‘Grimm’ Season Finale: David Giuntoli Breaks Down the Showdown With Black Claw
Spoiler alert! This story reveals key plot points from Grimm’s fifth season finale.
Hey, it ain’t every day that your mortal enemy saves your life. NBC’s Grimm ended its fifth season with a shock-a-minute finale that found Black Claw leader Conrad Bonaparte (Shaun Toub) performing a horrifying mind meld on detective Nick Burkhardt (David Giuntoli), only to be stabbed to death with a sword by his cohort in crime, Sean Renard (Sasha Ruiz). Giuntoli broke it all down for us, and delivered a tantalizing and (grab your hankies, Grimmsters) pretty sad preview of things to come.
That was a killer season finale!
[Laughs] Literally. That was some crazy s—t!
Bonaparte has met his demise, but is this like an ISIS sort of thing? Cut off the head of the snake and another one will grow in its place?
This whole season has been an ISIS story, but I think the show is going to be moving away from Black Claw and on to a new direction where it will be much more about the core characters. Renard is going to be the big bad in Season 6. We’ll focus more on him and his rise to power and what that means. I don’t know this for absolute sure, but that’s the word on the street.
What’s Nick thinking when he realizes Renard has saved his life? He has no idea Adalind’s daughter made it happen with her voodoo doll.
Oh, not at all. There’s a pattern of behavior with Renard that’s well established by now. Renard is in love with himself and with power, so when he slays Bonaparte Nick isn’t going to give him the benefit of the doubt. He’s probably thinking “Am I next?” Or maybe, “Is Renard trying to use me for something here?” But in a way what happened isn’t so surprising. If Renard is so incredibly power hungry, why wouldn’t he stab the head of Black Claw in the back?
Renard is going to have some major Nick troubles in Season 6
But Renard did look extremely puzzled by what he’d done. Won’t Nick pick up on that? What’s his next move?
He’s face to face with Renard, so this could go two ways. Will there be a negotiation? Will Nick think this through? Or is he so furious at Renard for taking his child away that he’ll just go crazy? I would imagine the first scene in Season 6 will be a real melee with Nick and Renard. Of course, Renard is the one with the sword.
And Nick has his magical healing stick. Grimm could have ended the season with him getting shot through the heart and leave us wondering over the summer how he was going to get out of that mess, but it was revealed he was OK because of that stick. What was the thinking there?
First of all, we’re picked up for another 13 episodes, so it would be hard to believe that Nick would die. [Laughs] I mean, I guess I’m an adequate enough actor that the audience wouldn’t think I’ve been fired, right? Besides, we’ve done so many cliffhangers where it looks like someone might be dead—like a million of ’em. We have too much respect for the viewer to keep doing that at this point.
RELATED: Check out Giuntoli’s Behind the Scenes Photos From the 100th Episode
How will the stick come into play next season? There have been hints that, for all its potential good, it could also be hugely dangerous.
Nick and the Scooby Gang are still discovering the potential of this stick, right along with the viewers. Nick survived a barrage of bullets through his chest and only he knows he’s invincible at this point. But we don’t know much more, like what kind of evil this stick could be used for if it falls into the wrong hands. He just puts that crazy stick back in his pocket. Is he going to tell the rest of the gang? We’ll see.
What’s not to love about Eve?
That stick saved Eve (Bitsie Tulloch) and, for a moment there, we got a glimpse of the real Juliette. How is Nick getting his brain around that?
I know, right? Is there a worse time in a guy’s life to find out your woman has come back? We’re all in the middle of being killed! On top of that, Nick is now in love with a Hexenbiest and they have a child. Nick’s also gotta be thinking, “Does Juliette know she killed my mother, when she was Eve?” And who is actually responsible for that death? If it was Juliette, Nick couldn’t forgive her. If it happened as a side effect from Juliette becoming Adalind—which she was trying to do for Nick’s benefit—then I guess he would have to forgive her. So all that is yet to be discovered. But, right now, it’s all too much for Nick to take in. He’s, like, “We can’t do this now!”
