S05.E12: Into the Schwarzwald

[catrox14]

So that was kind of ...fun? Is this Grimm?

[spaulding]

As for the rest, I swear Bitsie's acting has gotten worse.

 

She's so ridiculous in that wig and the whole "bad-ass" thing she has going on.

 

Even as a badass, she's still incredibly wooden.  The black wig was terrible.  Juliette is no Aeon Flux. 

 

She was hilarious as the covert super spy.  She's covered from head to feet in dark clothing against the sunny Portland background and among people who were wearing casual clothes.  I'm pretty sure that people can spot her in a crowd. 

 

Mama Grimm already did it the covert super spy/Woman in Black, and she was believable.  Even when she stole a car to get out of town.

 

Am I the only one who still finds Renard attractive when he woges? Maybe if I was face to face with him I wouldn't think that- but when he woges & fights, he just looks so strong.

 

He's always hot when he brings out the biest.  Then, he got to play alpha male when he was fighting that other wesen.

 

He's more fun as a gray character.  Help Nick & Co. but slice the ear off a Repear and sanction a wesen fight club.

 

The box opening reminded me of 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' and the bad guys opening the Ark. All for... a piece of wood. With magical properties. It still seemed a little too easy.

 

It was very Raiders.  I was disappointed that their faces didn't melt. 

 

What's in the box?!  Well, it turns out it's a long lost wand from Hogwarts!  OK, not really, but I totally loved how flummoxed everyone was when it was just a stick, and all the wisecracks and remarks about it (especially Wu admitting that his "Stickmada" was a reach.  It happens to best, Wu!)  But it actually has healing powers, apparently.  Interesting....

 

Heh.  I thought it would Gweneth Paltrow's head. 

 

I liked that the stick was such a let down for everybody.  Get some jokes in before the Scooby gang figures out how important it is. 

 

But I am disappointed that the stick did have some magical heading powers.  I would have been more impressed if it did nothing, and the Grimm Crusaders were just trolling. 

 

The writers still don't know what to do with Adalind.  Now, let her get her powers back, but so what?  How will becoming a hexenbiest develop her character?  She was used by Renard and the Royals.  She's still the interchangeable girlfriend to Nick.  And she's still used to prop Juliette the heroic badass (the Adalind loses fight to Juliette/Round 2 is coming). 

 

Pair her with Meisner and develop a storyline for them.  Meisner working in the background is boring.  He needs to take off his shirt and fight the bad wesen.

 

I hope that this show starts focusing on closure.  I would hate for this show to end with so many loose ties. 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Due to my viewing habits, Mr. Pointy was the first thing I thought when I saw the stake. Then I thought it was Son of White Oak. After Monroe's wound healed, I thought it was a magic wand.

 

Speaking of magic, it seemed to me like Adalind wasn't intentionally doing magic and that she was just as shocked as the bad guy was that his fingers were being bent backwards, which made me think that it was baby Kelly protecting his mother.

 

I was really gritting my teeth during the Rosalee/Adalind scenes. I have no desire to see them bond over how worried they are about their menfolk. Rosalee is worried about her husband, who is her partner in every way, who she loves and trusts, who she doesn't keep secrets from. Adalind is worried about a guy who she tried to kill and then raped.

 

As if that weren't bad enough, then we had to get Rosalee repeating the show's new "Adalind is so different now!" mantra TO ADALIND'S FACE. Seriously, show? I don't care how many characters tell me that Adalind has changed or how you retcon that being a hexenbiest makes you a mean evil nasty bitch. I WILL NEVER BUY WHAT YOU ARE SELLING.

 

I used to love Meisner but I was rolling my eyes this week when he yelled at Renard for ruining his big plan. Sorry, dude, if you don't tell people about your plans ahead of time, then you can't blame them for screwing up said plans. Renard is a zauerbiest, not a psychic. If you don't want him to apprehend a murderer, maybe give him a heads up.

 

Just realized Bailey Chase is the actor that played the guy that shot Garcia on Criminal Minds. He looked so familiar and it was driving me nuts!

He looked familiar to me last week but I didn't realize until the end of this episode that he was Branch Connally on Longmire! I think it was because this week we finally got a good look at his face. The last two weeks, he was shown briefly and it was always dark so I would think he looked familiar and then he was gone before I could figure out how I knew him.

