Board Thread:General Grimm Discussion/@comment-27720018-20160906015503/@comment-41.13.4.107-20180409044525

I think "true love" is a hollywood construct. You either love someone or you don't. I don't real life on that concept nor do I do the same for fictional characters. And even with the fairy tale premise on which this show is built, I can say "true love" played a minimal role, or rather it was nothing more than a plot point, often subverted. This show didn't folow the Disney way of happiliy ever after with the main character (Nick) getting his girl (Juliette as main love intererst for four seasons). He wasn't the prince that woke her from her curse but his blood did eventually save both Juliette and Renard as it saved Hank's life. He's the Huntsman who end up with the wicked witch. This is more in line with the original Grimm tales that what Disney has fed us for the last hundred years.

As I said, you either love someone or you don't and Nick had deep feelings for Adalind. It's already established that he was attracted to her in the earlier season but he wasn't in love with her. Having a son together got these two to be in the same room together witghout killing one another. For the first time they were able to see the other person and not see the enemy. When Monroe asked him if he loved her, I don't think he did. However, he framed his feelings for her around her being Kelly's mother and I think that was a convenient crutch for him, like it justified not only hating Adalind anymore but why he found her attractive.

As @Vandersad said, Nck felt a lot of guilt over Juliette's situation from the moment he found out she was a Hexenbiest. In S4 he tried to fix it. In S5 he buried his head in the sand because she was Eve. Then at the beginning of S6 the stick "brought her back". Nick reverted back to the same man that felt responsible for her fate but it wasn't comning from a place of love between a man a woman. It was the same guilt he felt but he wasn't the same man a before because in his heart he'd moved on. In S6 Nick still loved Juliette but he was in love with Adalind. When Juliette landed in hospital and Nick called her Juliette before rushing to see her, I think that was a legit time to show that Nick was still in love with her since they used flashbacks but the show only played up Nick's guilt by showing us the consequences of not listening to his aunt that ultimately led to his mother's death. Nick's guilt holding him back from fully expressing his love for Adalind is more in line with what happened on the show, especially after that confrontation between Nick and Juliette in 6x11 than the idea of "true love" on a show that subverted a lot of fairy tale tropes.

Nick felt guilty for his life working out better than he expected with Adalind while Juliette's life continued to spural downwards because of him (according to him). He thought she wanted her old life back, undestroyed, uncomplicated, like going back to a simpler time. Juliette as Eve had better clarity of mind. Nick had found his place and had everything he basically ever wanted but with Adalind and Juliette had finally found herself. They went through a lot of pain to get to a place where their lives were truly fulfilled. Nick needed to understand that. I think he still struggled a bit but Julirtte basically set him free. I'm not a fan of the clunky dialogue because I feel a lot was still left unsaid and the focus was too one sided on Juliette and how she felt about her own actions which she continued to separate herself from. Nick unhampared by any more guilty finally spoke what was in his heart. As I said, he's better with actions than he is with words, I'm convinced Adalind knew Nick loved her, so hearing the words didn;t seem all that surprising.

Twenty years is a long time to be with someone that you don't truly love in your heart when you have other options. These two were not beholden to one another, they could have co-parented much like Adalind and Renard. Real love for one another kept them together.