How’s he feeling about Adalind (Claire Coffee) at this point?
I think Nick knows she’s being played by Renard and Black Claw. He also knows she would do anything to protect her children. Her maternal concerns are everything, and they would trump anything she might do to protect Nick.
What’s going to happen to the police precinct now that Renard has been revealed to be a corrupt S.O.B.?
I’m certain there will be a series of reforms, which will be way too boring to show on TV. [Laughs] It’ll be like Grimm C-Span!
How will Nick handle the new Wu (Reggie Lee)?
Now that Wu has turned into one of the Great Apes, it’s a problem, but Nick knows that humans can turn into monsters and it doesn’t necessarily mean they are evil. He of all people is trained to know how to manage monsters. I’m guessing he’s probably happy to have Wu around, no matter what. He knows it was a constant battle for Monroe to keep his true nature in check. The poor guy did everything from going vegan to doing yoga and Pilates. I think we’ll revisit that same theme with Wu.
RELATED: The Grimm Cast Goofs Off at Comic-Con
You seem to be pretty confident about the direction of next season, much more so than in the past. What’s up with that?
Well, for one thing, I’m going to direct for the first time next season, so I’m a little more in the loop. It’ll be the first episode after we return from hiatus, though we’re shooting out of order so it will air as our third episode. [Laughs] Weirdly enough, they don’t trust me to do the season premiere!
What took you so long to make the move into directing?
I’ve been working my way toward it. I wrote and produced a film called Buddy Moon that opens in theaters July 1. I did it with a guy Flula Borg, who’s this German D.J. who is just crazy and hilarious. You will love this guy! A very cool actor. So that kept me very busy and, the truth is, it’s really hard to direct a series when you are also the lead. Directing takes two full weeks of prep time and I rarely ever have a day off. So it’s just impossible, really, unless you direct the first episode of the season. Also, it took me five seasons of observation to even feel capable enough to say, “OK, I got this!” But the opportunity is just irresistible.
What about that 13-episode renewal? What should the fans be reading into that?
First off, we don’t know the exact episode count for Season 6. We know we have 13 for sure but it could end up being between 15 and 18. What should you read into that? I would imagine this will be our last season. In network TV, six seasons seems to be what hit shows generally run. We’ve also heard we might do two more shortened seasons. But either way, we’re getting to the end. Nothing lasts forever. But here’s the exciting thing about that: Our writers will be able to give us a really cool ending. We have time to wrap it up in a wonderful, perfect way, for all of our characters. We will go out big and we will go out strong.
Conversation32 Comments
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Comments are closed on this story.
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All I know is, I am going to have a difficult time when this show ends. An even harder time than when Buffy and Xena ended. I LOVE Juliette, and I Love Nick! I WISH IT COULD LAST FOREVER!!!!!!
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It was a heck of a season finale. I\'m a bit surprised that Bonaparte got smoked... he was supposedly SOOOO powerful. ALso, I wondered why Eve didn\'t just smite all the cops in the precinct right away, sort of like she did with the guys in the truck. That seemed a little unrealistic for her, but we know that she couldn\'t do that because then there wouldn\'t have been an epic shootout. (Gotta wonder what\'s gonna happen when the next shift of cops shows up, right? And by the way, how did Portland PD North get so stuffed with wesen? Especially since South isn\'t?
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You think too much. Sometimes, you just have to accept things are the way they are and not worry about why they\'re that way. ;-)
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I know, right? Occupational hazard, I guess. Sometimes inconsistencies are so... egregiuos that they take me out of the story (because they\'re unbelievable and nonsensical). But Grimm\'s finale didn\'t do that. I\'m more than happy to accept what happened and look forward eagerly to the next season.
P.S. I hate the thought of Renard being the Big Bad. :-( I think he\'s basically a good guy and hate to see go bad.
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In the beginning of the series, I thought of him as one of the bad guys. It wasn\'t until later that he seemed to soften and become more of a good guy. I see it as him just returning to his basic nature.
