My husband and I were introduced to Grimm at the same time when we were invited to round-table interviews at San Diego Comic-Con 2013. Neither of us had watched the show, but after fun rounds of interviews with Russell Hornsby (Hank Griffin), David Giuntoli (Nick Burkhardt), Silas Weir Mitchell (Monroe), Reggie Lee (Sgt. Wu), Sasha Roiz (Capt. Sean Renard), Bree Turner (Rosalee) and Bitsie Tulloch (Juliette) we decided to binge-watch the series after the con and we’ve been big fans ever since.
[Spoiler Alert]
If you haven’t watched the last season yet, this is your last chance to stop reading before I spoil it for you. This year’s panel opened with a quick recap of the last four seasons and a sneak peek of next season’s first episode, which was a somber scene at Juliette’s funeral. Executive Producers David Greenwalt, Jim Kouf and Norberto Barba confirmed that Juliette will not return from the dead but they did concede later in the panel that she may show up in flashbacks.
The last four seasons have been primarily about Nick and his adventures as a “new” Grimm, and how he and his Wesen (the German word for being or creature (pronounced as “vezen” in the show), and non-Wesen friends eventually became aware of each other. While the producers initially appeared to be somewhat tight-lipped about the coming season, David Greenwalt shared that this coming season would be “The Rise of the Wesen”, a kind of revolution of sorts by Wesens who want to wreak havoc “upon every one of our beloved people.” Something else to look forward to is Grimm’s 100th episode, where they finally explain the damn keys. Even though they still don’t know what they do, “by God we’re gonna explain them,” Greenwalt promised.
When asked if Nick’s focus this season would be being a good dad or would it be all about revenge for him, interestingly enough, Giuntoli answered with, “Those can be both the same thing.” Frankly, I’m looking forward to his co-parenting with Adalind, played by Claire Coffee. In trying to summarize Nick’s mental state, after losing his mom and then his girlfriend, Giuntoli lets on that he suffers another loss in the first episode of the next season (no, not Trubel, please! I LIKE her!). Of course he didn’t elaborate, but the baby becomes his reason to keep going, so Nick’s focus will be on being a father, but when the baby’s not around, it’s all about revenge.
So will this year be the year Hank finds some true love? Russell Hornsby didn’t know, but Greenwalt said yes, putting a big, happy smile on Hornsby’s face before he immediately began soliciting for casting suggestions.
Per Silas Weir Mitchell and Bree Turner, my favorite Grimm couple, Monrosalee, will be tested even more this coming season when Rosalee’s past addictions come back into the storyline and cause major problems for the couple. When asked what the addictions were, Roiz suggested, “An addiction to cardigans.” Weir Mitchell and Turner went with it and elaborated with “An addiction to earthtones” and more specifically, “An addiction to the Lands End catalog. Matching olive drab and rust.”
I totally agreed with Weir Mitchell’s explanation of why Grimm fans just dig Monrosalee. He described their story as “drawn well. It was slow, awkward and sweet and organic and I think it just resonated with people.” There was an actual courtship of sorts and fans liked the genuine nature of their relationship, even the bickering
As much as I adore the other characters, Sgt. Wu is my favorite, especially because his introduction to the Wesen world was through the telling of one of the scarier Filipino myths. As the “newest, if overzealous, initiate into the ‘Scooby Gang’,” Lee feels Wu brings some smarts and technical skills to the gang and hopes they’re utilized in the next season. He teased that this will be a hard freshman year for him, but at Giuntoli’s suggestion, maybe he’ll have more of a wardrobe than the polyester uniform he’s worn since the first season.
Could Wu give Renard some competition in the shirt-ripping department? Apparently Roiz has this fine talent of ripping off his shirt down to 3 seconds. When asked if he felt objectified, Roiz said, “In the most wonderful way.” What does the future hold for Captain Renard? More political intrigue, but regional rather than royal this time, and he’ll be involved in the Wesen uprising the producers hinted at.
Claire Coffee’s Adalind has a second chance at Mother of the Year, because again, her baby is all she has in the world. Especially since she’s also lost her powers. Again. What else does the future hold? Coffee believes Adalind will try her hand at finding a job, maybe scour Craigslist for a couple of episodes. Everyone forgets she was a lawyer, so maybe we’ll see her new power will be in the legal world.
Of all the fan questions I heard at the panels I attended, I must say Grimm fans asked the best questions. You know they pay close attention to the show. One fan asked the producers, “How do you feel about killing off a major character? By that I mean, the trailer..and I guess Juliette, too.” Another one asked for an explanation of the 3rd season finale where Nick lost his powers and Monroe “woged” (transformed) in front of him, shouldn’t Nick have been able to see it because Monroe wanted to be seen?
While the producers were vague about their answer, essentially saying, “No, because Monroe only wanted to be seen by a Grimm, so he was in stage one. There are two stages. It’s complicated”, the question forced Weir Mitchell to go into character and explain, “That is a good question. But the point is…there was that episode when the guys were robbing the banks, right? And they were purposefully wanting to be seen by Kerhseite (Wesen term for a human)..by normies. Which is, you’re breaking the Gesetsbuch Ehrencodex (highest Wesen law of honor, forbidding Wesen from showing their true form to humans) which is verboten, it’s not allowed,” sending Turner into fits of laughter. I loved Weir Mitchell’s surprised expression, as he asked, “I mean, what are we talking about here? I mean let’s inhabit the world if we’re going to inhabit the world. I mean this question is going deep and I’m going to respond in kind and I love it.”
With a return to the mythology of Season 1, a Wesen uprising on the Captain’s hands, trouble in paradise for MonRosalee, mommy and daddy issues for Adalind and Nick, Sgt. Wu’s bigger role, a love interest for Hank, October 24 can’t arrive fast enough.
For the full video of the panel, check it out on Grimm’s Youtube channel: Comic-Con 2015: Grimm Panel.
