2.7 The Bottle Imp Also taking her sweet time was beautiful Juliette, who for one glorious moment looked as if she may have been written a clumsy but oh-so-welcome exit from her current storyline. Not so, as her recovery was revealed to be a figment of Det. Burkhardt’s pretty little head, and the first of two rug-pulls executed in the episode. Nick’s subconscious may not be the most sophisticated plotter, but I’d have happily swallowed the old “Hey, I remember you” kitchen scene without complaint if it meant an end to this tediously drawn-out Nick/Juliette/Foxy Renard love triangle. Captain Renard was feeling the effects of the soul-cleansing potion he used to awaken the vague vet, and coming over a little Jack Torrance in the process. Not only was he recalling his and Juliette’s kiss at inconvenient moments, he’d also started typing her name repeatedly into his precinct admin docs with the determination of a nine year old practising their signature. Add to that Juliette mind-morphing Nick into the burly Prince during their own smooch, and, unless Grimm has an heretofore unrevealed power to surprise, it looks as though things are heading in precisely the direction we all predicted weeks ago. Consistently decent this series though has been Russell Hornsby’s performance and arc as Hank. Who couldn’t love the scene of Nick excitedly showing his partner his toys after inviting Hank to come and play in Aunt Marie’s mystical Airstream? Hank’s grateful realisation that Monroe was the one who saved his life during that ogre-fight last season also paves the way for him to return the favour, and more scenes between the two of them are decidedly on my “yes please” list. Oh, and more from Sgt. Wu comes right underneath that, if anyone out there’s listening. Which brings us to Monroe, and this week’s wackadoodle C-plot. The introduction of Rosalee’s herb and spice shop was a sage move (all puns intended) from Grimm’s writers, creating a Magic Box-style workplace environment where the gang could gather to right magical wrongs, meet characters-of-the-week and, in the case of Monrosalee, flirt. The Bottle Imp then, was something like the TV equivalent of… a tube of toothpaste. Unlikely to rock anybody’s world, it was neither surprising nor massively interesting, and from one end to the other, you knew what you were going to get. Let’s hope for an upturn in next week’s The Other Side. Read Frances’ review of last week’s episode, Over My Dead Body, here. Follow our Twitter feed for faster news and bad jokes right here. And be our Facebook chum here.
