Grimm – “Good to the Bone” Review. The Good Son?

Season 5, Episode 18

Air Date: Friday, April 22, 2016 at 9/8c on NBC

Rating: ★★★★★

“The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones.” – Grimm

To be frank, “Good to the Bone” isn’t for the squeamish. If you have any qualms with sound effects involving slurping and/or regurgitating noises, you may find yourself gagging a little as this Wesen story unfolds. Once again, another crime has been committed involving Wesen. It seems Portland is overrun with Wesen that somehow manage to find themselves involved in illegal activity. Did the writers forget that humans still exist in the world? I’m all for introducing new Wesen but now they’ve taken one of my favorite people, Sgt Wu. (Reggie Lee) and have transformed him into something non-human. Wu-Wolf.

Hank, Wu, and Nick enlist the help of Monroe and Rosalee once again to help bait their Barbatus Ossifrag. Guess who’s bait?

Don’t get me wrong, I love Grimm. I love all the Wesen ‘Creature Feature of the Week’ stories and being introduced to all sorts of new, strange, and unique Wesen. But it feels like Portland has been turned into an American Black Forest filled with monsters and things that go bump in the night. This week’s Wesen is a vulture-like bird creature. Charlie (Tim Cummings) is a “Barbatus Ossifrage.” These particular kind of Wesen are scavengers seeking out the dying and suck out their bones. It’s gross. But the key word is dying – not dead. And Charlie can’t do what he needs to do with bones that are intact. I nearly gagged hearing bones being crushed by Charlie’s van.

The interesting part of “Good to the Bone” is why Charlie goes through such lengths. As we all grow older, our parents age as well. Many of us take care of our elderly parents, bringing them into our homes and providing for them, just as they did when we were kids. While some adult children are happy to give back and have the roles reversed by providing food and shelter for their moms and dads, Charlie is beginning to get a little resentful. Although, supplying nourishment for his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Higginbotham (Del Lewis and Helena de Crespo), is much more extreme than anything expected of us humans. And I always thought as you got older, you ate like a, well… bird. Apparently, these “Barbatus Ossifrage” aren’t finicky eaters. Charlie needs to feed his parents often, which is racking up a large body count.

Thank the stars there isn’t smell-o-vision. With all the slurping/regurgitating happening, I would have really…lost my dinner.

In other story arcs—and related to these de-boned and flattened bodies being found all over Portland—Monroe (Silas Weir Mitchell) and Rosalee (Bree Turner) win the BFF award yet again as they go above and beyond to help Nick (David Giuntoli), Hank (Russell Hornsby), and Sgt. Wu with this case. I’m elated we don’t have smell-o-vision because the potion Rosalee cooks up to imitate the scent of death sounds like it smells awful. The looks on everyone’s faces when they open the doors as Rosalee, wearing a gas mask, brews a death scented eau de toilette known as “Parfum de la Mort” for Monroe, is priceless. I wonder if there was something stinky on the set to help the actors scrunch up their noses so viciously. And whatever “cheese” Rosalee mentions, the one that has a similar aroma, I want no part in that. I’m not too fond of stinky cheeses anyway. I’m more of a brie, cheddar, or goat cheese kind of gal.

The one story arc that is finally picking up involves Adalind (Claire Coffee) and Sean’s (Sasha Roiz) daughter Diana (Hannah R. Loyd). As we learned at the end of last week’s episode “Inugami,” the group known as “Black Claw” actually had Diana. My question is how? The last time we saw Diana in the season four finale “Cry Havoc,” she was about three years old, sitting next to her grandfather, the King (Dan Kremer) on a helicopter when Meisner (Damien Puckler) rescued her. How did Diana, now looking like a pre-teen, go from being in Meisner’s care to ending up in the hands of Black Claw? It will be very interesting to see how this plays out. And where has Meisner been lately?

I knew once I saw Rachel (Anne Leighton) with Diana in last week’s episode, she was going to use Sean’s daughter as leverage. Rachel’s plan to have Sean look like a family man is in motion. And of course, Adalind being a Hexenbeist again, I doubt she will be given a choice in aiding Black Claw with their plans to have Sean elected Mayor of Portland. I hope Adalind doesn’t betray Nick. I know she’s wanted to get Diana back since she lost her, but she has a son with Nick, which changes everything. The fact that Adalind still hasn’t told Nick she’s a Hexenbiest is also not a good thing. Eve (Bitsie Tulloch) even pays a visit to Rosalee to chat about it. Was that an awkward conversation or what?

Wu-Wolf. Hair balls and chasing dogs…? I hope he doesn’t stay this way.

I’m not completely happy about Wu being a Wu-Wolf. As much as I love Wu getting more screen time, I can only hope in the next episode titled “Taming of the Wu,” he can somehow be cured of his ailment and become human again. Wu morphing into some weird animal and coughing up hair balls while brushing his teeth is just too much for me. I want Wu to stay human. Wu and Hank are the human anchors in all the Wesen and Grimm chaos going on. And let’s not talk about Hank getting involved with his former physical therapist Zuri (Sharon Leal) again. Hank is human and Zuri is Wesen; how is this going to end? I also have reservations about Zuri’s sudden reappearance. She asked a lot of questions about “the Grimm” Hank works with, which makes me wonder if she’s a Black Claw loyalist.

Overall

While I enjoyed parts of “Good to the Bone,” I’m ready for the writers to move past the Wesen crimes of the week and push us into the heart of this season, which supposedly was Nick avenging his mother’s death but has now morphed into stopping Black Claw. And with the Wesen Council out of commission, and by out of commission I mean dead, who will keep things in check within the Wesen community? Is there more to the magic stick Nick and Monroe found in “Into the Schwarzwald” other than its healing abilities? And where is Trubel (Jacqueline Toboni)?

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What did you think of “Good to the Bone?” Are you still grossed out? Leave me a comment below or tweet me at @judybopp. Looking forward to hearing from you!

Tune in to the Grimm, Fridays at 9/8c, only on NBC.

For more on the show, go to the official site.

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Follow Grimm on Twitter @NBCGrimm, as well as these cast members: @russellhornsby, @mistergiuntoli, @BitsieTulloch, @sasharoiz, @MrReggieLee, @ClaireCoffee @RealBreeTurner, and @DamienPuckler.

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Judy Manning

Dream chaser extraordinaire! Judy tends to be a tad sarcastic and kind of goofy! She is an avid admirer of all things supernatural, paranormal, celestial and mystical. She loves to read, write, and watches way too much TV. She enjoys many genres of film and music (and let's be honest, most music from the 80s). She also has a wicked sweet tooth. Cupcakes beware.