NBC's Grimm premiered last month and I tried my best to give it a shot. Last week there was an extra episode on Thursday night, possibly because they needed something to fill the slot of the cancelled Prime Suspect, or maybe because no one was watching Grimm on Friday nights. Unfortunately this abundance of Grimm didn't work out as NBC had planned. Rather than get me sucked into the show once and for all, I found myself wondering why on earth I was still watching it.
The pilot episode was not terrible. And that was probably the reason why I persisted in my attempts to enjoy the show. It has a very basic plot wrapped in a convoluted premise. Essentially it's a police procedural but with supernatural elements thrown in. The main character is Nick Burkhardt, a Homicide detective who learns that he is descended from a long line of "Grimms," people who are destined to rid the world of supernatural creatures disguised as regular humans who wreak havoc across the world. These creatures were the source material for the Grimm Brothers fairy tales so we get wolf-like creatures hunting women in red à la Red Riding Hood, while some bear-like creatures sacrifice intruders they find in their home à la Goldilocks. All these creatures have weird Grimm names that have been passed down through the centuries and in the pilot, Nick finds a reformed wolf-man-thing who becomes his advisor in all matters Grimm-related.
Unlike Once Upon a Time (the other fairy tale show that debuted this year), Grimm is just not whimsical or intriguing enough. It really is a very basic crime drama and somehow the inclusion of fairy tale creatures makes it even more boring. These creatures don't have very complicated motives for the crimes they commit; they're usually just looking to kill things. So the show doesn't even have a good mystery component - it's just a question of figuring out which of the creatures that Nick found over the course of the episode is the one who lost his/her control and committed a crime.
Like I said, the pilot was mildly promising, but the show has gone steadily downhill from there. Rather than spend time developing Nick's character and delving into his newly-discovered family history, the show has just become formulaic and dull, with vast stretches of pointless scenes and irrelevant discussion that serve as filler until Nick can finally breathe a sigh of relief and say, "The pig did it!" The great thing about Once Upon A Time is that it explores the past and the present simultaneously and relies heavily on character development. But Grimm has completely foregone its characters for the sake of plodding crime solving that lacks any kind of spark whatsoever.
Grimm will be the first casualty of my 2011-2012 TV line-up. Those of you who decide to stick with it can let me know if I gave up too soon, but I highly doubt it. The show is likely on the verge of cancellation, but sometimes networks (especially NBC) can tolerate anything in that Friday time slot. Because really, who's watching anyway?
The pilot episode was not terrible. And that was probably the reason why I persisted in my attempts to enjoy the show. It has a very basic plot wrapped in a convoluted premise. Essentially it's a police procedural but with supernatural elements thrown in. The main character is Nick Burkhardt, a Homicide detective who learns that he is descended from a long line of "Grimms," people who are destined to rid the world of supernatural creatures disguised as regular humans who wreak havoc across the world. These creatures were the source material for the Grimm Brothers fairy tales so we get wolf-like creatures hunting women in red à la Red Riding Hood, while some bear-like creatures sacrifice intruders they find in their home à la Goldilocks. All these creatures have weird Grimm names that have been passed down through the centuries and in the pilot, Nick finds a reformed wolf-man-thing who becomes his advisor in all matters Grimm-related.
Unlike Once Upon a Time (the other fairy tale show that debuted this year), Grimm is just not whimsical or intriguing enough. It really is a very basic crime drama and somehow the inclusion of fairy tale creatures makes it even more boring. These creatures don't have very complicated motives for the crimes they commit; they're usually just looking to kill things. So the show doesn't even have a good mystery component - it's just a question of figuring out which of the creatures that Nick found over the course of the episode is the one who lost his/her control and committed a crime.
Like I said, the pilot was mildly promising, but the show has gone steadily downhill from there. Rather than spend time developing Nick's character and delving into his newly-discovered family history, the show has just become formulaic and dull, with vast stretches of pointless scenes and irrelevant discussion that serve as filler until Nick can finally breathe a sigh of relief and say, "The pig did it!" The great thing about Once Upon A Time is that it explores the past and the present simultaneously and relies heavily on character development. But Grimm has completely foregone its characters for the sake of plodding crime solving that lacks any kind of spark whatsoever.
Grimm will be the first casualty of my 2011-2012 TV line-up. Those of you who decide to stick with it can let me know if I gave up too soon, but I highly doubt it. The show is likely on the verge of cancellation, but sometimes networks (especially NBC) can tolerate anything in that Friday time slot. Because really, who's watching anyway?
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