Saturday, January 30, 2016

Grimm 5x07 "Eve of Destruction" (Juliette’s Back, Sort of…) [Contributor: Alisa Williams]


“Eve of Destruction”
Original Airdate: January 29, 2016

“I have been bent and broken, but, I hope, into a better shape.” 

I have to admit, though it seems silly, that one of my favorite parts about Grimm are the quotes at the beginning of each episode foreshadowing what is to come within the next 42 or so minutes. Most of the time I can figure out which fairytale the quote comes from and hence, what will occur in the episode. This time, with the quote being, “I have been bent and broken, but, I hope, into a better shape,” I had honestly no idea which fairytale Grimm would be exploring (if any), but it was clear this would be an episode about Juliette’s return and possible redemption. Of course, the previews for this week and quick-glimpse of Juliette at the end of last episode may have helped me come to this conclusion, too.

As expected, Juliette’s return truly freaked everyone out. I mean, she did try to kill everyone in her path last time she was around, and there’s that pesky little thing about her dying in Nick’s arms and all, with only the viewing audience convinced she was still alive. So, with Juliette back, what does that mean for the rest of the characters this week?

TRUBEL AND HER SECRETS

When Nick catches a glimpse of Juliette, his first course of action is to confront Trubel, convinced she knew that Juliette was alive. We’ve known since Trubel arrived back on Nick’s doorstep, battered and barely conscious, that she had some serious secrets she was hiding. And yes, it appears knowing Juliette was still alive and hadn’t actually died when Trubel shot two arrows into her chest is one of those secrets. Apparently, Hadrian’s Wall, the top secret and super shady government organization Trubel’s been involved with these last few months, kidnapped Juliette in the hopes of turning her from an evil hexenbiest into a… warrior hexenbiest? Seeing how she just took out 20 wesen and saved Nick in the process, this plan seems to have worked. 

MONROE AND ROSALEE

Rosalee and Monroe are the epitome of relationship goals. Rosalee turns positively scary (which is basically impossible for her) when she finds out their mutual friend, Xavier, has betrayed Monroe and almost got him killed. The moral of this episode should be, “you do not mess with Rosalee or Rosalee’s man.”

After Xavier spills the beans that the evil Wesen group, Black Claw, is hunting Monroe because of his connections to Nick, Rosalee and Monroe decide to get the Wesen Council involved, which has never worked out great for them in the past so I’m not sure why it’s their go-to solution this time. But despite their less-than-stellar plan, I love that Rosalee and Monroe are so great at talking things out, making decisions together, and saving each other’s lives over and over again.

THE WESEN COUNCIL

Meanwhile, the Wesen Council is in the midst of a meeting to address this very issue of the Black Claw uprising when the Council Chair receives Rosalee’s message. It seems things are really bad everywhere, not just in Portland, as the Chair shows the Council video footage of major cities around the world all under attack. Just as the Council votes that something must be done concerning this matter, a Black Claw member who infiltrated the Council opens fire, killing everyone but Alexander. So, apparently things really are really bad everywhere, and Rosalee’s request for assistance is probably going to go unanswered now that the Council members are all dead or on the run.


NICK AND ADALIND

Nick and Adalind have had this weird non-relationship going on up until this episode. There’s so much history there with really bad things they’ve done to each other and the people they each care about, but now Adalind’s one of the good guys and also the mother of Nick’s child, AND they’re living together, making things, well, complicated. The show’s creators have been slowly building up possible romantic feelings between the two, but it’s all been unspoken and super subtle so far. With Juliette back in the picture, Adalind finally gives voice to what the creators have been hinting and she and Nick have a conversation about their feelings which leads to them sharing a kiss, and then promptly deciding to put the brakes on because things are “super complicated” right now.

I don’t know whether to swoon or be slightly icked out by the kiss. The history these two have makes any budding relationship seem like a very bad idea, especially with Juliette lurking about. Plus, Meisner’s back, too, and it wasn’t that long ago that he saved Adalind’s life and helped deliver her first child. He definitely seems to still be carrying a torch for Adalind and even has a couple flashbacks this episode just to remind us of their almost-coupling. One thing’s for sure: the writers are going to have to tread carefully with what happens next.

HAVE YOU MET EVE?

The episode ends with Nick finally getting to confront Juliette… sort of. Turns out Juliette is now calling herself Eve, and she is definitely not the same person who loved and planned to marry Nick, or the same person who morphed into a hexenbiest and killed Nick’s mother and tried to kill Nick himself. She’s someone, or something, altogether different now. Their meeting ended with three bad guys dead, which seems pretty tame for both of them.

Juliette has been a really troubling character throughout the seasons, and so I am very intrigued to find out where the show is taking her now as the newly formed Eve. I think show creators have been fielding a lot of negativity toward Juliette and her lack of backstory or backbone. In my opinion, she served no real purpose other than to be Nick’s romantic interest, and when she was seemingly killed off, a lot of viewers (including myself) expressed relief not remorse. Turning her into a completely new character now seems like a simplistic way to keep the actress (who seems like a lovely person) but ditch the extremely flawed character of Juliette. As to whether Eve will be an improvement over Juliette or not, only time will tell.

Bonus amusements from this episode:
  • Nick, Hank, and Captain Renard just casually wandered away from 20 dead bodies like they’re not all police officers who have to call this type of thing in to the precinct… 
  • Every time Xavier woges into his blobfish-like state, everyone gets so grossed out and disgusted and it’s hilarious. Poor Xavier. There’s never any love for a Hasenfussige Schnecke.
  • Wu is the only one who seems completely unaffected and unsurprised by Juliette’s return, which seems both odd and totally in character at the same time. 
  • “Juliette’s alive… I mean, her hair’s really blonde, but… yeah.”
  • “Is this another ‘back from the dead thing’ because I’m really not ready to host another Jack the Ripper party.”

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