Liked this season quite a bit more than the last. Quality corporate skullduggery and the Clone Club did a lot of juking and jiving to keep up.

The sisters all had good roles to play for most of the season. Krystal came in and out, proving to be useful in her own dim-witted way. Helen was on the back burner for the entire season which I found disappointing. Her coming through with the assist at the Hendrix’s home was great.  Alison and Donnie were in the mix for awhile and I was surprised how their storyline ended much sooner than episode. Smart writing to sideline them for now, it made sense. Rachel had a great story this year and while I thought they were going to do something with Sarah’s daughter, they didn’t integrate her at all. Really dug Evie Cho as the main antagonist, they gave her a lot to work with and she’s ruthless. A fun foil and mirror to Susan Duncan

The light shined on Brightborn and Neolution was great to see this season. We got to see a lot of the inner workings of the tech race (wild idea on Brightborn’s side) which really fleshed out the world. Major plot movement is always a plus in my book. Many significant story beats and character deaths made it all very meaningful. Rachel was brought back into the spotlight in baby steps and I think it worked out really well. Great season finale that had action, suspense, a touching reunion and the culmination of story threads to a quality cliffhanger ending. Nothing felt cheap and the set ups for the next (and final) season are great. Loved the last shot, looking forward to the last run to the end.

The end of the series!

I’ve watched Marty Kaan swim around the consultant firm from the start and really enjoyed it. I think they ended it right on time, though. A lot of side characters fell to the wayside (like Marty’s son, I think he was in 3 episodes this season) and there are only so many times you can do a hostile business take-over story.

The four main characters remained fun and the highlight of the series. The end of season four and this season zeroed in on Marty and Jeannie relationship. It’s a move that made the most sense as Jeannie was pretty much the other leg of the show. I think Marty bounced off of only Monica more. The last big

The final client for the show brought the team to Cuba and they switched things up a bit to bring the show to a close. Once more they were  chasing a bigger whale. Kaan and Associates (and the show) had hit a wall–when is enough, enough? Marty seemed to be OK with (or at least never saw an alternative to) pushing the speed up on the treadmill but Jeannie saw otherwise after the birth of their child. The weight of pushing rivals into oncoming traffic was getting too much and making more money for the sake of making more money didn’t make sense anymore. The future she saw for herself wasn’t a happy one. Could she have a future with Marty outside of child visitation? Could Marty think of the future? And Cuba had brought the team into another back-stabbing deal. Marty did manage to find a route out of it that kept him and his friends in a good space and his two biggest rivals pulling their hair out.

Jeannie got Marty to slow down and think. In doing so, he saw a happy route for all of them. Using that Marty magic he pulls a win out of a losing scenario. It kept him and his friends in a good space and his two biggest rivals pulling their hair out.

Whenever a show ends, I pretty much just want to get a good idea of what will (most likely) happen to the characters when the cameras are gone. I find that satisfying. I got that with House of Lies. Marty, Jeannie, Clyde, and Doug will be working together, on their terms, for the foreseeable future.

Persona Non Grata

As a whole, this was a disappointing season finale but there was still some great scenes.

Turns out I misunderstood what was happening to Will at the end of episode 12. Despite his objections to stealing the bio-weapon, he’s going to do it for his last mission.

With that cleared up, the show opens with Will packing up the sample in his apartment for the handoff to Philip. What he doesn’t know is half of the FBI is now watching him. When the close in on him he makes a break for it and they surround him in the park. With few choices available to him, Will breaks the vial and infects himself. He’s brought to a special medical center with an isolation area.

When Will doesn’t show up to the meeting (and a back up one the following day) and can’t be contacted by Gabriel, the KGB team assumes he’s been picked up. It’s a lot to be concerned about and Gabriel advises Elizabeth and Philip to pack up the kids and hide at a safehouse so they can be extradited on the sly.

Nabbing Will puts both sides on new platforms. The FBI prevents some awful stuff from leaving the country, but Will is a resilient man for his people. There’s no cure for what he has so the time is short for them to get any info out of him. Gaad’s replacement confronts Arkady with all their info and drops the hammer: they have enough to get him thrown out of the country and things at the Soviet embassy are going to get real uncomfortable. This means Tatiana will be taking over his position for a while. Her move to Kenya is put on hold and Oleg tells her he’s going home to be with his family.

