Season 3, Episode 20
Air Date: Friday, May 2, 2014, 9/8c on NBC
Rating:
“No longer a dark, gray bird, ugly and disagreeable to look at, but a graceful and beautiful swan.” – Grimm
[warning]WARNING: IF YOU HAVEN’T WATCHED, SPOILERS AHEAD[/warning]
After last week’s “Nobody Knows the Trubel I’ve Seen,” I had high hopes “My Fair Wesen” would be just as exciting. Unfortunately, it misses the mark just a bit. With only two episodes left this season, you would think “My Fair Wesen” would step it up a notch, giving us more insight into how this season’s events will be wrapped up. While there are clues in “My Fair Wesen,” I wanted more. Patience is a virtue they say…I’ve never had it.
Grimm Learning Curve
Theresa Rubel, aka Trubel/Trouble (Jacqueline Toboni), goes with Nick (David Giuntoli), her Grimm mentor, and his partner Hank (Russell Hornsby), on a ride along to a homicide crime scene. A teenager, Cammy (guest star Kiah Stern) has been “exsanguinated,” and it’s not pretty. My gripe is Nick should have warned Trubel not to blurt out, “it’s gotta be Wesen” for all to hear. Not everyone is in the know…ahem, Sgt. Wu (Reggie Lee), for example. He may have seen his fair share of weirdness on the job, but trying to cover up her faux pas by explaining “Wesen” is “German” for no more blood is ridiculous. As if he couldn’t look it up online. Give my boy Wu some credit, will ya? He’s smarter than the average beat cop. As an aside, it looks like Wu is still haunted by his “Aswang” nightmares. If only he knew Trubel has terrible nightmares too. Sometimes, it helps to have someone else who understands what you’re going through.
The crime scene is telling – Cammy is dressed in a designer dress yet just came out of a half-way house with no job prospects. How does she afford such nice clothes? Nick, Hank, and Trubel go to the New Beginnings half-way house and they get some information, well, Trubel does at least. Trubel’s methods are crude and unorthodox but in her defense, she gets the job done. Call it a learning curve. Trubel learns from one of Cammy’s friends that a woman named Donna (guest star Karissa Lee Staples) recruits young girls who are living on the streets to do some serious high-end five-finger shopping for her and Ken (guest star Michael Graziadei), the ring leader. Ken is bad news; he’s a bully who coerces young girls to do what he wants by using fear tactics. Let’s just say his idea of “family” sucks. All puns intended. He’s a “Lebensauger,” after all — a type of Wesen who uses his rounded mouth full of fangs to suck the blood from his victims. It’s quite jarring to see. Kudos to the make-up and costume departments because Ken looks nasty.
Good Wesen/Bad Wesen
Before heading out on the ride along, Nick takes Trubel to meet Monroe (Silas Wier Mitchell) and Rosalee (Bree Turner) so they can show her not all Wesen are bad. I understand why this is necessary, but imagine Trubel meeting Bud (Danny Bruno), the Ice Beaver. Bud is so spastic, he’d flip out seeing another Grimm.
Random Thoughts/Observations
I’m not sure what Adalind (Claire Coffee) is up to but any book that requires a drop of your blood as payment to be opened isn’t any kind of good. Her mission is to take Nick’s powers but how?
Sean (Sasha Roiz) admits he’s scared of Adalind, and that’s a lot coming from someone like him.
Toboni is really growing on me as the gun shy Trubel. Her mannerisms, even the way she tries to smile after getting all dolled up for Ken, are convincing. She’s nervous and wary of what his intentions are and Toboni executes the emotions flawlessly.
“My Fair Wesen” gives us an incredible fight scene among Trubel and two Lebensaugers. Yes, two…Ken’s partner in crime Donna is a blood sucker too. All the Prada in the world can’t pretty up that kind of ugly. The fight choreography is really convincing. Trubel kicks ass and doesn’t care about names.
When Trubel sits in the precinct waiting for Nick andHank, she hears a lot of things. Does she have super hearing like Nick? We haven’t seen much of his enhanced Grimm powers lately. Have they diminished? Did the zombie goo from “The Waking Dead” wear off? I’d like to see more from the writers about how a Grimm’s power enhances over time or how it develops. I wonder if they become more acute with each Wesen a Grimm kills.
Overall
“My Fair Wesen” is a good episode that could have been great. Some things fall flat but this episode sets up the final two episodes of the season with a doozy of an ending. Who is the sick old man with a key in his hand — a key exactly like Nick’s?
Let me know what you thought of “My Fair Wesen.” Leave me a comment below or tweet me at @judybopp. Looking forward to hearing from you!
Tune in to Grimm Fridays at 9/8c 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 ©2014 NBC Universal, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Judy Manning
Latest posts by Judy Manning (Posts)
- Review: THE CHANGELING – Apple TV+ New Drama Is Extraordinarily Perplexing - September 8, 2023
- Trailer: THE CHANGELING Starring LaKeith Stanfield Premieres Sep 8 on Apple TV+ - August 8, 2023
- CLEAN SWEEP Series Review – Sundance Now’s Addictive and Dynamic New Drama - June 22, 2023
- CITY ON FIRE Review – Apple TV+ Hypnotic Music Driven Mystery Full of Intrigue - May 12, 2023
2 comments
I’m a huge Grimm fan, and so far I really like the addition of Truble. They are doing it right by bringing her along slowly and working her in to the “game”. I thought her acting was very good on this show, and if she had been given more lines last week, I feel her premier would have been just as amazing, seeing that she was literally plucked from her college classroom. Whether she ends up being a close relative to Nick or not, I think there is room for her on the show. She may have looked a little rough around the edges in her first show, but she has certainly shown in this episode that she can clean up VERY well. (I still think she looks like a young Demi Moore in Ghost) I’m really looking forward to the remaining two episodes this season, and hope they bring her back next season.
Author
Sorry I’m replying so late – there was a glitch and all comments were stuck in SPAM folder.
I really like the addition of Truble to the Grimm cast. I am hoping to see them at San Diego Comic-Con again this year and hopefully interview/meet with Jacqueline Toboni. Thanks so much for reading and commenting!