“Ah! It was colder than ice;
It penetrated to his very heart.”

Frigid temperatures and relationships are at the cold, cold center of this week’s Grimm as Juliette falls deeper into her Hexenbiest ways while Nick, Hank and Wu scour Portland in search of a heat-stealing Wesen. Cold days, indeed.

This isn’t your Disney’s ‘Frozen’…even if the colors are eerily similar to Elsa…

Three quick scenes set the tone: While Nick’s feeling the absence of Juliette in the quiet house, a battered Renard returns to find Juliette waiting for him. Intent on killing Adalind, she belays her current mood to help Renard, finishing what they started…which appears to be some serious kissing (and maybe even what comes after?). The final scene is the procedural portion of the show: a young guy’s car blows up, forcing him to traverse the back roads until he comes across an older woman’s house. Desperate and freezing, he forces his way inside before attacking her in all his Wesen glory, leaving her as solid as a block of ice.

The detectives arrive at the scene and coupled with the bite mark, the outrageousness of the attack points to a Wesen perpetrator. During Nick’s questioning the victim’s daughter, they get a hit on the stolen car and the bad guy. They’re able to cut him off before he can escape and, after a chase through the woods, nab the Wesen killer. His last words before they cuff him? “Don’t let it kill me…I’m cold.”

Back at the station, they get more info on the guy; he’s Knute Gunderson from North Dakota. Unfortunately, he’s not long for this world as, soon after locking him up, they find him in his cell, frozen solid. Putting their heads together, they surmise Gunderson’s car must have broken down and end up finding it, along with clues that there may be two more Wesen like him roaming around, searching for victims. When the research books don’t offer them any clues as to the Wesen’s nature, they hit up Monrosalee, who ID’s it as a Vermatiev, or “heat thief.” These Wesen have the misfortune of not being able to generate their own body heat. Thus, when cold, their only course is to steal heat from their victims. Not the best of lives. Rosalee suggests the trio were going to a hibernaculum, a lair where Varmatiev go for the winter and survive by collectively sharing body heat with one another. Soon after getting this info, they get a call of a second woman escaping a similar attack and the suspect, another Gunderson from North Dakota (do people even live there?!) who’s frozen body is discovered on the side of the road. Two down means there’s another Varmatiev out there…and a poor, unsuspecting cabbie is his victim.

The Vermatiev is ready to do battle

As frozen cabbies lying out on the street tend to do, it draws the attention of the authorities. While at the scene, Wu gets more information on the Gunderson clan and the probable whereabouts of the hibernaculum—a farm on the west side of the Portland area. With Monroe in tow as backup, the three officers make their way to the farm where they find a whole host of Vermatiev cozied up together in the basement, including the suspect in the cabbie murder, Sven Gunderson. In a foolhardy attempt to extricate Sven from the sleeping limbs of his comrades, the entire brood is woken from their hibernation and, quite understandably, go charging after the four men. Taking shelter inside a barn, it looks like the greater numbers will win the day until, one by one, the Vermatiev succumb to the cold, leaving Nick, Hank, and Wu to help get the Wesen back to their shelter. Unfortunately for Sven, he’s not so lucky; the nature of his affliction ensures he won’t be doing any jail time.

The day has been won but the end is a bookend of this episode’s first scene as Nick wanders his empty home, replaying his aunt’s words on being a Grimm. “The misfortunes of our family is already passing to you,” the memory tells him before letting him know that he can never see Juliette again. Though not his choice, it seems as if his aunt’s words have come to pass.

Past and Future Circumstance

  • The Nick/Juliette relationship continues to spiral out of control with Juliette the primary factor in their estrangement. The newly crowned Hexenbiest is starting to be consumed by her new powers, nearly killing Adalind and lashing out at Nick when they run into each other at Monrosalee’s. And then there’s her rendezvous with Renard. I’m sure Nick won’t be too thrilled when he discovers his police captain’s assisting Juliette, and less so when their intimacy is revealed…
  • But about that intimacy; is it a fair assumption the two had a tryst or did Juliette use her new abilities to ease Renard’s pain? When you add to his situation the visions of a doorway opening to the other side and greedy hands reaching for him, it’s difficult to say what is real versus hallucination.
  • Adalind only wishes she was imagining Juliette nearly killing her. The original Hexenbiest baddie is scared for the life of her and her newly conceived babe, taking her complaints to Kenneth. The new Royal doesn’t see things as she does, suggesting these new developments could aid in their search for baby Diana. Adalind’s fear may also be driven by the knowledge of the baby she’s carrying. If Juliette finds out Nick’s sprog is growing in Adalind’s belly, there’s no telling what the already traumatized Jules will do.
  • If we’re talking traumatized, I don’t think anyone has more reason to feel the PTSD’s as much as Monroe. Other than Nick, no one in the Grimm gang has been so close to death as he was after being taken by the Wesenrein. Those events are still haunting him and he admits as much to Rosalee. As she is wont to do, Rosalee offers hubby her unwavering support, promising him that they have more “ticking and tocking to do.” Which means something mean and nasty will be coming down the pipe in the not too distant future.