Picking up where the premiere left off, Monroe and Hank track Zombie Nick, who terrorizes a family. Hank: "You lose him?" Monroe: "Sort of, kind of, yeah. This is not as easy as it looks, you know. There's a lot more out here than just Nick and I'm not getting on my hands and knees 'cause I can't move that fast. Not to mention, the grass stains." Ha! Immediate Monroe humor is a winner Renard calls Hank for a location so the rest of the Grimm Gang heads out after confirming the bar surveillance is missing. How convenient! Things get even worse as ZNick breaks down the family's door and rushes upstairs to…actually, I have no idea what ZNick's mission is. I guess he wants to infect them too. Regardless, the family's terrified, Dad goes for his gun, and ZNick rampages. Happily Monroe and Hank are close enough to hear the screams and race to protect the family. Just as ZNick breaks into the bedroom, Hank rushes him as Monroe pleads for him to calm down. Sadly, ZNick easily takes them both down, but Dad bonks him in the head with the gun box. Great, now he's really ticked. Hank hurls a statue at him, but ZNick has a future in baseball, catching it one handed. All that's left to do is taunt him into changing targets. Hank: "That's right. I threw it. Come and get me." Hank plans for ZNick to chase him while Monroe flanks him. Great plan until Monroe knocks over a lamp. Monroe: "Plan's not working." Thanks, Graceful. ZNick chases them to the barn where they hide in the hayloft. Again Nick's alerted to their presence when Monroe's leg goes through the loft boards. He's not having a good night. ZNick however has awesome moves, leaping from hay bale to loft like a cat. Hank grabs his pistol; Monroe grabs a pitchfork. Ha! Again they try reason but ZNick crouches like a tiger about to strike. No dice. Luckily ZNick falls through the hayloft. (This family should do some basic repair before their kids tumble down.) The dynamic duo use an old paddock gate to enclose ZNick until they can figure out what to do with him. Success at last.
Renard, Rosalee, and Juliette join in but ZNick isn't done yet. Alas, neither is Dad. He brings a gun to the discussion. Oh honey, go back to your family. You're more likely to shoot your own foot. Hank flashes his badge but it’s the sound of ZNick arising that causes him to flee. Smart move. Monroe, Hank, and Renard head into the barn, but Monroe says they can't beat him unless they woge. As Renard hexenbiests out, Hank starts. Renard: "Are you okay?" Hank: "I wish I could do that." Don't we all, Hank? ZNick breaks through his cage and it's full-on, old-fashion brawl time. Woo hoo! Bodies fly. Weapons break. Punches are thrown. It's all kinds of awesome. Hank finally draws his gun. Hank: "Nick, don't do it. I swear to God. Don't make me shoot you." Happily, Juliette and Rosalee flank ZNick. As he turns around, Juliette plunges the antidote into him, getting smacked for her trouble. ZNick turns his attention to Rosalee, but suddenly drops to the ground, twitching. Hank helps Juliette up. Hank: "Are you okay?" Juliette: "No, that hurt. But I've got to feel better than you guys." Truer words. Everyone looks like they went a few rounds on the losing side. Rosalee says the antidote is working, but Renard wants to dose him again for good measure. Don't blame you at all. Sadly, they're all out of antidote bombs so it's back to the Spice Shop. Just in time too. The police pull in as they pull out. Nick looks none too well in the back of the SVU and Monroe recaps the royal connection to this mess. Thanks, Monroe. We've obviously forgotten in the last 10 minutes. Monroe: "Well I don't know how you guys handle family issues, but I hope you're not going to let him get away with it." No worries there. One assassination coming up…after Adalind makes Pech potpourri with the dead poppies. It's gross as are all her scenes, especially when she bites the bloody thread. Yuck!