[SmithW6079]

The amateur historian in me cringed at the way Monroe and Nick were flailing about and destroying 800-year-old artifacts in the basement of the church.

And apparently, you can remove 800-year-old relics from their country of origin on commercial flights with no problem.

I like the Black Claw story line, but not Hadrian's Wall. If only there was a way to incorporate Meissner into the gang, dump Juliette as she is now and Trubel, and the gang could solve Wesen mysteries.

Despite Renard's woging, he still doesn't seem that powerful. Adalind can break fingers and boil water. Juliette can make people's heads blow up. What are a zauerbiest's powers?

Edited March 13, 2016 by SmithW6079

[possibilities]

There are so many animal-like Wesen, maybe the stick is a piece of Noah's Ark.

That would be great. Grimms were supposedly about controlling/killing wesen, but wouldn't it be great if the originals were actually healers?

[Clanstarling]

Did I understand correctly that they didn't need the keys to open the box? That it could have been done with a lock pick? I mean...really? Ancient box. Buried. Sealed with Grimm blood, and one little lock pick opens it?

I didn't mind the lock pick so much, as I did the fact they all placed their keys and turned them in synch, as if that was important - despite the initial two locks already being opened. It made for a better visual, but made no logical sense.

 

 

I'm worried about side effects or additional properties of the healing stick.  They would have locked it up, printed a map on 7 keys,, split it all up, etc if all it did was heal.  Maybe it is a magic wand does what the holder wants?  I'm sure Nick was hoping Monroe wasn't sick.  Or maybe the healing comes with price (yes, that's OUAT, but you never know).

You might be onto something, OUAT or not. A large percentage of fantasies use the "healing comes with a price" caveat. That keeps some tension when the power is used - will the healer have enough reserves to manage it or not?

 

 

Except, I'm starting to think that a zauberbiest/warlock (who rarely woges) is what Meisner could be. It could explain why Renard originally knew him. And the royals killed Meisner's family and we know Renard's father is attracted to hexenbiests but the rest of the family wanted to kill her. Chavez could have recruited him for this reason. Also, Meisner is good at fighting, and we can see that Renard is better at fighting than many wesen when he's motivated because he easily beat Marwan- so maybe zauberbiests are talented at that.

 Wouldn't it be fun if they were half-brothers?

If Rosalie's ex doesn't come back into the picture, then it was an awful lot of build-up for not much pay-off.

I think Renard is working with Meisner. They cut away directly from the argument to Renard going home and the woman approaching him. It made me think that they had actually talked and maybe come up with a plan. Of course, since Renard does have attraction to power, I could be misreading the situation.

Speaking of cutaways - I really liked they way the cut from one scene to another in this episode.

I don't think it was Kelly manifesting biest powers, it looked to me like Adalind's face almost woged during her distress - or at least it rippled. Plus, she'd know how her own body feels when she's a hexenbiest.

Edited March 13, 2016 by clanstarling

[TVSpectator]

Maybe Monroe is now immortal.

 

Oh, I would love to see the (miss) adventures of an immortal Monroe. Maybe they can have a spin-off where we see a 200+-year-old immortal Monroe walking around a future Portland (or maybe he ends up moving to Seattle). 

[Darklazr]

The seven Grimm's knew their Royal benefactors would use the stick for evil at some point, so they should have either destroyed or buried it.  The Grimm's chose to bury the stick and now we have a whole new story on what happens when everyone finds out about said stick!

 

I thought Nick went to college, so why does the character act like a lump head at times?!

 

My sexy pants Renard has bad taste in women (Adalind, Catherine, Mia, Juliette and Rachel)!

 

I, too, thought Nick and Monroe acting like drunks in a china shop in that church was all kinds of wrong.  WTH?!

Edited March 13, 2016 by Darklazr

[Commando Cody]

I thought that having Adelind feel like she was sick before she started to get her powers - like Juliette did - was the writers way of confirming that this is what happens when you get your powers and the baby didn't get swapped into the wrong body. 

 

Also, my belief is that baby Kelly would be a Grimm.  Adelind's face rippled like she was going to woge, but she didn't quite get there. I'm pretty sure she is the one with the power. 

[orza]

Adalind and Rosalee both agreed that what was happening was the hexenbiest suppressant was wearing off. Rosalee said that it was temporary and she didn't know how long it would last when she made the potion.

