‘Grimm’ Actor Shaun Toub Reveals ‘Bad Night’ Was Just The Beginning Of Bonaparte’s Plot

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Grimm.

Grimm is nearing its season finale with the final two episodes of the season appropriately titled “The Beginning of the End” parts one and two, but it was this week’s episode that began to pull the different story arcs together in a way that gives Grimm fans a look at the coming war. Nick Burkhardt (David Giuntoli) becomes the key figure of Black Claw’s plot in much the same way that the Grimm has always been a central figure in Hadrian’s Wall and that organization’s efforts to defend society against the oncoming Wesen uprising. Now, actor Shaun Toub reveals more about his Grimm character’s insidious plot to establish Wesen dominance over humanity.

A Grimm Recap: It Was A “Bad Night” For Almost Everyone

Even before “Bad Night,” everything had been set up to deliver an explosive season finale with Black Claw rising to power, and the Grimm team, joined together with Hadrian’s Wall, falling further and further behind in their attempt to thwart Black Claw’s efforts. Adding to the frustration of not knowing exactly what to expect, Nick was also faced with Adalind’s (Claire Coffee) betrayal in last week’s Grimm. Even if she had no choice in the matter, Adalind’s move to join Sean Renard (Sasha Roiz) and reunite with her daughter has left the Grimm feeling hurt and enraged towards Renard and towards Black Claw.

Meanwhile, other players have been set into motion in this week’s Grimm, most notably Sergeant Wu (Reggie Lee). For all intents and purposes, Wu has been transformed into a Wesen and it seems probable that Wu’s new side will aid in his efforts to join the battle between Hadrian’s Wall and Black Claw, but it may be far too presumptuous to assume the newly-transformed Wu will fight for good. Taking a page from Juliette’s (Bitsie Tulloch) playbook, the Wesen in Wu may compel him to indulge in darker alliances, which would be par for the course in the Grimm universe.

Finally, Hank (Russell Hornsby) was once again betrayed by a love interest, who seemed to be only using him to get to the Grimm and possibly to infilitrate Hadrian’s Wall. As events unfolded in “Bad Night,” two things became overwhelmingly clear. First, Hank was not as devastated by Zuri’s (Sharon Leal) deception as he was many seasons ago, when Adalind similarly led him on in order to get close to Nick Burkhardt. It seems working with a Grimm has hardened Hank, for better or for worse. Secondly, the way in which Black Claw threw Zuri to the wolves would seem to indicate that the organization is hoping to use her to infilitrate Hadrian’s Wall. The new tech discovered in Grimm, “Bad Night” may play a part in this endeavor.

Grimm‘s Shaun Toub Teases His Character’s Evil Plans

At one point in “Bad Night,” the Grimm team was shown a diagram of Black Claw’s power structure with an unknown puppet master controlling every level beneath him, but that figure was unnamed and left as a mystery. That architect of betrayal and deception on Grimm is played by none other than Shaun Toub and the actor proudly credits his portrayal of Conrad Bonaparte as a major reason trust is so hard to come by, even for Grimm fans.

“It’s good to pull the strings,” laughs Shaun Toub, who only recently joined Grimm. “Nobody trusts anybody on this show now.”

Throughout much of this season of Grimm, Bonaparte has manipulated people and events from the shadows, leaving everyone within Grimm, as well as viewers of the series, to wonder who was behind the scenes, bringing a Wesen war to Portland. Toub reveals that his Grimm character won’t operate so covertly for much longer.

“Bonaparte, what he does, is try to stay behind the scenes. He wants everyone else to do the dirty work,” the Grimm actor explained. “So, what he does is he makes people do what he wants — and what doesn’t work with charm and persistence, well, then he turns on the power.”

When Bonaparte does step out into the public eye, Shaun says viewers will see him in all his glory. The Grimm actor says Bonaparte will woge and the image of his Wesen face may scare even the most loyal of Grimm fans. Toub says he could very well be the most hideous Wesen to ever be seen on Grimm.

As is usually the case with villains, whether they’re real or fictional, Bonaparte feels righteous in his path, says the Grimm actor. Toub says his Grimm character truly believes history will be kind to him, because, ultimately, the ends will justify the means.

“He believes in his power, he knows he’s powerful. And that’s a very dangerous thing,” says Grimm‘s Toub. “The journey that Bonaparte takes, it’s nothing like what you think it will be; there’s a lot of twists, turns and surprises.”

The next episode of Grimm airs on Friday, May 20, on NBC.

[Image by NBC]