Rosalee punching more antidote in Nick does nothing to unqueasy my stomach. It's wait time, so Renard takes off. Monroe glares. "If his brother was my brother….well, I probably shouldn't go there." Hank: "Oh yeah you should go there. I'd go there with you." Hopefully not to murder. Breaking Vienna news states Prince Eric died via car bomb. Yeah, right. Only if he's an idiot. He knew his brother would go strike. I bet James Frain returns no later than the finale, probably by midseason. News: "All of Vienna is in mourning." Renard: "All of Portland, isn't." Ha! Back at the Spice Shop, Rosalee tends to Monroe's wounds as Juliette tends Nick's. Monroe is a big old baby about it, but Nick wakes up completely confused. Alas it's back to the tired amnesia plot Grimm writers love so much. Argh! Nick complains about a headache, but I suffered more and longer with Juliette's amnesia. Can it! No more amnesia! Ever! Sadly, they don't care about my pain, only Nick's. Nick: "I'm really sore…kind of everywhere." Monroe: "But you look a lot better." Hank: "A lot better." Rosalee: "Understatement." The Grimm Gang explains Nick's predicament - at the same time no less, bwah! - before Juliette details his recent role as a zombie. I feel for Nick, but things are worse in Vienna. Renard checks in with either the assassin or a Resistance leader. Life is getting too exciting in Europe so everyone splits up. Personally, I want more Resistance info so I hope they pursue this storyline. I don't, however, want to pursue Wu's info. He tells Renard that one of the men from the bar fight died. Hello emoangst avalanche. I never miss you. Wu reiterates that the surveillance is missing so just in case we haven't really, truly understood, a series of flashbacks show Renard stealing it and trashing the place to cover up the theft. These writers must think we're incredibly stupid. Hey guys, we figured it out when he pulled the tape out of his pocket. (Sigh) It shows Nick taking out knife guy and Renard relocks it in his desk. Um buddy, this would be a great time to destroy the tape, since it is now evidence against you too.
Meanwhile, the Grimm Gang reassure Nick that he didn't really hurt anyone too bad. Hmmm. Rosalee: "You scared a few people." Hank: "Oh yeah, you definitely did that." Ha! Juliette talks amnesia again, but Nick objects. Nick: "Being under the influence is not a very good defense." Hank: "Under the influence of what you were under the influence of…that's different." True. Nick wonders how to explain the situation, but silence is best. Monroe: "You don't have to. We sort of had it explained to us in a very physical way, which I don't think you really want to share with anybody else." Bwah! Nick apologizes and they all decide a nap would be best. Juliette: "Thank God it's over." Nick: "I'm just glad I didn't kill anybody." And anvils keep falling on my head, they keep fallin'….. Juliette however is a marked improvement this episode, none more so than when she goes into mother hen mode. She's hyperaware of Nick and rightly concerned about the toll the night has taken on him. Nick has other ideas however. Juliette: "I'm going to go make you some tea. Why don't you go upstairs and get in bed?" Nick: "Well I'd rather not do that alone." Juliette: "You know I am glad that you're feeling better, but no. You're going to go upstairs and go to sleep, and I'm going to pace at the end of the bed until you do." Ha! Way to stick your ground. Nick doesn't look 100% yet. Quite frankly, Hank doesn't look much better when Wu exposits the bar fight death. He leaves Wu midsentence to check out the info with Renard. Wu: "Hey, what do you…okay then. I guess I'm done here." Ha! Poor Wu. Can't wait until you know the big secret.
Renard and Hank discuss protecting Nick because Renard, Rosalee, and Juliette will be questioned. They all meet at the Spice Shop to discuss their story. Monroe: "But it wasn't his fault. I mean you saw him. He was trying to kill us. I mean not us personally, generally speaking…" Hank: "Not a great defense." Ha, no jury will buy that. Of course they have no choice but to lie for Nick. Monroe: "He wasn't himself." Hank: "It doesn't matter. You can't defend what you can't explain." Renard wants to pin it on Thomas Schirach. Rosalee: "Which works for me because I don't think we can blame Nick for what happened. He was poisoned. He would have died." Juliette brings up the surveillance again and I'm surprised there's no mini-flashback recap just to make sure we REALLY get it. Renard breaks the bad news that the police know he, Rosalee, and Juliette were on scene. Juliette: "Hank are you good with this?" Hank: "I'm not good with Nick going to prison for something he didn't even know he was doing." Hank brings up amnesia again, but Juliette zones in on the real problem - Nick. Juliette: "What happens if he finds out?" Monroe: "Hopefully he throws us a little party." Yeah, dream on Monroe. Renard says to keep the info from Nick as long as possible and they discuss strategy. Back at the precinct, Hank talks with the detectives on the case, who fill in the details. Dad from the farmhouse will be a problem. He's seen all of their faces. Uh oh. Hank offers his assistance. Detective: "You can stay here and fill out all these reports for us." Hank skedaddles to confront Renard about the surveillance tapes, who plays it cool. Hank knows and says the tape better not show up. Hint, hint, Renard - destroy it before it haunts you all. The detectives interrupt and the questions begin.
