Amy Acker was recently interviewed about her two guest spots on Grimm and Once Upon a Time. Asked to describe the difference between the two fairy-tale shows, Acker said, “I’ve seen episodes of Once that are darker than the one that I did, but I do feel like Grimm has more of a gritty feel…”
I think she’s on to something: Grimm is grittier, but OuAT is darker.
When both shows launched, I was psyched for both. But Grimm failed to make a splash after the first half-dozen episodes. It has only been the last two or three episodes that have encouraged me to continue watching. Once Upon a Time, on the other hand, had me hooked right from the get-go and continues to enthrall me. I sit on edge waiting for the next episode.
As I was reflecting on the shows this weekend, after a particularly well-done OuAT episode, I was struck by the differences between the two shows. Grimm is a predominantly male-led show. OuAT is a predominantly female-led show. And I think that this then reflects the style of show that is being presented.
Grimm is a cop procedural with a ‘monster of the week’ theme. The cops investigate, the one cop is also a Grimm, recognizes the work of Wesen and sets out to find out more with the help of his Blutbad buddy. The two cops, Nick and Hank, are guys. The quirky Blutbad is a guy. The captain, and the secondary cop characters are guys. Sure, there is Nick’s girlfriend, but for the most part she’s just there for support; that is, one more example of who Nick has to hide his Grimm calling from. The show plays on the grotesque (take last week’s Tarentella episode, eww gross). What I find interesting is that the show gets good when there are strong female villians (Amy Acker, Nana Visitor, the Captain’s mysterious protégé), but unfortunately, given the nature of the ‘monster of the week’ set-up, there is no follow-through.
Once Upon A Time, on the other hand, is a predominantly female-led show. The three central characters are the Grandmother (the Evil Queen/Mayor), the Step-daughter (Snow White/Mary Margaret) and the Granddaughter (Emma). The show revolves around the story of these three. The Evil Queen banishes the fairy tale world to our ‘real’ world, and holds them all captive in a sleepy little town in Maine. Snow, in a bid to save her newborn daughter from the impending banishment, hides her daughter in a wardrobe that transports her safely out of the fairy tale world and safe from the Queen’s curse. Emma (through the work of her son) comes to Storybrooke, and, as Henry knows and the audience knows, will be the means of ruin for the Evil Queen, and the end of the curse. As a result, the show is much more story and character-based. It is not a procedural. And while some may argue that it is a “fairy tale character of the week” based show, the difference between that and Grimm’s monster of the week set-up is that the focus on a specific fairy tale character each week on OuAT serves to develop the plot, the mystery and the characters of the residents of Storybrooke. Take, for example, last week’s episode that was built around ‘Beauty and the Beast.’ The beast in this rendition was Rumpelstiltskin, and the events of the fairy tale story impacted not only how we see him (we now have some sympathy for him, but he’s still freaky scary) and also advanced the plot (we now know 100% that Rumpel/Mr. Gold and The Evil Queen/Mayor are both fully aware of both worlds, and that forcing Mr. Gold to say his real fairy tale name in Storybrooke gives the Mayor power over him in this realm).
That’s not to say that the men play a minor role in OuAT. Indeed, Mr. Gold is just one example of important characters advancing the plot. But the story revolves around the three women. And for the most part, the other men, Prince Charming, Jiminy Cricket, and even young Henry, are in some ways (for the moment) two dimensional prop characters, without depth and designed to amplify and develop the main characters.
Now, up until recently, Rod had been a huge Grimm fan, while poo-pooing OuAT. That seems to have changed, as he tweeted yesterday that he likes them equally. And I have been rather harsh in my critique of Grimm, but have loved OuAT. But given in the last couple of episodes of Grimm (the writers have given Nick more of a backbone), I’m beginning to really enjoy it. Balance and harmony seems to be coming to Political Jesus with both Grimm and OuAT being appreciated for their own unique contributions to television.
Hmmm…anyone seeing this as a metaphor for a certain argument that is never-ending within North American evangelical Christianity and our tendency to polarize the other? It’s about finding balance and appreciating both, while under the large banner of being Christians, or in this case, being fans of TV shows about fairy tales.
So, which show are you watching? Are you watching both? What do you like/dislike?
Related articles
- #Grimm: Tarantella (politicaljesus.com)
- #Grimm: Organ Grinder (politicaljesus.com)
“Grimm is a predominantly male-led show. OuAT is a predominantly female-led show.”
Captain Obvious for the win. That was the difference from the get go, and yeah I am doing an OuAT rewatch tomorrow.
It was a better post before you said you liked both equally. I was going to be a brat and suggest that Grimm was Driscoll-ish, and that you were on the wrong side of the debate. Lollers!
Speaking of Grimm, I’ve asked to Chuck to keep thinking through his thoughts on moral psychology as the season of Grimm continues, and get him to do a guest post here at PJ at the end of the season on it. I’m planning to do a theology and Grimm at the end of the season.
Yes! Please! I’d love to hear from Chuck on Grimm. He had an interesting take I would like to read about on it.
You still should have done the whole Driscoll thing. That woulda been hilarious.
Excellent post Amanda. I have been trying to decide which one to watch. I will go with OuaT
You can watch both. People who have been hating Grimm have come to love it the past 2 episodes.