S04.E13: Silence of the Slams

[tpel]

That is exactly how it happened. She just kind of sprang it on him, and it was going to take him five minutes to adjust, but Juliette was all, "SEE! It's NEVER GOING TO WORK! YOU FIND ME REVOLTING! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGHHH!!!"

So, yeah, it wasn't that Nick couldn't even be in the same house with her. It's that Nick's initial five-second reaction was to be mildly taken aback, and Juliette ran with it.

 

 

Clearly, our interpretations of this scene differ. And since this is the episode thread of a different episode, it is not the place to debate them. But I do think Nick's tendency to take an avoidance-based approach to emotionally charged situations -- whether or not he did so specifically in the scene above -- is relevant to current events. We saw it with early Juliette (when he asked her to marry him without taking the emotional risk of seeing whether she could handle the truth about his Grimmness); we saw it with Wu (when he procrastinated about deciding whether to confirm Wu's fears after Wu had seen wesen); we saw it with Adalind (when he basically made Monroe and Rosalee deal with her when she was grief-stricken over losing Diana). Like most of us, Nick would rather avoid emotionally charged confrontations; what makes me kind of dislike him a lot of the time is he continues to do this even after it is clear that other people involved in the situation are endangered or suffering due to his inaction. Now with Adalind and Kelly, I suppose we'll see him nobly dealing with the situation head-on. The writers can call it emotional growth, but I'm afraid it will play more like amnesia.

 

My theory is she's only Robotic HW part-time. She's still going in to the clinic to do spays, neuters, dental cleanings & vaccinations.

 

 

This is all kinds of awesome!

[ShadowFacts]

My theory is she's only Robotic HW part-time. She's still going in to the clinic to do spays, neuters, dental cleanings & vaccinations.  That's why her friends & co-workers aren't pounding on Nick's (former) door, wondering what happened to her.

Ha, yes, she could totally do this.  Maybe once in awhile one of the animals gets freaked out when they sense her hexenality, but she can just go telekenetic on them and silence their objections. 

[Darklazr]

FYI, Nick is notorious for just waiting around for something catastrophic to happen.

 

Case in point.

 

When he would turn green and stop breathing, and, you know, DIE for brief periods of time, he went to one doctor who found nothing wrong with him, and he pretty much said the same thing about just seeing what would happen. And Juliette, because a lot has been made of her medical training, totally agreed this was the absolute right way to deal with it.

 

Did they go to Rosalee about his problem? Uh, no.

 

And then like magic, it totally went away. 

 

Oh, sure, they gave it lip service by Nick occasionally having super hearing, but they've even given up on that.

 

I believe he also took a wait-and-see approach about Juliette, and that didn't turn out so well, but I don't see Nick learning much from past mistakes.

 

Okay, and can somebody tell me how Adalind, who was willing to do anything and humiliated herself to find Diana, suddenly just stopped looking? Like, "OH! Replacement baby!"

 

I'm a little fuzzy on the details. I mean, she has no idea where her daughter is. The woman who was taking care of her is dead. Yet she remains unconcerned.

 

And now it's like, "Oh, yeah. I had another baby. That's right." 

 

Adalind told Renard that once Diana was found by the King, that they would be killed which is why she conned her way over to helping the special snowflake and is now living in a frome (fortress/home).  As far as Adalind knows, King Frederick is dead and Viktor is King.

I did not miss Trubel in this episode and think she is really not needed on the show.

[iMonrey]

 

I liked the luchador story. As others have said, it was like the early seasons "Grimm." I got sick of the Royals, and now I'm sick of the Black Claw-Underground stuff.

 

I think the downfall of this show (and its ratings) has been the way long-term stories stop and start in fits, and the reason why people have stopped watching because nothing ever gets settled. Four years of Royals and Verrat and Resistance went nowhere and now we've got Black Claw and Hadrian's Wall and finally, finally - some closure with the keys last week. This week? Nothing. Back to another one-off MOW story. It's aggravating, to say the least. What reason do we have to believe this Black Claw/HW thing is going to go anywhere? The show has proven itself incapable of carrying a thru-line. 

 

So, even if you prefer the first season formula of one-off "MOW" stories (as I do, incidentally), and even when they're interesting, it's annoying as hell they go back and forth between the larger long-term stories and the one-offs. It feels like stalling and filler. We've already been given so many reasons to think they really don't know where they're going with any of this and are just making it up as they go along. One-offs thrown into the mix only reinforce that belief.

 

 

I thought that Martin Meisner was the last one to see Diana.