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You\'re right, he was sort of a bad guy in the beginning. But that early in the season, our perspective was \"Grimm = Good, Wesen = Bad.\" (Until we go tto know Monroe & Rosalie.) But with Renard I think it\'s a question of motive. He always wanted peace in the wesen world and compatability with humans. So if his motive has changed... he will turn bad. Or, maybe he\'ll be bad in the sense that he\'ll only try to protect Diana, who might truly end up being the big threat next season.
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Doesn\'t she remind you of one of the evil kids in a Stephen King story like Firestarter?
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I never read or watched anything by King. But I do think she\'s a bit cliche\'d as the \"evil little blond girl.\" Especially the way she always says Mommy and Daddy. Real kids don\'t talk like that. But of course, she\'s not natural in any way, so I guess it fits. :-D
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Sometimes, I can\'t believe what you haven\'t seen! I just mean little kids who look angelic on the outside but have some sort of evil power within them.
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I\'ve felt the need to fill in so many blanks on this show, that it didn\'t even phase me to learn that Portland PD North was all Wesen. I just figured that was one step in conquering the town was taking over a precinct...shifting the right people into the right places with transfers and whatnot. They couldn\'t do it at Nick\'s precinct...yet...because Nick was there and Renard was fairly cooperative with Nick. So that\'s why they set it up for Renard to move into a different position to gain some sway with him.
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You know, the Mommy and Daddy thing didn\'t occur to me. I may be wrong, but I thought that Diana ages more quickly. It seemed like Adalind\'s pregnancy with her was only about 2 months long. And it doesn\'t seem like it could have been more than about 3 years since she was born, but she looks about 8. It seemed appropriate to me somehow for her to still be using Mommy and Daddy. But, I guess all the does figure into the creep factor for her a bit. :)
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I\'ve definitely seen other versions of the angelic kids who are creepy as all get-out. As I mentioned, they seem to be a cliche now. I\'m just not a fan of Stephen King, or horror in general. (Except Supernatural. For obvious reasons. ;-) )
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Yes, Diana did age way more quickly. (Another trope of the horror/sci-fi/fantasy genre; been done numerous times.) She\'s got that \"creep factor\" thing dialed up to maximum. :-o :D
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The show was always been Sean and Nick, they are both at the same level. Sean is a great character, very complex...
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I know you wrote this months ago, but I just love how you use \'smite\' in a casual way, but let\'s face it there\'s no other way to describe how Eve gets down with her powers, lol.
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I really liked Bitsy as Eve, I sadly think we will have Juliette back next season. I really hope Adalind and Nick are going to get back to their relationship. I love them togeather and I love Adalind as a Mother
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This was one of the best episodes they\'ve had in a long time. Anyone else think that the stick not only cured Eve of the wound made by the glass shard, but that bad case of hexenbiest that Juliette came down with? I\'m really not happy with that idea. Her training with Meisner makes her a little less helpless than she was before all this stuff, but I still don\'t think a twist like that would be good for the show. Hopefully, they\'ve got something else in mind.
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Yes, I thought it was strongly implied that the stick \'cured\' her of her \'biest-ness. Can\'t believe nobody has thought to ask her more about it (her powers, etc.)... but I guess they\'ve been a little busy. ;-) ANd it wouldn\'t have affected Monroe since he was born a Blutbad (sp?) and didn\'t, er, \"acquire\" it later on. If it turns out to be the case, this may be an answer for Wu
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I never cared for Juliette and was glad when they killed her off. When I first heard they were bringing her back, I wasn\'t looking forward to it, but I didn\'t mind her so much as Eve. We don\'t know for sure that the stick knocked the Hexenbiest out of her for good or if it\'s just a temporary side effect.
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I was dancing a jig when they killed her last year too. I agree she was better as Eve. She was always kind of robotic anyway, so it was a good call to writer her character that way. I agree that it\'s not clear the hexenbiest has been banished completely, but I think, at a minimum, it\'s pretty clear they\'ve neutered her a bit. I don\'t think that\'s going to improve her character at all.
