Grimm: Bad Teeth

“You threatened to kill her?”

“Yeah, of course!”

Season two already looks better than season one. It’s slicker, cooler, and better shot. I’m also overjoyed to see this episode end with a “to be continued”. It looks as though, like Buffy and Angel, the show’s second season is seeing a transition in to more serialised storytelling. I certainly hope so.

We re-join the show as Nick has a slightly awkward reunion with his mother. Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio is looking a lot older than she was in the days when the Sheriff of Nottingham was being all nasty to her and that, but she does a good job in portraying a prickly, independent, resourceful and mysterious character. Giuntoli, while, as ever, lacking in charisma, is actually pretty good at showing Nick’s conflicted emotions. But there isn’t enough time for an emotional reunion.

Of course, we get lots of exposition. Nick’s dad did indeed die, but his mother has spent the last eighteen years being all sneaky and finding out who killed her husband and friend. It seems that the three coins, still held by Nick, will need to be destroyed at the place where they were forged. I’m predicting that the show will take a trip to Europe at some point for this to happen? But we’ll have to see. I bet no actual location filming will be involved, however.

We also get a bit of history about an old map, a mediaeval war, and the fact that the royals are well aware that Nick holds the key. Meanwhile, in the present day, there is some awkwardness between Monroe, Rosalie and this new and scary Grimm. There is also a horrible little sequence introducing the show at the start, but let’s move swiftly on.

Oh, and there are of course some murders, and a Grimm fairytale, what with this being part of a multiple episode adaptation of Briar Rose/Sleeping Beauty. This is the first time a single fairytale has been spread over multiple consecutive episodes: I hope this sort of thing is repeated. The murders aren’t really the focus, though, but more of a catalyst for the other characters and their reactions. The Captain continues to be fascinating, speaking on the phone to a delightfully evil baddie in Europe (not sure whether he’s English or French) who lives in a stonking great castle and whom the Captain calls ‘brother’.

There’s a lot going on. The Captain and Catherine Schade are seemingly plotting to cure Juliette, so everything is going to be okay on that front, we hope. Nick’s mother drops some more exposition towards the end: the Grimms, or their ancestors at least, used to control the Wesen for the royal families. And these royal families seem to be coming into focus as a potential big bad for the season. Firstly, though, we have a rather big cliff hanger that makes you jump. I hope the resolution is worth it.