 

He was, and that's another thing I don't get. Where the hell is she, and why doesn't Renard know where she is since he's responsible for helping put her there? If she's with "The Resistance" doesn't that mean both Renard and Meisner should know where she is since both were part of said Resistance? Is The Resistance even a thing anymore, or has it morphed into Hadrian's Wall? Are those two separate entities, and what's the difference between them?

 

Honestly, they've made such a colossal mess of the overall myth-arc on this show it's impossible to follow anymore.

[Darklazr]

This is sort of a rant,,,but a mini one.

 

I hope this current arc sees the permanent end of Diana, because I am tired of the character and the name.  Adalind should have NEVER ended up with her powers back and a baby, it should have been one or the other.  

 

On a show called Grimm, it sure would be nice if Nick was the one with awesome powers, but we end up with Diana and the special snowflake.

[tpel]

I thought that Martin Meisner was the last one to see Diana.

 

He was, and that's another thing I don't get. Where the hell is she, and why doesn't Renard know where she is since he's responsible for helping put her there? If she's with "The Resistance" doesn't that mean both Renard and Meisner should know where she is since both were part of said Resistance?

 

 

I think it's one of those situations where you intentionally parcel up knowledge so that if someone is captured and tortured, the damage is limited. So Renard knows that Diana is with the Resistance, and Meisner knows who he dropped her off with, but neither of them knows her exact location. Meisner could probably find out, if he wanted to. As far as we know, Renard did not ask him to locate her. So it is odd that Renard is acting like they just got their first chance to track down their daughter, when one would think pressing the guy who saw her last for details would be an obvious step. Of course, getting Diana back might not be as simple as making a few phone calls. The Resistance may be pissed at our Portland crew for basically setting them up as having kidnapped baby Diana from the Royals. And Meisner seems to like Diana, and has his own agenda, so he may have reasons not to want to bring her out of hiding. Still, working with the Resistance seems like a saner approach to getting her back than working with Black Claw.

 

On a show called Grimm, it sure would be nice if Nick was the one with awesome powers, but we end up with Diana and the special snowflake.

 

 

Honestly, whenever I see that "special snowflake" moniker, I am momentarily confused as to whom it refers. Obviously, it is meant as a put-down to Juliette/Eve, but she is hardly the "most special" character on the show. Right now, she's mostly a robotic functionary who sits behind a computer, occasionally going out and using her hexen-mojo on someone. Diana, also, was presented initially as a "special" breed of hexenbeist, and she too has faded into obscurity. Adalind now seems to be getting the "special" treatment -- a good hexenbeist! in love with a Grimm! -- but it seems to have reduced her to a clingy housewife. The moral is, on this show, you don't want to be special!

[OtterMommy]

Honestly, whenever I see that "special snowflake" moniker, I am momentarily confused as to whom it refers. Obviously, it is meant as a put-down to Juliette/Eve, but she is hardly the "most special" character on the show. Right now, she's mostly a robotic functionary who sits behind a computer, occasionally going out and using her hexen-mojo on someone. Diana, also, was presented initially as a "special" breed of hexenbeist, and she too has faded into obscurity. Adalind now seems to be getting the "special" treatment -- a good hexenbeist! in love with a Grimm! -- but it seems to have reduced her to a clingy housewife. The moral is, on this show, you don't want to be special!

I have to agree with this. I think "Special Snowflake" is sort of a moving target on this show. At the end of season 4, yeah--it was Juliette. Now, however, I think it fits Adalind more than anyone else at any time during this show, mostly because we've had to sit through 4 years of them trying to make that character relevant and now we get....this.

Also, I agree with whoever it was (Darklazr, I think) that they should put an end to the Diana plot. It was never well conceived and I don't think anyone cares anymore--especially Adalind.

[Darklazr]

Would the special snowflake exist if BT had not asked the writers to ramp up her character?  No.  Juliette would be back to a minor player on the show and not the one that burned down the trailer, set up Momma Grimm and her neighbors.  

 

Yes, Adalind should have been gone a long time ago, but I credit her continued existence (at least for now) do to CC's acting and she has developed a following.

 

All of the Diana nonsense should have ended in the s4 finale with the child saving Momma Grimm's life and a major hexenbiest wrestling match where she and the special snowflake died.

Edited March 22, 2016 by Darklazr

[OtterMommy]

Would the special snowflake exist if BT had not asked the writers to ramp up her character?  No.  Juliette would be back to a minor player on the show and not the one that burned down the trailer, set up Momma Grimm and her neighbors.  

 

Yes, Adalind should have been gone a long time ago, but I credit her continued existence (at least for now) do to CC's acting and she has developed a following.