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I dont think it has because we did not see it get out of her body...She just got back her feelings and she realized what she did was wrong. But all her doings were not only side effets, Sean told her that she has to decide where to put her anger and how to control her power. By revenge and jealousy she decided to destroy everyone...
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It was obviously left vague to keep people talking about this during the break, but I think they did show it leaving her. It\'s not like we saw a hexenbiest walk into her body when this materialized in the first place. She had headaches that increased until she was writhing in pain and woged uncontrollably. This time, she healed, writhed in pain, woged uncontrollably, and collapsed on the floor (as if dead) before the woge faded away, like it does when wesen die, and then she acted like she was waking and shakily sat up. Seemed like the reverse of the hexenbiest side being born to me.
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When he took Adalinds powers we saw the Hexenbiest leaving her. Here i think it is the same. It did not leave her, but she will be far more useful with her powers than old juliet. We will be back to square one, which does not make really sense considering all the developments towards the grimm and the real hexenbiest relationship
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I don\'t remember what it looked like when the hexenbiest left Adalind all those years ago. But, given all the differences between the situations, that Adalind is a natural born hexenbiest who lost her powers by Grimm blood, while Juliette was manufactured and Nick\'s blood couldn\'t be used to \"cure\" her and the stick heals in its own way, I think the different responses would also make sense. As for the secondary part of your comment, as I\'ve already said, I agree that it weakens the show for her to go back, but it wouldn\'t be to square one. She\'s clearly had some training and is extremely knowledgable now. With Meisner\'s death, and given the dynamics we\'ve seen for HW, it makes sense that she would assume his job. They also killed off her biggest adversary in that powerful zauberbiest. With Renard reportedly assuming the mantel of big bad next season, and all the groundwork that they laid for Adalind to be opposed to him, it just makes sense that she could be the powered one leading that charge, which would make Juliette\'s powers kind of redundant.
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I really agree with you. I think that bringing her back again to just be Juliet does not make sense and kind of weakens all the rest of the plots. The main plot being, i think since the first episode etc., the relationship between a grimm and a hexenbiest, which are opposite. Not between Juliet and Nick. The threads are all over the series and bringing back juliet just to be with Nick and live all the rest, like the connexion between Adalind and Nick, the ring, the stick, even the neckless that baby Diana took from Kelly mom and that contains a picture of Nick. I hope they brought her back just to see where she can focus her power and be helpfull and not being with nick again who clearly belongs with Adalind. The power should be between Nick which is supposed to be powerful and intuitive, Adalind, Sean, and now Diana...
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I don\'t know that I want Adalind with Nick either, but I definitely don\'t want Juliette with him. That relationship was awful. I just think of that Friends episode where Joey talked about real life chemistry destroying on screen/stage chemistry. In their case, I think it\'s true.
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I didn\'t know there were a real couple, they were just cute but not like the chemistry between him and adalind. I do want nick and adalind together because this is the story of a grimm and a hexenbiest who are in love against their very nature. THey develop their story with clues and threads all over the seasons just to bring them together and they work so well together, not just as a couple. He accepts her as a hexenbiest, and he can look at her since season one when she wogues, but not a second at juliet who is supposed to be the woman of his life. So i think we must drop the woman of his life as juliet for season 6 because she is not obviously and for so many reasons. Adalind and Nick have a great power and they have a kid, and i would like to see them more working together than him being scared to tell her his feelings and crying again for juliet. It would be nonsense that nick chooses her over adalind and baby.
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Love this show. Great season finale; looking forward to next season already!
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All i want to know is when season 6 will start? Does anyone know?
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I was so hopeful Grimm would get at least 2 more full seasons. I know the numbers dropped, but it still has a good hold on the prime demographics, and Friday shows are never high ratings-wise. But after I read Giuntoli\'s last comment about the show wrapping up, I guess I better start facing up to the fact that Grimm is truly coming to an end. 😭
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The last season? Hence, the title THE BEGINNING OF THE END for the finale. So sad.
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Loved the finale but I much prefer the episodic shows to the black claw stuff. I like the moments of comedy with Monroe and with Woo. Id be happy if black claw took a back seat next season.
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