Sunday, January 26, 2014

'Grimm' GifTweetCap: Meet the Specist Parents

The following gifs are also available on Tumblr. "The Wild Hunt" contained the usual Grimm style of monster-of-the-week main plot, along with three sub-plots. Fortunately, one of the sub-plots is all about Monroe (Silas Weir Mitchell) and Rosalee (Bree Turner). That is the only storyline that really matters, so about half of the recap will focus on them. Quick note about the tweets: I try not to include tweets from the cast or crew, unless it is as the parent of a fan tweet. The main exception is Michael Golamco, a staff writer for the series. He creates some of the most hilarious tweets, so I just can't help interspersing them throughout the recaps!

The episode opens with a high speed chase. When the chase is over, bad guy Woden (Matt Lasky), tells the highway patrolman (Jose Vasquez) that he's not worthy, then scalps him. It's a bit too disgusting for a gif, especially since the cop was on the force for two years and had a wife and two kids. Just keep reminding yourself that it's just a TV show. Oh, and all of this happens in conjunction with a big proposal from Monroe (which I cover farther down in the piece).
You can tell that the scalper is a badass dude because of the way he drives his car.
Later, Woden sneaks up on military guy Lee Mull (Gene Freedman), who isn't so easy to take down. After Mull beats him up, he decides Mull is worthy... then he woges and scalps Mull too. Hey, why don't you just pick on worthy Wesen who can fight back, ya coward?
You may be wondering what he'll be doing with all of those scalps. Well, the first step is to clean them. He makes quite a mess of his motel bathroom, which also creates a nice stench for the other guests. The wimpy manager asks him to stop after a few complaints, but is easily intimidated by the big gruff Woden.
When he's finished cleaning his scalps, he beats the crap out of the manager to get him to give him his car.
After some research in the trailer, Nick (David Giuntoli) learns that Woden is a Wildesheer. Wildesheers believe that taking scalps gives them the power of the warriors whom they scalp. Yeah, and then he makes a coat out of them so he can wear the tops of their heads around town. He must smell fantastic! Just imagine the lovely aroma wafting off him everywhere he goes. Oh, and his next intended victim is Nick!
Meanwhile, Adalind (Claire Coffee) is beginning to show in more ways than one when her Hexen-fetus begins poking its devil hands against her belly from the inside. What a wonderful time for mother and baby. Perhaps she should grab her camera phone for this special moment.
Later, the Biest-baby decides to create an even more special moment for his Hexenbiest mama by showing its little face, which promptly turns a bit... erm... skeletal. Mama must be so proud.
On to the third and most important sub-plot of the episode. As I mentioned earlier, Monroe proposes. He takes Rosalee out for a fancy dinner, in which they talk about their "first time." Rosalee's first time was with her brother, and Monroe's with his mom. Huh? Oh yeah, they were talking about their first woge. Gotcha!
Monroe then brings Rosalee home nice and buzzed. When she's ready to get comfy and crawl into bed, he proposes marriage in the one way he knows best: via cuckoo clock.
After a bit of confusion, she says yes!
They apparently seal the deal in bed, and are just oh-so-happy. The moment gives one the same feeling as being surrounded by fluffy kittens and puppies. They can now live happily ever after.
Not so fast! Monroe decides to tell his parents about the engagement. Of course, they decide to fly out and stay with the happy couple, and meet their soon-to-be daughter-in-law. One problem: Monroe had not told them anything about Monroe's very modern Wesen lifestyle. They don't know Rosalee is a Fuchsbau, that they live together, or that his best friend is a Grimm. Unfortunately, they are also incredibly racist (or would that be considered specist?).
The first Monroe's mom (Dee Wallace Stone) and dad (Chris Mulkey) learn of Rosalee's foxy-ness comes when they give her a nice big hug.
After a big fight in which Rosalee storms out, deciding she needs some time and space, Monroe basically tells his parents he wants nothing to do with them unless they can learn to accept his decision to marry Rosalee. With his impeccable timing, Nick shows up right then to talk about the case. Monroe tries to kick his parents out, but of course they woge in anger before leaving. And we all know what happens when Wesen woge in front of Nick: they see that he's a Grimm! Being the final episode for a whole month, the creators leave us with a message on this cliffhanger:
So, we will have to wait to see what happens with Monroe's parents, and whether Nick will get to keep his scalp. In addition, Juliette (Bitsie Tulloch) has been corresponding with Nick's mother, who may also be visiting soon. Is now a good time to mention that her email username is "bheadr"? Let's just hope she doesn't use that skill on Monroe or his parents!

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

'Grimm' GifTweetCap: Monroe Meets the Fuchsbau-Parent

Grimm "goes there" with "The Good Soldier," an episode about rape in the military. It's a bit of a downer for a show that is normally entertaining for its combination of humor and farcical horror. Still, the creature-of-the-week this episode fits the bill perfectly, and the story has some depth that makes it special in the Grimm universe.

