GRIMM Takes a Dark Turn

Episode 208 “The Other Side”

[Photos: Scott Green/NBC]

Hank is learning Nick’s looks. Renard is losing control. Adalind is being a bad girl. The special effects are not up to par.

Spoiler Alert

The case that Nick and Hank are working on in this episode is not as interesting as what is going on with our core characters. But here goes; the show opens with students practicing for an academic decathlon. These kids are really good. After their practice they go hang out like all most normal teens. Except that their one-upsmanship is about who is the smartest. They leave and each go their way. Our first victim is an African-American. Really? That’s straight out of the worst horror script. The only redeeming factor is the motive that we don’t learn till later. He’s attacked and killed by a beast.

The most of the Wesen effects are a step down. They are animated and it just looks odd. It goes from live action to this lame animation. I have a theory: this episode was just to keep things going till the Halloween episode. Oh, I hope that’s what’s going on because this one was not up to the level that they have set.

Juliette accompanys Nick to an award presentation where Renard receives an award. There are some awkward glances between Juliette and Renard. Nick gets a call requesting he and Hank to come work a crime scene. They work out rides, leaving Renard to drive Juliette home. Renard watches Juliette get the door key from under a flowerpot. Juliette safely in her home goes upstairs to take a shower. Renard gets the key and lets himself in. He goes up stairs and watches Juliette in the shower. As he is leaving he sees a framed picture of Juliette and Nick. He breaks the glass. Juliette hears it from in the shower. She thinks Nick has come home. She gets out of the shower with her makeup still in place and as she is looking around notices the broken glass in the picture frame. Then we see Renard driving erratically and his face is morphing and un-morphing. He runs over a curb and knocks a guy’s groceries to the ground. The guy thinks that Renard is drunk. He tries to get Renard to give him his keys. Instead he gets punched and Renard drives off.

Adalind shows up in Vienna, where she manages a meeting with Sean Renard’s half brother, Eric. He’s the kind of villain that is so smooth you expect to see oil oozing from his pores. He has one of the very best lines in the episode. “I seem to be remembering things we haven’t done yet.” I mean really, is there a better pick up line? This meeting gives us a bit more back story on Renard, but not a lot. We learn that Renard’s mother was a Hexenbiest and a mistress to Eric and Sean’s Father.

Back in Portland, Hank and Nick gather what information they can from the murder scene. Brandon’s phone goes off. It’s Jenny calling. Nick picks up the phone and answers it but won’t give her information. The next morning Nick and Hank are interviewing all the teens from the night before except for one. Don’t worry, it’s just a red herring, there is no significance to the missing teen. As Nick and Hank are leaving from interviewing the teens the teacher/coach arrives. He is very agitated and in this state he morphs into a Lowen. Nick knows that a Lowen would be capable of the attack on Brandon. He also does not have an alibi for the time of the murder, but he lacks a motive.

Monroe is still tending to the spice and tea shop when Renard comes in looking for a cure for his obsessive desire of Juliette. The exchange between Monroe and Renard is probably the most entertaining part of this episode. Monroe does research for Renard but when he returns to the store Monroe doesn’t have very good news for him. Unless Renard can or will bring in the object of his desire, Juliette, there is not a lot the Monroe can do for him. Neither man knows the other. Of course if Renard were to bring in Juliette Monroe could probably connect the dots.

Did you catch the introduction of the intern at the police station? I am pretty sure we will see more of him. He has been following the career of Hank and Nick since they saved a girl last year. I think that’s a reference to the pilot episode. Any guesses what this means and where this may go?

Jenny feels responsible for Brandon being attacked. She calls Pierce for some support and is surprised to learn he’s working on homework. Pierce finally agrees to get away from his mother’s watchful eye to meet her at the school bleachers. Attracted by a “Pst” Jenny goes under the bleachers and is attacked in the same way as Brandon. When Nick and Hank get to the crime scene they find Pierce’s engraved watch clutched in her dead hand.

With Pierce’s watch in an evidence bag, they head to his house to see if Nick can push him to morph so they can find out if he would be capable of committing this sort of attack. While they are questioning Pierce in his driveway his mother comes out to protect him. Under this stress they both morph into a Wesen Nick has not seen before. Hank goes with Nick to the trailer to do research on this new form of Wesen. What they discover is that Pierce and his Mother are turtle-like Genio Innocuo. According to the reference book the Genio Innocuo were first found on the Galapagos Islands. Hank is dismayed to read that Nick’s ancestors killed these defenseless Wesen. Despite the description of them being intelligent and passive.

They decide to pay another visit to the decathlete coach and see if he has an alibi for the time that Jenny was killed. When they get there they find that he has just been killed himself. While still at the new murder scene Nick gets a call from Pierce. Pierce sounds desperate. He says he thinks he knows who has been committing these murders. His Mother grabs the phone from him before he can say anything more. When Nick and Hank get to Pierce’s house they find his Mother has been attacked. She confesses that she added Lowen DNA to Pierce when he was in utero. Pierce is not aware of what happens when he morphs into his Lowen form and his Lowen side has been killing off his competition.

Suddenly Nick is attacked by what turns out to be Pierce. In the confusion Pierce gets away. They find him on a several story roof threatening to jump. He is confused and is morphing uncontrollably between his human to Genio Innocuo to his Lowen form. As he jumps Nick is able to catch him and cuff himself to Pierce so he can pull him to safety.

In the closing scene, Pierce is in jail and is about to be bullied by other inmates when he morphs into his Lowen form. This last scene bothered me. This is now the second episode in a row that has involved children not being able to control themselves and their Wesen drives. They both end up being locked up and are then a danger to others in system. What is this saying about the Wesen world, our real world and our justice system? This is a disturbing trend for Grimm to be on.

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[Official Show Site at NBC]     [Previous recap: “The Bottle Imp”]