Under a GRIMM Moon
Episode 203 “Bad Moon Rising”
[Photos: Scott Green/NBC]
This is a great episode. Story lines from one week to the next are being continued. Unlike last season when stories started in one episode were never revisited. The audience was just left hanging with no resolution to all sorts of stories and questions.
I like that this episode deterred from the usual start of finding a body. In fact there aren’t any murders in this episode. But there is plenty going on to keep the story moving.
Spoilers Ahead
Our story opens in a quiet country home where a dad, Jarold, and his daughter, Carly, share conversation about school. In the scene we learn that Mom is not there, Carly is a top student and they have a good relationship. Carly is abducted from her bedroom by two Coyotls, Todd and Kyle.
At the hospital Juliette knows Nick only as the policeman who brought her to the hospital. It hurts Nick deeply that he is the one thing she can’t recall. He talks to a Doctor at the hospital but is told to be patient. They want to run more tests to rule out certain complications. But really Nick is being told to just wait it out and do what he can to help her get her memory back. If you will recall in a previous episode, Juliette began losing her memories of Nick when she was recalling things he said that weren’t true. When Nick and Juliette had Monroe over for a dinner Nick and Monroe had trouble keeping their story straight on how they met. And it’s the moment when Nick is lying that Juliette’s memory of him fades.
Hank is giving therapy a try since he’s worrying even himself. In a session with Dr. Vanessa, Hank recalls some of the more bizarre things he’s seen. When he loses it with Dr. Vanessa, he quickly leaves her office, thanking her for her help.Back at the precinct Nick has a meeting with Captain Renard. He is discussing details of Catherine’s murder case. Both these men think they are playing the other.
Unfortunately for Nick, Renard probably has more information in his hand. They both agree that they need to locate Adalind Shade. When Hank returns from his therapy session, he confides in Nick that it’s maybe time to quit the force. Nick finally makes a snap decision to share his secret and help Hank deal with the creature sightings he’s had lately. But of course they are interrupted by the arrival of Jarold desperate for Hank’s help in the disappearance of his daughter. Carly is Hank’s god-daughter. Jarold breaks down with grief and Nick sees he is a creature.
Nick arrives at Marie’s trailer to do some research on the creature that Jarold morphed into. Monroe is there to help Nick translate the German texts about the Coyotls. This is how Nick gets clues into who may have taken Carly and why. The Coyotls have a traditional ceremony with which they introduce female members into the pack. It involves a fertility matrix and is definitely not something that Carly would willingly sign up for. In this episode Grimm walks on the scummy side of molestation and rape. It’s very unnerving to watch these young men handling and preparing Carly for their ceremony.
Nick takes Monroe to the hospital in the hopes that since they are the last two people Juliette saw before she went into the coma, maybe seeing them both again will help her to regain that part of her memory. But alas, she immediately recognizes Monroe but Nick is still just the Police man who brought her to the hospital. If you saw the promos for this episode the narration says that Nick’s secret is taking its toll. I think this is one of the best written clues I’ve seen on television in a while. It looks like his lying exacts a toll and it’s his retention in Juliette’s memories. I suppose it’s to avoid having to introduce new characters but, does Juliette have no family, or friends other than Nick and his odd group of cohorts?
When Nick returns to the police station he resumes the quest with Hank and Jarold for clues in Carly’s disappearance. Hank leaves to get some coffee and Nick takes the opportunity to let Jarold know that he knows what he is and that even though he’s a Grimm he will do what ever he can to return his daughter safely. Both men acknowledge that keeping their secret from Hank has not been easy. The trio hits upon the lead that Jarold’s brother-in-law is in town from Texas. And they suspect that he may have abducted Carly in revenge for his perceived slight of Jarold moving his wife and daughter away from her family.
With place of employment information they set out to find Hayden, the brother-in-law. At the garage Hayden is supposed to be working; Hank and Nick notice a choice motorcycle. The manager says that Hayden called in sick two days ago and gives them an apartment address to check out.
At the apartment they end up breaking down the door because of a foul odor they think is a decomposing body. What they find are decomposing small animals and dogs in the bathtub and sink in the bathroom. I couldn’t figure out what was in the sink. Even when I was able to freeze frame on the sink it looks like french fries and that maybe what it is but I don’t know what it’s supposed to be. Foreclosure flyers in the apartment send them driving out to the very barn that the coyote boys took Carly to.
Out at the farm, the pack is preparing Carly for their ceremony. They have scrubbed her, literally, and now she is in the sacrificial virgin dress. They haul her to their fertility matrix and tie her hands and feet. The owner of the motorcycle back at the repair garage arrives to warn them that police are asking questions.
In some nice blocking Hayden sits like a king holding court. Except he sits in a folding chair in front of a mobile home and his sceptre is a fire poker.
Hank and Nick try to question Hayden. Jarold can’t contain himself any longer he leaves that back of the car where he was told to wait. He runs into the barn searching for Carly. Hank follows him and they find the fertility matrix. Hank notices the motorcycle from the repair garage. Meaning the group was forewarned of their arrival.
Nick notices the rope hanging in a well is moving. With Hank’s help they pull Carly out of the well. As soon as she is free of the well the Coyotls start shooting. They escape into the barn and this is the stage for the big reveal. Carly completely freaked out morphs in front of Hank. And poor Hank he’s seen enough things that he can’t explain. He loses it and draws his gun on Carly. Nick talks Hank down reassuring him that he’s not crazy. They both very briefly explain what a Grimm is and then come up with a plan to get out of this situation.
Hayden thinks that he has the upper hand because he thinks his identity as a Coyotl will surprise Nick and Hank. He makes the grand gesture to come into the barn and talk out this disagreement. It doesn’t work in his favor. He is arrested but only after Hank gets to wallop him upside the head. Then Carly screams to draw the rest of the pack into the barn. It works very well. She runs out and her dad, Jarold is being held at gun point by only one man. They take him down and all is well.
I was surprised that the Coyotls didn’t put up a fight. And how is this going to work when they get out of prison? Because you know some day they will.
So things are looking up for Hank. He may not have all the answers but he knows he’s not alone. I think that Nick and Hank are going to make a bang up partnership now that Nick is finally leveling with him and not withholding so much information.
On his home front though things are not so smooth. Juliette is home but it’s extremely awkward for her. How to you jump back into a romantic relationship with someone you have no memory of? And just to top it off, Nick ends with yet another lie to Juliette. I am pretty sure that his lying is going to continue to trip him up.
>>>>>>
Good show. I like it!