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moonshaydeI wanted to give this show a chance because I liked the premise. It comes on at the same time as Supernatural, so I can never watch it live, but lucky they had it On Demand so I could catch up.
Word of caution: This is not an overly favorable review, so if you adore this show, I suggest not reading it. There are things I like about the show, but I dislike more than like, and I know how much of a bummer it can be when someone says negative things about your show.
The Good
I love the concept of monsters/creatures/supernatural beings? blending in and being "civilized." I've always like that concept and wish fantasy type shows explored it more. The fact you have all of these different kinds of monsters just living their lives, like normal, is intriguing and you can do a lot with that kind of story. You can also use it as a symbol of being "the outsider" in a world and struggling for rights.
Monroe - Great character. He is quirky and unique, and he kind of grows on you as the series progresses. I love how he starts off being very much a loner, but becomes closer and closer to Nick.
I also like the idea that the monsters were told Grimm stories the way we are told fairy tales or folktales to spook us. That is a nice touch that I really enjoy, and had encorpoated in some of my writing prior to watching.
The Bad
Something silly - the German names for everything. I get why the monster names sound German. I understand given teh context of the show. It just sounds funny when everyone says them.
I'm not a stickler for realism like some people are. I didn't go crazy every time Mulder and Scully did bad FBI work on the X-Files. Sam and Dean get away with a ridiculous amount of things when they preendt to be officials. Smallville had impossible things happening and so did SG-1. So if Grimm has really bad cop work - how many times did they barge in without a warrant? The proper authority? - I can let that slide.
One thing I *am* having some problems with is the fact that every case we see on the show involves some kind of creature. Are we to believe every city is having the same problem? Or is most of the crazy happening in and around Portland?Why Portland? Do Grimm's attract supernatural? Is it all just a conincidence? I mean, it's not just a bunch of criminal monsters running around Portland. They are all over the place! I am starting to believe actual humans are the minority. And are monsters the only ones committing crimes? I know that the focus is on Nick as he deals with being a Grimm and a cop, but could they mention or work any crimes that aren't related to monsters?
In other shows I watched, there were always reasons why weird stuff was happening in certain places and why we, as viewers, saw those cases. With X-Files, Mulder and Scully investigated the weird unexplainable cases no one wanted to deal with. They were ridiculed. They were looked down on. But you knew that each case they had was strange because that is what they did. Of course, they handled some normal stuff, too.
In Supernatural, you know people are doing awful things, but Sam and Dean (and other hunters) are specifically looking for supernatural issues. They've also covered non-supernatural problems. Even Fringe is about a division who focuses on fringe science and investigates strange happenings associated with it. There's nothing like that to explain what is happening on Grimm. Maybe I missed it? Maybe they haven't said yet? The characters have acknowledged that weird things are happening, but it all seems to coincidental for me right now.
Another issue I have is that the characters are very...vanilla? I am struggling to like or connect with any of them. I feel like I am watching one of the cop shows where they have a case and that's it. i can't even tell you anything specific about the main character. I don't know what he likes or doesn't like. He seemed to know about cars in one episode. In XF, you knew first episode and could see how quirky, weird, and arrogant Mulder could be. You could tell Scully was his opposite. In SG-1, despite many characters being interpretations of movie characters, you knew by the end of the pilot how each one was different. What some of their interests were. What they were like. Same with Smallville. Heck, by the end of the Pilot of Supernatural, you knew so much about the brothers and their personalities that it's crazy. But I feel like Nick and Juliette and Hank are so cookie cutter. People are interesting! Make them interesting!
I mean, that is why I stopped watching Fringe. I couldn't connect with the characters. I heard maybe it's different now? But even the Fringe characters had more personality than the Grimm ones, and I quit watching Fringe because I felt like they had no personality! (Except Walter and Astrid. They were awesome.)
I wish they'd go deeper into struggle between being a Grimm and an officer. They hint at it, but that's about how far it goes. Where is the deep, internal conflict? Why waste that on Juliette who does nothing at this point?
