Created By: Stephen Carpenter, Jim Kouf & David Greenwalt
Cast:
David Guintoli – Det. Nick Burkhardt
Silas Weir Mitchell – Munroe
Russell Hornsby – Det. Hank Griffin
Bitsie Tulloch – Juliette Silverton
Sasha Roiz – Captain Sean Renard
Reggie Lee – Sergeant Drew Wu
Bree Turner – Rosalee Calvert
Claire Coffee – Adalind Schade
Language: English
Genre: Fantasy; Police Procedural drama; Horror
Run Time: 43 minutes
Number of Seasons: Six (123 episodes)
The Grimm TV Series gives a new spin to the Brothers Grim fairytales. In the series, a Grimm is someone born with the ability to see Wesen (the German word for creature), even if they masquerade as humans.
As a descendant of the Grimms, Det. Nick Burkhardt (David Guintoli) not only possesses the ability to see Wesen but also enhanced strength and other abilities that set him apart from other humans. However, since he was brought up with no knowledge of his ancestry and works as a cop, he feels duty-bound to help people and has fewer of the prejudices common to his people.
His aunt’s re-entry into his life awakens his powers enabling him to see the true face of Wesen. At first he finds it disorienting and as a homicide detective begins to be suspicious of Wesen motives to strange murders.
In fact, Monroe (Silas Weir Mitchell), a Blutbad (wolf-like Wesen) whom he suspects of being a murderer, in turn accuses Nick of being one since he’s a Grimm. Interestingly, Monroe speaks of the alternate folktales Wesen tell about evil Grimms who hunt innocent Wesen children. This in many ways is a reminder that prejudices work both ways and could be dangerous.
His growing friendship with Monroe and other friendly Wesen keep him from viewing his world in the black and white manner of the Grimms. But the strange murders he and his human partner Det. Hank Griffin (Russell Hornsby) solve with the help of the cynical Sergeant Drew Wu (Reggie Lee) frequently have a Wesen angle to it, which he finds increasingly hard to keep to himself. Monroe becomes his unofficial partner because of Wesen involvement, along with occasional help from Rosalee (Bree Turner), a Wesen pharmacist.
His worlds – Human and Grimm clash more and more as the story progresses bringing the violence closer home to affect his long-term partner Juliette Silverton (Bitsie Tulloch) who gets drawn deeper and deeper into his world as seasons progress.
What makes the series relatable is that it plays out real life concerns in this fantastical space – racial prejudice, white-supremacist attitudes, pure-blood fixations, political ambitions et cetera.
There are many enemies in the series, some join forces, some shift loyalties depending on who they are fighting. Some antagonists are closer home such as Captain Sean Renard (Sasha Roiz), Nick’s senior officer, who with the help of his hexenbiest (witch-like Wesen) partner Adalind Schade (Claire Coffee), is interested in controlling Grimm powers for his ambitions.
The series builds slowly with season 1 using familiar fairytales which midway through begins to be occasionally predictable. But if season 1 uses Red Riding Hood, Cinderella and other stories; season 2 broaden the scope by looking at fairytales from different cultures, making the episodes more complex.
What does not change however, is that the season cliff-hanger is revealed in literally the last two minutes of the final episode – every single season. So even if it seems predictable in season 1, the story takes an unimaginable turn at the penultimate moment.
There are many factions that come into play in the story and their involvement keeps building up making the threats of the story multi-faceted. There is a quest element to the story as well which adds to the suspense. With the characters classed as grey with no one being particularly good, including the main lead; the duality makes the characterisation realistic.
The final season is slightly rushed but much shorter than the previous season. It however ties up loose ends making it a compact narrative.
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