Stan and Dennis stick with Will as the virus quickly takes over. While they try to get info on the Soviet’s, they also ask much about him. Did he enjoy what he was doing? It isn’t until Will is in death’s delirious grip when Will lets out a lead. He tried to find a wife but never could. Alone and different from everyone around him, he’s envious of “them.” The two that are married, with kids. The ones that no one would suspect. She’s really beautiful, he’s lucky to have her…

Elizabeth and Philip are in complete darkness. They know Will has been taken but Philip isn’t sure if Will would talk but he thinks it’s a real possibility.  They don’t know that Will infected himself, they assume he’s in an interrogation room somewhere. Gabriel thinks Will could absolutely be offered a sweet deal to turn and it isn’t safe for them to stay. It’s not a simple decision for Philip and Elizabeth based on the info they have. It’s a massive ordeal for them to try and cut and run with the kids. They go home on edge, deciding to wait and see (a crazy risk considering if the snare does pull around them, they’ll have no warning). Paige has been spending time with Matt and getting awfully close to him.

Highlights:

• Dylan Baker’s best work as Will. Great “confessional” moments. Hell of a way for a character to go out.
• The tip that the spies Will is working with are married to each other. He doesn’t give away the Jenner’s, but it’s something. It’s going to bother Stan for sure and it’ll make him look around more carefully. It’s a big worry.
• Interesting scene at EST. Philip doing his own hidden confessional, sharing his internal struggle with being a “travel agent.” It’s crushed him many times this year and the instructor asks him “what about making yourself happy for once?” The obligations and promises to his family (here and abroad) force him to stay in the game. If Elizabeth wasn’t so strong it’d probably be a different story.
• Paige still growing as a spy. She’s accepted who her mother is a bit more, she’s processed the attack and even asks about learning to protect herself. She also negotiates/plans with Elizabeth about visiting Pastor Tim, Alice and their newborn at the hospital.
• Paige and Matt! Philip has to play it so cool when his life is probably collapsing around him as he goes to FBI Stan’s to get her. Then Stan is all giddy when he reports the kids were kissing (they walk in and they are on opposite sides of the couch!) and Philip’s face is just barely managing to keep it all together. He bugs out as they walk across the street, forbidding her to get involved with Matt (cue her crushing eyebrows).
• Gorgeous shot of the Jenner home for the final visual of the season.

I’m not to thrilled about finding out about Philip’s son, Mischa. It was put in early in the episode where it telegraphed that the Jenner’s were going to stay put, ruining that angle. It’s a seeding maneuver for season 5 that I think should have been held off for next year. Took away more than it added.

I was expecting a much more action oriented episode (in the chase department for sure) so the finale was a visceral let down in that regard. There was still plenty to like though and brought some things to a close while leaving a satisfying “what’s next” question for season 5. They put another great season in the books and I’m looking forward to next year.

A Roy Rogers in Franconia

There are three pieces to this week’s episode: Paige, the bio-weapon, and the FBI getting their act together.

As expected, Paige is shell shocked from the attempted mugging. She sees her mom in a new light and because of that, a level of naivete is taken away. She asks more questions, gets some details about the past (I like Elizabeth talking about her childhood) and becomes a bit more aggressive about things. She’s now starting to see herself as part of this and is walking into dangerous territory: she’s a dumb kid with no training and too much confidence. Elizabeth connects the dots that Paige has been reporting things to her and Philip, talking strategy. They’ve been treating her with kid gloves through this to keep her from freaking out, giving her basics to keep tabs on Pastor Tim. Now after the attack, Paige wants to know more. Seeing your mother drop a dude and kill another in front of you wakes you up to the world your parents are actually in. The mystery calls may not be a total mystery anymore as Philip relents to her heated questions and gives her the basics about meeting with someone to get info for a weapon. Elizabeth witnessed Paige probing Matt about Stan early in the episode and combined with this new fervor, it’s opening a whole new avenue of potential exposure for them. Philip and Elizabeth were recruited and trained extensively for years and this goofy girl thinks she’s got all the moves now. They have to reel her in.

