“My groin is fine, thank you”
Well, there’s me all wrong. I thought this was certain to be based on The Goose that Laid the Golden Egg, but
in fact the inspiration behind it was The Nightingale, a tale from Hans Christian Andersen. It’s an interesting take on the story, which is given
strong undertones of domestic violence. This is also the biggest episode yet
for Juliette, whose character finally seems to be emerging from the background.
The beginning of this episode is unusual. We usually begin by being
shown a murder and then seeing Nick and Hank arrive on the scene to solve the
crime, this doesn’t happen here. Instead, Juliette and Nick notice what appears
to be domestic violence while on holiday in that iconic Oregon forest. Our
first inkling that this is more than your average example of domestic violence
is when the poor lady is forced to eat some strange things liquefied with
worms. We watched this while we were eating my lovely girlfriend’s delicious spaghetti
and meatballs. How nice!
The rural setting adds to the sense of conspiracy. In Portland,
although the Captain is involved in all sorts of dodgy dodginess, things are
generally okay, with the tentacles of corruption spreading only so far. In the
countryside, even the local Sheriff sides with abuser, being his cousin. The
fairytale element in this episode is much more subtle that usual, with a
welcome greater emphasis on a social issue. I’d like to see a bit more of this
sort of thing.
The climax of the episode, as Juliette rejects Nick’s proposal of
marriage, is not unexpected but still hugely dramatic. And, let’s face it – she’s
right. Nick is obviously hiding something from her, and she has a right to
expect better than that from a husband.
Things are proper arcy these days, and I don’t care that that isn’t a
proper word! Going on in the background is Hank’s obsession with Adelind. The
season appears to be moving decisively away from the story of the week and
towards a dramatic finale. Bring it on.
While the story is loosely based on The Nightengale the wesen The Seltenvogel is based on early myths of a goose that laid golden eggs. I actually thought this story was rushed and could have been written better. Some of the xfs weren't up to par with previous episodes. All around it was a ho-hum episode. I started out liking this show but as a fan I'm not at all thrilled with all the directions the show is going. I will wait and see how this season ends and we progress into the next one.
ReplyDeleteWhat bothers me a little is that the story is essentially about domestic violence but doesn't actually have anything much to say about the subject other than just point at it. And it's getting to the stage where the characters really ought to be noticing that their lives are suspiciously close to all these fairy tales. Still, it's a good episode for Juliette, who finally gets something to do!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment! :)