Edited March 13, 2016 by orza

[OtterMommy]

Adalind and Rosalee both agreed that what was happening was the hexenbiest suppressant was wearing off. Rosalee said that it was temporary and she didn't know how long it would last when she made the potion.

 

Actually Rosalee didn't say that.  The temporary natures of the suppressant was a retcon brought in early this season.  A number of us went back and watched season 4, thinking we were crazy for missing that, and it was never mentioned that it was temporary until episode 2 of season 5.

[Darklazr]

Adalind told Nick in Renard's office that the potion would suppress the special snowflakes power, but I don't remember anything about it being temporary.

[OtterMommy]

Adalind told Nick in Renard's office that the potion would suppress the special snowflakes power, but I don't remember anything about it being temporary.

 

Veering from the episode...and still miffed at this retcon, so moving it over to the Everything Wrong thread...

[theatremouse]

One of the better episodes of the season. I also was surprised we got answers this episode. My teen son was overly focused on how Nick and Monroe we're going to get that old box on a plane home.

And even before I could noodle through what the stick was, my son had it pegged as part of the true cross. And that the language is Hebrew. Although I think during that time period, it may have been Aramic.

I'm not sure if Adalind is playing a long con and perhaps slept with Nick specifically to get her powers back. Claire seemed to be playing it like she truly was fearful of regaining her powers. Even when she was alone she didn't look happy.

Last episode when she was prattling on with her "but you're going into Crusadey danger and might not come back" blah she sounded so not-Adalind to me I was absolutely convinced it was a long con because she wanted whatever the keys would open up. And at first, during this one when she acted surprised/horrified she broke dude's fingers I thought she was presenting that face for Rosalie's benefit, to not blow her cover.

I do not trust the writers enough for this to be true. They do have me convinced by now this new version of Adalind is what they're running with. But hey, that's no more or less of a preposterous-and-soap-opera turnaround as Nick happily having sex with someone who raped him barely a year ago. So now I'm at the point I have to believe this Adalind shit at face value for now. I still don't get why she'd be so horrified at breaking dude's fingers since she's most certainly done much more violent things in the past without a care in the world. I mean, I get they're trying to get us to believe she's remorseful and doesn't like her former self nor want to go back to that, but it's just completely unearned. Plus it means they're pushing the whole "biest made me do it" angle instead of it being possible for her to have powers and use them for good instead of rapey-attempted-murdery shenanigans. It'd be more satisfying to me if it were a long con, and she had to bust up druggie dude in self defense and were playing at getting the vapors over it as cover. But my expectations are set really low on this one.

Meanwhile, there's a boatload of unintentional funny if they managed to go this route, and I'm just hearing Benny Hill music in my head as they keep the plotline of the N-A relationship and they cycle through: he has powers-she doesn't, she does-he does,she does-he doesn't, and it just goes on an infinite loop. "Honey, what could possibly be happening to us! Oh noes! Can our love survive the tumult?" as neither of them realizes what happens every time they do it. It's that silly.

In other news it annoyed the fuck out of me how Nick and Monroe kept saying things like they needed to think differently or outside the box or get into the minds of the Grimms who hid the thing. Like, no dudes, you're thinking of all the most blatantly obvious and fairly literal explanations for what an X and/or cross might mean. This is not breaking sooper-seekret encryption up in here. This was about as difficult for them to "figure out" as Nick's "secret warehouse" is difficult to locate. This is like...Dora the Explorer-level puzzle solving.

Edited March 14, 2016 by theatremouse

[Clanstarling]

Actually Rosalee didn't say that.  The temporary natures of the suppressant was a retcon brought in early this season.  A number of us went back and watched season 4, thinking we were crazy for missing that, and it was never mentioned that it was temporary until episode 2 of season 5.

I think for me, the idea that it was temporary was not so much that the characters said something to that effect (though I could have sworn they did, but I believe you), but that to me the word "suppress" used in a medical sense means that it is by nature temporary - otherwise it would be called a cure. For example, I take meds to suppress the symptoms of a condition I h ave. The meds are not a cure, if I discontinued them, the condition would rear its ugly head. So my take from the moment her powers were suppressed (whether or not supported by dialog) was that Adalind would get her powers back later in the series. Edited March 14, 2016 by clanstarling

[OtterMommy]

I think for me, the idea that it was temporary was not so much that the characters said something to that effect (though I could have sworn they did, but I will take your word for it), but that to me the word "suppress" used in a medical sense means that it is by nature temporary - otherwise it would be called a cure. For example, I take meds to suppress the symptoms of a condition I h ave. The meds are not a cure, if I discontinued them, the condition would rear its ugly head. So my take from the moment her powers were suppressed (whether or not supported by dialog) was that Adalind would get her powers back later in the series.

