Drama
House of David
House of David bringing David’s dramatic story to life, recounting the rise of his house and the downfall of King Saul’s.
Paris. Venice. Kyoto. Many a traveler would describe these cities as “magical.”
But the citizens of Ferryport Landing would look at that roster and say, “Pfft. Magic? We’ll show you magic.” And with a flap of their wings, a wave of a wand or a shout of Fee fi fo fum, they will.
They call themselves Everafters, the pixies, witches and monsters familiar from many a fairy tale. Back in the day, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm—yes, those famed collectors of folklore—bought some land near New York City where the Everafters could hang out.
Fast-forward a few hundred years, and the Everafters (and the Grimms) are still there.
All that came as a shock to Sabrina and Daphne Grimm, the latest and, for now, last torch bearers of the ancient Grimm line. Before they arrived in Ferryport Landing, they had no idea that all the monsters, ogres and fairy folk from storybooks were real, and they certainly did not suspect their parents of fraternizing with them.
And the surprises just keep coming. Soon, the sisters are talking with magic mirrors, swatting away pixies and trying to decide just who they can trust in this crazy town. Is Relda really their grandmother, as she claims? Is old Mayor Charming as charming as he seems? And is Puck, the self-proclaimed “Prince of the Fairies,” the villain he brags to be? (“Remember, I’m one of the bad guys,” he tells the girls. “So don’t tell anyone I helped you. It would be super scandalous.”)
The idea of visiting a magical town sure sounds nice, but if the place is too magical, it can be dangerous, too. But danger or no, Sabrina and Daphne may have finally found a home.
The Sisters Grimm from Apple TV+ is based on a series of children’s books by Michael Buckley, and it feels a little like a cross between Nancy Drew and Harry Potter.
Sabrina and Daphne aren’t just learning about the crazy landscape of Ferryport Landing; they’re solving mysteries lurking in its already shadowy corners. The biggest mystery of all: Just who swiped the girls’ parents? And are they still alive? Those answers are buried in Ferryport. And if Apple TV+ has its way, those answers will remain buried for several seasons to come.
But parents checking out the show for their kids may walk away with more questions than answers.
Granted, if Plugged In reviewed the original fairy tales penned by the Brothers Grimm, the review would look pretty grim itself. Filled with violence and sex and death, Grimms’ legends weren’t really meant for kids—even if Disney made us think that they were.
By comparison, The Sisters Grimm feels pretty kid friendly. The animation style is light and playful. It steers well clear of foul language. And while the show contains peril aplenty, actual violence and blood is rare.
But magic? Oh yeah, as you probably surmised, there’s a lot of that. We see loads of magic-wielding creatures and hear references to witches. Policemen turn into pigs, and many citizens seem to be both man and beast. And while the magic we must navigate here is rarely beyond what we’d read in a fairy tale, it’s quite inescapable.
One of the town’s most magical residents is Puck, a character pulled not from Grimm’s stories but from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. (Shakespeare based his character on the Celtic mythical being of the púca.) Puck describes himself as “Prince of the Fairies,” which may raise the eyebrows of some Christians on the lookout for LGBT content. The fact that he flits about on pink wings doesn’t help. But we should note that his role as the Fairy Prince stems from Shakespeare, too. (Puck serves the Fairy King Oberon there.) He also describes himself as the “emperor of pixies, hobgoblins, elves and gnomes.” He notes that he’s often called the “trickster king,” wearing a crown as evidence of his royalty.
No, if anything, Puck—described as an Everafter in the guise of a 12-year-old boy—just might be described as 11-year-old Sabrina’s future love interest. Sure, they sure sound like they hate each other now, but so it goes with most fictional romances. And the book series indeed suggests that Sabrina and Puck have a long, complicated future in front of them.
The books also point to more peril, violence and even death in the future, which may warrant updates as time goes on.
But for now, this Apple TV+ series feels a bit like Ferryport Landing itself: Charming and whimsical at times—but not a place to wander without fair warning and your eyes wide open.
