Through out its history, NBC’s Grimm did something the series has never done before. When production started on the supernatural drama’s final chapter on August 1, 2016, it wasn’t the premiere they were working on, but rather the season’s third installment, titled, “Oh Captain, My Captain.”
OMFGTV sat down with the cast one last time to find out why.
“It’s the first time we’re doing this,” Sasha Roiz (Capt. Sean Renard) tells us. “We’re starting with the third episode; we’re not actually doing sequentially.” Roiz tells us that the reason is why they’re shooting out of order is because star David Giuntoli will be pulling double duty, helming the episode in his directorial debut.
He also reveals that while we won’t see the David’s Nick that much in the episode, we will get a double dose of Renard, saying, “[The episode] will feature me a lot.”
Guintoli was very appreciative and thankful to the producers for the opportunity, saying, “they were kind enough to let me direct [an episode].” And in order to get the episode done, so that he wouldn’t have to stress about it too much, they opted to film that one first.
“They don’t want me to screw up the premiere, so they gave me the third episode to screw up, so we’re shooting the third episode first,” Giuntoli says. “It’s just a big continuity eff up, but you know what? Thank you every body. It’s a really fun episode where Renard gets to battle his greatest enemy yet.”
Because his character Nick is usually in most of the scenes in every episode, being on both sides of the camera, especially for a first-time director would be incredibly difficult. This is why, he explains, that the writers found “a clever way to write me out.”
Prepping for this gig consumed most of Giuntoli’s life for about two years. That prep included watching past episodes of Grimm and working really long days.
“David works more than anyone else cast wise — his hours,” Bitsie Tulloch (Eve) says. “When he wasn’t shooting, he was on set shadowing directors. He’s been meeting with directors, he’s been reading books. He has taken this so seriously.”
“From what I’ve heard from the crew and what I’ve seen both as his partner in life and as his cast mate, is he was just — if anything — over prepared. It’s just nice as his partner to see your man so enriched and inspired.”
Cut to nearly six months later, and viewers will finally get to see the episode that Executive Producers David Greenwalt and Jim Kouf call “PHENOMENAL and one of our most funny and entertaining episodes to date.”
Looking back at that first week in August, Claire Coffee (Adalind) says that David was an “amazing” director. “He’s been super supportive, he gives great notes, he keeps everybody’s spirits up.”
Throughout this journey, no one has been more proud than Giuntoli’s fiancée. “David’s been amazing,” Tulloch says. “I’m so impressed with him. I think that he really just did not take this opportunity for granted.”
Grimm, “Oh Captain, My Captain,” airs tonight at 8pm on NBC.