Finally, there's an element that makes me uncomfortable that might just be me. It's the creatures themselves. I like the idea that a Grimm can see their true faces. I write stories like that and I've read stories like that and it always interests me. I guess I can understand why a mousey person would actually be a mouse or a snake-like guy would be a snake. That seems a little too simplictic to me, and it gets into some really uncomfortable territory when you have fat people as pigs, etc. Then when you start to think about relationships...
It squicks me a bit. The characters are so so animal like I tend to think of furries or something close to it. I know that is fine for some people and that's okay. But it does squick me, and when I see just how much the monster look like humanoid animals and then start to get it on with flashes of seeing them AS humanoid animals...ugh, no. NOOOO. This comes from someone who likes werewolves! But there is a difference between someone with a wolfish nature and someone who is partially looking like a wolf and doing wolf things. I probably wouldn't be as squeamish if the characters looking more like monsters or something we haven't seen before, like on some of the other shows I've watched, but they looks SO much like animals that it turns me off from enjoying the show.
Look, I really want to like this show. I do. And I've known to be contrary about something just for the sake of being contrary. I resisted Supernatural for the longest time. Same with Smallville. Same with other shows. There is just something that is not clicking with me with this show. Maybe it's having first season growing pains? It's hard to say. I tend to love the first season of many of my fave shows. Some shows it took like a half season for me to even really get into them. But if it's this late into the season and I'm struggling to like the characters still, that's problematic. Every show that I have watched where it's failed to grab me at least 1/2 way through as ended up being a dud for me.
Maybe it'll hit its stride for me and I can watch and enjoy. Maybe it's just not a show for me.
Word of caution: This is not an overly favorable review, so if you adore this show, I suggest not reading it. There are things I like about the show, but I dislike more than like, and I know how much of a bummer it can be when someone says negative things about your show.
The Good
I love the concept of monsters/creatures/supernatural beings? blending in and being "civilized." I've always like that concept and wish fantasy type shows explored it more. The fact you have all of these different kinds of monsters just living their lives, like normal, is intriguing and you can do a lot with that kind of story. You can also use it as a symbol of being "the outsider" in a world and struggling for rights.
Monroe - Great character. He is quirky and unique, and he kind of grows on you as the series progresses. I love how he starts off being very much a loner, but becomes closer and closer to Nick.
I also like the idea that the monsters were told Grimm stories the way we are told fairy tales or folktales to spook us. That is a nice touch that I really enjoy, and had encorpoated in some of my writing prior to watching.
The Bad
Something silly - the German names for everything. I get why the monster names sound German. I understand given teh context of the show. It just sounds funny when everyone says them.
I'm not a stickler for realism like some people are. I didn't go crazy every time Mulder and Scully did bad FBI work on the X-Files. Sam and Dean get away with a ridiculous amount of things when they preendt to be officials. Smallville had impossible things happening and so did SG-1. So if Grimm has really bad cop work - how many times did they barge in without a warrant? The proper authority? - I can let that slide.
One thing I *am* having some problems with is the fact that every case we see on the show involves some kind of creature. Are we to believe every city is having the same problem? Or is most of the crazy happening in and around Portland?Why Portland? Do Grimm's attract supernatural? Is it all just a conincidence? I mean, it's not just a bunch of criminal monsters running around Portland. They are all over the place! I am starting to believe actual humans are the minority. And are monsters the only ones committing crimes? I know that the focus is on Nick as he deals with being a Grimm and a cop, but could they mention or work any crimes that aren't related to monsters?
In other shows I watched, there were always reasons why weird stuff was happening in certain places and why we, as viewers, saw those cases. With X-Files, Mulder and Scully investigated the weird unexplainable cases no one wanted to deal with. They were ridiculed. They were looked down on. But you knew that each case they had was strange because that is what they did. Of course, they handled some normal stuff, too.
In Supernatural, you know people are doing awful things, but Sam and Dean (and other hunters) are specifically looking for supernatural issues. They've also covered non-supernatural problems. Even Fringe is about a division who focuses on fringe science and investigates strange happenings associated with it. There's nothing like that to explain what is happening on Grimm. Maybe I missed it? Maybe they haven't said yet? The characters have acknowledged that weird things are happening, but it all seems to coincidental for me right now.