The episode opens with Frankie Gonzales (Emily Rios), who seems to be a crazy woman, cutting into her own arms. She then walks into a bar, and begins harassing a man named Ron Hurd (played by "Fringie" -- as in, from Fringe -- Kirk Acevedo, YAY!), wanting him to admit an injustice he committed against her.
Ron refuses, but she returns later, at his home. He throws her off his property as she screams that she'll never go away. When he looks back, she's gone. Back in the house, he can hear someone creeping around. It's just your average giant lion-scorpion creature, waiting to send a giant stinger into Ron's heart.
Nick (David Giuntoli) and Hank (Russell Hornsby) look into it, and find a bloody napkin in the dumpster at the bar. Frankie had shown it to Ron after wiping her bloodied arm with it, but it appears to form some sort of code or message.
Nick and Hank begin looking into Jim McCabe (Gonzalo Menendez) and Troy Dodge (Todd Robinson), two other men who were connected with Ron through military service in Iraq. A fourth buddy has already been killed the week before, and the remaining men are in close communication. Frankie seems to have it out for all of them. Eventually, it is revealed that the men gang-raped her while they were serving in Iraq.
Troy decides to write up a confession, but his wife Betsy (Amy Newman) will have none of that. She tears it up and asks him to burn it, but she is killed before he has a chance to light the fire. Before he can call for help, he's a goner too.
Hank and Nick speak via video chat with the colonel (Dennis Adkins) in charge of Frankie and the men in Iraq. He feels guilty for being part of the cover-up of the rape, which happened on 11/11/10. That date also matches the shape of the cuts on her arm. Further research shows that the killer beast is a Manticore, and they believe Frankie to be the killer.
McCabe, the last (and most arrogant) of the rapists, goes about his business, but Frankie won't let him get off that easily. She slaps her arm, with the 11/11/10 markings, against his car window. Just as he is about to pull out a gun, Nick and Hank show up to arrest her.
Nick realizes that Frankie is not the culprit when she transforms into a Steinadler (hawk-like Wesen) while in custody. When he says he was expecting a Manticore, Gonzales brings up the colonel. They have her call him to meet, but he confesses right away.
The colonel soon meets with McCabe at the bar, where he knows the cops will be showing up. It turns out that McCabe killed Troy and Betsy specifically because Troy was going to confess. The colonel only killed the first two men, as his way of making amends for the cover-up. Guess what that means? They are both Manticores! Time for an epic Manticore battle...
The colonel purposely puts himself in a position to be stabbed to death just as the cops walk in. That means that, even though they can't put McCabe away for the rape, he will be going to prison for murder. The colonel was sick and only had three months to live anyway, so he gave his life getting justice for Frankie.
Meanwhile, Rosalee (Bree Turner) had not visited her mother Gloria (Bryar Freed-Golden) for seven years, but receives a letter to visit for the anniversary of her father's death. Monroe (Silas Weir Mitchell) convinces her to go, and suggests he go with her to meet her mother and sister DeEtta (Laura Faye Smith) for the first time. Rosalee is extremely reluctant, but she finally agrees. After sitting in the car for a long time after a very long drive, Monroe finally convinces her to walk up to the door... which she does in a highly determined fashion, as if in battle.
When she reaches the door, she hesitates. Monroe gives her some support.
When the door opens, it's clear why Rosalee didn't want to go home: DeEtta gives some awesome bitchface. Gloria seems fine, however: she gives some lovely sweetface.
During dinner, DeEtta insults Monroe with a comment about Blutbaden not being detail-oriented enough to work on clocks, then antagonizes Rosalee for not showing up to their father's funeral. DeEtta tells Rosalee that she should at least apologize, but this sets Rosalee off, and she finally explains that she missed the funeral because she was in jail. She has been more sorry than they could ever imagine, but she didn't know how to fix it.
Each episode contains the episode number in some way, and this one is somewhat special for me, personally. When Rosalee storms out of the house, the number is clearly visible: 311, which is also the name of a band I used to obsess over in college.

Monroe gives Rosalee some moral support, explaining that this is just one of those things that happens in families. He then wonders what she stole, and is a bit overly excited to learn that it was a watch.
Later, DeEtta threatens to kill Monroe if he ever breaks Rosalee's heart. Now that she knows the truth, she has become a good sister!
In the meantime, Adalind (Claire Coffee) looks as if she's ready to burst. But the kicking baby has a very pleasing side-effect: telekinetic ability!
If a Hexenbiest baby kick was cool, then a contraction must be awesome! Ummm... maybe not. Her abilities get a bit out of hand when a contraction leads to a bit of mayhem. Just think what will happen when the Biest-baby finally pops out!

