The Star Online: Entertainment: TV & Radio

Posted: 24 Oct 2012 02:59 AM PDT

Another fairytale-based TV show hits our screens, but it's more about murderous monsters than magical creatures.

IF you've been scratching your head, wondering why homicide detective Nick Burkhardt (David Giuntoli) in the television series Grimm looks so familiar, let me put you out of your misery. Giuntoli bears an uncanny resemblance to Brandon Routh, of Superman Returns (2006) fame. They may not look identical when put side by side, but on my first viewing of Grimm, I kept wondering where I had seen Giuntoli before!

Now, Grimm isn't the first fairytale-based TV series to hit our small screens in recent times; that would be Once Upon A Time. The two inevitably invite comparison, but their premises are actually quite different.

Once Upon A Time is based on the idea that all our familiar fairytale characters have been exiled to a town on Earth by a vengeful spell performed by Snow White's evil stepmother.

Grimm, on the other hand, revolves around the concept that The Brothers Grimm were part of a line of familial "guardians", tasked with protecting humanity against "bad" Wesen, or fairytale creatures.

As we find out in the pilot, Nick, who works with the Portland Police Department, is a descendant of the Grimms.

When we first meet him, Nick is just starting to see creatures behind human faces that no one else sees. Wesen tend to accidentally reveal their true faces to those who have the ability to see them when they are startled or experiencing strong emotions.

He thinks that he is going crazy, but then his Aunt Marie (Kate Burton), who raised him after his parents died, comes to town. Marie – whom some viewers have described as an older version of Buffy Summers (from Buffy The Vampire Slayer) – is dying of cancer, which is why Nick is starting to develop or "inherit" his Grimm abilities.

Although she isn't able to tell him much before she dies, Marie manages to leave Nick a mysterious key pendant, and her trailer full of weapons and reference material.

In addition, Nick meets a reformed Blutbad, the inspiration for the Big Bad Wolf from Red Riding Hood, called Monroe (Silas Weir Mitchell). Although Nick initially suspects Monroe of kidnapping a little girl, and Monroe himself is naturally suspicious of a member of the family that killed many of his ancestors, Nick manages to enlist Monroe as his reluctant sidekick. This also provides Nick with information and help when he has to deal with Wesen.

I have to say that, despite the predictability of his character development, Monroe is quickly becoming my favourite character on the show, with some of the best one-liners.

The first three episodes have been about Nick investigating deaths that are usually related to the much-wider supernatural world he has just been introduced to.

Each episode starts with a line from a fairytale, which hints at which story and creatures the episode is referencing. For example, the second episode starts with teenagers Gilda (Amy Gumenick) and Rocky (Alexander Mendeluk) breaking into the homes of the three Rabes, who turn out to be Jägerbären – bear-like creatures.

And the opening line is from Goldilocks And The Three Bears: "She looked in the window, and then peeped through the keyhole; seeing nobody in the house, she lifted the latch." In addition, there are subplots in each episode that indicate that Nick is unknowingly involved in something far larger than his homicide investigations. Something that his very own boss, Captain Sean Renard (Sasha Roiz) – who is more than what he seems – has a hand in.

There are many obvious questions that viewers are probably expecting to be addressed: Will Nick's live-in girlfriend Juliette Silverton (Bitsie Tulloch) and his partner Hank Griffin (Russell Hornsby) find out about his secret? How will they react? Will Nick meet up with other Grimms, and how will that turn out? And what is this big conspiracy going on about Nick?

All I hope is that the show doesn't fall into the "monster of the week" trap. If it manages to stay away from that, and develop the characters and plots well, then I think Grimm can become a really gripping show.

Grimm airs every Thursday at 10pm, on Diva Universal (Astro Ch 702).

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

Selasa, 23 Oktober 2012