That night, Juliette awakens next to a cold, non-breathing Nick. He's in zombie state again so Juliette slaps him twice and calls 911. As they pick up, Nick regains color and wakes with no knowledge of why Juliette's panicked. She asks how he's feeling. Nick: "I don't know. Fine, except my face hurts a little bit." Ha! She says Nick looked dead and didn't have a pulse. Juliette: "Are you sure you feel okay?" Nick: "Well I did until you told me I was dead." BWAH!! Nick wins in one-liners tonight. He goes to kiss Juliette on the guise of increasing his heart rate, but she's serious. Nick reiterates that he's okay, but we all know that isn't true. Adalind isn't doing well either. She finally falls asleep when Stefania gets her up to fill a jar with dead Pech stew. It's as disgusting as it sounds. I don't care how good it is for the baby. At the motel, Adalind rubs her stomach with it and it turns into the cheesiest red Halloween skull around. The whole subplot has no point but to gross me out. Luckily, it's back to the Spice Shop before I need a Rosalee cure. Monroe babbles about inventory until the detectives show up. Rosalee answers just as rehearsed, but I wonder if her past will come up again. I'd like to know more about her wild child years. When the detectives leave, Rosalee gives Juliette the heads up. Uh oh, Nick is there. Now what? The detectives mention Dead Bar Guy and Nick is stunned. He listens to Juliette's spiel, but accidentally shatters a coffee cup in his hand after going zombie pale. Um, latent physical strength? More zombie side effects? This could be interesting.
Of course Nick wants to turn himself in to Juliette's dismay. She details the plan but he's not impressed. Nick: "So you're all lying." Juliette: "To protect you." Nick: "You can't do that. I killed someone." Nick heads to the precinct so time to call Hank, who meets him in the parking garage. Nick tells him to get out of the way. Hank: "I'm already in the way and so are the rest of us. We made a decision. You were not in good shape. You had no idea what you were doing." Nick: "I've heard it all, Hank." I doubt that, buddy. Hank brings up how Nick tried to kill them and smacked Juliette. That gives him pause, but not enough. Hank: "Now you want to turn yourself in, go ahead but you're going to do it alone." Huh? Not sure what that means. Is he saying Nick better protect them from the fallout? That's so un-Hank. Nick heads into the precinct. Strike 2. Time for a big leaguer, so Renard steps up. Well after a call from his momma. I so want to see an episode where Nick's mom meets Renard's mom. That could get ugly quick. Mama Renard brings up Prince Eric's death and thanks Renard for it. Yikes, this family is cold. She says they'll talk soon and I'm holding them to it. I want to know more, but sadly it's time for surveillance talk 72.0. The tape shows the man clearly attacking Nick with a knife and Renard calls it self-defense. I guess it's good he didn't destroy the tape after all. Renard: "This is one of those times Nick, when you walk in 2 worlds. You know why you did it. You just can't explain it, at least not in a court of law. Sometimes justice isn't obvious." Nick heads to the door and Renard's got one pitch left - the royal family. Eric wanted to control Nick. Renard: "And if you turn yourself in, you will give them exactly what they want." That does it. Nick will keep the secret for now, but $20 bucks says it eats at him inside. As the detectives walk past, Nick flashes back to the knife scene but doesn't turn himself in.
Overall I liked this episode better than the premiere. The fight scenes between ZNick and the Grimm Gang were excellent. I am going to miss Feral Nick, because he was kick butt cool. Well except when he was threatening kids. Yeah, it's good to have Real Nick back. I thought this one set up the rest of the season well but I hope they don't drag the police investigation out too long. The best change was in Juliette who stopped screeching and became a key player. I liked her scenes taking care of Nick a whole lot better than her focusing solely on him in a crisis like last week. I hope that this lie will cement the group together but at the same time, I really want Nick to not dwell too long in guilt. He was monsterfied and that negates any responsibility he might have had. I think Nick will realize that in his head but he'll have a long recovery road to forgiving himself. Such a shame because Grimm works best for me when it is a mix of humor, action, and Wesen/Royal mythology. Time to dig deeper into the Resistance and the swirling politics. Please writers, let this be the season in which we find out what the Royals' motives are and how Nick fits into the larger Grimm - Wesen world.
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