 

I could get behind that...except that Adalind made a point of saying that it would give Juliette a "normal life," which does not suggest it being temporary.  Of course, in that same scene, Adalind said she had no idea this would happen to Juliette--despite telling Renard a few episodes earlier that she knew that Juliette would become a hexenbiest if Nick reversed the spell she had used.  As we all know, and should not forget, Adalind is a liar through and through.

 

But, back to this episode.  I didn't watch it (although apparently it is on my DVR...I guess I only deleted the syndicated eps), but my guess is that there are three possibilities we can go with.

1 - This is all a long con

2 - Adalind is really surprised by this

3 - #1, but Claire Coffee was not given the information she needed to perform the role in a, what? realistic? way.

 

What I mean is this.  Claire Coffee herself has said that she (and I'm assuming the entire cast) can only go episode by episode.  The majority of the time, that isn't a big deal.  But, if Adalind is running a con--and there is evidence both to support and negate that theory--Claire Coffee should know that so that she knows what Adalind's motivation is.

 

A now well-known example:  When the first Harry Potter film was about to go into production, J.K. Rowling told Alan Rickman what Snape's entire character arc would be.  No one else--not the cast, directors, screenwriters--knew this.  Just Rowling and Rickman.  At the time, I believe only the first 3 books had been published and we don't really get a hint into Snape's motivations until after that point.  Yet, Rowling (thankfully) felt that Rickman wouldn't be able to play that role if he didn't know Snape's history and future.  I think, if Rickman hadn't known all that, he might have made some vastly different acting choices that would have been problematic down the road.

 

So, if it is a long con (which I hope it is--I think that would actually make sense both to the character and the story, but I don't think it is--because that would require some story crafting skill from the creative team), Claire Coffee should know this so that she can play her role effectively.  I guess we'll just have to see how this all pans out...

[ShadowFacts]

When I watched the episode I actually bought that Adalind was truly upset that her powers were returning, because of her reaction when Rosalee was not looking.  But upon reading comments here and thinking more about how it doesn't jibe with her character and seems so retconnish, I think there is still the possibility that she is playing some other angle.  She may have looked disconcerted because things aren't going the way she thought they might, for example, she thought this would not happen so soon, or should have happened earlier but since it didn't she thought she was permanently de-hexened instead of temporarily suppressed.  Something like that, because I just don't buy that she misses the old days of being a nerdy homeschooled lawyer and being a hexenbiest made her feel so icky.  Because we never saw that, and we saw her do heinous things to regain her powers the first time.  So I'm still skeptical. 

[Darklazr]

Adalind could be playing one long con or she's realizing what it means to have a support system (Nick, Rosalie, Monroe, Hank and Wu).  Adalind stood at her mother's grave and said she wanted to be a better Mom for her two children.  Seriously.  Adalind must have been dropped on her head if she thought the Renard's family was going to let her keep Diana after she sold them the kid!

[Prevailing Wind]

But if Adalind is working a long con, that means these writers planned ahead.  (Excuse me, while I go laugh uproariously at the thought of Grimm writers planning anything but lunch.)

[snarktini]

Stick-mata! hahahahaha. I adore Wu. Nick is okay, but at this point in the series I'm here for the sidekicks. Wu, Monroe, Rosalie, and Hank are the best.

 

Hoping it's the baby with powers. Very Wyatt from Charmed. (Unless re-hexening takes Adalind out of Nick's house and bed. I can work with that.)

 

How short did Meisner look in the scene standing next to Renard? Man needed a box.

[Darklazr]

Stick-mata! hahahahaha. I adore Wu. Nick is okay, but at this point in the series I'm here for the sidekicks. Wu, Monroe, Rosalie, and Hank are the best.

 

Hoping it's the baby with powers. Very Wyatt from Charmed. (Unless re-hexening takes Adalind out of Nick's house and bed. I can work with that.)

 

How short did Meisner look in the scene standing next to Renard? Man needed a box.

