Love is a GRIMM Drug

Episode 115 “Island of Dreams”

[photos: Scott Green/NBC]

The last episode would be hard to top, and this one doesn’t quite measure up. It lacks the same level of mystery and suspense of the “Plumed Serpent”.

For the first time Nick was pushed romantically. This whole time his relationship with Juliette has been above question. It has been idyllic despite the danger Juliette has been in. But the last episode closed with Juliette sounding like it was decision time for their relationship. There were several things that looked like they would require some closure this episode. Unfortunately, none of them are addressed.  Some of the subplots from earlier episodes are being followed up on in this one.

Love is the overall theme in this episode. Love in many forms is explored. There is family love, romantic love, new love, forced (by potion) love. Oh and a love of addicting drugs.

Spoiler Alert!

This is a different way for Grimm to open the show. Instead of it being about the case of the week, it’s about the subplots that are going on. This episode opens with more information than we’ve heard from Renard to date.

Captain Renard and Adalind have a meeting at a museum in front of a painting. Renard speaks of his family’s history, that they owned this painting in the 17th century. The two of them hatch a plan to get to Nick through Hank. Rendard insists that despite his lack of interest in her, Adalind needs to get closer to Hank. Renard hints that he wants Nick on his side, but I don’t know what that means. He says to Adalind that a Grimm on the other side is “not good for either one of us”.

At Nick and Juliette’s house, Juliette wants to “talk”. We see Nick start to squirm and I thought this would be it, Juliette was going to ask questions. Nick still does not tell her why she has been in danger lately. Juliette says she wants to learn how to shoot a gun.

They are interrupted by the refrigerator repairman, a beaver creature at the door. He brought them a gift, a handmade quilt. He also notices that their front door is in need of some repair. Nick’s thin excuses and lines of reasoning with Juliette are wearing thin. She has been shown to be a smart, and capable woman. So why can’t she see through this?

A couple of drug addicts are taking hits of some kind of drug from a very odd looking thing that sort of resembles a horn. These are Skalengecks, a lizard like creature with lots of nasty little teeth. They are psyching themselves up to take action.

Adalind enters the local Wessen spice shop. She must be scarier than the average creature in this world because the shop owner , Freddie, does not charge her. She has barely walked out the door when our two druggies enter to rob the store.

They beat the Freddie during the robbery. He manages to engage the store security system. As the now panicky robbers are leaving the Freddie bites one the robbers on the leg. To get Freddie to let go of his leg the one robber shoots Freddie.

A call to next of kin brings Freddie’s sister, Rosalie, into the story. She is very impatient to get her brother’s affairs finalized so she can return to her home in Seattle.

Adalind is waiting at Hank’s door when he comes home. She presents him with her very special cookies. These cookies are some kind of love potion. They contain ingredients from the spice shop and blood from Hank and Adalind.

Rosalie is working in the basement of the spice shop when the robbers come back to get the rest of the drug, “J”. Rosalie hears them breaking back into the shop. They enter the basement,  where she hides but her cell phone goes off, giving her away. They attack but she escapes, stabbing one of the them with the box cutter knife she had been using before.

Nick has her brought to the police station to identify her attackers. Then she requests Monroe stay with her for safety. The next morning Rosalie is headed back to the spice shop. Monroe calls Nick who sends Sargent Wu to the spice shop.

Sargent Wu eats one of the cookies meant for Hank.

Hank and Nick go to the abandoned building where the addicts/robbers are staying. They loose the two suspects. Primarily because Hank has a hallucination. He sees Adalind leaving the building and instead of backing up Nick he wanders off following his vision.

Wu shows arrives at the spice shop. The ill-gotten cookies gives him a bad reaction. I mean really bad reaction. He develops boils that resemble small horns all over his face and neck.

Monroe calls Nick to the spice shop to help with Wu. Luckily Rosalie has experience with this sort of reaction to love potions gone bad. When the worst is over they take Wu to his apartment.

Rosalie is a former drug addict and this gives them a way to find out where the Wessen drug house is. Nick expects that the robbers being addicts without their stash are going to need a fix soon.

“Island of Dreams” refers to the Wessen drug house. Rosalie gets two cards or tickets entrance into the Island of Dreams from her connection.

Nick, Monroe and Rosalie arrive at the Island of Dreams. Nick won’t allow Rosalie to enter. Monroe then tries to give Nick pointers on how to not act like a cop so they can get in. The drug house is a surreal warehouse of red illuminated tents. It’s a gorgeous visual. Then it goes bad when Nick finds one of the suspects and lunges after him. The suspect starts firing his gun. How or why he was allowed to carry a gun into the drug house I can not fathom. Pandemonium ensues and drug users run in all directions mostly out of the warehouse. Rosalie clocks the other drug addict who has a gun pointed on Monroe. I think there is something growing between these two.

Nick goes back to check on Wu. He looks much better. Wu’s main complaint is that he’s hungry. Nick asks if he has anything to eat. Wu reassures him that he does. So Nick leaves him to rest. Wu calmly opens up his sofa cushion cover and begins to eat the cushion foam.

Monroe drops in the spice shop and presents Rosalie with flowers as a token of his gratitude for saving his life the night before. Rosalie tells Monroe that she has changed her mind and will be staying in Portland longer than she first planned to. These two are very cute together.

Nick is at a shooting gallery with Juliette. Juliette is very, very good with a gun. I expect this will be a skill that comes in handy in the future.

Hank is having really bad sleep and can feel Adalind’s hand stroking his head. Hank looks sick and this love potion is compromising his work performance. I wonder if Renard took that into consideration when he green lighted this.

This was an interesting episode in that it looked at the subject of love from so many angles. The case this week was less important than the relationships it moved along at many levels. Last episode it seemed certain that Nick and Juliette were going to have to face some serious issues in their relationship. In this one it seems like Juliette may have come to some decision on her own that she is not openly sharing with Nick. Monroe has a love interest that is more stable than any of the others we have seen him in. The grief Rosalie expressed for her dead brother reveals her love for family. Hank is sick with a drug induced love. Wu, may have learned not to covet another’s chocolate chip cookies. If you saw the look on his face when he eyed the cookie you would say it was love.

[Official Show Site at NBC]     [Previous recap: “Plumed Serpent”]