The point being made was Juliette wasn't controversial in the first few seasons. She only became controversial once she became a Hexenbiest.
From what I've observed, Juliette wasn't mentioned very often when fans listed their favorite things about the show. Nick, Monroe, Rosalee, and Renard came up much more often. Outside of the characters, it was the lore that drew people in or the various ways they came up with new wesen and how they operated. I don't think she made any substantial impact on the ratings. TBH, I don't think Hank or Wu did either. I'm not sure any character outside of Nick except for maybe Monroe would've made an impact at the end of the first season. Despite being a great addition to the show, I don't even think Rosalee would have since she wasn't introduced until 1x15. I do think that post-season 3 would be affected since the audience grew attached to them, especially Rosalee and Renard, although I still think any one of Hank, Wu, and Juliette wouldn't make much of a difference in terms of ratings.
Personally, I was pretty neutral on Juliette in the first few seasons outside of the amnesia arc. That didn't even make me dislike the character. I just thought it dragged on way too long because it lasted for just about the entire season. I didn't think she was necessary for the show nor did I want her gone. I think of her the same way I thought of Cuddy from House. Cuddy was a character I could take or leave for the first few seasons. I didn't even give her much thought until her screentime increased and I felt like the show was suffering from giving her an increased role. The writing was the main culprit but their insistence on giving her more importance in the already uninteresting narrative certainly was a factor. She wasn't like Taub or the rest of the new team whom I disliked from the start. It was the show giving her more prominence that I disliked because I felt her character didn't warrant it and the attempts to give her more depth ironically made her seem more cookie-cutter and boring. Yet, I still don't dislike Juliette nearly as much as Cuddy.
I think the decision to keep Juliette with Nick and later pair him with Adalind partially came from the writers deciding early on that Nick wasn't going to be single. I know some people wanted him to be more like Kelly or Trubel but I don't think he was ever meant to be a normal Grimm. He was always supposed to be attached to someone and that would always affect him. Nick just chasing after wesen all the time wasn't enough drama for them. That's why every season finale outside of perhaps season 2 had his relationship play a significant part in the plot.
From what I've observed, Juliette wasn't mentioned very often when fans listed their favorite things about the show. Nick, Monroe, Rosalee, and Renard came up much more often. Outside of the characters, it was the lore that drew people in or the various ways they came up with new wesen and how they operated. I don't think she made any substantial impact on the ratings. TBH, I don't think Hank or Wu did either. I'm not sure any character outside of Nick except for maybe Monroe would've made an impact at the end of the first season. Despite being a great addition to the show, I don't even think Rosalee would have since she wasn't introduced until 1x15. I do think that post-season 3 would be affected since the audience grew attached to them, especially Rosalee and Renard, although I still think any one of Hank, Wu, and Juliette wouldn't make much of a difference in terms of ratings.
Personally, I was pretty neutral on Juliette in the first few seasons outside of the amnesia arc. That didn't even make me dislike the character. I just thought it dragged on way too long because it lasted for just about the entire season. I didn't think she was necessary for the show nor did I want her gone. I think of her the same way I thought of Cuddy from House. Cuddy was a character I could take or leave for the first few seasons. I didn't even give her much thought until her screentime increased and I felt like the show was suffering from giving her an increased role. The writing was the main culprit but their insistence on giving her more importance in the already uninteresting narrative certainly was a factor. She wasn't like Taub or the rest of the new team whom I disliked from the start. It was the show giving her more prominence that I disliked because I felt her character didn't warrant it and the attempts to give her more depth ironically made her seem more cookie-cutter and boring. Yet, I still don't dislike Juliette nearly as much as Cuddy.
I think the decision to keep Juliette with Nick and later pair him with Adalind partially came from the writers deciding early on that Nick wasn't going to be single. I know some people wanted him to be more like Kelly or Trubel but I don't think he was ever meant to be a normal Grimm. He was always supposed to be attached to someone and that would always affect him. Nick just chasing after wesen all the time wasn't enough drama for them. That's why every season finale outside of perhaps season 2 had his relationship play a significant part in the plot.