Grimm Season 4 Episode 21 Review: Headache
Kathleen Wiedel
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I have to hand it to Nico Evers-Swindell: he sure makes you loathe Prince Kenneth, who I've mentally dubbed "Ken Doll." He imbues the character with that repulsive smugness, that self-satisfaction, and that particular twisted pleasure in causing other people pain.
By the end of Grimm Season 4 Episode 21, Kenneth had achieved his main objective – capturing the Royal child, Diana. He and his Hunjagers even slew themselves a rogue Grimm. Did anyone expect to find anything but Kelly Burkhardt's head when Nick opened that cardboard box?
There was a moment when Nick opened that box that was utterly silent: no music, no dialogue, no background noise, just utter silence, followed by Nick's anguished denial. The silence was a powerful touch to the scene, contributing to the surreal feel: this episode might have just as easily been titled "Heartache," rather than "Headache."
Kelly Burkhardt's death scene itself felt almost empty by comparison. I don't know if Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio wasn't available to film, but an off-screen death just didn't do Kelly Burkhardt justice. Added to the fact that the situation could have been avoided entirely if Kelly had just called Nick or pretty much anyone beside Juliette, it was a very unsatisfying end to the character.
Poor Nick. He's pretty much lost Juliette (more on that in a bit), and now his mother has been violently ripped from his life. How much pain can one person take before they just shatter? Nick just found his mother's head in a cardboard box in his house. That would mean some serious therapy for most people!
Speaking of therapy, let's talk about Renard, a guy due for some serious head-shrinkage himself. The man died, came back, was possessed by a psycho supernatural spirit who then murdered several people, and Renard knows it. Renard certainly wasn't in control of his actions at the time, but guilt isn't exactly a rational emotion, is it?
Well, this should be a jolly good romp!
"Jack"
I'd like to give props to Sasha Roiz once again this week. Renard is normally the voice of cool logic and rationalism; in this episode, though, Roiz got to play fear and panic along with Jack's complete homicidal insanity. That scene in the police car, with poor Wu trapped in the back, while Jack was singing?
Sounds like Wu needs some therapy, too. How will he ever be able to look at his captain the same way again? Though I suspect that shooting Renard with a trillion rubber bullets possibly helped work out some of his pent-up feelings. Actually, I think pretty much everyone liked shooting the captain just a little too much...
Hank: What if Jack's not gone?
Rosalee: Then shoot him for real!
On a completely different note, Trubel hasn't lost a beat with her decapitation skills, as one less-than-savvy Hundjager discovered. Though the token effort to hide her identity at first was more than a little ridiculous considering that her appearance had been totally spoiled in last week's preview and the official episode synopsis.
Let's turn our attention to Juliette for a moment. After sleeping with Kenneth (gag) and thus inadvertently giving Nick the key to figuring out what was wrong with Renard, she finally started to remember the good times she had with Nick. By the time Kelly was being murdered, Juliette almost looked like she was conflicted!
Are we on the verge of an emotional breakthrough with the Hexenbiest that was Juliette? I guess we'll just have to wait for the season finale to find out.
Some final thoughts:
- In how many scenes did Sasha Roiz take off or open his shirt? It was like he was trying to give Arrow's Stephen Amell a run for his money!
- Kudos to everyone last week who figured out that Renard was Jack.
- Another example of the Hexenbiest-Zauberbiest divide: both Henrietta and Adalind knew what was going on with Renard as soon as the symptoms were listed, but Renard hadn't the foggiest idea.
- Once again, it's proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that Nick and Juliette's neighbors are the most oblivious people in the entire world. At least three people were loudly and violently murdered, and apparently no one heard a thing.
- Something makes me think that Kenneth will not be satisfied with merely killing Kelly Burkhardt and recovering the Royal child.
- Thinking about it, everyone on Team Grimm needs therapy. Everyone.
Next week's season finale episode, Grimm Season 4 Episode 21, is sure to be full of fireworks. "Cry Havoc" is slated to air on May 15 at 8/7c on NBC. Until then, you can relive all the previous episodes when you watch Grimm online right here at TV Fanatic!