 

LOL.  Mr. Sexy Pants is a tall glass of water!  Meisner and Wu are about the same height.

But if Adalind is working a long con, that means these writers planned ahead.  (Excuse me, while I go laugh uproariously at the thought of Grimm writers planning anything but lunch.)

 

LOL.  The writers had a break and could have decided to go with the con aspect of Nick and Adalind's sleazy relationship.

[OtterMommy]

But if Adalind is working a long con, that means these writers planned ahead.  (Excuse me, while I go laugh uproariously at the thought of Grimm writers planning anything but lunch.)

 

Heading back to the Everything Wrong thread....

[tpel]

How short did Meisner look in the scene standing next to Renard? Man needed a box.

 

 

Oh, everybody looks short standing next to Renard. Some of the scenes of him walking down the hall in the precinct are unintentionally funny, since he towers over everyone else (besides Hank, who is only a couple of inches shorter than him). Meisner, at least, can console himself with the thought that he could probably kick Renard upside the head if he had to. 

 

I agree with comments above to the effect that, if the Adalind thing is supposed to be a long con, it is poorly executed. My guess is, it is not a con, but the writers have not clued the actors in one way or another, so CC is playing it straight yet somewhat ambiguously -- maybe she can't believe that the storyline is for real either.

[OtterMommy]

I agree with comments above to the effect that, if the Adalind thing is supposed to be a long con, it is poorly executed. My guess is, it is not a con, but the writers have not clued the actors in one way or another, so CC is playing it straight yet somewhat ambiguously -- maybe she can't believe that the storyline is for real either.

 

That's actually very possible.  Both DG and CC said things to the effect that neither of them wanted Nick and Adalind to have a romantic relationship (this was back in the summer, before season 5 started filming or at least very early on in that season).  I'm not a big fan of shows letting actors call the shots but, on this one, they should have listened.

[spaulding]

I agree with comments above to the effect that, if the Adalind thing is supposed to be a long con, it is poorly executed. My guess is, it is not a con, but the writers have not clued the actors in one way or another, so CC is playing it straight yet somewhat ambiguously -- maybe she can't believe that the storyline is for real either.

 

The moment that Adalind regained her powers, it looked kinda comical because she didn't believe it was happening but sorta did. 

 

Coffee must have been frustrated by playing that scene because she's in the dark about Adalind's motivations.  She doesn't know if it's a long con or not, so she has to cover all the bases.  Some people didn't feel that Coffee was bringing it in that scene, but I think that she was at a disadvantage about how to play it. 

 

LOL.  Mr. Sexy Pants is a tall glass of water!  Meisner and Wu are about the same height.

 

Meisner and Wu?  Wow. 

 

I think that SWM is close to the same height as SR.  I love the photo from SR's IG where he's taller than the shower head.

[Clanstarling]

Oh, everybody looks short standing next to Renard. Some of the scenes of him walking down the hall in the precinct are unintentionally funny, since he towers over everyone else (besides Hank, who is only a couple of inches shorter than him). Meisner, at least, can console himself with the thought that he could probably kick Renard upside the head if he had to.

If his feet can reach that high.

[Darklazr]

If his feet can reach that high.

 

Bwhahahahhahahahah!

[proserpina65]

Happy that they revealed the magic healing stick even if I had trouble getting over the fact that it's a stick.

 

My first thought was "piece of the True Cross", not that I believe in such things.  But, you know, Wesen, so I'll go with it.

[OtterMommy]

My first thought was "piece of the True Cross", not that I believe in such things.  But, you know, Wesen, so I'll go with it.

 

My husband hasn't watched the show since it was revealed that Adalind was pregnant...again.  However, when I told him a while ago that they were finally going to resolve the keys, he was sure they'd find the frickin' Elder wand.  I said, "No...they've already ripped off Harry Potter with the polyjuice potion...they wouldn't do it again!"

 

I hate it when he's right.

[proserpina65]

Although I think during that time period, it may have been Aramic.



That's my guess, ancient Aramaic.

Edited March 14, 2016 by proserpina65

[laddibugg]

Adalind and Nick are a perfect example of why it's important to 'wrap it up'. 

 

But I did like the episode, though, like others, I wondered how they got the box out of the country. 

[Prevailing Wind]

Since the episode is called "Into The Schwarzwald" I was surprised they didn't need a cow as white as milk, hair as yellow as corn, a cape as red as blood and a slipper as pure as gold...

