Grimm: Double Date
March 28, 2015 1:39 PM - Season 4, Episode 15 - Subscribe

The scene of a murder trails back to a strange lovers' quarrel.

Nick and Hank are called to investigate a one night stand turned deadly when a man finds himself in the middle of a very bizarre love triangle. Captain Renard hopes Monroe and Rosalee can help him deal with recurring episodes of phantom bleeding. Meanwhile, Adalind makes a discovery that might turn the tables in her favor and Juliette makes a big decision that could change the course of her relationship with Nick. (description)
posted by zinon (10 comments total)
 
A few notable quotables:
  • Nick: "Juliette and I are having a little problem."
  • Renard: "Oh, this can't be good."
  • Renard: "You realize this puts me in a very awkward situation, again."
  • Juliette: "This I want to read."
  • Adalind: "I can't have another baby, I don't even know where the first one is."
  • Adalind: "I'm going to have to find you another father."
I'm all for Juliette getting her Hexenbiest on, but seriously why hasn't she told Rosalee yet‽ Even Captain Renard went to the Spice Shop for help. Enough with the secrets already.
posted by zinon at 2:08 PM on March 28, 2015


Is it in Sasha Roiz' contract that he gets X shirtless scenes per season? He's approaching TOS Captain Kirk levels. (Not that I'm complaining, just wondering at what point the writing team decided he was the waxed-chest/washboard abs poster boy of the show, and whether the other guys are miffed or just happy for the extra donuts at the craft-services table.)

Soooo tired of Juliette keeping secrets, and the Nick/Juliette angst. And I find Renard's willingness to keep her secret really hard to swallow. That he would risk losing Nick's good will, when it's supposed to be so important for his position with the full Royals that he has the Grimm on his side instead of theirs? Arg.
posted by oh yeah! at 7:39 AM on March 29, 2015


Soooo tired of Juliette keeping secrets, and the Nick/Juliette angst.

Yah. For a show that's been pretty pleasantly notably high on the "people talk to each other" scale, and thus pleasantly low on the "plot is entirely driven by a misunderstanding that would be cleared up in 5 minutes of conversation" scale, this is becoming annoyingly prevalent. At least when they were keeping things from Wu they had actual evidence that he might not handle it well.


Maybe this'll get addressed in later episodes, but it's kinda depressing that here in 2015 "abortion" or otherwise ending the pregnancy early isn't even raised as a possible way to deal with Adalind's surprise unwanted baby. And, y'know, she's basically a witch, with actual magical powers AND a whole knowledge of potions and powders and whatever - you can't tell me that Hexenbiests haven't come up with a dozen ways to end a pregnancy over the centuries. (I can't remember if it was brought up as a possibility with her first pregnancy, I kinda vaguely think that the show might've hinted around at the idea that the sudden magical speed of the pregnancy made abortion impossible, but I could be wrong.)

I thought it was interesting that Adalind's first thought was basically "Find a plausible baby daddy!!!" We'll see how that plays out. Although I would also think that a baby with a Hexenbiest for a mother and a Grimm for a father would be sort of intrinsically interesting to the Royals, so maybe she'll just come clean and give the child to them after it's born.

On a brighter note, Monroe actually explicitly called himself a feminist and noted that locking people into one gender against their will isn't really morally defensible - both maybe pretty minor in the larger scheme of things, but nice to see explicitly stated on a show on one of the "Big Three" TV channels.
posted by soundguy99 at 8:37 AM on March 29, 2015 [3 favorites]


The lack of confiding in Rosalee has really left me scratching my head, so I have tried to puzzle it out beyond the typical drama-making secret trope. I have put myself in Juliette's place and about the only charitable conclusion I can draw is that Juliette feels really isolated as she perceives Hexenbiests really negatively and also believes firmly that Hexenbiests are more in the enemy camp vis-a-vis both Nick (a Grimm) and Rosalee/Monroe (as Wesen). I think she also has a great deal of self-loathing she needs to work out. She obviously likes not being such a victim, but the form of that power is clearly horrifying to her. Does this excuse or explain her behavior? I don't know if I've even convinced myself, let alone anyone else to view her actions more sympathetically, but it's the best I've managed.
posted by dawg-proud at 6:51 PM on March 29, 2015


Oh, and one problem with my explanation is that it leaves out Captain Renard, who is more of an ally than in prior seasons, but I guess he's still a bit separate to the inner circle. Still, it proves an exception to the "Hexenbiests are the enemy." And yes, I know he's technically a Zauberbiest (or rather half-Zauerbiest), as the show likes to remind us of occasionally, but I'm not sure that's important distinction to Juliette's characterization, especially since she called him a Hexenbiest and sees him as helpful to understand her situation. And yes, I felt she was being used as prop in that situation to remind viewers of the show's mythology, but still think it's a fair point that undermines my own argument.
posted by dawg-proud at 7:03 PM on March 29, 2015


but seriously why hasn't she told Rosalee yet

I don't have the problem with this that I do with her keeping things from Nick. Hiding things from your partner - particularly things that seem to have come about because you were helping your partner with the supernatural uckfupedness that you got dragged into - is different from not turning to a friend for help. Presumably one of her closest friends, given that they have showed us nobody else in Juliette's life, but still. I can see Juliette trying to deal with this on her own, particularly given that she must on some level know that Monroesalee are maybe not going to appreciate the suggestion that being Vessen is something awful to be cured.

On a brighter note, Monroe actually explicitly called himself a feminist and noted that locking people into one gender against their will isn't really morally defensible - both maybe pretty minor in the larger scheme of things, but nice to see explicitly stated on a show on one of the "Big Three" TV channels.

It was nice, and I am somewhat puzzled they didn't take a second to have Nick explicitly say it was either that or extra-legally kill hir as a Grimm and that working within the law is always going to be his choice #1. Which I think is reasonably established as being his character but it wouldn't have felt too expo-dumpish in that conversation.
posted by phearlez at 10:27 AM on March 30, 2015 [1 favorite]


Monroe (on "Olive or Twist"): It's a great bar, but the prices'll scare the dickens out of you!
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 8:04 PM on March 31, 2015


I'm just now catching up, but: did anyone else feel like the "twist" was heavily telegraphed from the beginning? Or did Ben/Glory in Buffy just heighten my sensitivity to that possibility? (Actual thing I said to the TV very early in the episode: "This is gonna be some Ben/Glory shit, isn't it?")
posted by rhiannonstone at 10:05 PM on April 13, 2015


Well the opening quote telegraphs it, IIRC. I didn't get the feeling that we the audience were supposed to be kept in the dark at as so much as the investigation was. We get to see the deliberate efforts at opening adjoining doors, never see the two grifters together, etc.
posted by phearlez at 7:24 AM on April 14, 2015 [1 favorite]


Is it in Sasha Roiz' contract that he gets X shirtless scenes per season?

On rewatch: yes, this episode did feel like peak Renard-gets-his-shirt-off.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 2:42 PM on November 26, 2021


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