Air Date: Friday, April 24, 2015, 8/7c on NBC
Rating:
“He had killed man, the noblest game of all, and he had killed in the face of law of club and fang.” – Grimm
**WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD**
Baby mama drama, betrayal, and and a time-honored tradition involving fluffy bunnies star alongside a big dose of sarcasm in “Iron Hans.” And forget about apologies because you won’t find any here. No, this week’s Grimm gets real and bloody. With Juliette (Bitsie Tulloch) spewing biting remarks during a friendly jailhouse visit, an intervention of the royal kind, and Wesen rituals, “Iron Hans” explores not only an ancient rite of passage but what happens when Hexenbiests stop being nice and start seeking revenge. This could be a season of Real World – Grimm style.
There’s no s’mores in Iron Hans camp!
“Iron Hans” goes back to Grimm’s Wesen roots by exploring an old way of helping young Wesen boys cope with their true nature and first woging (transforming into a Wesen) experience. “The hunt” used to involve certain types of Wesen, “Löwen, Blutbad, “Drang-Zorn, or Balam,” hunting humans for game. Nowadays, many of these particular Wesen hunt for animals, in particular a bunny, but not with guns and scopes. Wesen hunt with their keen sense of smell and hearing. The title of this episode refers to the “Iron Hans” camp where young boys and their fathers go to camp and hunt. But has someone fallen off the wagon and started hunting humans? When a hitchhiker is found mauled close to the Irons Hans campsite, our intrepid detectives Nick (David Giuntoli) and Hank (Russell Hornsby) suspect a Wesen is involved. Of course, they’re going to need Monroe’s (Silas Weir Mitchell) help with this one.
Jeff Fahey guest stars as Elder Bowden, the owner of the Iron Hans Ranch. After seeing Fahey’s character Zachariah bite the big one on FX’s Justified, it’s nice to see him alive and well, and right in the head in “Iron Hans.” Didn’t you just love him in Lawnmower Man? I digress. Fahey brings a certain level of credibility to Elder, a Löwen (lion-like Wesen) who’s trying to teach young Wesen males about their rite of passage. As Elder and his son Todd (Paul Chirico) continue to run the boys-only camp, Elder neglects his daughter Maggie (Hillary Tuck). All I can think of is Cyndi Lauper singing “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.” Granted, Maggie takes the hunt too far. Just because your dad and brother don’t pay attention to you, there are other ways of showing them you’re not some frilly little girl.
Why are the bad boys so hot!? Do you think Juliette will hook up with Kenneth?
Juliette gets a royal bail out when Kenneth (guest star Nico Evers-Swindell) pays a visit. He is such a delightfully despicable character, isn’t he? Evers-Swindell does a fantastic job of being a posh prick in “Iron Hans,” and his carefully orchestrated plans to get Juliette on his side are nothing short of brilliant. He manipulates the situation knowing full well Juliette is unaware of Adalind’s (Claire Coffee) current condition. When Kenneth drops the bomb about Adalind carrying Nick’s baby, it’s easy to see the pain in Juliette’s eyes. That’s the first glimmer of the old Juliette I’ve seen in a long time.
Nick, on the other hand, gets the news straight from the mama’s mouth – baby mama, that is — when Adalind drops by the precinct to tell him he’s going to be a father. I love the way Giuntoli plays Nick’s repugnance of this news. The very thought of Adalind carrying his child appalls him to the point of being absolutely disgusted by the idea. But wouldn’t that be a great spin-off show – a Hexenbiest Grimm?
Is Adalind the most fertile Hexenbiest around or what? Don’t you just love it when Sean says, “That’s not mine?” Haha!
The long awaited confrontation in the precinct when Juliette returns to find Nick and Adalind walking out together is intense. You could cut the tension with a knife. The look on Juliette’s face is priceless. She may be acting like an über bitch right now but the hurt on her face from knowing Adalind is carrying Nick’s baby is very telling. I can’t lie and say I didn’t want to see Juliette slap Adalind; pregnant or not, Adalind isn’t innocent and deserves more than an open palm to the face. Don’t get me wrong; I admire Adalind but her actions have wreaked havoc on more than one person in the midst of all this chaos to get her powers back and find her stolen baby.
Adalind mentions something to Nick about helping “suppress” Juliette’s Hexenbiest nature but she needs Rosalee’s (Bree Turner) help to do that. If Adalind’s plan works, will Juliette just go back to being Nick’s girlfriend? Or will the threat of the Hexenbiest inside breaking free always hover over our loving couple? What I would love to see is Juliette learning how to use her powers to help Nick. My only gripe with the dialogue is Juliette saying she’s not complaining because actually, she is. She needs to stop blaming everyone for something she chose to do. She knew there were risks to helping Nick become a Grimm again. Besides, Juliette could have walked away a long time ago when she first found out Nick was a Grimm.
Observations
The bitterness conveyed in the conversation Juliette and Rosalee has would make even the sourest of lemons pucker. I adore Tulloch and she plays a bad bitch extremely well. What she does to cockroaches in her jail cell made me cringe. Juliette thinks of all the things that have happened to her over the years because of Nick being a Grimm, so her behavior is justified, to an extent. Admittedly, I’m concerned for Juliette’s future on Grimm if she continues down this path. I’ve said it before, and it bears repeating—making a character like Juliette unlikable is not a good thing. Either push her completely to the dark side or bring her back to normal. This in-between is killing me. I don’t know whether to like her or hope she falls into a never ending pit.
Elder says something curious when he meets Nick and Monroe – “I’ve heard about you.” And Todd didn’t seem too impressed with seeing a Grimm. His actions and demeanor are quite suspect in that ‘Wesenrein’ kind of way. Nick and Monroe’s reputations precede them but I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad thing. Remember, not every Wesen is ok with Monroe helping a Grimm or with inter-Wesen marriages.
Overall
“Iron Hans” is a solid episode and the story lines of Adalind’s pregnancy and Juliette’s further ascension into darkness progresses. We also gain insight into another Wesen tradition and how Monroe’s knowledge of old world ways helps Nick solve crimes he wouldn’t be able to without Monroe’s help. I’m curious about Sean’s (Sasha Roiz) increasing chest pains and subsequent blackouts. He needs his mother’s aid now more than ever but is Elizabeth (Louise Lombard) suffering similar problems since saving her son from death? And with Kenneth’s plans to lure Nick’s mother, Kelly (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio), out of hiding, will we see a whole new side to mama Grimm now that she’s been babysitting Adalind’s first born?
What did you think of “Iron Hans?” Leave me a comment below or tweet me at @judybopp. Looking forward to hearing from you!
Tune in to Grimm, Fridays at 8/7c, only on NBC.
For more on the show, go to the official site.
Like Grimm on Facebook.
Follow Grimm on Twitter @NBCGrimm, as well as these cast members: @russellhornsby, @mistergiuntoli, @BitsieTulloch, @sasharoiz, and @MrReggieLee.
Photos ©2015 NBC Universal, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Judy Manning
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