In ‘The Waking Dead’ every subplot
and storyline going on throughout season two reaches boiling point.
Juliette sees for herself what a wesen is, Captain Renard and his
brother find out about Adalind’s child and there is an undeniable
tension between Frau Pech and Stefania. The story also introduces a
new species of Wesen and a new recurring character which promises to
wreak some havoc in the finale.
As the name implies, we deal with
zombies of all things in this episode. It’s interesting to see how
the series integrates them into the mythos; I’m also impressed that
they chose a more traditional approach than Night of the Living
Dead-esque monsters. It was still a little hard to avoid eye rolling
given how often they’re used in Hollywood.
The presence of the new character was
jarring and when it got to three quarters into the episode I wasn’t
sure what they were going to do with him. It wasn’t until the very
last scene with said character that I was impressed.
Grimm seems to have focus issues in
many of its episodes and while this is not an exception it is
impressive to see all these side stories come together for what seems
to be a grand finale. After several episodes of silence Eric Renard
and his brother’s confidant return on screen to react to the
possibility of an illegitimate heir. While this plot simmers in the
background its influence in the next episode is clear by the end.
Juliette’s subplot, however, has more focus than it probably should
have at this point in the arc. The benefit is the arc is done and
shouldn’t come up next episode.
This episode is notable for being the
one of few episodes where Adalind’s scenes aren’t jarring
additions. I love how the show toys with whether she is being played
or doing the playing—this episode leans more to the former, but
it’s still intriguing to watch.
‘The Waking
Dead’ tries its hardest to bring everything together so we can
watch worlds collide in the next episode. As a result the episode has
focus issues at times and can be disorienting. It’s a must watch
for the impending finale and completes a storyline that has stretched
out just a little bit too long. I wouldn’t recommend it as a
standalone episode but for someone who wants to understand the
storyline this is one you can’t skip over.
Review by Greta Rehak
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