Grimm
is an American occult detective police procedural drama series. It
debuted in the U.S. on NBC on October 28, 2011. The show has been
described as "a cop drama—with a twist... a dark and
fantastical project about a world in which characters inspired by
Grimms' Fairy Tales exist", although the stories and characters
inspiring the show are also drawn from other sources.
On April
5, 2016 NBC renewed Grimm for a sixth season, consisting of 13
episodes. On August 29, 2016, NBC announced season 6 would be the
final season and that it will premiere on January 6, 2017.
Synopsis:
Homicide investigator Nick Burkhardt of the
Portland Police Department learns he is descended from a line of
guardians known as Grimms, charged with keeping balance between
humanity and the mythological creatures of the world called Wesen,
the German word for being or creature. Throughout the series, he must
battle against an assortment of dangerous creatures, with help from
his Wesen friend, Monroe, and his partner, Detective Hank Griffin.
Opening: "There once was a man who lived a life so strange, it
had to be true. Only he could see what no one else can—the darkness
inside...the real monster within...and he's the one who must stop
them. This is his calling. This is his duty. This is the life of a
Grimm."
Cast and characters:
David
Giuntoli as Nicholas "Nick" Burkhardt, the eponymous Grimm.
Nick is a Homicide detective, whose Aunt Marie (Kate Burton) tells
him that he is descended from a line of hunters, called Grimms, who
fight supernatural forces. Even before his abilities manifested, Nick
had an exceptional ability to make quick and accurate deductions
about the motivations and pasts of individuals, which has now
expressed itself as his ability to perceive aspects of the
supernatural that nobody else can see. He temporarily lost his Grimm
power after the event of season 3 finale through a revenge scheme by
Adalind, but regained them in the season 4 episode "Highway of
Tears". He later learns that Adalind is carrying his child,
which was revealed to be a boy, whom Adalind named "Kelly"
after Nick's mother (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio).
Russell Hornsby as Hank Griffin, Nick's Homicide partner, who is not
aware that Nick is a Grimm until Episode 3 of Season 2. He is
somewhat sarcastic at times and has gone through at least four
marriages by the time the series begins; nevertheless, he is Nick's
best friend in the human world, becoming closer once again after Nick
revealed the truth about his Grimm heritage and the Wesen out in the
world.
Bitsie Tulloch as Juliette Silverton (Seasons
1–4) and Eve (season 5), Nick's girlfriend, a veterinarian. She was
originally unaware of Nick's duties as a Grimm until he tells her in
the finale of Season 1. However, by Season 2, a magically induced
amnesia removes Nick from her memory altogether, to the extent that
she only forgets Nick while still remembering characters like Monroe
when she only met him through Nick. Although Nick's Aunt Marie
suggested that he leave Juliette for her safety, Nick decided to stay
with her. He postponed his original plans to propose to her while he
explores his new life as a Grimm. She eventually regained her
memories and learned the truth of Nick's abilities, joining him in
dealing with some Wesen-related problems, such as finding a cure for
a disease that gave human children the appearance of Wesen. In Season
4, a series of events and dangerous spells results in Juliette
becoming an exceptionally powerful Hexenbiest, and her personality
becomes drastically more antagonistic and less empathetic as a
result, enjoying her power while disregarding her friends' concerns,
her attitude conflicting between reveling in her power and hating
Nick's allies for doing this to her. After her plans for revenge
culminate in the death of Nick's mother, she is shot with a crossbow
by Trubel in the Season 4 finale. In season 5, Tulloch plays "Eve"
a mysterious woman who has all of Juliette’s memories and powers,
but none of her emotional attachments.
Silas Weir
Mitchell as Monroe, a wolf-like creature called a Blutbad who aids
Nick with his cases. He is also a good friend of Nick's, even though
he has some issues with Grimms since a Grimm killed his grandfather
(but he acknowledges that the ancestor deserved it for butchering a
village). Monroe is knowledgeable about many of the wesen that Nick
goes up against, serving as Nick's direct source of insight and
information into the supernatural community whenever the second-hand
knowledge that Nick acquires from his ancestors' books is inadequate,
as well as assisting Nick when cases require Nick to rely on someone
who knows about the threats he faces. He also helps Nick make contact
with creatures that would avoid Nick due to his status as a Grimm.
Eventually, Monroe fell in love with and married Rosalee, despite
facing some hostility from a Wesen cult focused on purity due to
their mixed heritage.
Sasha Roiz as Captain Sean Renard,
a fluent francophone; Nick's adept and efficient superior. Renard is
a magical creature called Zauberbiest and royal bastard. His mother
Elizabeth (Louise Lombard) is a Hexenbiest, a witch; and his father
is a Royal, a fact of which Nick was not aware until the middle of
Season 2. He is also the father of Hexenbiest Adalind Schade's
daughter Diana. In Season Five he was manipulated into running for
mayor as part of a plan by pro-Wesen organization Black Claw, who
seek to put Wesen in a position of power over humans rather than
hiding among them.
Reggie Lee as Sergeant Drew Wu, a
police sergeant who works with Nick and Hank; he tends to do the
"grunt work" for them, running down facts and information.
In Episode 9 (at the beginning) of Season 4, Nick was forced to tell
him everything about the Wesen world after he started losing his mind
due to all the "Wesen" involved murder cases. Since then he
has been a loyal member of Nick's team, providing an additional hand
in the field.
