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Grimm Episode 2.20 “Kiss of the Muse”: Do it for Van Gogh Baby

Grimm Episode 2.20 “Kiss of the Muse”: Do it for Van Gogh Baby

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Grimm Episode 2.20 “Kiss of the Muse”
Written by Sean Calder
Directed by Tawnia McKiernan
Airs Tuesday 10.00pm EST on NBC

It’s probably unfair to compare modest little Grimm to David Lynch’s masterpiece Blue Velvet, but in this episode the similarities are there: obsession, art, a woman with a face like a magnet. No one turns up with a tank of laughing gas pressed to their face, but the woman in question does have the Lynch-like touch of possessing poison lips.

Juicy stuff, nicely rounded off with a demented Wesen breaking into a paint store and creating a giant graffito of said woman’s face on the nearest convenient piece of concrete. The Wesen with poison lips is a Musai, one of which was responsible for sending poor old Vincent round the bend. The fact that this one has the surname Sedgewick might be a coy nod to Warhol’s real muse Edie, but that’s probably a stretch. It’s a neat story though and a nice change from the usual running around in woods the plot usually demands. A pity some of the acting doesn’t quite match the material. Apply the Julie Taylor test to David Giuntoli’s performance and Nick’s inner life appears to consist of wondering whether he should really have fries with that burger. Comparisons again – but all the other main actors (Hornsby, Tulloch, Mitchell, Turner and, yes, even Sasha Roiz) manage to convey the impression they’re mentally in the room, while Giuntoli, attractive though he is, conveys white noise.

Grimm - Kiss of the Muse - Nick distracted

He has his moments though. Watching him kiss Nora Zehetner, who plays the Musai as a big eyed elf with tiny grasping claws, can’t fail to keep the females in the audience happy and also provides a convenient turning point in Nick’s relationship with Juliette. He has cooled as she has warmed, so it makes perfect story sense for Nick to now become obsessed with Another Woman and for Juliette to be The Only One Who Can Save Him. The resolution also gives Renard the chance to decisively nail his colors to the mast of Team Grimm, first by showing his Hexen face to the Musai as a warning of what will happen if she darkens Portland again and second by intervening when Nick, deranged by the poison lips, heads off to kill his rival in love. By these actions we are shown that Renard has passed the entry test for admission to Team Grimm. He even works with Hank on solving the case (helped by the fact that Hank has come back from holiday wearing a better shirt). Now Juliette has visited the trailer for a second time (even though it is supposed to be top secret, the trailer boasts visitor numbers which rival those of the Statue of Liberty) she is on the brink of the big Wesen revelation and membership of Team Grimm, which will only leave Wu unaware of the beasts around him. Unless of course, he is a Wesen…

Grimm - Kiss of the Muse - Renard Woged

But of course he isn’t. The Renard and Juliette storylines converge neatly for the season finale, now two shows away. Both of them, as well as Nick and Hank, have been affected by the manipulations of the Hexenbeist Adelind Schade. She hasn’t been in evidence much recently, but it seems likely that whatever she is up to will become very apparent just in time for the season close.

Questions: even if Wu isn’t Wesen, are there other characters presented so far as human who might be Wesen in disguise?

[wpchatai]