(Editor’s Note: Plugged In is rarely able to watch every episode of a given series for review. As such, there’s always a chance that you might see a problem that we didn’t. If you notice content that you feel should be included in our review, send us an email at letters@pluggedin.com, or contact us via Facebook or Instagram, and be sure to let us know the episode number, title and season so that we can check it out.)
Sabrina and Daphne leave New York City for their sixth foster home—this one located in Ferryport Landing.
The girls’ newest foster parent, Relda Grimm, claims to be their grandmother. But Sabrina doesn’t buy it, since her parents told her that their grandma was dead. The woman seems nice enough, and Daphne likes her immediately. But Sabrina thinks the woman is absolutely nuts—especially when she starts talking about how “all the fairytale characters you’ve read about are real” and now live in Ferryport Landing.
Sabrina and Daphne’s parents are missing and presumed by most (including Sabrina) to be dead. As such, Sabrina feels like she needs to be Daphne’s caregiver, and she’s incredibly protective of her little sis. That leads her to be very suspicious of the foster parents who are supposed to fill that role: She treats Relda disrespectfully and looks for opportunities to run away.
We see a flashback to the scene of the Grimm parents’ disappearance: The interior of their car is covered in red handprints. A giant has destroyed a good chunk of someone’s farmstead. (We don’t know if anyone was injured in the attack.)
When the big guy later reappears, he throws rocks, smashes his fists and feet into the ground and picks up a car with passengers still inside. (When it looks as though the giant plans to toss the car too, one passenger thoughtfully fastens his and another passenger’s seatbelts.) Sabrina throws a baseball at the giant. Pixies bite Sabrina and Daphne before Relda drives them away.
Daphne believes the giant hunts via smell. “Hide your stink!” she tells Sabrina, encouraging her to rub dirt on her face. A terrible-smelling candy causes several people to gag. (Sabrina describes it as smelling like a “dead skunk.”) When Daphne puts it in her mouth, she quickly spits it out. A pixie makes a raspberry sound at the sisters.
We see and hear about a lot of magical creatures, and we hear a reference to three witches. Relda insinuates that the town’s mayor, Charming, is in the habit of covering up evidence.
Sabrina and Daphne are determined to save Relda and Mr. Canis (Relda’s dour, mysterious housekeeper) from the clutches of an angry giant—who, it would seem, is on the lookout for an “Englishman.” But as they try to figure out their first steps, the sisters run into Puck, a 12-year-old boy with wings.
The sisters disagree about bringing Puck into their confidence. And Puck cautions the sisters that he shouldn’t be trusted. “I’m a villain,” he says. “A very bad villain. Don’t ask me for help.” He also describes himself as the “spiritual guide to delinquents, layabouts, interlopers and bad apples,” makes disgusting sandwiches, jokes about boogers and brags, “I’m the smartest person I know, and I’ve never read a book in my life.” But he does like Relda (“she feeds me sometimes”) and helps the sisters enter Relda’s magical house.
Pixies try to talk Puck into drowning the sisters. Sabrina pushes Puck into a disgusting swimming pool. (He flies out of the pool, and the camera treats him in that moment as a handsome pinup celebrity, with Sabrina apparently attracted to him in spite of herself.) Puck also turns himself into a scary monster for a moment. He mentions that he can appear as any age he wants, but he chooses to be a 12-year-old boy forever.
A seemingly friendly policeman offers to take the sisters back to Relda’s house. But we learn that Mayor Charming actually ordered the officer to capture the sisters. They escape the police car, pelting the officer with pine cones, and he turns into a pig.
Daphne combs through Relda’s library and reads aloud some of the book’s titles. One is Kissing Frogs: Dating in the Modern World. Another Daphne tosses aside for being “age inappropriate.”
Puck tells the sisters that being a Grimm is special. “Not as special as me, of course, but it’s pretty cool that so many people long for your demise.” A magic mirror conjures fire around Puck and the sisters. There’s mention of Santa Claus.
Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.
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