SDCC '11: Grimm Pilot Review

This October, NBC and the producers/writers of 'Buffy' and 'Angel' are set to treat us to more of the supernatural. This new series will unleash fairy tales upon our world like you've never seen before. What we thought were just childhood tales are, in fact, true life cautionary tales to warn us of the dangers that lurk in the darkness: supernatural creatures that threaten our existence.

There are things that go bump in the night and, long ago, the Grimm Brothers wrote of these horrid creatures. Well, at least that's what NBC would have you believe with their new upcoming series 'Grimm'. At Comic-Con this year, I got a chance to see the pilot episode of this new series and it does indeed provide some entertainment and shows some promise.

The 'Grimm' pilot starts out with a young woman. Bundled in her red hoodie, she takes off for a peaceful jog through the park. Suddenly, our mystery woman is attacked and drug away by a werewolf as we hear her screams off-screen. Sound familiar? Cut to some time later and we're introduced to our main character, Nick Burckhardt (David Giuntoli). Burckhardt is a detective surveying the scene of the woman's scattered remains. Here we're also introduced to Burckhardt's partner Hank Griffin (Russell Hornsby) as the two scour the scene, finding some rather interesting clues to the woman's cause of death.

Fast forward and Burckhardt's world is slowly turned upside-down as he starts seeing the weirdest things. All of this happening at the time that he's faced with a case concerning a young girl that goes missing. Interestingly enough, said girl was last seen wearing a red hoodie. So, as he races to find out what happened to the girl, Burckhardt is also on a mission to find out what these weird visions are and who (or what) he is.

It turns out Burckhardt is one of a long line of hunters that protect our world from supernatural creatures. These hunters are known as Grimms. These creatures walk around appearing to be normal people. However, Grimms have the ability to see them in their true form and for what they really are (which explains Burckhardt's visions as he comes into his "powers"). As Burckhardt dives deeper into the missing girl case, so too does he find himself being drawn deeper into the world of being a Grimm and discovering things that will change his life forever.

'Grimm' is an interesting show with a unique and cool premise. Part supernatural drama, part police procedural, 'Grimm' provides for an entertaining spin on both genres and brings a unique approach to the (quickly becoming cliche) supernatural world of movies and television. It definitely provides a little something for fans of either genre.

The show wasn't without faults, though. For one, despite the clever concept, the writing still seemed a bit forced and cliche. Meanwhile, the acting and dialogue seemed a bit awkward at times. There's almost a slight amateur feeling to it all at times. It almost feels like it should be a show on SyFy or The CW, rather than NBC. Of course, I feel it necessary at this point to state that I would say all the same things about 'Buffy' which was a show I could never get into.

Despite that, I still found the pilot to be interesting enough that it would warrant me viewing at least another episode or two, to get a good feel for it. Pilots do tend to be a bit rough, thus it could get better as it goes along. I find that the show seems to have struck a nice balance between 'Buffy' and 'Law and Order'. The concept itself is also an interesting premise that leaves me intrigued to see how they handle further fairy tales. Though, I have to wonder what type of longevity the concept really holds before the novelty wears off and it just becomes somewhat boring. I'd say it's definitely worth a shot for any fan of 'Buffy'. Even some of the fans of all those police procedural shows may find some interest in this. And if you're a fan of both, then all the better.

The producers and writers of the show have stated that they'll be exploring plenty of the Grimms' famous tales, including Goldilocks and the three little wolves (I guess pigs weren't scary enough). They've also stated that they will also look to expand to fairy tales beyond even the Grimms' catalog. We'll also be getting a look at the existence of other Grimms.

'Grimm' will premiere on Friday, October 21st at 9pm on NBC.