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Keeping Portland…Undead? Retrospective: Grimm – “The Waking Dead”

Season 2, Episode 21

Air Date: Tuesday, May 14, 2013, 10/9c on NBC

Rating: ★★★★★

“Papa Ghede is a handsome fellow in his hat and coat of black. Papa Ghede is going to the palace! He’ll eat and drink when he gets back!” — Grimm

A top hat always makes a statement

Who else was a bit confused by the opening quote? The show aired last night and I’m sure you’ve all had time to look up the quote and possibly found reviews/recaps with nothing more about it. This isn’t from any Grimm Brothers fairy tale I’ve ever read but it does sound a lot like a mixture of quotes from a voodoo tale. And with the darkly entertaining Reg E. Cathey portraying the “Cracher-Morte,l” aka The Baron, things are bound to get…strange. How apropos for a series like Grimm!

Admittedly, “The Waking Dead” has quite a few storylines going on. Some of them get a bit blurred in the process of trying to squeeze too much into this penultimate episode, and I nearly got lost in the pandemonium. But, everything comes together in the end; a surprising and perplexing end at that. I’ll talk more on this later.

The Baron retrieves one of his many undead minions

Zombies in Portland? As if I didn’t get my fill of the undead from AMC’s The Walking Dead, here goes one of my favorite shows trying to jump on the zombie bandwagon. Despite my initial hesitation, Grimm does zombies in a way that isn’t typical of what we’ve seen on television. No infection or pandemic is to blame–just a Wesen whose spit causes the living to become reanimated corpses. Thankfully, there wasn’t any flesh eating…at least I hoped there wouldn’t be. So why is The Baron creating all these zombies in Portland, OR of all places? Well, it isn’t until the very end of “The Waking Dead” that we find out the reason. And boy, is it a doozy!

He tries to make sense of the weirdness… We need more WU!

So now she kisses him! After only giving Nick (David Giuntoli) a hug while he was under the charms of a Musai in “Kiss of the Muse,” Juliette (Bitsie Tulloch) does something she’s needed to do for a long time – kiss Nick! Finally! I’m glad these two are on the track of reuniting because Juliette’s memory loss storyline was giving me a migraine. And that’s not all Juliette does that feels like a victory. She gets to see not one, but three Wesen “woge” (pron: VOH-gə). Despite initially asking Monroe (Silas Weir Mitchell) to show her what he was supposed to show her before she collapsed and went into a coma, Bud (Danny Bruno), suggests—quite animatedly—that they all go to the spice shop and get Rosalee’s (Bree Turner) help. Don’t you just adore Bud? This Ice Beaver Wesen is a riot. He’s jumpy and totally freaks out about Juliette seeing who they really are. Of course, Juliette is astounded at what she sees when Rosalee volunteers for the first reveal. Good thinking, Rosalee. I think if Juliette saw Monroe in his natural state first, she may have never returned to the spice shop after walking out for some air. Now all we need to do is get Sgt. Wu (Reggie Lee) in on the Grimm/Wesen action and we’re all set. He’s obviously seeing some peculiar things, but dealing with this weird case of people coming back to life is just whacky. “It’s getting weird, even for Portland.” You said it, Wu. Seriously, writers. We need more Wu. He’s one of my favorite humans on the show and he deserves to get some more air time. You made him eat his living room rug and paper clips, for Pete’s sake!

Now there’s a new way to sign a contract that I don’t ever want to try.

Stefania (Shohreh Aghdashloo) presents the conniving Adalind (Claire Coffee) with a “binding” contract for the exchange of Adalind’s unborn (royal) child. Stefania is a complex woman but her way of getting a signature is dastardly and looks awfully painful. Adalind is in over her head trying to regain her Hexenbiest powers. Even Frau Pech (Mary McDonald-Lewis) said she’s “worth more dead than alive.” The Frau isn’t pleased and sneaks off to speak with the castle spy (Christian Lagadec) about how much a royal child would be worth. I’m not sure who to be more frightened of, Frau Pech or Stefania. By the way, I absolutely adore Aghdashloo as Stefania. She’s a brilliant actress and her raspy accented voice brings a sinister edge to Stefania’s character.

Even though we know Adalind slept with Captain Sean Renard (Sasha Roiz) while he was in full Hexenbiest mode, I’m not sure if Sean fathered her baby. It seems Adalind and Sean’s half-brother Eric (guest star James Frain) are quite intimately acquainted with each other. What is it with the Renard men having a thing for Hexenbiests? While on the phone with the King—as in King Renard, father to both Eric and Sean—Eric coyly mentions something about his father having slept with a Hexenbiest once and all the trouble it caused. This storyline is getting more twisted by the minute and I’m relishing in it!

A gentleman wearing a top hat singing in Creole at the side of a crime scene doesn’t stand out at all…right? I noticed, and I know Nick sees him too but at first glance, he pays the man no mind. But once Nick catches sight of The Baron in the hospital hallway, he realizes there is more to this mysterious man than meets the eye. Indeed there is. It wasn’t until Eric finally landed in Portland that we began to understand the full measure of The Baron’s presence and his creation of zombies. Now why is a Royal cavorting with a “Cracher-Mortel?”  Hmm…

I’m salivating in anticipation for the season finale next week.

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Tune in to the Grimm season two finale Tuesday, May 21 at 10/9c, only on NBC.

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

Like Grimm on Facebook.

Follow Grimm on Twitter @NBCGrimm.

Follow these cast members on Twitter: @russellhornsby, @mistergiuntoli, @BitsieTulloch, @sasharoiz, and @MrReggieLee.

Photos © 2013 NBC Universal, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

 

 

 

 

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.

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.