Grimm Round Table: Magic and Mayhem, Secrets and Lies

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Face-snatching, mask-making, murder and mayhem! In Grimm Season 5 Episode 13, a young luchador failed to respect the power of the magic mask and paid the price. And meanwhile, Black Claw presented Renard with an offer he may find hard to refuse.

Grimm Round Table panelists Robin Harry, Allison Nichols, Doug Wolfe, and Kathleen Wiedel discuss the Grimm treasure (aka the magic stick), Nick and Adalind's secrets, Renard's plan, and more from "Silence of the Slams" – be sure to join in the conversation by adding your thoughts in the comments section below!

Was Team Grimm right to set the magic stick aside and keep its presence a total secret?

Robin: They were absolutely right to keep its presence a secret, as they don't understand it and its powers quite yet. However, I don't think they were right to set it aside and put it on the back burner. Whatever that piece of wood is, it's incredibly powerful, and figuring out what it is should be priority number one.

Allison: I'm with Robin. It was smart to keep the magic stick secret close to the chest, but they should have immediately gone into research mode. If having the keys around was dangerous, having the stick around is worse.

Doug: They need to keep the lid on it until they know the full extent of its powers. I’m anxious to see what else it can do.

Kathleen: If there is one (and only one) other person they should consider letting in on the magic stick, it's Renard. He's got some serious education and is a lot more well-traveled than anyone else on Team Grimm. On the other hand, he may well be compromised with the whole Black Claw thing at the moment, so...

How did this episode rate on the gross/horror factor for you?

Robin: Meh, I didn't even flinch. If anything, I was incredibly impressed with the makeup job on the dead guy.

Allison: I looked away when the whole face detaching thing happened, but that was the worst of it for me.

Doug: I’m with Robin. It didn’t affect me.

Kathleen: I guess I'm just a pansy, because it seriously freaked me out. Benito paralyzed a guy, sliced his face off while he was still alive, turned it into a mask, and gave it to Goyo to wear. And Goyo was wearing that other guy's face for significant portions of the story! This is not something I want to be thinking about late at night!

What do you think of Nick and Adalind keeping secrets from each other?

Robin: I think it's fair that Nick decided to keep the discovery from Adalind for now. Until they understand more about it and know how much information is safe to disseminate, the fewer people that know of its existence, the better.

As for Adalind, I was glad she had that conversation with Nick, and it took guts to ask how he would feel about her if she reverted back to a Hexenbiest. I do wish she had gone a step further and told him the truth though.

Allison: I think they are both playing it safe. I understand why they are not sharing everything. Nick is doing his job as a Grimm by keeping the stick a secret, and Adalind is acting out of fear. Adalind took a good first step by reminding Nick of the possibility that she could regain her powers. I'm hoping she continues to be honest with Rosalee about what's going on with her. I would love to see the two of them working together more.

Doug: I was pleasantly surprised to see NIck keep the secret of the magic stick from Adalind. That’s a realistic stance, given their history. And Adalind doesn’t know exactly what will happen once she gets her powers back, so her reticence in telling Nick about it makes sense too.

Kathleen: While it may be a realistic stance for Nick to lie about the stick, I really don't see it ending well. Though I really liked that Adalind was taking a proactive approach to the return of her 'biest by at the very least reminding Nick that it was going to happen. Maybe next Adalind can go to Renard for lessons on not being an evil, ah, witch while still being a 'biest? He seems to manage fairly well.

Occasionally, Grimm has characters and events that are clearly supernatural/magical in nature, with little if any possible scientific explanation. Share you thoughts on how it was used here, particularly in context of the series as a whole.

Robin: My only worry about episodes like this one is whether or not they're culturally appropriate. I don't know much about the luchador culture or the Aztec history that inspired this episode, so I certainly can't say, but I always hope that it's respectful to the histories that they draw from.

As for the lack of scientific explanation, I quite like that there are some episodes that remain fantastical. It makes sense that they don't have a solution or realistic explanation for all the phenomena that they encounter, and that not everything can be reduced to simplistic terms. Such is life!

Allison: I agree with everything that Robin brought up. I do enjoy when Grimm delves into other cultures, popular supernatural myths, and magic. It makes the world more well rounded. It shows that some myths are actually Wesen-related, which I find cool. However, like Robin said, I hope it's respectful to the cultures and histories.

Doug: The whole Wesen thing is supernatural/magical, so having them veer away from the Wesen thing in order to indulge a story like this doesn’t seem that far of a stretch. I’m okay with it.

Kathleen: Robin made some excellent points! While I appreciate the generally scientific approach to Grimm, it's also nice that they don't explain everything. La Llorona, Volcanalis, Jack the Ripper... these are just a few examples where science and logic just don't cut it. To quote Shakespeare, there are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

What do you think is Renard's plan to get Diana back? Is he going to join Black Claw to do it?

Robin: For a storyline that started off as the most boring thing since drying paint, they certainly have been throwing fascinating twists into it these days! I don't exactly understand Black Claw's plan here – they're just going to suddenly introduce Renard as a family man when all of Portland knows he's currently not?

Anyway, I have no sweet clue what's going to happen next, though I presume that Renard's ultimate plan will be to get his daughter back and take Black Claw down doing so.

Allison: I like that Diana hasn't been forgotten. I'm excited to learn what she has been up to, and how Black Claw knows about her. I wish I knew more about what Renard was thinking though. What does it hurt to reveal to the viewers that Renard is definitely planning a Black Claw take down? I don't like the ambiguity.

Doug: Black Claw made a point of talking about Adalind too. So I’m really curious to see what he does, both with Diana and Adalind. Further, I’m wondering whether Adalind will leave Nick for Renard in order to get her baby back. As for Renard, I’m drawing a blank on how he’s supposed to get the baby back.

Kathleen: It will be interesting to see what's been going on with Diana since we last saw her in the helicopter with Meisner. Meisner told Renard that the Resistance had her, if I recall correctly, but whether that was true or not is unclear, especially given the reveal of Meisner's involvement with Hadrian's Wall.

I can definitely see Renard leveraging the opportunity to infiltrate Black Claw in order to get the girl back.

*Bonus: Share your favorite scene or quote from this episode.

Robin: This episode was kind of a letdown after the buildup of the last two. That said, I did quite enjoy the first scene where they decided to keep the stick, and loved when Rosalee pointed out that their reaction to it is pretty much what the original Grimms must have had when they hid it in the first place.

Allison: Wu had my favorite line of the night:

So, we're thinking it's some kind of healing-stick-magic-wand thing?

Wu

Doug: I enjoyed the whole masked fighter deal from start to end. Don’t know why – it just strikes me as hilarious.

Kathleen: Since Allison already mention my #1 favorite line of the night, I'll go with my #2, from when Monroe and Rosalee were preparing the ritual.

At least we don't need a chicken...

Rosalee [about a ritual]

It was delivered pretty much as an undertone aside, which made it even funnier!

Grimm Season 2 Episode 14, "Lycanthropia," is scheduled to air on Friday, March 25, 2016 at 9/8c on NBC. Be sure to check back for our review after the episode airs!

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Grimm Season 5 Episode 13 Quotes

So, we're thinking it's some kind of healing-stick-magic-wand thing?

Wu

This takes a facelift to a whole other place.

Hank [regarding a victim who had his face removed]