Pilfering Don’s data paid off. They found access codes to get to access to Level 4 so it’s possible to get a sample of the bio-weapon. Phillip goes to meet Will to pass along the information and he flat out says no, I’m not going to get it. The potential of letting this stuff out is far too much on his conscious. He’s been working for the Soviet’s for most of his life and he draws the line here. Gabriel is brought in for negotiations and to my initial surprise, doesn’t try to talk Will into doing it. Gabriel sees Will as a burned out agent. Away from home for too long, his agenda no longer exactly matching what they need, he’s done. Will will be brought back and retired (not in the “he lives on a farm upstate” kind of way, actual retirement with benefits).

Finally, the FBI. Agent Alderholt found a loose thread and followed it back to the repair place where they fix the machines that they use in the office to ferry paperwork around. The location of the amazing scene where Elizabeth talks the owner’s mother into ODing. They find the bug in the machine there and snap into action. In full detective mode, they nab the woman bribed to swap the tapes every week (the Soviets tricked her into thinking it’s a mob operation and give her $500 for every drop). Oleg gets some info from Tatiana that makes him nervous enough to go to Stan and tips him off about the bio-weapon theft plan. They cross reference all their info to find who/where a theft could be done and they narrow it down to Will. While Will is in no danger of getting nabbed for doing the deed since he’s getting pulled, it’s all eyes on and around him. It’s not a complete burn but I doubt Will will be leaving the country and the danger of Philip getting put into the crosshairs is massive. Edit on 6/9: I misunderstood this. Will doesn’t want to do it, but it will be his last mission and he’ll be sent back to Soviet Russia.

Next week: The season finale.

Dinner for Seven

An Elizabeth-centric episode, her “Patty” plan is brought to its final stages. The Center denies her request to find another path to get the codes from Don’s office so she has to go through with it.

I thought the plan was going to be a straightforward blackmail attempt. Elizabeth would threaten to go to Young about them “sleeping” together to get the codes they need to get to the level the bio-weapons are kept. They went with a much more intense route. Elizabeth visits Don at home just after Young takes the kids to school and tells him she’s pregnant. He asks her to get an abortion and she leaves. Then the other half went into effect. Philip goes with Gabriel and another woman to Don’s office and poses as Elizabeth’s family. They tell him that “Patty” killed herself after their discussion and demand that he pay for her funeral back in CA. They sideswipe this poor something fierce with this story. He goes with Philip to the bank to get the cash leaving the “parents” in the office. They sweep the place looking for the code and copy all of his computer data.

After the mission, Elizabeth is told that no codes were found but they have yet to check the data they copied. She goes to a pay phone to check her “Patty” message and hears a distraught Young asking where she went. Her marriage is strained and she can’t figure out, she wants to talk to her best friend, but she won’t return her messages. Elizabeth hangs up in shame and regret before the message ends. The end of a rough one for Elizabeth (she can never be seen by that family again) it’s going to take some series repression for Elizabeth to move on from this.

After last weeks’ Alice freak out Pastor Tim comes by to apologize to Elizabeth and Philip. They graciously accept but no attempt to get the tape back is made (or offered).

Elizabeth works on Pastor Tim a few times, talking to him privately each time. What starts as a rather clear (by the viewer’s perspective) attempt to manipulate sympathy, she changes after the “Patty” mission is done. Pastor Tim has no clue about it, but Elizabeth gets into talking about guilt with him. He tells her he prays in times like that and they have an interesting discussion about faith.

Stan makes two appearances in the Jennings household this week. First talking to Philip about stuff where he lets it slip that his ex-boss was killed in Thailand. Stunned, Philip relays the info to Elizabeth and recalls that he put Gaad’s vacation into his report. He might have made an unintentional connect the dot for Stan to find. Second, he pops into a dinner party where Pastor Tim and his wife are guests. Wow, what a scene. Two worlds collide and as they sit down the dinner you just wait until the small talk turns to work. Stan says he works for the FBI and it’s the crazy anticipation to see how Pastor Tim and Alice handle it. Will their facial expressions tip off Stan in any way? Will they let anything slip? The dinner goes off without a problem. Stan also sets up a meeting to see Oleg Burov. Stan looks terrible and tells Oleg that this will be the last time they meet. Oleg has become a kind of friend to him and he’s sick of people close to him getting used and killed.

