Nick finally got some of the answers he's been waiting for in Grimm Season 5 Episode 6, as the Wesen Uprising started making its first big moves with coordinated attacks on Wesen shops, with one shopkeeper killed and another kidnapped.
Of course, the biggest shocker came at the very end of the episode, when Team Grimm was saved by the surprise return of not-as-dead-as-previously-suspected Juliette!
Join TV Fanatic Round Table Panelists Doug Wolfe, Allison Nichols, Robin Harry, and Kathleen Wiedel as they discuss Hadrian's Wall, Trubel doing their dirty work, what's next for the Wesen Uprising, and, of course, the big one, the return of Juliette!
Be sure to add your own thoughts and remarks in the comments section below!
What's your takeaway from what we learned about Meisner and Chavez's organization, Hadrian's Wall (HW)?
Doug: I still feel like there’s a lot of darkness around it. For example: why did they put Trubel (and now we know they did the same with Juliette) into those dark rooms? How were they conditioning them for the war? And what strange powers are at work that allows them to be such amazing warriors in the fight?
Allison: While it was nice to learn something about them, I agree with Doug. There are so many questions. How did they get started, and how did they convince so many Grimms to work with them? We know they are a part of the government that no one knows about, so are we talking like Division from Nikita or is HW truly doing good without any evil agendas. They clearly have a lot of resources and not a lot of oversight, so are they operating on the up and up?
Robin: Well, I've gotten that they're a secret international multi-governmental organization designed to quell the uprising of crazy homicidal Wesen all over the world. They're well resourced, given Trubel's bike and travels. We were only just introduced to them, so there's clearly a lot more to learn, but my biggest question is how Meisner ended up with them.
Are they tied to the Resistance somehow? Or is that sidearc all done now that the King is dead? My problem with Grimm is that they're really quick to introduce new mythologies, but horrible with developing and resolving ones they already have going on, so I'm not even sure we'll learn as much about Hadrian's Wall as we should.
Kathleen: I agree 100% with Doug. Hadrian's Wall gives me the creeps. Trubel is especially troubling (if you'll pardon the pun): this is a young woman with some serious trust issues, yet she has displayed very little reticence about working for an organization that kidnapped her, twice. Don't get me started on Juliette and her weird brainwashed behavior at the end of Grimm Season 5 Episode 6.
Even Meisner's behavior since he was connected with them has seemed at odds with his previous characterization. For instance, Meisner was a member of the Resistance against the rule of the Royals, and now he's a member of a group opposing a rebellion against the current order?
So, Hadrian's Wall has apparently been sending Trubel around the world doing Grimm dirty work opposing Occultatem Libera. Thoughts?
Doug: I think we’re just now starting to get a better idea of the scope of the war Hadrian Wall’s waging in defence against Occultatem Libera: the fact that it’s multi-national, for example. After seeing the results of Juliet’s action against the team who trapped Nick and the gang, I’m beginning to think people like Trubel (and now Juliette) have been conditioned to be one-woman armies.
Allison: Ever since the pilot, we've been told that Nick isn't like other Grimms. Normally, Grimms are ruthless in their attack on Wesen. Whenever Nick first meets any Wesen, they are afraid, even if they are harmless like Bud. The HW is just giving Grimms targets that they know are bad news, and the Grimms are doing what they do best. HW is playing things smart, you gotta give them that. You need a Grimm or two on your side if you are going to fight a Wesen uprising.
Robin: I don't know if I would call it "dirty work" yet. While superficially we can say Hadrian's Wall good, Occultatem Libera bad, I don't think we know enough about either group to come to accurate conclusions about their agendas. I do think that it's incredibly cool that Trubel has been traveling the world and meeting other Grimms, especially since she just realized she wasn't the only one so recently. I'd love to see more Grimms!
Kathleen: I agree with Robin on most counts, especially questioning whether we can even consider Hadrian's Wall to be good guys. While the Uprising cannot possibly lead to good things, HW has been dispatching Trubel all over the world with a heavy implication that she's been doing wetwork. Because that is what Grimms are "for" in the Wesen world. Compare this to what Nick has been trying to do in Portland, and draw your own conclusions...
