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Grimm Episode 2.21 “The Waking Dead”: Don’t let your womb be a tomb

Grimm Episode 2.21 “The Waking Dead”: Don’t let your womb be a tomb

Grimm - The Waking Dead - the dead wake

Grimm Episode 2.12 ‘The Waking Dead’
Written by Jim Kouf & David Greenwalt
Directed by Steven DePaul
Airs Tuesday 10.00pm EST on NBC

This week Grimm gets in on the zombie action, but as usual isn’t shy about acknowledging its sources, hence the slightly cheeky title. But hey, why should Georgia get all the undead? As the US’s northern representative of all things weird (as shown by my map), it only seems fair that Portland should get a chance to play host to some resurrected bodies. And let’s be practical, they’ll keep better in a cool climate.

The job of playing Wesen is placed in the competent hands of Reg E Cathey (The Wire, House of Cards) who inhabits the role of Baron Samedi with cadaverous glee and the usual spark of subversive mischief in his eye. The Baron is at his usual job of animating corpses, but with the traditional Grimm twist that he does so by transforming himself into…what?

If you’re expecting the Lord of Misrule to take the form of something scary – and the Grimm writers have plenty of form for dredging up the creepiest forms of wildlife for our entertainment – you might be disappointed. The Baron is a blow fish. Quite a cross looking blow fish, granted, but seriously – how scary can a blow fish be?

Grimm - The Waking Dead - Baron Samedi

This aside, the story develops nicely. For once, the Baron’s activities connect to another major plot strand, giving the closing sequences a nice little kick as we realize that Renard’s brother Eric (who gave him that name though? They might as well have called him Nigel) is not going to sit around his chateau in Vienna, sipping champagne and waiting for trouble to come to him. No, Eric (James Frain channelling the god Pan) has hopped on his private plane and brought his family feud to Portland. Baron Samedi and his container full of very pissed-off zombies is part of Eric’s plan. Exactly what part is not yet clear. The sub plot involving Hexenbeist Adelind Schade and her little scheme to extract child support from Eric underwent some development, which might lead us to believe that the unborn child is the target.

Grimm - The Waking Dead - Adelind's contract

Things are certainly not going smoothly for Adelind, now in an indecipherable contract with the gypsies over the fate of her child. The writers are working hard to reconstruct Adelind’s image from evil-attempted-murderess to mother-to-be-in-danger, so we can feel some sympathy for her plight as she mulls over the ‘tomb-womb’ warning issued by her fellow Hexenbeist Frau Pech, as she angles for a piece of the baby-pie. It’s hard to feel sorry for Adelind, but putting her and the babe in peril does open up the possibility of Renard dashing to the rescue. He and Adelind have shared whatever the Hexenbeist equivalent of body fluids are, so he and not Eric might be the father. Renard, although partly rehabilitated, does still need to demonstrate that he is on the side of Right and this storyline will give him that opportunity. It also gives us the chance to see Sasha Roiz holding a baby, which would pretty much guarantee his admission to this Tumblr.

But the other target for Evil Eric has to be Nick and, by association, those close to Nick. Juliette is now (after much delay and teasing) admitted to Team Grimm and trembling on the verge (roses, dinner) of reconciliation with Nick. With the season finale looming, this can only mean one thing. Something is going to come between them. Probably something undead?

Questions: When is Eric going to introduce Adelind to his parents (and who is going to play them)? When is Portland’s ME going to start asking questions about all the weird cases she gets?

 

[wpchatai]