 

All of the Diana nonsense should have ended in the s4 finale with the child saving Momma Grimm's life and a major hexenbiest wrestling match where she and the special snowflake died.

Replying in the Juliette thread....

[DrLar]

Mmm are they bringing Diana back? Also can't wait what powers will Kelly have, maybe unique Grimm/Hexen combination (first one of his kind maybe?)

[johntfs]

My Tivo failed to record this episode, who knows why. I had an immediate flutter of panic about missing it... and then realized I really don't care enough to track it down. I'll just follow along here in the comments.

 

I'm starting to think that almost every show goes to hell after S3.

 

Emphasis on almost.  Elementary is rocking harder than ever in its fourth season.

[ShadowFacts]

I think it's total crap that Renard now will have an interest in his daughter.  I can see him being semi-comfortable knowing she was in good hands with Kelly, but once Kelly was dead, and the royals are supposed to be a non-issue, not a little concern about who has her now?  He's just cool with whatever Meisner tells him.  But now it's suggested by basically a stranger to him that she should come out of the woodwork.  He should have been busy making some of his incessant phone calls in pursuit of info about her whereabouts a while ago.

[Darklazr]

I maintain that Diana is Eric and Adalind's kid and that frees my sexy pants Renard.

 

On a serious note, no it makes no sense that Renard was not trying to find out where Diana ended up after the King died.  However, Meisner told Renard to disregard the entire conversation and I thought it was for the Captain's safety.

[Lii]

Don't get me started on the "new and improved" JulEVE. What a mess. Just the whole dramatic DUN DUN DUN of her standing in front of his car, so he had to hit the brakes, when clearly she could have just knocked on his window, and he would have let her and her stupid-ass wig enter the car. 

 

They could have just given Juliette more eye makeup and let her role-play with Nick so she can wear those cheap wigs,, if that's her shtick. Know what was totally NOT a waste of time? Her watching the same footage Renard looked at and coming to the same conclusion. 

 

Standing around in groups watching surveillance footage is the new talking on the phone. There are too many damn characters on the show and none of them ever have anything to do, so all they do is stand around watching the same footage and drawing the same conclusions after having the same conversations, then deciding not to do anything about it because plot reasons.

 

He was, and that's another thing I don't get. Where the hell is she, and why doesn't Renard know where she is since he's responsible for helping put her there? If she's with "The Resistance" doesn't that mean both Renard and Meisner should know where she is since both were part of said Resistance? Is The Resistance even a thing anymore, or has it morphed into Hadrian's Wall? Are those two separate entities, and what's the difference between them?

 

Honestly, they've made such a colossal mess of the overall myth-arc on this show it's impossible to follow anymore.

 

The lack of continuity is the worst thing on this show. I can't even fanwank my way through it any more. Who is the Resistance? Who is the Council? Who is the Resistance resisting against? Who is HW, and who are they HWing? How long have they been HWing them? Which government funds them, and why does said government approve of them intervening in other countries' political affairs? Does said government know about Wesen? Are they affiliated with the Council, or the Royals, or the Resistance, or any grouping of the three? Is Black Claw affiliated with any of those groups? How long have they been around? Can you be part of more than one? What about Grimms? Can they be part of any of the groups? Do Grimms have a group of their own, or do they work alone? 

 

So, magic stick, huh.

[Lii]

Juliette just used to Google, so I guess they consider this way more exciting.

 

BunkerTech™: for all your modern upgrade needs.

 

It's no wonder they're out of funding though, between her wig budget and the wifi bill.

[Clanstarling]

What I found unbelievable about the mask-maker is how he was willing to save the fighter at the end by telling Nick what ceremony was needed.  That didn't jive with taking the other Vesens' face off, and not explaining the contract to the fighter in the first place.  had he told him why he shouldn't wear the mask outside of the ring, then the fighter wouldn't have killed anyone.

One of my least favorite TV tropes - telling someone they shouldn't do something without explaining why. Let rebellion and mayhem ensue. Although, to be fair, in the real world I train people, and when I explain the why, the majority tune it out.

I thought the episode was a snore. But then I hate this type of wrestling. I did think the basic plot was intriguing, but we spent way too much time with the MOW characters.

Things I liked:

1) Hank jerking his hand away when he was splattered with the hot potion (was it really hot? that seemed like a real reaction).

2) Nick recording the encounter in the journal.

3) The odd tone and expression Monroe used when saying "Patrick" when the mask turned back into a face. He seemed to get a kick out of it.

4) (liked in that it was ridiculous) Eve opening the car locks when just knocking on the window would do.