What's past is prologue
Into the Schwarzwald is a huge milestone for Grimm because it's the 100th episode. I have to admit that back in the first season, I would never have believed that Grimm would make it that far. Many times over the years, I have been frustrated by the repeated return to the Wesen of the week coupled with slow and plodding meta each season. To be honest, season twelve really has been no different what with Rosealee getting threatening calls, and Renard caught up in a local election. None of it fee;s connected whatsoever to the main meta which is about bringing an end to the uprising by Black Claw. This week, Grimm neatly tied these events together while reminding of us of the relationships between all of the characters.
This week in Nick and Monroe's excellent adventures, we saw these two team up to find the seven Grimm treasure. It took up the majority of the episode and seemed to just plod along. The two seem to be stymied at every turn and Monroe is injured in the escape. I do have to say that I loved Monroe telling Nick that not all Blutbad look alike when he is asked to fool the men who are hunting them. On the way home, the two men call the spice shop to speak to their respective partners. That sentence hurt to write because Nick clearly sees his rapist as someone who is important to him.
In the wake of the murder of Andrew Dixon, Wu and Hank take off after Marwan but he climbs down the side of a building like spiderman and escapes the cops. Marwan, despite all of his skill, cannot escape Eve and she causes him to be hit by a bike and then uses her evil hexenbiest breath to knock him out, before stealing his phone. This is a huge break for Hadrian's Wall because they believe that Marwan could potentially lead them to his handlers, thus allowing them to break the back of Black Claw. After copying the information on Marwan's phone, Eve heads to the hospital and tucks Marwan's phone in with his things. The moment Marwan awakes, he calls his contact and asks for a ride.
Back at the station, Hank, Wu and Renard are stymied what to do about the missing Marwan. All the cops feel that they cannot put out an APB for him because they have no way to explain exactly how it is that Marwan came on their radar. I gotta say, given that all crime seems to be committed by Wesen, I'd really like to know how it is that their identity has been hidden for so long? Renard instead instructs Hank and Wu to tell the feds that they saw someone on the top floor who got away. Renard then gets a call tipping him off as to where Marwan is. The cops track Marwan down at the hospital and after a brief battle, Renard takes him out. I gotta say, if I were Marwan, I would have fought off the two humans instead of going toe to toe with a Half-Zauberbiest. Later, a pissed off Meisner confront Renard because now that Marwan has been compromised he is no good to them and cannot lead them anywhere.
Renard goes back to his office and reviews the tapes and notices that Rachel Wood is on stage looking up at exactly where the shots came from. Renard goes to see Rachel and after a kiss woges and suggests that they have an honest conversation. Rachel, who is a Löwen, woges in response. It seems that Rachel's entire interactions with Renard have been about grooming him to run for mayor. He is presented with a rip off Hope and Change poster (really Grimm is that the best that you could do?) and introduced to Lucien. Finally, Renard might have some relevance this season and it also moves him back into the position of being in the grey area where he is best suited to exist. Will Renard play both sides against the middle?
Rosealee's ex Tony shows up and he starts demanding money claiming that she owes him. It seems that Rosealee was involved in drugs before coming to Portland. Adalind rushes in, hearing Rosalee being tossed around the spice shop. It seems that Adalind is starting to get her powers back and she methodically bends back the fingers of Rosealee's attacker before he runs out of the Spice Shop. As much as Adalind is happy that Rosealee is safe, she is horrified by the fact that her Hexenbiest powers are coming back. Adalind is quick to beg Rosealee not to tell Nick, saying that Nick will kick her and Kelly out if he learns the truth. Rosealee promises to keep Adalind's secret but warns that if it happens again and Nick finds out he will be very angry. Great, so now Adalind and Rosealee are besties. Can no character on this show acknowledge that Adalind is not a good person and is in fact a rapist. Naturally, Adalind is quick to blame her former actions all on being a Hexenbiest. Later, we see a worried Adalind sitting at home and water boiling in a glass.
Nick gets with the scoobies to open the box. After picking the lock and inserting the keys, something is still stopping the box from opening. It's Monroe who suggests Nick's blood will break the seal so he slices his hand (bad special effects there Grimm) and then smears his blood along the opening. The box opens and inside they find a piece of wood. It's absolutely anticlimactic given all that they have gone through to find this treasure. Monroe has blood poisoning thanks to the bite he received from the Wesen in Germany. The scoobies try to get him to the hospital and in the process Nick brings the stick close to Monroe's arm healing him. Now we know that the stick heals and that makes it a powerful artifact. I suppose we will have to wait to see how everyone deals with it and where this goes next.
For a 100th episode, Into the Schwarzwald is absolutely underwhelming to say the least. I see the connections the writers made between the characters but five years of faithful viewership deserves more than we got. Finally, after all of these years, we discovered what the keys were hiding and I suppose that's some closure of sorts, even as it opens up new adventures. Nick and Monroe on an adventure shows us just how much their relationship has become a friendship since their first meeting where Nick attacked Monroe. Then we have Adalind and Eve, whoare still mirror opposites of each other though they are now playing different roles. The thing is, even before this episode aired, the relationships between the characters was clear. I'm not sure where Grimm is going at this point but I'm very much starting to feel like whatever shine it had, has long since worn off.
