A GRIMM Tale for Love or Money

2:21 “The Waking Dead“

[photos: Scott Green/NBC Website]

This is the second to the last episode for this season. If you’ve been following along and you’re a Juliette fan, you’ll be pleased with this episode. I thought the whole zombie idea would be more hokey than it turned out to be. But it’s not over yet. This week’s episode is more a set up than a whole story. The rest, or the rest for this season will air next week. It felt like playing catch up before the end of the season. Our main characters are in the midst of big stories. So the point of these last two episodes is to draw them tighter. I won’t be surprised if none of these stories is actually wrapped up. In fact I was surprised we got as much of a pay off for the Juliette story as we already have.

*Spoiler Alert*

This week the police story is also part of the main characters’ story arcs. It was a nice departure from the usual. Although there was still the obligatory trip to the trailer to find the right book to solve or start to solve the case. The writers have to find another device to solve cases and find answers. In early episodes Monroe was often the resource that Nick used. Now, it’s the same thing in every episode. If I could request something from the show’s creators I’d ask for more variety in devices used to solve mysteries. I know that shows have formulas, and often predictable patterns, but enough is enough. My favorite shows are ones that have original ideas and try doing different things. My favorite thing about Grimm is main characters. Oh, and the use of strong female characters. So, really I have two favorite things.

I want to start Juliette’s story. Because I like her and we’ve waited so long for her to get to this point. Last week she remembered a lot. She tried to connect with Nick but he was sick with pixie kiss potion. She did save him at the end of last week. This week started up with Nick driving her home and she finally gets to make her apology for her behavior the last couple of months. They kiss and agree to try the dinner again the next night. More important than the dinner is their agreement to give their romance another try. What a wonderful opportunity to hit the restart button and start over. Juliette wants more than just a do over. She wants to go in this time with a lot more information. She’s determined to know exactly what Nick was trying to explain to her last fall.

Juliette seeks out Monroe to get the last information. She wants to know what Nick wanted Monroe to show her the night she went into her coma. Bud happens to be at Monroe’s fixing his fridge when Juliette demands he show her what ever it was. They all head to the spice shop with the humorous notion that if Juliette should need medical attention following their show and tell that Rosalee is the best to treat her. It’s humorous because, what could Rosalee possibly do to treat Juliette? Anyway, this is hands down the most fun scene in the whole episode. Bud is such a hoot! They wisely save Monroe for last to woge. I want to say, the writers have put some thought into Juliette’s character. In fact the female characters have at least as much depth if not more than the male characters. This is unusual in television. Think about it. How many TV shows have fully developed female characters. Usually they are on set to be eye candy.

The police story involves our zombies. I think part of what makes this work is that it’s being drawn out over two weeks. It’s been my complaint before that complicated creature stories are not well served with a 42 minute time frame to fully develop the story. This week there is more time but it may still not be enough. Sargent Wu and an other officer respond to a domestic disturbance call. When they break in through the door they find a female body on the floor. Noises in the back of the house draw them to man who attacks Wu from the back. We see flashes of him in Wesen form. He’s a Coyoti, a coyote type of creature. His Wesen form is seen in such short flashes that it was hard to be sure he was a Wesen. I have a theory, he became uncontrollable in his zombie form because he’s a Wesen. Right now it’s just a theory.

Wu’s partner shoots the guy in self defense. There are a lot of things about the scene that don’t add up. The guy tore up the house but there isn’t a scratch on the woman. There’s no apparent cause of her death. The guy has strange green goo coming from his nose and his eyes are all red; not just the eyes but all around them also. When Hank and Nick get back to the police station and begin their research into the two people in the house they find a death certificate on the man from three days earlier. Thinking this is a simple clerical error they head to the hospital where the man declared dead three days ago is found to be missing from the morgue. While at the hospital Nick sees the man in the top hat that he noticed at the crime scene earlier. But when he looks down the hall to see where he went he’s gone.

Our friendly medical examiner Ms. Harper gets the shock of her life when the female corpse she is about to open for the autopsy suddenly reanimates and sits up. The female is taken to the hospital but when Nick and Hank arrive to question her, she’s gone. The security footage reveals the man in the top hat wheeling her out of the hospital. Following yet another trip to Aunt Marie’s trailer Nick discovers the man in the top hat is a Cracher-Mortel. When he morphs into his Wesen form he looks sort of like a blow fish all puffed up. That’s when he spits the green goo onto his victims and he’s racking up the victims. He lures a tow truck driver and hits him in the face with goo. Then he boards a public bus and spews on all the passengers. He leads his following of zombies to a shipyard cargo container with a comforting line to rest, their Mardi Gras is coming. He closes them in and leaves singing his creole tune.

Adalind signs a contract with her blood to deliver a healthy baby to the Gypsy Queen in exchange for the return of her powers. Frau Pech feels betrayed and makes a veiled threat on her life. Then Frau Pech meets with Renard’s castle spy and asks him for a private audience with Prince Eric to learn what he will pay for a baby with royal blood. The spy however calls Renard first. Other bombshells: Eric shows up in Portland and sets up a meeting with Renard. The spy finds passports without pictures, and death certificates for three men. Oh, and the man in the top hat, is Baron Samedi and he and Prince Eric are very glad to see each other.

So the plot thickens and we wait till next week to find out what Eric and the Baron have up their sleeves. Will Adalind be found out? Will Juliette survive her newfound knowledge? Will Renard have a happy family reunion? How many zombies are there and how much damage will they wreak?

[Official Show Site at NBC]     [Previous recap: “A Love Sick GRIMM”]