Another issue I have is that the characters are very...vanilla? I am struggling to like or connect with any of them. I feel like I am watching one of the cop shows where they have a case and that's it. i can't even tell you anything specific about the main character. I don't know what he likes or doesn't like. He seemed to know about cars in one episode. In XF, you knew first episode and could see how quirky, weird, and arrogant Mulder could be. You could tell Scully was his opposite. In SG-1, despite many characters being interpretations of movie characters, you knew by the end of the pilot how each one was different. What some of their interests were. What they were like. Same with Smallville. Heck, by the end of the Pilot of Supernatural, you knew so much about the brothers and their personalities that it's crazy. But I feel like Nick and Juliette and Hank are so cookie cutter. People are interesting! Make them interesting!
I mean, that is why I stopped watching Fringe. I couldn't connect with the characters. I heard maybe it's different now? But even the Fringe characters had more personality than the Grimm ones, and I quit watching Fringe because I felt like they had no personality! (Except Walter and Astrid. They were awesome.)
I wish they'd go deeper into struggle between being a Grimm and an officer. They hint at it, but that's about how far it goes. Where is the deep, internal conflict? Why waste that on Juliette who does nothing at this point?
Finally, there's an element that makes me uncomfortable that might just be me. It's the creatures themselves. I like the idea that a Grimm can see their true faces. I write stories like that and I've read stories like that and it always interests me. I guess I can understand why a mousey person would actually be a mouse or a snake-like guy would be a snake. That seems a little too simplictic to me, and it gets into some really uncomfortable territory when you have fat people as pigs, etc. Then when you start to think about relationships...
It squicks me a bit. The characters are so so animal like I tend to think of furries or something close to it. I know that is fine for some people and that's okay. But it does squick me, and when I see just how much the monster look like humanoid animals and then start to get it on with flashes of seeing them AS humanoid animals...ugh, no. NOOOO. This comes from someone who likes werewolves! But there is a difference between someone with a wolfish nature and someone who is partially looking like a wolf and doing wolf things. I probably wouldn't be as squeamish if the characters looking more like monsters or something we haven't seen before, like on some of the other shows I've watched, but they looks SO much like animals that it turns me off from enjoying the show.
Look, I really want to like this show. I do. And I've known to be contrary about something just for the sake of being contrary. I resisted Supernatural for the longest time. Same with Smallville. Same with other shows. There is just something that is not clicking with me with this show. Maybe it's having first season growing pains? It's hard to say. I tend to love the first season of many of my fave shows. Some shows it took like a half season for me to even really get into them. But if it's this late into the season and I'm struggling to like the characters still, that's problematic. Every show that I have watched where it's failed to grab me at least 1/2 way through as ended up being a dud for me.
Maybe it'll hit its stride for me and I can watch and enjoy. Maybe it's just not a show for me.
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Date: 2012-04-20 10:56 pm (UTC)The other problem is that you've got two main characters in Fringe who are- for completely justifiable reasons- fairly closed off. In the earlier episodes, it just makes them seem wooden. Once you get some more background and really get exposed to the quality of the acting, THEN it's all like, "Oooh!" and you start to see all the layers of meaning in performances that earlier seemed dull. (But the early episodes of Fringe are pretty boring.)
no subject
Date: 2012-04-20 11:18 pm (UTC)I'll probably give it a go again when I have enough time to make it through so many episodes. (I did Grimm because its eps are not quite as many, heh.) And while Grimm does get better, it's still not sold on me.
no subject
Date: 2012-04-20 11:47 pm (UTC)Also, Astrid and Walter never stop being awesome.
Hey, is SPN new this week?
no subject
Date: 2012-04-20 11:58 pm (UTC)And yeah, new episode of Supernatural tonight. No more breaks. Five eps left. Ack.
no subject
Date: 2012-04-21 03:47 pm (UTC)I had a friend working for one of our ambulance companies & they got a contract to work with the show (for scenes when they need an ambulance in the background). She told me some funny behind the scenes stories. Like they asked one EMT to be in a scene (where that frog guy can seduce women - she had to pretend to be seduced by him at the end of the episode).
On one hand I'm happy Portland is getting attention / publicity with Grimm. Leverage is filmed here but it's not set here so people don't support it as much. On the other hand - it's a terrible show. They need better writers, a better main character, better plot lines...basically a new show.