Grimm has always been willing to take chances and adjust itself to stay fresh, making moves with the status quo and even the nature of its cast members as needed.  Now entering its final season, with the writers given as much time as possible to formulate an exit strategy, the only real question is whether or not the various storylines and character arcs will get a satisfying conclusion.    

The fifth season finale knocked over just about every anthill possible, which was one of the most audacious moves they ever could have made.  Hadrian’s Wall and Black Claw are effectively gone, Diana has developed her ability to kill with her mind, and two characters were brought back from the dead.  Where do they go from here?  Thankfully, this season premiere is all about delving into the consequences, both immediate and pending.

That means a new status quo, built out of the ashes of the old one, which is an interesting challenge with only 13 episodes for the final run.  On the one hand, the writers have the opportunity to set everything and everyone up exactly as they want them to be to drive to a solid finish.  On the other hand, every minute spent setting up the new status quo is stealing time from that finish.  It’s going to be quite the balancing act.

Of course, much depends on the nature of where the story is likely to go.  Nick’s role seems to be fairly predictable: tear down the old ways and replace them with something better, one way or another.  With so much of the existing power base now gone, it makes perfect sense that Renard would make his play.  Renard was always willing to shift his allegiance throughout the series, and his eventual turn as the Big Bad was foreshadowed back in the first season.  It also adds immediate urgency, as Team Grimm is on the run right from the start.

There is a lot more exploration of the wand that Nick now possesses, the endgame “weapon” that continues to have a lot more properties and abilities than we thought.  While there is some concern that the wand is too powerful, able to do and facilitate far too much, there is still time in the narrative to explore the negative consequences of its use.  Eve/Juliette looks like the one to bear the brunt of that for now, though who knows what it will mean for Nick in the end?

Similarly, Diana is getting so powerful that she represents another narrative trap to be avoided.  Unless the endgame is somehow to pit the wand against the overpowered child?  That doesn’t quite seem like it would be the best way to ensure a final conflict that puts Nick in the driver’s seat, but the alternative is dealing with Diana sooner rather than later.  And there’s still the larger question of how this will factor into the overall Royal/Grimm scenario.  There’s a lot for the writers to cover, and hopefully they haven’t bitten off more than they can chew.