Grimm's Golden Egg

Episode 116 “The Thing with Feathers”

There are several large story lines that are grinding down to what I think will be a really great season finale. There is the “will he, won’t he” between Nick and Juliette. There is the chemically induced love story of the love-lorn Hank. There are teases about why this is important to Captain Renard. There is the question of how long Sargent Wu can live with the side affects of eating the wrong cookie. And we have the budding romance between Monroe and Rosalie and the mystery left to her by her brother. In case you were wondering, none of those questions are answered in this episode. But they do become more interesting.

Spoiler Alerts!

Nick has a romantic weekend getaway planned for him and Juliette. He confides in Hank that he is planning to pop the big question.

A desperate woman is near a road. She calls a man who says he can’t make it to pick her up. His car has broken down. They will have to postpone their getaway.

Back in Portland, at the police station Hank is a love-sick puppy. He is staring at Adalind’s image on the computer. There is something seriously wrong with Sargent Wu. Last time we saw him he was contentedly eating his sofa cushion. This time around he casually pops a paper clip in his mouth. How much of this sort of stuff can Wu eat before he starts having some really bad digestive issues?

The woman from before is now running through the woods. She gets to a house and looks in the windows. She is surprised from behind by a man, Tim, who morphs into a cat type creature, not a nice one. The woman morphs into a golden bird, a scared bird. He grabs her by the shoulders and takes her in to eat. He is mixing worms and stuff in a blender. He gets distracted by Nick at the door asking for directions. There is a noise and when he returns the glass pitcher part of the blender is knocked over and broken.

Hank is watching Adalind in her home from his car. Hank can see her relaxing having a glass of wine. He calls her but she does not answer. A guy comes to her door. She ushers him in. We can see them kiss and go off out of view.

At Whispering Pines, Juliette sees the golden bird lady, Robin, being forcibly taken into the house by Tim. This time we see Robin strapped in a chair. Her head is held in place and the man places a tube in her mouth. He is force feeding her. It’s very discomforting to watch. This episode does not have as much gore and death as some of the previous episodes but it’s still very uncomfortable to watch. Robin is the typical controlled, abused woman, with a twist.

Hank waits for Adalind’s visitor to emerge from her home. He confronts him and threatens him to leave and never return.

Juliette talks Nick into reporting a domestic disturbance with the cat and bird couple in the next house. In one of the few quiet moments they have she confides that it feels like trouble follows them. Remember, his whole reason for this weekend get away is to propose marriage to her. He tries to keep the romance going by planning to recreate their first date.

At the local grocery store there is a lot more going on than just picking up food. Robin is trying to set up another meeting to run away with the same man, Gary, who had car troubles in the opening of the show. Gary works at the grocery store. Juliette is trying to offer her help. Tim is stalking Gary. Nick is watching much of what is going on. Even though Nick is supposed to be on vacation, leading Monroe to expect a break from his role in their “partnership”, Nick calls Monroe for information. Nick first calls him with a description of Tim in his cat form. Monroe believes him to be a Kaustreich. He tells Nick they are really ill-tempered. Women love them and it never ends well.

Nick calls Monroe while he is at the spice shop helping out Rosalie again. Rosalie is a nice complement to Monroe’s knowledge. She has a different background and is proving to be very useful to Nick. She is getting caught up in helping out almost without thinking about it. I think it’s in most people’s nature to help out where we can without thinking it through too much. We just do it.

Monroe and Rosalie believe that Robin is a Seltevogel, a bird type Wessen that they thought was extinct. Rosalie explains as best she can about what amounts to a golden egg that is growing in Robin’s throat. Setlevogel produce one of these mineral laden “eggs” in their lifetime. Whole and intact, the “egg”  is incredibly valuable; broken it’s worthless. When the time comes it will be very tricky to harvest this “golden egg”. Monroe’s theory is that Tim will kill Robin either to get the “egg”, or he’ll kill her after she has delivered it.

While still helping Rosalie in the spice shop, Monroe finds three passports from different countries, all with Rosalie’s deceased brother’s picture and each with different names. They are both baffled by the discovery. Rosalie has wonderful knowledge of herbs and cures but her brother’s life is a mystery to her.

Adalind is drying her hair in her home when Renard appears in her bathroom. The two are playing a sexual teasing game physically but their words are very serious. She complains that this is dangerous for her. It’s unclear to me what she means. Renard seems unfazed by this and tells her to take it up a notch. The next time Hank calls she is to take his call and accept his offer for a date.

Robin makes a tea for Tim and it looks like she added something to it. Probably some sort of poison. Tim gets a phone call and leaves to help a friend. I suppose that Robin is just that desperate because it feels like a set-up. As soon as Tim leaves, Robin makes a run for it. Gary is waiting at his truck. Tim attacks Gary in cat form. Robin gets to the truck only to find that Gary is dead in the truck. Tim seems pleased with himself. Like a house cat when he presents you with his latest hunting trophy. He takes her back to the house. Nick finds Gary’s body and calls it in to the local sheriff.

Hank calls Adalind again. This time she takes the call and they set up a date.

Nick gets back to the cabin and tells Juliette to stay inside for safety. He heads to the other house. Inside he surprises Tim in the process of force feeding Robin. Nick and Tim are fighting. Tim speeds up the feeding machine. And manages to get away from Nick. Nick releases Robin. Nick tries to reassure Robin that he has called the Sheriff. In stead of being relieved she panics. The Sheriff is Tim’s cousin and is in on the whole plan to force feed her and harvest the “egg”.  She runs off. Nick goes back to the cabin. Juliette sends him off to find Robin. She can see the Sheriff and Tim headed her way. She gets her gun.

You may recall she is a natural with her gun.

Nick finds Robin collapsed in woods. The “egg” is cutting off her air. She can not run away.

Tim and the Sheriff break through the cabin door. They are engaged in a dangerous game of hide-n-seek.

Robin pleads to Nick to take out the “egg”. Understandably Nick is a bit unnerved. He calls Monroe who, luckily for Nick, is still at the spice shop with Rosalie. Rosalie finds a book with directions on how to deliver the “egg”. They talk Nick through the process and he successfully delivers the “egg”. Robin can now breath and the hole in her throat begins to heal immediately.

Of course this is when Tim and the Sheriff catch up with Nick and Robin. Nick distracts them with the “egg”. Between he and Juliette they take down both of the bad guys. The “egg” smashes into a million pieces when Tim trips trying to run from Nick.

Nick wraps up his not so very romantic weekend trying to regain the mood by proposing to Juliette. While she declares her love for Nick she will not accept his proposal. She tells him that while she knows his Aunt Marie’s death has been hard on him, she feels he is keeping something from him. I told you she is not stupid. For the last many episodes Nick has had ample opportunity to come clean with Juliette. It’s my feeling that this is leading to a season finale that will include either Nick sharing with Juliette or cutting her loose. It’s going to be hard for him to hold on that long with out doing something.

[Official Show Site at NBC]     [Previous recap: “Island of Dreams”]