Saturday, March 31, 2012

Things are looking GRIMM.


Grimm is slightly off-kilter, and I'm not referring to the fairytale aspects. This show's got PROBLEMS, which is a pity, because with Supernatural winding down and Fringe set to finish, there's a definite cult tv gap up for grabs.

David Greenwalt is one of the series' creators. If the name sounds familiar, it's because you've seen it in the credits of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Angel, Moonlight, Eureka and The X-Files.

Of course, this could be part of the problem. Mediocrity was not on my list of viewer expectations. Supernatural creatures, references to old myths, sassy sleuthing, yes. Kind of crappy television... not so much.

Turns out, David Greenwalt+Fairytales (& who isn't a fan of fairytales??) does not=AWESOME SAUCE.

I think this warrants a sad face.

:(

The frustrating thing is the concept of the show is pretty solid, in terms of a supernatural procedural, ie lots of cop shop talk and a weekly creature feature.

For those who haven't caught an episode, policeman Nick Burkhardt discovers he's from a bloodline known as Grimms, humans who can see the 'true' faces of creatures living amongst humanity's droves. Naturally, this causes complications in Nick's life, personally and professionally.

While his heritage is a bit bloodthirsty (bordering on ethnic cleansing, some might say) today's Grimm chooses to walk a milder path. He's more thoughtful and empathic, using his hereditary talents to bring justice to both worlds.

In theory, the main character should deliver. He's jolted from his comfortable life into a confusing, complex, supernatural world. He has to keep his Grimm skills a secret from those he loves, while trying to manage both sides of the equation (yes, like a superhero).

In reality, despite the great set-up, this show simply doesn't work.

I want to be bright rather than bitter, so I'm going to focus on one area in which the program excels (for now, that is. Will let you know when the rant's a'comin').

Visually, this series is top notch. Utterly beautiful cinematography (especially the lighting), with occasional saturated scenes that are very fairytale-esque. Quite stunning. Kudos to the crew.

Moving on to the conflicted hero. (Yes, taking off my compliment hat, a 1920's style cloche complete with silk flowers, putting on my critical cap, which is, frankly, quite dowdy).

The bald truth is, our protagonist is not impressive. The character is middling.The actor is middling, his storylines are middling, he's just... middling. Not good, not bad. Middling (no relation to Bette).

His (unofficial) sidekick saves Grimm from the dvd bargain bin. Silas Weir Mitchell plays Eddie Munroe, a creature known as a Blutbad. He's on a kind of twelve step monster program, preferring a vegetarian, (relatively) violence-free lifestyle. This guy's hilarious, and the only reason I've hung in there. He fixes clocks, too. (How randomly fairytale-esque is that?).

He's a bit like the incredible hulk, ie determined to remain non-violent, which kind of goes haywire sometimes. Possibly the funniest gory moment on the show was when he accidentally pulled off a baddies arm during a fist fight. My bad, indeed.

Remember that old chestnut, if you don't have anything good to say, don't say anything at all? (And why is that called a chestnut?) I'm applying this sentiment to the protagonist's best friend/police partner and his live-in girlfriend*.

Please note, this is not a reflection of the actor's talents. The characters are metaphors for a 'normal life', and that's how they're written. Clunky, two-dimensional, ANNOYING metaphors. Poor form from the script department. Tsk, tsk.

I think a large part of the show's problem is the CARICATURED 'idea' of a police detective. Exaggerated blokey walking, the posing, the terrible, terrible cliched comments coming out of the cop's mouths... so painful.

Dot-to-dot policing isn't helping either btw. Here's a prime example:

Nick: We've got a bunch of blood being illegally transported, and a dead kid missing seven pints.

Hank: Maybe we should check to see if there's a connection between the two.

Grimm, Season 1, Episode 10.

Really? They felt that this dialogue was NECESSARY?

I think it's time to take a note from The Walking Dead and overhaul the writing staff, because at this stage, cancellation can't be too far off.

To be fair, part of the problem may be that Grimm airs on a much more commercial network than a lot of other supernatural-themed programs. This means bigger audience numbers are demanded/expected. Perhaps they're trying to lay the standard procedural stuff on thick, so as not to lose viewers wary of the weird?

At this point, with a good chunk of season one over, it's safe to say the attempt at fusion has failed. Time to fish or cut bait.

Here's the trailer for the first episode. Promised so much, yet delivered so little. The Grimm brothers would be disappointed.


*On a random note- what is with the doppelganger casting of the female characters?? I get that sometimes guys have a type, but seriously, now may be a good time to try and move away from long red/brown hair parted in the middle and pale, pale skin.

I was watching an episode of the show with someone who's only a random viewer, and this conversation pretty much sums up the problem:

"Why is his girlfriend doing that?"
Oh, that's not his girlfriend, it's a guest star. She just looks like his girlfriend."
"Oh right, okay, yeah, I remember this one, I got her mixed up with the girlfriend before. She's the crazy one who used to go out with the clock guy."
"No, that was another actress, from a different episode. This crazy one wants to date the cop."
""Christ, why do they all look the same?"

(Good question, and one the casting department should probably be asking themselves).