Written by David Greenwalt & Jim Kouf
Directed by Terrence O’Hara
Airs Mondays at 10pm ET on NBC (Fridays at 9pm ET starting 9/14)
This week’s Grimm continues the high stakes of the premiere while wrapping last week’s main story threads and pushing the ongoing threads along slowly. Nick gets in trouble with the Feds, Juliette awakes with amnesia, the Prince in Portland becomes pure of heart by cheating, and Nick’s mom may or may not have left town with the coins.
The Mauvais Dentes creature proves unable to put up a fight against two Grimms. After last week’s gruesome display of his handiwork, he really does not live up to his reputation as the worst of the worst, though the fight is well done. This scene might have worked better in the previous episode, as it feels tacked onto this one. However, despite these quibbles, the Mauvais Dentes is a great looking creature played with appropriate intensity.
The backlash from killing the creature and accidentally leaving behind evidence opens a new can of worms for Nick; he carries enough baggage without an FBI investigation too. In the end, the FBI agents do not consider him to be a murderer but remain suspicions of his “instincts”. Nick must be more careful than usual if the Feds keep trailing him. Also, how much does the FBI know about the Wesen/Grimm world? How much have the Royal Families infiltrated the Bureau? It may very well be a routine inquiry, but only time will tell.
The most interesting storyline in the episode is the retelling of the Briar Rose story. In the story, Briar Rose is pricked by a thorn in the forest and cursed to sleep 100 years unless a man pure of heart awakens her with a kiss. Why Renard though? Yes, he is a Prince in a Royal Family, but Catherine Schade mentions that he is “barely human”. We have never seen his “true form”, so the glimpse we get in the mirror of his partial transition is startling. What is he exactly- another creature or a corrupted human? His true form has demonic touches- is Prince more than a title? Also, one has to wonder why Nick was unsuitable for the task. Is he not pure of heart or just not a Prince?
Luckily, Catherine whips up a nasty purification potion for Renard. After making it through a frightening internal physical transition, he successfully wakes Juliette with an awkward smooch. Juliette’s amnesia seems like too easy of a solution here, but one hopes the writers will approach it in a fresh way. The big question remaining is what will happen with Renard and his pure heart. Both effects may prove temporary, but it’s something to watch. Also, will Juliette be drawn toward her savior?
Overall, “The Kiss” is an intriguing kickstart to Season 2 with interesting ideas and new mysteries.
Matt Marquissee