Fans of NBC’s Grimm were overjoyed last April when it was revealed that the cult-favorite supernatural police drama would be returning for a sixth and final season. Now, with that season’s premier episode, entitled Fugitive, set to air on January 6th it looks like the truncated final season will in fact bring the hard-hitting, epic conclusion that this imaginative fantasy series deserves.
For those not in the know, Grimm stars David Giuntoli as Nick Burkhardt, a police detective who also happens to be an entity known as a Grimm. Grimms are humans with supernatural fighting ability who can also see the numerous shapeshifting Wesen (pronounced “vessen”) who lurk among humanity. While Wesen normally look human, they can assume a secondary shape of a creature from myth and legend. Common breeds of Wesen include Blutbads, who resemble Lon Chaney-style werewolves, and Hexenbiests, who are hag-faced witches. A Wesen’s true form is normally visible only to other Wesen. But Grimms can see them too… and that is where Nick comes in.
Through the years, Nick has used his powers to not only track down Wesen criminals, but also to aid and protect law-abiding Wesen – treatment that Wesen themselves have not come to expect from their natural predators, the Grimms. The passage of time has seen the series expand beyond its police procedural roots into a complex supernatural spy thriller. Characters have lost and regained powers and switched sides multiple times. Indeed, the web of relationships is so intricate that on-again-off again villain Adalind Schade (Claire Coffey) now has children by both the main protagonist and main antagonist! Then there is the case of Juliette (Bitsie Tulloch) who died, was reanimated as the Hexenbiest assassin Eve, died again, and now is a mixture of both identities.
With all this going on it might sound like there is a substantial entry barrier for new viewers. But the premier of the Season 6 throws the viewer right into a fast-paced storm of excitement that makes the viewer pay attention and save their questions for later. It does pick up immediately where the Season 5 cliffhanger left off, with the evil Wesen uprising known as Black Claw largely triumphant over their good counterparts, Hadrian’s Wall. But with Black Claw commander Bonaparte dead, Fugitive sets up a more personal conflict between Nick Burkhardt and his former friend and boss-turned-Black Claw protege, Shawn Renard (Sasha Roiz). Determined to consolidate his power and pin Bonaparte’s death on Nick, he throws everything he has at the fugitive Grimm and his friends. Meanwhile, Eve studies the artifact responsible for her most recent resurrection and begins to wonder if there isn’t even more supernatural power at work here than has been previously imagined.
As Fugitive ends it appears that the only path for Nick and Renard is all out war. How it will play out across the season’s remaining twelve episodes is anyone’s guess, but it will leave diehard fans excited for more… and might just give new viewers a reason to binge watch what has come before in search of answers!
