"Thanks" GRIMM!

Article first published as GRIMM Review Season 4 Episode 1 Thanks for the Memories on Seat42F.

GRIMM returns to NBC with its fourth season premiere, “Thanks for the Memories.” A Wesen that can suck memories out of a person’s brain comes to Portland. Nick (David Giuntoli) begins investigating the case, made more difficult by the fact that he no longer has his Grimm powers. Luckily, he still has friends, and they are all willing to help him out.

Nick has quite a few things to overcome. For one, his job as a detective is harder. He is a fine policeman before he becomes a Grimm, sure, but now he’s used to operating a certain way and can’t any longer. With his captain, Renard (Sasha Roiz), fighting for his life in the hospital, Nick doesn’t have that automatic backing from above, and “Thanks for the Memories” doesn’t reveal what the new hierarchy may be in the department. Even if Renard lives, which I cannot say if that will happen or not, it seems certain it would be quite awhile before he could be back on the job, and GRIMM will have to figure out how to handle that.

Another complication at work is Wu (Reggie Lee), who is looking into the death at Nick’s house. Nick’s dwelling has plenty of Wesen documentation, which revives Wu’s suspicions about monsters. Personally, I feel it is time he is brought into the loop, allowing Lee a deserved larger role on the series. But if the writers decide to keep him in the dark, they must keep the characters dancing circles around Wu to confused and distract him, which is becoming harder and harder to do.

What’s more, because the deceased is an FBI agent, there is now federal involvement in the investigation. Since everything went down at Nick’s house, there is no way he can avoid getting involved. He has to deflect this unwanted attention and may have to keep coming up with plausible explanations as more and more things pile up against him. What we learn of the lead FBI agent in “Thanks for the Memories” only adds to the challenges GRIMM is throwing at its lead.

If that’s not enough, Nick still has Trubel (Jacqueline Toboni) to look out for. Trubel is plenty happy to help by stepping up and taking on Nick’s Grimm duties, the first time she’s really been around people who count on her. Nick allows her to do some of this because, after all, someone has to, and he’s not up to it right now. But she’s a kid and she’s not a cop; he has to be careful around her. Trubel still isn’t a main character, which worries me about her continued survival, and she is liable to throw herself too quickly into a situation, endangering herself and others. Trubel could cause more trouble than she already has.

The one benefit of Nick no longer being a Grimm is in his relationship with Juliette (Bitsie Tulloch). She is complaining about what his destiny does to their relationship, and she’s definitely still not over Nick sleeping with Adalind (Claire Coffee), no matter how cleverly Adalind tricks Nick. But will Juliette soon come to regret her wish? If Nick is no longer a Grimm, he may not bring threats around as often, but he’s also less prepared to protect her in a world they’ve already, irreversibly gotten involved in. I have faith their bond can survive, once Juliette has time to get over Nick’s ‘betrayal,’ but I’m not so sure a Grimm-less life is good for them.

Add to this more Viktor (Alexis Denisof) machinations, newlyweds skipping their honeymoon to help out a friend, and the aforementioned case-of-the-week, and GRIMM’s season premiere is incredibly jam-packed with all kinds of drama and going-ons, much of which cannot be answered in a single hour. Thankfully, GRIMM is smart enough to realize that and take its time in letting the involved tale come to fruition.

“Thanks for the Memories” isn’t as exciting as many of the other installments of the series, but it is solid in its storytelling and deals with the aftermath of last spring’s finale in an entertaining and appropriate way. That’s good enough for me. It doesn’t stand strongly on its own, but I prefer the serial style, anyway.

GRIMM airs Fridays at 9 p.m. ET on NBC.