Grimm: 4x16 “Heartbreaker”

“How the silly frog does talk! He can be no companion to any human being!”

Kenneth: “I'm a little more hands on than Viktor”

Boy, they change their princes faster than Sun King did his mistresses!

I must say I welcomed Prince Kenneth with open heart. As much as I like Alexis Denisof, his Viktor wasn’t quite working. I blame the writers, because the writing for him was... well, lacking. During his time in the series he got nothing done. No wonder the King decided to shake things up to get some results. The new prince was exactly what doctor ordered. Kenneth didn’t waste any time for pleasantries or fine dining, he went straight to business. He smoked out the double agent, set the trap for Sean, didn’t give a damn about Adalind or her pregnancy, but was kind enough to inform her that Viktor was sterile, and therefore could not have been the father of her new baby. Adalind should do some homework before trapping men into parenthood. It worked once with Sean, though I for instance still wonder who really is Diana’s father – Sean or Eric.

So Sam was a double agent, I didn’t realize that, until this episode of course; but Kenneth, who just showed up, did. Quite frankly the way captured Sam was speaking, without any kind of respect for Sean, which was different from his usual behavior, I thought Sean would pick up on it. He didn’t. He walked straight into the trap. I’m eager to forgive him for being so short-sighted because it led to a fascinating fight. I miss those fights. We don’t get them anymore, at least not as often as we did in the beginning. What did we learn? Sean isn’t that much of a fighter, at least in his human form. When he’s woged, he is a force to be reckoned with; it was pure luck that Kenneth sort of won. Sean needs to take his bleeding wounds under control. Sooner rather than later.

The hellish sex-spell that Adalind did, followed up by the reverse spell that Juliette did, had very different consequences for parties involved. Nick lost his Grimm and got it back, Adalind ended up with yet another child, and only Juliette was dealt the worse cards. Kind of not fair, but very interesting story wise. Unfortunately, the writers aren't moving anywhere with her. She is still whining about her predicament. What she should do instead, is work on controlling her powers. And she’s becoming more hostile and nasty, to both Nick and Sean. And I don’t think she is just lashing out, I think she basically doesn’t care that much anymore. And she officially moved out.

The Wesen of the week had an interesting and tragic story to tell. Beautiful girl unable to get close to anyone attracted to her without killing them! No surprise, that only the women in the family get this funky curse. They found a cruel and horribly painful way to deal with it – with fire and red hot iron. As soon as they are branded, they are no longer beautiful [literally, the mark is on the face] and the burn does prevent their skin from secreting the poison. I have no idea if that is how things like that work. They certainly do in Grimm world.

Thankfully Monroe and Rosalee mixed some hardcore toxins and prepared a cure for Bella. Of course there was a side effect, but it was a very interesting and specific one. Interesting because it could have been much worse, like her keeping part of her wesen face forever. This way she only gets to keep the color of the skin. Well, it certainly beats the alternative of being branded. And it already helped her find a guy. A happy end for her indeed.

Some observations  

Bella’s apartment number does look like 416.

Hank now knows that Juliette is a Hexenbiest.

Sean woke up in a place that was not his apartment. Juliette was there. Have they not only moved in together but also moved?

Nick got a message from Trubel, it's good that they stay in touch. Come season finale, we’ll need all Grimms on deck.

Memorable Quotes:

Juliette: “You and Nick and Adalind and all of this Wesen insanity, I am so sick of it. Okay, I was normal before I met all of you. I want my life back.”

Hank: “That sounds like the old Frog Prince story.”

Monroe: “Yeah, but you kiss this frog, your face blows up and you die.”

Sol’s rating: for the first time in a long while the case of the week was a good one, so 3 out of 5.