[OtterMommy]

Since the episode is called "Into The Schwarzwald" I was surprised they didn't need a cow as white as milk, hair as yellow as corn, a cape as red as blood and a slipper as pure as gold...

 

 

No, no, no!  Didn't you hear?  Grimm has run out of fairy tales to use!  Just ask Kouf, Greenwalt, and Carpenter!

[Prevailing Wind]

Well, Sondheim & Lapine made up the Baker & His Wife story.  MAKE SOME UP if you're too stupid to research. Asshats.

[tpel]

Re: character heights:

Based on extensive research (i.e., Google :-), here is the line-up:

Renard = 6'4"

Monroe = 6'3"

Hank = 6'2"

Nick = 5'11"

Meisner = 5'10"

Trubel = 5'8 and 3/4"

Wu = 5'8 and 1/2"

Rosalee = 5'8"

Juliette = 5'6"

Adalind = 5'4"

OK, so not super relevant to this particular episode, except that this was one of the times that Renard's stature was noticeable. Hey, isn't there supposed to be a correlation between taller candidates winning elections? If he does run for mayor of Portland, maybe that'll help . . . along with being able to eviscerate one's opponent . . . It's kind of sad that I care more about Renard's political ambitions than I do about the other stupid storylines!

[TVSpectator]

Re: character heights:

Based on extensive research (i.e., Google :-), here is the line-up:

Renard = 6'4"

Monroe = 6'3"

Hank = 6'2"

Nick = 5'11"

Meisner = 5'10"

Trubel = 5'8 and 3/4"

Wu = 5'8 and 1/2"

Rosalee = 5'8"

Juliette = 5'6"

Adalind = 5'4"

OK, so not super relevant to this particular episode, except that this was one of the times that Renard's stature was noticeable. Hey, isn't there supposed to be a correlation between taller candidates winning elections? If he does run for mayor of Portland, maybe that'll help . . . along with being able to eviscerate one's opponent . . . It's kind of sad that I care more about Renard's political ambitions than I do about the other stupid storylines!

 

I always thought that Rosalee was smaller than 5'8; like maybe 5'6/5'5? Maybe these are the actual actors' height. 

Edited March 15, 2016 by TVSpectator

[OtterMommy]

I always thought that Rosalee was smaller than 5'8; like maybe 5'6/5'5? Maybe these are the actual actors' height. 

I'm pretty sure these are the actors' heights.  I'm not especially surprised that Bree Turner is 5'8", but I am surprised that less than an inch separates her and Jacqueline Toboni.  JT just seems so much taller.

[possibilities]

Rosalie probably looks small because she's usually standing next to the very tall Monroe.

[Prevailing Wind]

Bree T. just acts shorter.  Now THOSE are some acting chops!  Chew on that, Julieve.

[TVSpectator]

Rosalie probably looks small because she's usually standing next to the very tall Monroe.

 

Bree T. just acts shorter.  Now THOSE are some acting chops!  Chew on that, Julieve.

 

If the director wants a character to look taller than what the actual actor is, in real life, there are always camera angles, and even high shoes (that are never shown on camera). Those are just a couple of old tricks they would use (obviously today we would use CGI). 

[OtterMommy]

If the director wants a character to look taller than what the actual actor is, in real life, there are always camera angles, and even high shoes (that are never shown on camera). Those are just a couple of old tricks they would use (obviously today we would use CGI). 

 

This is true...DG has posted pictures of his "high heels" before.  I guess those are the shoes he wears in his scenes with Renard. 

[TVSpectator]

This is true...DG has posted pictures of his "high heels" before.  I guess those are the shoes he wears in his scenes with Renard. 

 

I also hear that Tom Cruise wears a pair in all of his movies. 

[tpel]

Yes, the heights I listed were for the actors -- I assume the characters are meant to be approximately the heights of the people who play them. The directors don't seem to be trying to film anyone as, say, much taller than they are, though they may sometimes try to minimize height differences when Sasha Roiz is in a scene, just to get everybody's face in the frame!

[OtterMommy]

You gave the writers that much credit?

 

I guess some part of you does still love this show.

 

Sigh...yeah.  I've given up the show, but there is a part of me that is hoping that this does all turn around and I can binge watch it all in May (with some liberally FFing, of course!).  I am actually kind of mourning the loss of my Friday night viewing.  Thank goodness I have Frank Underwood to see me through...

