Grimm Season 4 Episode 12 Review: Marechaussee
Kathleen Wiedel
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What happens when a Wesen Council hitman comes to town? Absolute awesomeness, that's what!
On Grimm Season 4 Episode 12, Juliette single-handedly took down The Mummy, and it's hands-down her best scene in the entire series.
Let's back things up a bit: Arnold Vosloo's bounty-hunting manticore Wilde came to Portland to hunt down a few low-life scumbags on the Wesen Council's Official Hit List. While there, the Wesen Council inexplicably decided to issue a sanctioned hit on our favorite Grimm.
I have at least one giant problem with this. It's one thing to kill off crooks who no one will really miss; it's quite another to blatantly murder a respected police officer and not expect to draw a huge amount of ire from local law enforcement! Did the Council think that the Portland Police (and their Royal captain!) would just shrug and move on?
Surely one Grimm who generally keeps himself to Portland couldn't be that big a thorn in their sides that they'd take the risk! That babble about him interfering in their affairs seemed completely lame, and it made me wonder if Prince Viktor wasn't being the whole thing.
The next question is how the Council will react to the demise of their hitman. The situation reminds me of the time that Nick shipped a couple of Reapers' heads back to Europe by air express to make a point. The Reapers seemed to get the message; will the Council?
My only other real complaint was the dodgy woge effect on Laszlo the fortune-teller at the beginning of the episode. It just looked really, really weird.
Putting all that aside: this episode was a riot. The look on Viktor's face when he opened the door and saw Renard standing outside? Priceless. And the way Renard casually remarked about what happened to the late, unlamented Eric!
This is familiar. Reminds me of when my brother Eric came to town. Did you, um, ever find his killer?
Renard
Renard faced the situation head-on, and he sent out one of his minions to locate Nick's mother and the baby. Viktor, of course, was still deluding himself that he had control of the situation. And boy, oh, boy, does Adalind have a surprise or two coming her way.
Juliette's condition certainly alarmed Henrietta, and Henrietta seemed like a Hexenbiest who's not easily alarmed. Adalind really had no clue what she was starting when she started this whole mess by taking away Nick's Grimm abilities. All I can do is repeat what Adalind's mother said with such dripping scorn at the end of Grimm Season 1 Episode 17: "Amateur."
Henrietta warned Juliette about the dangers of her current undisciplined but every powerful state. And now Juliette has started experimenting with her new-found powers, to truly impressive effect.
Foolish manticore. He only had a few moments to appreciate his folly before being skewered by his own stinger. Best. Juliette. Moment. Ever.
Maybe he should come home and find *you* dead!
Juliette
I cannot wait for a Juliette-Adalind showdown.
Juliette was in a strange place at the moment, emotionally speaking. She's become a creature of horror, a thing that looks like a rotting corpse, and many of her and Nick's troubles can be traced to Hexenbiests (well, mostly Adalind). On the other hand, her new abilities made her far more able to defend herself, as she so clearly demonstrated in her encounter with the manticore.
That empowerment must be very attractive for someone like her. How many times has she been victimized, especially in her own home? Despite her apparent skill with firearms, Juliette doesn't even have the advantage of police training that Hank and Wu have to help keep her safe from the numerous dangerous Wesen around. Her new Hexen magic gives her the ability to fight back, and very effectively at that. I can't wait to learn just how extensive Juliette's powers are.
There was just one last giant elephant in the room, namely Nick. She still hasn't told him the truth. Even after he found the dead manticore on the floor of their living room, she prevaricated. Sooner or later, he is going to find out the truth, and I doubt that relevation will be very pretty. Her best bet would almost certainly be to get it over with, rather than continue the deception. Otherwise, it's only going to get worse.
A few thoughts in closing:
- Juliette does have a day job after all! When was the last time her veterinary work was mentioned or seen?
- Renard suspected that Nick's mother remained in the vicinity of Portland, rather than getting as far away as possible.
- If Juliette and Diana got into a Hexenbiest magic battle, which one would win?
- Will the death of the hitman have unforseen consequences, especially for Monroe and Rosalee?
Catch up on previous episodes when you watch Grimm online right here at TV Fanatic! The next episode, "Trial By Fire," will air Friday, February 13 at 9 p.m. on NBC. See you then!
