Grimm Season 4 Episode 11 Review: Death Do Us Part
Kathleen Wiedel
at
.
Updated at
.
I can't help but find myself disappointed in Grimm Season 4 Episode 11 - and especially after last week's epic entry "Tribunal," this one just seems... blah.
Grimm tackled ghosts before, and far more effectively, with La Llorona back in Grimm Season 2 Episode 9. The Wesen of the week here was simply a delusional electrical creature who was mad about his wife sleeping with another man.
There really wasn't much to add real tension to the "A" storyline. It was bland and predictable - when it wasn't outright annoying.
The ghost hunters made every predictable horror movie mistake, including going back to the house where one of their friends had just been brutally murdered. What. The. Heck. It made me want to reach through the TV screen and throttle them myself. (And the first victim's repeated misuse of the word "literally" was driving me crazy, too.)
Their behavior was beyond frustrating.
It was also inevitable that one of the original victims had been misidentified after it was said out loud that there had been trouble IDing them in the first place. Chekhov's gun, people, Chekhov's gun: it's generally going to be true that they won't make a point of showing or saying something so specific unless it somehow is going to become important later on. Surprise! ...or not.
On the more baffling side of things was Nick and Hank's decision not to arrest Lily Hinkley for the murder of Stetson. While Stetson may well have been a delusional murderer, Lily snuck into a house she didn't own, armed with a gun and intending to kill Stetson. That's premeditation, folks. She should have gone to jail. Yet she got off with little more than a shrug and "she did us a favor" from the boys! Really!?
I know that they've gotten more flexible in their definitions and applications of justice over the past few years, but I found that altogether atrocious.
As for Stetson himself: was he delusional even before he murdered his wife and her lover, or did his psychosis follow after it? It would have been nice to get a little clarity on that point. The whole storyline could have definitely been helped with another draft or two. Or three.
All that being said, this episode wasn't completely without merit. It had at least one absolutely priceless exchange between Nick, Hank, and Wu at the trailer, as they were discussing Hexenbiests and Adalind in this Grimm quote:
Hank: You ate her cookie.
Wu: I did?
Nick: Yeah. That's why you ate your carpet.
Wu: ...Oh.
The look on Wu's face was hilarious. I can imagine that he'll have a few choice words of his own to give to Adalind when she shows her face again in Portland sometime soon.
Juliette begged Renard for help with her growing Hexenbiest issue, though I think he didn't really appreciate the danger until she blew up the jerk's car in the parking lot.
Juliette: Did I do that? I didn't do that. Did I?
Renard: I believe you did.
Henrietta, who we met at the very end of the episode, seemed to be a witch of great power, with a young and attractive appearance but uncertain age. I wonder how much she shares in common with Elizabeth, Renard's mother?
This brings up the question of age versus appearance for Hexenbiests. Frau Pech (you remember her - Adalind gutted her to get her powers back) looked old, and was ultimately killed rather easily. Are more powerful Hexens able to maintain the appearance of youth? I sincerely hope that Juliette's predicament will give us a window into that sort of thing.
Renard's magical vanishing bullet wounds gave us a brief (though much appreciated) shirtless scene at the end of the episode, and he was just as mystified by the whole thing as we are. Maybe Elizabeth's life-saving spell wasn't as effective as she hoped it would be? I assume we'll get back to this in the future, but it is rather strange.
So, what do you think, Grimmsters? Were you intrigued by "Death Do Us Part," or did you find it boring? Did you buy the motivation for the murders? Are you excited for the Juliette-Hexenbiest storyline? What do you think is going on with Renard? Let us know in the comments below!
Remember, you can relive the excitement and drama of previous episodes when you watch Grimm online right here at TV Fanatic!
The next episode of Grimm, "Maréchaussée," airs February 6 at 9 p.m. on NBC, so be sure to tune in!
