Grimm Episode 210
“The Hour of Death”
Written By: Sean Calder
Directed By: Peter Werner
Original Airdate: 2 November 2012
In This Episode...
Nick and Hank are investigating the disappearance of a teenager, Donna. They question Adrian Zane, who worked in the same office as Donna. He claims that the photos Nick saw him burning were not of Donna, but of his ex, Jennifer. They bring him down to the station but find no evidence on which to hold him. Adrian is a Wesen, and he recognizes Nick as a Grimm, which throws him into a fit, screaming that Nick is going to kill him. Nick believes Adrian is guilty, so he has Monroe whip up a truth serum in hopes that will get him to spill. He breaks into Adrian’s house armed with a crossbow, but finds someone has beat him there - Adrian is dead, tortured to death. Hank shows up - he had been following Nick to make sure he didn’t do anything crazy. Moments later, they hear sirens. Nick rushes to hide his crossbow and they meet Wu outside. Adrian had called 911 to admit that he had kidnapped Donna, and gave the location she was in. Sounds of torture can be heard on the recording.
Donna is safe, but there are strange brands all over Adrian’s corpse. Renard hopes that a press conference will yield info about the brands, and it causes both Monroe and Bud to call Nick, panicky. The brand belongs to a line of uber-Grimms who were intent on killing every single Wesen they could find. Monroe, Bud, and the guys down at Bud’s lodge are truly terrified. Donna remembers that there was someone driving the van she was abducted into, so that means Adrian had an accomplice. The cops find security footage from the building Donna was abducted from, and it reveals only one panel van. This leads the cops to Richard Vernon, a skeezy Wesen who was about to leave town.
His van is loaded with hard evidence that will easily convict him. But by the time Hank and Nick get back to interrogation from the evidence garage, Richard is gone. Security video shows the door opening for him, and a reflection in the glass reveals who that is: Ryan, the over-helpful intern they introduced a few episodes ago. Hank and Nick go back to Richard’s home to re-arrest him, but he has already been killed. Ryan isn’t at his house, but his obsessive mural of Nick is front and center over his bedroom wall. Ryan was last seen with Bud, so they take that investigative route. They find Bud, strung up in his own warehouse, with Ryan - clad in black robes and a mask - preparing to brand Bud. Nick does his typical “give chase until I can tackle him, then punch him in the face” move. Ryan is not a Grimm by birth, but he desperately wants to be a Grimm and believes that Nick is shirking his responsibilities. As Nick handcuffs him, Ryan shifts into some kind of hideous, deformed Wesen, something of a cross between a lizard and a parasite, and he begs Nick to just kill him.
Also: Renard is worried that Nick is wound a little tight and calls Juliette to ask her about him. She agrees to meet him for coffee to discuss Nick. While there, Juliette halfway confesses that she feels weird that Nick is a stranger to her. Renard puts his hand on hers, but this creeps her out and she leaves. Renard stops by her house later that night to return the sunglasses she left in her haste to leave the coffeehouse. He is about to leave, but instead takes a shot and leans in and kisses her. She remembers it was Renard who kissed her at the hospital, and gives in - but only for a moment.
Dig It or Bury It?
Nick did seem a bit extra edgy tonight. I think he is just exhausted from sleeping on the couch. Maybe it was explained at the top of the episode; I missed the first two minutes (damn you, Time Warner Cable!) It was a really enjoyable episode, but at the same time, not an episode which moved the overall story arch forward much. Grimm seems to have a lot of trouble with that.
Grimm Tales
The Endezichen Grimm were like the Grimm Gestapo. These uber-Grimm would mark Wesen homes with that symbol, then death squads would come through town and execute them. That symbol is shaped like a G (though I thought it looked like a skull) and was how Wesen parents taught their kids the alphabet. Stories of the Endezichen Grimm were written in the Wesen’s own version of fairy tales.
Prophecies?
Adalind returns, and Nick questions the guilt of a man he helped put on death row.