Grimm Season One Blu-ray DVD Review
Grimm Season One Blu-ray DVD Review
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I suppose calling a horror show "cute" and "fun" isn't really going to get you hardcore gorehounds out in droves to buy Season 1 of NBC's Grimm… but, it's easy-watching fare, perfect to have on in the background while you're half-doing other stuff. Created by two writers who worked on the Buffy spin-off Angel, David Greenwalt and Jim Kouf, Grimm's got a great premise and while it's not there yet, shows great promise.
I'd only caught an episode or two of Grimm when the first season was airing, and I figured when my review screener came along I'd watch just enough of it to let you know whether or not it's worthwhile. I did that, deemed it worthwhile, then decided to go ahead and watch the whole thing. Grimm isn't as sharp as Reaper, it's not at all morbid like Dexter, nor is it kitschy as Kolchak, and it doesn't have the dark fantasy mythology of shows like Fringe, but the characters and monster-of-the-week will keep you coming back for more.
The format of the show makes it easy to tune in whenever able (in fact it is so popular, Season 2 has already started airing ahead of schedule), but I'm glad I had the opportunity to watch all the episodes in order. Here's the story: Portland homicide detective Nick Burkhardt (David Giuntoli) is called into action on a much grander scale or murder and mayhem when his dying Aunt Marie (Kate Burton) shows up to pass him the familial torch of Grimm-hood… you see, he is one of the last surviving ancestors of the Brother Grimm. Everyone in the world thinks the German fabulists were only writing fiction, but it turns out the stories were diaries of their actual exploits and these monsters do indeed exist.
Level-headed Nick begins to see the beyond the seemingly human facades of these cruel creatures (not unlike a great Dean R. Koontz novel I once read, long ago, called Twilight Eyes) and while he's thrown for a loop at first, he makes it his mission to hunt them down and stop their evil doings. Of course, he can't actually tell anyone — not his reliable partner Hank (Russell Hornsby), and not his loving, live-in girlfriend Juliette (Bitsie Tulloch) — he's almost alone with his little-known supernatural secret about the underground of crime and punishment. The only other "person" around who help is actually a reformed werewolf, Monroe (the very likable Silas Weir Mitchell from Prison Break and My Name is Earl).
Each week, mythological characters come and go — Pied Piper, Rapunzel, Bluebeard, Bridge Troll, etc., — and while there isn't a lot of depth to the show (numerous plot holes, if you care enough to count'em up; plus some rather shockingly shoddy police work!), Grimm is good, general, TV fast-food fun.
There are two featurettes on the Blu-ray and DVD, one on world of Grimm and the other about the special effects (practical, and CGI). There's also a standard gag reel, actors' audition tapes, and a few deleted scenes (sprinkled over the 5 discs, not all in one place).
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Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson