Grimm: 6x13 “The End”

Eve: “Everything has a beginning and an end.”

Here it is, my last ever review of Grimm…..

It is always difficult to watch the series finale and to write about it. There is a mountain high pile of expectations; there is this urge to get all the answers and to have a happy smile when the final credits roll, but mostly there is hope not to be disappointed. Of course, the world isn’t perfect and you never get all the things you want, and more often than not, you are frustrated and angry and ready to throw something at TV or whatever it is you equivalent these days, but every once in a while the TV gods surprise you. 

I have very, VERY mixed feelings about this one. Overall – I am happy with this finale… and not particularly disappointed, but I do feel a bit cheated. And here’s why. I do not like when they break my heart by killing off characters and then bring them back twenty minutes later. When characters die and come back, you stop being invested. Yes, TV show is a TV show, it is not a reality, but it shouldn't be a fairy tale either. Unless it is a fairy tale.

The first fifteen minutes were simply fabulous. Of course, Nick tried to use the stick to save Wu and Hank, but for some reason it didn’t work. I was surprised. I was also seriously impressed. It took guts to kill off the two favorites and not bring them back. As much as I loved those two, I was proud for the writers for taking this horrific step. I even shed a tear or two and I didn’t think Grimm would ever make me cry.

Few minutes later Eve died, soon after that, we lost Sean. I could live with that too. Eve has kind of served her purpose and she was never a favorite of mine. I could even accept Sean dying, because his character’s story was complete. He made the right choice at the end and died protecting his daughter.

The possible solution to the problem ‘Force of sang’ or ‘Blood force’ – when Grimm, Wesen and Hexenbiest join hands and get stabbed to mix their blood would have been a perfect weapon (much better than ghost mama and ghost aunt). The powerful nuclear ritual that was impossible to imagine, because never before the three key supernatural elements were friendly enough to perform it. Nick and his friends were THE exception, that what this series was about and it would only be fitting if that bond was the key to victory in the final battle.

If only they had won like that, if only they didn’t kill Adalind, Rosalee, Monroe and Trubel, it would have been a perfect finale. That would have been the final battle, worthy of Grimm. They would've won. They would have also lost dear friends. That would have been awesome. Hard, painful but awesome. I wish they took that risk.

Instead, they did what they did. They were going through the characters so fast that it quickly became clear - they will somehow fix it. That unfortunately partly took away the horror of the following (otherwise very strong) sequence: Adalind's last words, Rosalee and Monroe dying side by side, Nick screaming in total and utter despair, all alone. It kind of lost its value, since I knew they will absolutely bring everyone back. The picture of Nick raising his children alone was too depressing, and killing him and the kids too was obviously not an option.

And they did bring everyone back. Sort of. Nick defeated the devil-beast with the help from Trubel, mommy and aunty; closed the Pandora box of realities and was torpedoed back to Monroe and Rosalee’s house, thus negating skull guy’s arrival to this world. The cool ritual ended up being painful and completely useless, and the events of previous episode were wiped out of existence. Almost. Only Diana and Nick (and us) remembered what had happened.

So on the one hand I am a bit annoyed and disappointed, on the other hand this loopy-twisty thing they did with closing the other place for good was nicely done, and might I add, there was logic to it, it kinda made sense.

 

Twenty years later…

Diana - still powerful and purple-eyed, Kelly - now a full-time Grimm and the Triplets with unknown features and abilities picked up the torch and are now protecting the world from evil. 

Mom and dad are still in the game too. One might say they deserved a rest after twenty plus years on the ‘job’, but I guess no rest for the Grimm and a Hexenbiest. I was happy to learn they are still together, after all these years.

I wish they included the others in this segment, like Monroe and Rosalee who are probably running the Wesen Council... Wouldn't that be cool?

Some observations 

Episode’s opening quote was: “Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me”. Again the Bible, Psalm 23:4  and the full verse is: “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me”.

Nick called Eve ‘Juliette’ as she died in his arms for the second time.

That silent goodbye in the spice shop literally killed me.

Still don’t understand why they couldn’t have mixed Trubel’s blood? She is a Grimm. Oh well, for dramatic purposes perhaps.

Diana’s behavior in the cabin in the ‘horror version’ of events was strange. Why all of a sudden she wasn’t afraid and was willing to go with skull guy, when only hours before that she was terrified? How could she just stand there and watch her father being killed and do nothing? Was she under the skull guy’s influence? I guess green beats the purple.

I’m curious as to why the stick didn’t heal anyone? Nick survived because skull guy kept him alive on purpose and not because the stick was protecting him. It just didn’t work…Is it because the staff ‘entered’ the world and somehow ‘blocked’ this ability?

That Grimm on Grimm fight was awesome and brutal.   

Watching Nick losing everyone he ever loved was devastating. Hats off to David for an amazing and heart breaking performance.  

I missed Bud in the final episode, he was a part of the series and I wish they had found a way to include him.

Eve is Hexenbiest. Again.

Nick took that Bonaparte’s ring off of Adalind’s hand in the alternate version and nothing happened to the kids, probably because Adalind was dead at that moment. When Nick got back in time the ring wasn't there. Now he can put his ring on her finger.

Aunt’s Marie trailer was back. Well, it was obviously a new trailer, but it was a nice touch.

I smiled when grown-up Diana called Nick ‘dad’; and ‘no’ - I don’t think she was talking about Sean. Nick was the dad who raised her, so no surprise here.

I wish we'd met the Triplets.

Nice shout out to the fans at the end with the word ‘thank you’ in different languages. How very sweet.

Epilogue

I remember season one of Grimm was very heavy, Wesen were pretty scary and I’d say it rather fell into a ‘horror’ category. The image of Adalind wolging on the steps of the court house haunts me to this day. As seasons went by, the show became lighter, more fun; they jumped back and forth from light to dark, but left the horror elements behind.

I wish they had paid more attention to the overall mythology. I wish they didn’t just disregard some story lines without resolution. For example, what happened to the Royal Families? They were almighty and important and powerful enemies but then faded away. Same with Black Claw and that 3 letters organization that Trubel worked for. We still don’t now why the seven keys were so important, if Nick managed to open the box with only five? Diana’s powers and why was she so special? Remember, how Nick’s mom said, that she is a strong weapon, and of great importance. Why? Maybe she will play that important role in a future…. That is a spin-off I would watch.

Despite some remarks and some issues I had with the final episode, that smile was on my face when the final credits rolled. And that is all I hoped for.Yes, I know, I am somewhat contradicting myself, but didn’t I say in the beginning about my mixed feelings? Yeah, you've been warned.

It's been a fantastic six-years run. Goodbye, Grimm…. will miss you…

                                       

Thank you for reading.