GRIMM’s Got Bite

Episode 4:08 “Chupacabra”

[photos: Scott Green/NBC]

This was the end of the first half of the season. Grimm didn’t call it a mid-season finale like Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD did, but it amounts the same thing. Every show needs this last episode before the break to have a good set up and cliffhanger to try and retain their audiences over the holiday break. It could have been called the Wu episode, but it also left us with one big reveal and one cliffhanger.

Both of those elements surprised me. I thought the reveal at the end of the episode that Juliette is becoming a Hexenbiest would be drawn out over several more episodes. The writers could have kept up the possible pregnancy to keep the audience in the suspense. I may be alone in this, but I was surprised that her condition was becoming a Hexenbiest. My first guess before she was standing in front of the mirror was that she was somehow becoming a Grimm. I was already dreaming up all sorts of storylines for Nick and Juliette as a Grimm couple.

The big cliffhanger was Monroe being knocked out from behind by members of the Secundum Naturae Ordinem. I’m pretty sure everyone knew that there was going to be a problem with one police officer left to watch over Monroe and Rosalee the night before they leave on their overdue honeymoon. Why didn’t they stay with Nick and Juliette? They stayed with them before, but now when the stakes are higher they stay in their own home.

While it annoyed me that Nick and Hank would leave them so unprotected, it seemed very true to life. Let’s think about this for just a moment. Even if the policeman on guard duty was a good cop, he’s sitting in a police car in front of their house. Hm, do you think someone who intends to commit a crime is going to come to the house from the front? No, of course not. But the entire rest of the area is not secure in any way. This policeman isn’t patrolling the property. He’s just sitting in the car. How that could be considered making them safe, I have no idea.

While I’m on the topic of Monroe and Rosalee, why has their marriage gained so much attention from the Secundum Naturae Ordinem? In the past seasons of Grimm we’ve seen many mixed Wesen marriages. I will admit we’ve not seen many that were safe, loving relationships but, they weren’t being persecuted by anyone. The only reason that I can think of, and this hasn’t been given in the show, is that it stems from their friendship with Nick. In season one, Monroe was lured to a clock tower and badly beaten up and threatened for his contact with Nick. I don’t know if that’s what’s going on here. It doesn’t seem consistent if only one couple is singled out for threats and attacks without some sort of explanation. At this time there hasn’t been one for why them, and not others.

The police story is about a couple of doctors returning from the Dominican Republic. One of them is bitten by a mosquito that infects him and later turns him into a Chupacabra. While in his Chupacabra state he’s like a rabid animal. When he recovers from it, he has no memory of what happened during the time he was transformed. He kills a neighbor and his dog out for a late night walk, but he doesn’t remember it the next morning.

As he becomes more sick he’s spending more time in the Chupacabra form and attacking more people. He attacks his wife immediately following questioning by Hank and Nick. They are confronted by Wu, who needs answers, but is interrupted by screams from the house Nick and Hank just left. This leads to Wu seeing the Chupacabra in all its glory. That sends Wu over the edge and he leaves to muddle his confused head at a bar.

Nick and Hank rush the doctor and his wife to Rosalee’s spice shop for a cure. That’s a great idea; endanger your two friends with an infected Wesen. There is only enough medicine for one dose and it becomes clear that the wife is also infected. The doctor takes the syringe and injects his wife with the only dose. It’s a sad and beautiful act of love to save her life. He begs Hank to kill him just before he transforms again and lunges to attack Hank. Hank shoots and the doctor dies in his wife’s arms.

The other bit you’ll want to keep track of for the conclusion of the season is a secretive meeting Renard has with a Hans Tavitian of the Resistance. The topic is Renard’s baby, Diana. There are some threats made by each man, but you can be sure this isn’t over. It seems that everyone will be on the trail to find the precious baby in the second half of this season.

Grimm will be back January 9th , 2015. Take care of each other and we’ll see what happens in the new year.

[Show site at NBC]     [Previous recap: “The Grimm Who Stole Christmas”]