Monday, January 20, 2014

'Person of Interest' GifTweetCap: Reese on a Plane!

Person of Interest ups the hilarious factor with "4C," an episode that takes place almost entirely on a plane. A few fans thought the fight scenes were unbelievable or stupid, but I believe they were meant to be funny. Reese's (Jim Caviezel) fighting style always contains a certain level of comedy anyway, and this just takes it to the next level. I see this as a comedic episode, and an awesome one to boot.
The episode begins with Reese waiting for a flight. He gets bumped, but then something "luckily" opens up. He is immediately annoyed by all sorts of things, including a couple of newlyweds who ask to switch seats so they can be together, and an annoying guy yelling on his cell phone and being rude to the flight attendant. Reese handles it by drinking heavily and stretch-punching out the rude guy.
Reese then finds a marshal passed out in the bathroom, and another who has a nerdy guy named Owen (Samm Levine) in custody. Reese knows it is no coincidence that he just happened to wind up on the flight, and calls Finch (Michael Emerson) to bitch about not wanting to do his dirty work anymore. Finch says he didn't do it, so Reese asks him to tell the Machine that he quit. Yeah, good luck with that, buddy.
He warns the marshal that something happened to the other marshal, but is written off as a loon. Reese is good with that, since he doesn't want this job anyway... until the other marshal soon passes out from being drugged. When the culprit sticks a needle full of blood coagulant in Owen's leg, Reese knocks him out, and pulls out the needle. His solution to the possibility that Owen may have some of the coagulant in his system is to drink alcohol, a blood thinner.
Reese is now fully invested in his latest number, given to him directly by the Machine, and sits down for a little chat with Owen. Owen claims to be an "irrelevant" person in an Internet site known as the Black Market Bazaar, having only worked for the company that hosted the site. The real developer is a guy known as "The Sphinx."
One fan even noted the link between Person of Interest and Almost Human (another show for which I write these recaps):
Finch fears that Owen is exactly the opposite of what he has called himself: a "relevant," which a first for Reese. Owen is wearing a stun belt, so Reese takes the stun button and begins stunning him with it in order to get some answers. He finally admits to having built the website, and having met the Sphinx, who funded the site.
Holly (Sally Pressman), the friendly flight attendant, begins to wonder what's going on, what with all the unconscious people. Reese explains that he's "International Homeland Security," which confuses her further.
It's not long before the couple who took Reese's seat attacks Owen as well. Reese fights them off, then screws the "husband's" hand to the wall with a corkscrew.
Once he's taken care of the bad guy, the "wife" stabs Reese in the shoulder. Holly joins in by knocking her out with a coffee pot.
Meanwhile, Finch sends Shaw (Sarah Shahi) to speak with her former employers from ISA to find out why Owen is relevant to national security. She "discusses" the matter with a former handler, who had planned her death:
The only thing she learns from him is that they have sent one of their own operatives to kill Owen. Of course, the guy is a tall, dark badass, just like Reese. Reese gets the jump on him, and knocks him out before he can suffocate Owen... But then Owen takes off.
A small child watches some of the battle, and Reese's solution is to ask Holly to put a finger of whiskey in his sippy cup. Then he helps out Holly by feeding her plenty of alcohol as well.
Owen is hiding nearby, so Reese knocks him out (faster than listening to to him bitch and moan like a whiney baby), and takes him to the cargo hold. He then threatens to tase him again until he admits that he's the Sphinx. It's not long before the "walking steroid," as Owen calls Mr. Badass #2, arrives. Reese has met his match in steroid guy, until he MacGyver's a blow torch out of some hairspray, and stabs him with scissors.
Shaw drugs Hersh (Boris McGiver), and finally learns why they want Owen dead: he will basically create a national embarrassment if he takes the site public. The only problem is the the Machine doesn't care about embarrassments, but it definitely cares about mass murder.
The male flight attendant on the plane works for a Colombian group that doesn't mind killing lots of people to take out a single target, and this is exactly what he intends to do. Reese runs up to the cockpit, where the flight attendant has already made short work of the pilot, and begins fighting him. Unfortunately, that leaves nobody at the helm, so Finch pulls out his gaming controls and lands the plane.
Finch apologizes for the rough landing, but the passengers seem happy with it. Reese holds up the phone so Finch can hear them clap.
When he finally makes it off the troublesome plane ride, Reese drops his suitcase on the ground, and, surprise surprise! Owen pops out.
Finch meets up with Reese in Italy, and they have a little chat about Carter, without actually saying her name. Reese is still in great pain, but Finch's acknowledgment that he misses her too seems to do wonders. Reese knows he's not alone in his pain. He decides to come home, after a quick trip to get a new Italian suit.