Bree Turner as Rosalee Calvert (Recurring
season 1; Regular season 2–present), a fox-like creature called
Fuchsbau who takes over her brother's Wesen spice shop after he is
murdered. Rosalee assists Nick and Monroe in their efforts by
providing more information and remedies to supernatural problems,
such as helping him extract a golden 'tumor' from a bird-like Wesen
or developing a cure for Nick's Wesen-induced blindness. She married
Monroe in the Season 3 finale. She revealed she was pregnant in the
season 5 finale.
Claire Coffee as Adalind Schade
(Recurring season 1; Regular season 2–present), a witch-like wesen
called a Hexenbiest who was working for Renard and who after
ingesting Nick's blood, became a normal human being. Seeking revenge,
she poisoned Juliette to forget all memories of Nick and started
colluding with Renard's half-brother, Eric, eventually regaining her
powers through agonizing rituals. She had a daughter with Sean, Diana
Schade-Renard, who has unique powers. She recently gave birth from an
emergency c-section to her second child, a boy she named Kelly (after
Kelly Burkhardt), whose father was revealed to be Nick as she slept
with him during a complex ritual to take his powers that involved her
disguising herself as Juliette. After Juliette was transformed into
Eve, Adaline moved in with Nick to care for Kelly, the two even
forming a relationship, but this was complicated by the Royals'
attempts to use Diana to improve Renard's image in his mayoral
campaign.
Production:
Development and
filming:
In 2008, CBS cancelled development on a drama
called Brother Grimm, from Stephen Carpenter and production companies
CBS Paramount Television and Hazy Mills Productions, because of the
writers' strike.
In January 2011, NBC announced that it
had ordered a series titled Grimm. David Greenwalt and Jim Kouf
co-wrote the pilot, which was directed by Marc Buckland. Filming for
the pilot began in March in Portland, Oregon. In May 2011, NBC
announced that it had picked up the series for a full season.
Greenwalt and Kouf serve as executive producers for the series along
with Sean Hayes and Todd Milliner. The series is produced by
Universal Media Studios and Hazy Mills Productions. It is filmed on
location in and around Portland. Greenwalt and Kouf told Portland's
NBC affiliate KGW they chose Portland because of its plentiful
forests in the city's two largest parks, Washington Park and Forest
Park.
On September 30, 2011, NBC delayed the debut of
Grimm by one month, moving the premiere to October 28, 2011, so it
could premiere closer to Halloween. On November 21, 2011, NBC picked
up the series for a full 22-episode season. NBC showed a special
Thursday showing on December 8 at 10pm to see if the network's
overall ratings could improve.
On March 16, 2012, NBC
announced that the series had been renewed for a second season;
according to writers/producers David Greenwalt and Jim Kouf, they
will continue to film the show in Portland, saying "Rain or
shine, Portland has been the ideal setting for fairy tales with its
enchanting layout. It is its own character in our show with the
perfect mix of urban and rural settings." Grimm ran on Fridays
for the entirety of its first season. The second season premiered on
Monday, August 13, 2012, and continued on Mondays for four episodes,
before returning to its original Friday timeslot on September 10.
On April 19, 2013, NBC announced they would move Grimm to Tuesdays
beginning on April 30, 2013 for the remainder of Season 2 until May
21. Grimm was renewed for a third season on April 26, 2013. The third
season premiere on October 25, 2013 returned the show to its original
Friday timeslot. On March 19, 2014, NBC announced that Grimm had been
renewed for a fourth season, which premiered on Friday, October 24,
2014.
On February 5, 2015, NBC confirmed a fifth season
for Grimm, which premiered on Friday, October 30, 2015.
As of April 23, 2016, NBC confirmed at least 13 episodes for a sixth
season.
Casting:
David Giuntoli, who plays
Nick, was the first to be cast. Silas Weir Mitchell was then cast as
Monroe, the now-reformed "big bad wolf". Following this,
Russell Hornsby and Bitsie Tulloch were cast as Nick's partner Hank
and his girlfriend Juliette, respectively. Sasha Roiz was cast in the
final regular role as Captain Renard.
Bree Turner, who
guest starred in four episodes in Season 1, became a series regular
for Season 2, continuing her role as Rosalee Calvert. Claire Coffee,
who has been recurring as Adalind Schade since the pilot, was also
upgraded to series regular during Season 2.
Comics:
In May 2013, Dynamite Entertainment started releasing a monthly Grimm
Comic Book series. The series ended with issue #12 which was released
April 30, 2014.
Books:
The novelist John
Shirley was hired to write the first novel based on the Grimm
television show. Grimm: The Icy Touch was published by Titan Books on
November 5, 2013[65] and book 2, Grimm: The Chopping Block, which was
written by John Passarella, was published February 18, 2014. The
third novel, Grimm: The Killing Time, was written by Tim Waggoner and
was published on September 30, 2014.
Broadcast:
The series premiered in Australia on January 4, 2012 on FOX8, with
season two returning on September 30, 2012, season three on October
30, 2013, and season four on January 7, 2015. The series was replayed
on free-to-air network Seven (as opposed to FOX8 which is a
subscription television network), with season one premiering November
30, 2012. with season two returning on August 1, 2013, and season
three on October 15, 2014.
In New Zealand the series
premièred on June 18, 2012 on FOUR.
The series
premièred in Canada on October 28, 2011 on CTV, with season two
returning on August 13, 2012, season three on October 25, 2013, and
season four on October 24, 2014.
The series premièred
in the UK on February 13, 2012 on Watch, with season two returning on
October 22, 2012, and season 3 on February 5, 2014. The fourth season
premiered on January 28, 2015.
The series premièred in
India in mid-2016 on Colors infinity.