Last but not least, Paige continues to give her parents information. The finals scene, she’s walking back to the car with her mother at night. Paige tells her about the conversation she had with Stan’s son, about Stan and his partner talking to the father of a spy who disappeared. Elizabeth knows exactly who she’s talking about, but doesn’t let on. While chewing on that bit of news, they are confronted by two shady men in the parking lot. Elizabeth tries to diffuse the situation by handing over her wallet right away, but one of the guys tries to put his hands on Paige. Elizabeth snaps into action and kills one of the guys. This scene was simply amazing. A scenario I never considered or saw coming. A physical threat to Paige in front of one of her parents. Elizabeth is a dangerous woman and blindsides everyone with her skill, speed, and ferocity. She doesn’t hesitate for a second and blows Paige’s mind in the process. She’s now seen her mother in action. No talk, which she’s more accustomed to but physical prowess. Paige can barely function and Elizabeth has to pull her away and force her to run. Cut to credits.

Paige has been struggling with just the basics of what her parents do. She’s not astute enough to really notice them indoctrinating her (another sign it’s working: talking strategy with her mom before the fight). Seeing training is something else. She’s going to be a blithering mess in the next episode.

Overall, a much better season over last year. They covered a lot of ground, both literally and figurativly. The last three or four episodes in particular really ramped things up. Most of the subplots were good and worked out well with everyone getting a chance to take the spotlight. Grimm is a really creative show. The cases they come up with to deviate from the main story arc are interesting and make the Scooby Doo teamwork aspect of the show work well. The main cast is a really tight crew of characters (shades of Buffy the Vampire Slayer).

Juliette was made interesting and she didn’t dominate the season which I think was a smart decision (she gets the most character arcs than anyone). Trusty Hank got a love interest for awhile and got ride shotgun with Nick in just about every major event. I really liked the trip Nick and Monroe took to some treasure hunting. A lot of fun to watch and that whole segment brought one

Trusty Hank got a love interest for awhile and got ride shotgun with Nick in just about every major event. Wu remains another great sidekick and they put him through some hard stuff. I liked what they did with him, but he looks terrible when he’s transformed. One of the worst SFX on the show.

I really liked the trip Nick and Monroe took to some treasure hunting. A lot of fun to watch and that whole segment brought one long standing puzzle with the keys to an end and introduced a new powerful totem to the series. Monroe and Rosalee are cornerstones to this series and I liked the background work they did for them (especially Rosalee’s ex, Tony) and they have a big future ahead of them

Trubel went away for a bit found a greater purpose working at HW and it was great when she came back. In fact, the HW was one of my favorite additions to the show. Really liked Juliette and Trubel being brought in to work for Meisner. He helped fill a much-needed Grimm ally position.

Renard took quite the turn in the later episodes and I’m not too happy with it. While the set up and the ultimatum for him to switch sides was given a lot of time, when he does switch it felt really sudden. I think it’s because they changed his personality to becomes much sleazier than he ever has before (being so aggressive with Adalind was really pushing it).

Speaking of Adalind, her motherly instincts were put to the test. Bringing back Diana added a big wild card as she’s an incredibly powerful young girl. Now that Adalind is now part of her life, will she be able to keep her from being a full blown monster?

I liked the season finale quite a bit, had some satisfying confrontations and the body count on both sides is a lasting one. Black Claw was in the shadows for most of the season, but they came out to make some serious moves at the end. More or less a draw with that cliff hanger ending.

The show has been given a truncated season 6 order so there might not be much time left for Grimm. So far it’s going to be 13 episodes (down from 22), I just hope that the creators get to do what they want. Will it just be a shorter season with more to follow? Will they get more episodes if they need it for the season? Will they only get 13 to end the series? I guess it’ll take the summer for them to find out. I hope they don’t get cut off at the knees by being forced to rush a finale to the series. The Black Claw is a global movement so there could be a lot (outside of Portland especially) to explore.

The Scandal of Altruism

Just passed the halfway point of Season 4 and I think they might have delivered one of the best episodes of the entire series. Easily the best this season at any rate.

More went down this week than I can really cover because answers to questions that started in the series premiere were answered (and I don’t think fans should know what happens beforehand). A ton of lore and a tremendous amount of characters intersected in some incredible ways. I can’t see a single Orphan Black fan not doing backflips after watching this. Some serious writing was done for this episode with major reveals and major moments with massive impact for the rest of the show. If I didn’t know any  better I’d be calling this a brilliant season finale but there are four more episodes to go.

