Grimm Episode 304
“One Night Stand”
Written By: Sean Calder
Directed By: Steven Depaul
Original Airdate: 15 November 2013
In This Episode...
Two couples are hanging out around a bonfire on the beach. They are singing, laughing, drinking... typical twentysomething stuff. One couple, Dan and Anna, go for a swim. Sarah goes for more beer for her and Jake. Hiding behind the foliage, spying, is youngest sister Ellie, a deaf girl with a huge crush on Jake. She begs Sarah, “not that one,” Sarah dismisses her, marches back to the beach, jumps in the water, disrobes, and lures Jake out for a little aquatic sexytime. He is all too eager to join her. But things take a nasty turn when scaly, fishy hands (yes, hands) grabs the boys and drag them under. Sarah and Anna swim away, but Ellie can’t let this happen to Jake. She save him, and as he starts to wake, she gets scared and jumps in the river. Her eyes glow and she grows gills and swims away at inhuman speeds.
Dan’s body is pulled out of the drink, and the investigation begins. Jake is shocked and saddened that Dan is dead. He explains that the two of them were fishing when Anna and Sarah showed up out of nowhere. He takes Hank and Nick to the river where they see Ellie try to hide from them by diving in the water. After consulting with Rosalee, she thinks that they are dealing with naiads, who cannot be out of water for too long. Luckily, Ellie stole Jake’s cell phone and Wu is able to track the GPS signal. Whaddya know, it is coming from the docks.
When Ellie sees the cops coming, she hides in the water. Abel, the father, won’t let them in the house, so Nick calls the phone - sure enough, the ringing is coming from inside the house! That is when Nick sees the picture of the three girls inside. Then Sarah and Anna come home. Jake follows them like a puppy; they just blow him off and say they don’t know who he is. Adding to the chaos is a couple of good ol’ boys, Dominic and Jesse, who roll up ready for a fight. Abel gets frustrated and reveals his Wesen face. Nick has to take the girls in, and Abel blames Dominic and Jesse. The boys turn it back on Abel, saying “This is what happens when you don’t raise your women right.” Since Ellie was the one who saved Jake, they want to “cut her.”
At the police station, Sarah and Anna are in individual interrogation rooms. Their skin is flaking and even after Nick confronts them about their naiad-ness, they won’t talk. Renard is unconcerned if the girls die of massive dehydration - “Their problem, not ours.” Abel, the dutiful father, arrives at the station and confesses to Dan’s murder, to protect his girls. Nick knows Abel is hiding something, and uses his confession to leverage the girls to talk. It works. Against Anna’s wishes, Sarah opens up and rats out Dominic and Jesse. She didn’t think that they would actually kill the boys - it is part of the “old traditions” and they didn’t really believe that Dominic and Jesse followed the old traditions. Which, I guess, includes murder. Male naiads are sterile, so the females must mate with a human male in order to continue the species.
Jake calls Nick in a panic. Ellie had sneaked into his house, then took him down to the pool to show him her secret. Jesse and Dominic showed up, beat Jake unconscious, and kidnapped Ellie. Sarah knows that Ellie will be “cut” - the webbing between her fingers and toes is to be cut, marking her an outcast.
The boys have tied up Ellie at the marina, then force her head underwater. Eventually she will need to breathe, turn naiad, and her webbing will appear for the boys to cut. But Ellie is a fighter, and after her first gasp of ocean air the boys are not fast enough. She returns to full human form. They go for a second attempt, and Nick, Hank, and the rest of the cavalry show up. The boys throw Ellie aside and focus on attacking Hank. Ellie knocks her head on an anchor and slips into the water, sinking quickly. Nick jumps in after her and pulls her to safety. Hank has handcuffed the boys and turns his concern to Nick, who was underwater for an unnaturally long time.
Also: Renard is still icy towards Nick. He and Sebastian start putting the pieces together that the royal baby Frau Pech was trying to sell is Adalind’s, which of course makes Renard a little nervous. Monroe and Rosalee move in together. Juliette checks Nick’s email for word from the doctor (don’t worry - he gives her permission). In the process, a new emails rolls in, discussing the royal death, being unable to spend the money, and being in danger. It is signed, “All my love, M.” So, clearly, Nick’s mom.
Dig It or Bury It?
Meh. This was a pretty basic monster-of-the-week episode. Nothing special. I want to get back to the “mythology” episodes, exploring the royals and Adalind and all that. The procedural episodes all feel very slow to me, like the cops should be picking up on clues much faster than they are.
I don’t understand why Dominic and Jesse are so offended that their girls are mating. If the male naiads are sterile, how do they expect to keep their race alive if they don’t let their womenfolk have set with others? Maybe the murder is supposed to take place after the fertilization happens.
Do non-Wesen crimes ever happen in Portland?
Grimm Tales
Naiads are water creatures, kind of like mermaids but with the ability to go between human lungs and fish gills. If they are out of the water too long, a naiad’s skin will get dry and peel, and the naiad will die of dehydration in roughly 24 hours. Male naiads are born sterile, so in order to keep the species going, the women must become impregnated by human men, but it must be done in water, which is also where they must give birth.
Prophecies?
“The Legend of El Cucuy.” A subtitle means a “very special episode.”