Renard warned Nick that he better hope the FBI doesn't find out what happened with Chavez. Do you think this will play into future episodes?
Doug: Of that there is no doubt. Writers rarely write scenes like this into the script without having an ulterior motive. My guess is that the FBI will hamstring Nick at some point, probably when the rest of his gang needs him the most.
Allison: Definitely. The FBI will figure out something, somehow. I'm interested to see how Nick gets out of it.
Robin: It's hard to tell with this show. Like I mentioned earlier, Grimm's follow-through with their ongoing story arcs isn't always the greatest. So while I think they'll revisit it, I'm not quite convinced that the FBI angle will have much to do with the rest of the season.
Kathleen: As much as it pains me to say, I agree with Robin. It may well be that they make all these heavy foreshadowing predictions and nothing ever comes from them. Not that I want Nick to get arrested by the FBI or anything (which would just be a rehash of earlier stories), but focus has also been something of a problem, particularly this season.
What do you think Occultatem Libera will do next?
Doug: They made a point of only attacking at midnight… and of making sure they attacked around the world at the same time. So my guess is that they will coordinate another world-wide event next. This time they mostly concentrated on damaging the shops belonging to Wesen – with casualties only there as a kind of afterthought. My guess is that the next event will involve them physically targeting Wesen, in terms of personal injury and death.
Allison: They wanted Monroe. I'm not sure if they wanted Monroe himself or they wanted him because he was close to Nick, a Grimm. I hope Occultatem Libera will continue their hunt for either Monroe or Nick because then we will get some answers.
Robin: I can't figure out their agenda, but I'm guessing they're going to escalate. It'll be interesting to find out why they're targeting the people that they are, or how this became an international conflict.
Kathleen: Going to an international scale with the Team Grimm as a whole might be an interesting direction, though they'd pretty much have to give up on the Case of the Week portion of the series, which so far they have been less willing to do. I suspect the Uprising will target the Wesen Council, which stands as a major representation of the old order, tradition, and The Way Things Are. Taking out the Council would be a bold move and put their opposition into disarray, as well.
Juliette's back! What do you think of this new development? Yea or nay?
Doug: I shouted at my TV set when we finally saw her face at the end. I KNEW it was her! And I hate that she’s back. I’ve disliked her from the beginning, and I grew to hate her because of her actions and contempt for Nick. My hope is that the writers do not give her anything in terms of romance with Nick, and that she becomes purely a warrior and nothing more.
Allison: I'm definitely intrigued, and I am even more intrigued after reading an interview with Bitsie Tulloch. I'm definitely excited, and I hope this leads to some exciting storylines.
Robin: Meh, I saw this coming. I can't say that this is my favourite development on Grimm, but I am intrigued by the concept of HW having a super-Wesen on their side. That said, I really have no emotional investment in Juliette and I never did with her and Nick as a couple, so the farther we stay away from that, the happier I'll be.
Kathleen: I'm in the "not so thrilled about this development" camp. They already squandered a huge character growth opportunity with Juliette during the back half of Grimm Season 4, and they'll have to seriously impress me with what they have in store in order to win me over on this one.
*Bonus: Share you favorite (or least favorite!) scene or quote.
Doug: I liked the touching moment between Trubel and Nick when they were checking out her ultra-cool motorcycle. Though Trubel habitually keeps her emotions in check, that one moment where she broke down and hugged him was so great to see.
Allison: Oh goodness, there were so many good ones. I'm turn between picking Rosalee kicking Xavier's ass or Trubel asking how Adalind felt about Nick. Both were laugh out loud moments, and I loved them.
Robin: I enjoyed Nick and Hank's interrogation of the Occultatem Libera woman in the precinct. Nick's Grimm instincts are always fascinating to me, and I love those encounters when he meets a scary Wesen and doesn't even flinch. He's always more fun when he's intimidating.
Kathleen: You guys have already come up with some good ones, so I'll just mention the end fight, along with this gem:
Nick: I though Xavier was your friend!
Monroe: He was!
Renard: They got to him.
Wu: Well, now they're getting to *us*!
Be sure to tune in when Grimm returns to our screens on January 29, 2016 at 9/8c on NBC with Grimm Season 9 Episode 7, "Eve of Destruction"!