 

 

And whether it's a long con, she has to play freaked out as if it's real, in order to make everyone believe. 

 

But if they have her playing a long con and having her freaked out when she's sitting there alone with nobody watching her, then they're totally 

 

I could see this still being a long con...mostly because I can see them not telling Claire Coffee (or even whoever directed that episode...wait no, that was a Barba episode, so he would know) what was going on.  Given some of the strange character shifts in this show--Renard going from being a shady mafia don-ish guy to Nick's Fairy Godfather, Juliette going batshit crazy in about 2 episodes, Nick losing all of his mental faculties and all memories of the last 4 years--it is definitely not out of the realm of possibility.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

If the director wants a character to look taller than what the actual actor is, in real life, there are always camera angles, and even high shoes (that are never shown on camera). Those are just a couple of old tricks they would use (obviously today we would use CGI).

Similarly when filming a tall actor and a short actress kissing/talking while standing, they sonetimes have the woman stand on a box so that she doesn't have to bend her head all the way back and he doesn't have to hunch over. Sarah Michelle Gellar was a lot shorter than David Boreanaz (5'4" vs 6'1"), which was clear in scenes where they were walking/standing next to each other but in scenes where they kissed, she was suddenly only a few inches shorter than him. Edited March 15, 2016 by ElectricBoogaloo

[meep.meep]

 

I, too, thought Nick and Monroe acting like drunks in a china shop in that church was all kinds of wrong.  WTH?!

 

They weren't in a church in this episode - they fell into a hole in the forest and ended up in some sort of crypt.

 

Thank God I'm not the only one noticing the height differences.  I think they had Renard on the curb above Meisner who was standing in the street - which just made it worse to watch.  It's hard to be a bad ass with your head tilted that far back.

[OtterMommy]

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. 

 

Going over to the Adalind thread....

[possibilities]

This show is the sort of show that will rationalize any retcon they find convenient, so I think it's just as likely that Adalind would look nervous when alone if it is a long con as if it isn't. She could be thinking: "Oh no, Rosalie caught me! I know she said she wouldn't tell, but do I trust her? And now I have to be extra-careful and it's going to be harder not to arouse suspicion and get caught."

 

It's sooooooo out of character that she's acting now like she didn't want to be a hexenbiest, after the great lengths she went to get re-powered after the first time she was de-powered, it's even harder to justify than Renard going from season 1 sneaky to currently a total ally of the good. At least with Renard they gave him that purification thing. I suppose they might say that Juliette and Adalind switched personalities when they did that re-Grimming procedure, and that's why Juliette went psycho while Adalind went mild, but they'd also have to say that Nick also lost his personality and brains in the process because he's also been acting dim and robotic.

 

But again, this show does not care about making sense. They will do what they will do and our desire for it to be logical says more about us than about the show.

[Darklazr]

Adalind wanting her powers back makes sense, except the special snowflake kicked her behind and is working for HW, so why would she take a chance at being killed?  Adalind stood at her mother's grave and vowed to be a better mother for her children and she could have meant to do just that.

 

Renard's turn over to the good side IMO had more to do with him not trusting Adalind or his brother Eric and having seen that Nick was not running around killing wesen for sport.  Renard found out from his old lady friend Mia that the Royal's wanted Monroe a blutbad dead because of his friendship with a Grim.  

 

My sexy pants Renard likes law and order, but is also the bastard son of a King and will never rule a kingdom, so it makes sense that he hungers for power.  If this is the last year of Grimm, I suspect we will see Renard as either Mayor or Chief of Police.

[tpel]

What makes Renard's transition much more believable than Adalind's supposed transformation are the following factors: (1) Renard didn't make a complete 180-degree switch -- he went from dark gray to off-white; (2) there was an explanation for his sudden change that makes sense within the world of the show -- the purification potion; (3) the other characters did not trust him quickly after the change -- arguably they trust him more now than they used to, but they still keep him at arm's length most of the time. None of these hold true for Adalind. To me, the third is the most troublesome, as it makes the implausibility spread to the other characters.

One of the more frustrating aspects of the situation is that I actually like Adalind as a character, think CC is a good actress, and think there could be an interesting redemption story for Adalind. I'm just sad that they don't seem to be writing that story.