thrown in). 

Strangely, I actually wasn't bothered by Adalind's sleeping around.  I didn't think highly of it, but I actually felt it was within character--back when Adalind actually had one.

This is why I wasn't bothered by Adalind raping Nick (although, as you all know, I had a HUGE problem with where the show went after that....)  Rape is a horrible, horrible thing and I'm in no way condoning it.  However, it was completely within Adalind's character (again, back when she had one) to do something like that. Let us not forge that she had already done it once before--to Hank.

But then they decided to rob Adalind of any agency or character and instead give us the rapemance that, in my opinion, is responsible for the death of the show.

Edited September 3, 2016 by OtterMommy

[Darklazr]

12 hours ago, OtterMommy said:

From the spoiler thread...

Strangely, I actually wasn't bothered by Adalind's sleeping around.  I didn't think highly of it, but I actually felt it was within character--back when Adalind actually had one.

This is why I wasn't bothered by Adalind raping Nick (although, as you all know, I had a HUGE problem with where the show went after that....)  Rape is a horrible, horrible thing and I'm in no way condoning it.  However, it was completely within Adalind's character (again, back when she had one) to do something like that. Let us not forge that she had already done it once before--to Hank.

But then they decided to rob Adalind of any agency or character and instead give us the rapemance that, in my opinion, is responsible for the death of the show.

I had no issues with Adalind's behaviour, because it was in character for her to sleep around and go after "fill in the blank" out of revenge.  However, the rape baby and romance is where I think the show went off the rails.  Entertainment shows still think that what happened forty years ago with Luke raping Laura on GH and the duo becoming a supercouple means that we still want to see that shit onscreen!  Absolutely not!

[tpel]

Yeah, there is nothing wrong with having bad characters behave badly. Where it gets icky is when we're supposed to believe that reprehensible acts are some kind of bizarro "meet cute" leading to romance. 

[Darklazr]

2 hours ago, tpel said:

Yeah, there is nothing wrong with having bad characters behave badly. Where it gets icky is when we're supposed to believe that reprehensible acts are some kind of bizarro "meet cute" leading to romance. 

 I really hate when shows tend to go with chemistry over character history, because it sets a bad example and is lazy AF.

[OtterMommy]

1 hour ago, Darklazr said:

 I really hate when shows tend to go with chemistry over character history, because it sets a bad example and is lazy AF.

You know, I never really thought that Adalind and Nick (or, more accurately, Claire Coffee and David Giuntoli) ever had the "romantic" kind of chemistry.  I thought they played off each other well as adversaries...but nothing more.  I know not everyone agrees with me on that, and that's fine (heck, I thought--and still think--that Tulloch and Giuntoli had great chemistry....when the show allowed them to,  and I KNOW I'm on the minority with that one).

More importantly, there was nothing to indicate that a romantic relationship between Nick and Adalind would ever make sense, even when you took the rape out of the equation.  Yeah, the two really hated each other--but they weren't obsessed with each other. Yes, Adalind went after Juliette as retribution in season 1, and Nick was prepared to kill Adalind by season 4 (after 3.5 seasons of her crap....) but--generally--they didn't concern themselves with each other unless they ended up to be in the same situation. If the show really had wanted them to be a viable couple, they could have had some sort of obsession going between them from the beginning...but the didn't (even though they tried to make it look like they did with the two of them saying they were each other' firsts.....blech!)

I'm veering into the "everything wrong" thread area, so I'll just leave it at this--but Grimm has some of the worst story crafting I've seen on TV (or in movies, or read in  books) and there really is no excuse for that.  The Nick/Adalind issue is just one of many.

[Darklazr]

5 hours ago, OtterMommy said:

You know, I never really thought that Adalind and Nick (or, more accurately, Claire Coffee and David Giuntoli) ever had the "romantic" kind of chemistry.  I thought they played off each other well as adversaries...but nothing more.  I know not everyone agrees with me on that, and that's fine (heck, I thought--and still think--that Tulloch and Giuntoli had great chemistry....when the show allowed them to,  and I KNOW I'm on the minority with that one).

More importantly, there was nothing to indicate that a romantic relationship between Nick and Adalind would ever make sense, even when you took the rape out of the equation.  Yeah, the two really hated each other--but they weren't obsessed with each other. Yes, Adalind went after Juliette as retribution in season 1, and Nick was prepared to kill Adalind by season 4 (after 3.5 seasons of her crap....) but--generally--they didn't concern themselves with each other unless they ended up to be in the same situation. If the show really had wanted them to be a viable couple, they could have had some sort of obsession going between them from the beginning...but the didn't (even though they tried to make it look like they did with the two of them saying they were each other' firsts.....blech!)

I'm veering into the "everything wrong" thread area, so I'll just leave it at this--but Grimm has some of the worst story crafting I've seen on TV (or in movies, or read in  books) and there really is no excuse for that.  The Nick/Adalind issue is just one of many.

The obsession should have started when Nick took away Adalind's hexenbiest and not what we saw with Renard and Juliette.  Nick is still green and has no idea that when he kissed Adalind and she bit his lip, the blood may have killed her "biest" but it made them obsessed with each other and that way the show could have tried them as a couple.  There would have been no need for Adalind to have been pregnant at all.  Catherine could have teamed up with Rosalie to try and help Adalind and Nick's obsession and there would have been no need for Renard to sleep with Adalind's mother, which is all kinds of sleazy.

[lmdreamer]

Im currently rewatching the series. Why after the Verrat and evil wesley left didnt the captian tell adiland nicks mother had the baby in season 3? She only went to back to them because she thought they had the baby and removed nicks power to get her back.