I’m so impressed with this episode from start to finish. Brilliantly paced, a ton of stuff happens and there are some really striking visuals. I don’t know how or if they’ll top this one anytime soon, but I can’t wait for next week. Serious losses to the Clone Club, I’m not sure what their next play is going to be but the playing field as certainly changed. I think some old enemies will be switching sides to take down the new cut-throat villain.

Munchkins

There were some great parallels in this episode and the kids take more of a center stage. Paige is curious about Philip’s past and they bond over the story of how strong (and the tough life in his home country) his own mother was. A fine night at home is shattered when Pastor Tim’s wife, Alice, knocks on the Jennings’ front door. Their biggest fear of Paige’s mistake storms into their house. Tim went to Ethiopia to do missionary work (with travel arranged by the Jennings’ travel agency) and he’s gone missing. She’s convinced they had something to do with it and threatens them with a recording she made about Philip and Elizabeth being spies.

After Alice storms out, they’re all stunned. The threat of her parents being caught has been very nebulous until now. I don’t think she put much thought into them being punished more than them getting into “trouble” and she and Henry having to go live somewhere else. When she hears them say we may have to seriously flee to Russia, she’s dumbstruck. “I’ve never been to Russia! I can’t speak Russian! And what are you going to do? You can’t be Russian spies in Russia!” She didn’t mean to be funny but that line was hilarious. Elizabeth gets more assertive with her to try and calm her down.

The immediate aftermath is interesting. Deep down Paige doesn’t trust her parents. They say they had nothing to do with PT disappearing, but she can’t be sure. This later brings up the discussion of when they are going to tell Henry about what they really do. In a brilliantly set up scene, Phil and Elizabeth try to dodge the question and basically say they will only tell him if he starts putting things together like Paige did. In this conversation, Henry is outside bouncing a tennis ball off the garage door. It sets the soundtrack to an interrogation like level with Elizabeth commenting through irritation that Phil should stop him from doing that because Henry could break the door doing that. “It’s only a tennis ball.” Paige comes in and says the exact same thing as her mother. As much as she may not think or realize it, she’s just like her mother. Plus, Philip and Elizabeth are annoyed that they are getting heat for something they didn’t do. After Paige storms off, Elizabeth laments, “Like we’d do it and leave Alice around to talk!” I appreciated the gallows humor in such a serious moment. Things end up working out on their own and Paige falls right back into working with her “agents.” Despite the ultimate stress test, the indoctrination is still working.

Much like Philip’s mother, Elizabeth is the strongest of the family. She’s been that way since the start of the show but the “Patty” mission is weighing on her soul more than any mission before. Gabriel see’s this in her uncertainty with getting the codes from Don (super awkward visit with Young and Don and their home and a heartbreaking phone message from Young). He offers to see if there is another route The Center can take to alleviate Elizabeth.

The Russian’s send some guys to talk to Gadd when he’s on a trip with his wife (Stan told Philip about it last week) and it goes off the rails. While it’s unclear what they went to see him for, we see the disaster was done under Arkady’s watch. Another person close to Stan has been taken out, we’ll see if it prods him anymore.

I’ve already covered Paige, but there are two other kids that need to be mentioned. We go with Philip to visit Kimmy. It’s been awhile since we’ve seen her, but Philip brings her pot as a cover to plant a fresh bug in her father’s bag. As we watch them catch up, Kimmy tells Philip that her father is really in the CIA, not the State Department. She tells a stranger a secret that she shouldn’t have. Philip gently tells her she shouldn’t break her father’s confidence (sound familiar?). Second is Matt, Stan’s son. He’s popped in and out of the show for awhile, but it looks like he’s being pulled into Paige’s orbit. She talks to him about his father being in the FBI and if it ever feels “weird.” If you immediately jumped back to thinking about Kimmy, we are sharing the same concerns about what could happen in the very near future.

It’s a tense time right now that’s for sure. There are a lot of people being used right now: Philip->Kimmy, Tatiana->Oleg, Elizabeth->Don. Gaad’s death is going to have some serious blowback, can Paige get the tape from Alice to get some kind of security, what role is Tatiana going to be taking (she’s the most mysterious, I’m curious to see where they go with her), and will a piece of Elizabeth’s soul be spared from the “Patty” mission?