GRIMM: PILOT {SERIES PREMIERE} (TV)
Summary
The premiere episode in this fantasy drama series about homicide detective Nick Burkhardt, who learns that he comes from a family of Grimms, a secret group of hunters who battle dangerous “fairy tale” creatures. In this episode, a college student cranks “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” on her iPod and goes for a run, where she is attacked by an unseen assailant. Nick and his partner Hank Griffin are called to the scene, where the girl’s dismembered remains suggest that she encountered some kind of wild creature, although human boot prints are found nearby as well. As they start their investigation, they discover that the girl’s name was Sylvie, and Nick begins to see monstrous faces on passersby, but tries to ignore it. When he returns home, planning to propose to his girlfriend Juliette, he is surprised by a visit from his sickly Aunt Marie. She tells him that she has little time left and has much to tell him, asking if he is seeing strange things. She says that the “misfortune” of their family has fallen to him and that he must break up with Juliette for her safety, but before she can elaborate, they are attacked by a man with a demonic face. Marie expertly fights him and Nick shoots him multiple times, causing his face to revert to human as he dies. Before Marie is taken to the hospital, she gives Nick her necklace and implores him not to lose it, and he realizes that it is a key. Later, when he visits her, she says that he is “one of the last Grimms” and that what he has seen is “no fairy tale,” adding that his parents’ deaths were not accidental.
Nick investigates the blade wielded by the attacker and learns that it says “reaper of the Grimms.” Hank reports that the man’s prints match many other violent crime scenes, and their captain inquires after Nick’s wellbeing. At home, he suffers strange dreams about a girl in red, and when he investigates Marie’s camper, he finds a cache of weapons as well as drawings of the faces he has been seeing and ancient-looking books. When Juliette finds him, he explains that Marie essentially raised him after his parents died. The next day, Hank tells him that while the DNA was inconclusive, they may have found the boot matching the print at the crime scene. Nick visits Marie again and learns that she has many questionable scars, which seems strange for a librarian. He is called to another crime scene and learns that a little girl, Robin Howell, has vanished, and that she was wearing red, as Sylvie was. Nick and Hank find her backpack in the woods, and Nick observes a man with a momentarily wolf-like face. He assaults the man and demands to know where Robin is, but Hank convinces him that he has no proof of the man’s involvement. Nick rereads Marie’s books and then returns to spy on the man, who attacks him, and then reverts to normal and invites him in. The man, Eddie, recognizes Nick as a Grimm and knows of Marie, and explains that he is a “Blutbad,” commonly called “the big bad wolf,” but that he is reformed and no longer kills. He says that Blutbadden attack at the sight of red, and Nick realizes that there are more of them nearby and demands Eddie’s help in finding Robin’s kidnapper.
Elsewhere, the Blutbad/postman who took Robin stashes her in his cellar and adds her sweatshirt to his collection of red clothing taken from victims. Eddie tracks him down by scent, but does not allow himself to get close to his home, as he may lose control and transform, and Nick calls Hank. They knock on the man’s door and question him, but he seems thoroughly harmless and mild-mannered, and Hank starts to leave in frustration, but then realizes that the postman is humming “Sweet Dreams.” When they return to the home, the transformed postman attacks, but Hank shoots him, and he identifies Nick as a Grimm before dying. They search his home for Robin, and Nick finally finds the secret trapdoor to the cellar and rescues her. Nick visits the comatose Marie and admits that he has many more questions, and a nurse administers some sort of drug that causes Marie to rapidly worsen and Nick to collapse; before losing consciousness he catches sight of her monstrous face. The nurse leaves the hospital and gets into a car, revealing that she is working with Nick’s captain. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: NBC
- DATE: October 21, 2011 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:43:10
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 106362
- GENRE: Drama, fantasy/science fiction
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, fantasy/science fiction; Drama, police/detective
- SERIES RUN: NBC - TV series, 2011-2017
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Sean Hayes … Executive Producer
- Todd Milliner … Executive Producer
- David Greenwalt … Executive Producer, Writer
- Jim Kouf … Executive Producer, Writer
- Steve Oster … Producer
- Marc Buckland … Director
- Richard Marvin … Music by
- David Giuntoli … Cast, Nick Burkhardt
- Russell Hornsby … Cast, Hank Griffin
- Bitsie Tulloch … Cast, Juliette Silverton
- Silas Weir Mitchell … Cast, Eddie Monroe
- Sasha Roiz … Cast, Capt. Renard
- Reggie Lee … Cast, Sgt. Wu
- Tim Bagley … Cast, Postman
- Ayanna Berkshire … Cast, Dr. Rose
- Kate Burton … Cast, Marie
- Claire Coffee … Cast, Adalind Engel
- Ira Kortum … Cast, Police Officer
- Sophia Mitri Schloss … Cast, Robin Howell