The episode opens with a young woman in a night gown running for her life. She sees monsters after her and flying circular saws that are not really there. As she is running across a bridge, a car comes from the opposite direction and hits her. The driver, stunned, gets out of his car and checks on her. She’s still breathing. Suddenly a man in black appears next to them. The driver begs him to call 911 but then heads back to his car to do it himself. While he is away, the man in black leans towards the woman and strokes her face. She begs him to kiss her before he covers her face with his hand and suffocates her to death. When the driver is done with his call, he looks back towards the woman and the man is gone.
Nick arrives on the scene and Hank runs down what he knows. After interviewing the driver, they go to examine the victim. No identification was found on her and they begin to speculate what she could be running away from.
In the meantime, a man arrives into town and rents a room at the Joyce Hotel. Once in his room, he calls on the phone and tells the person on the other line that he will call when he is finished. He unpacks and takes out a newspaper article about an off duty detective shooting an attacker. He also retrieves a sickle- like weapon similar to the one seen in the first episode. We soon find out he is a Reaper… a “Grimm” Reaper (yes, I went there!)
The body is taken to be examined by the coroner and she tells Nick that her pupils are unusually dilated. She also noticed that her lungs were not crushed leading her to believe that she was asphyxiated but not from being hit. Contusions around her nose and mouth indicate someone pinched off her airways. Hank comes in and tells Nick he’s identified the body as Faith Collins. She was found close to her home and thinks that she might have been running away from her husband, Roy, who has a history of spousal abuse.
They visit Roy at work and Hank and Nick inform him that his wife was murdered. They ask him about the last time he saw his wife. Roy tells them that they had a fight the night before because she wouldn’t get off Facebook and make him dinner. She finally walked out on him. He then realizes that Hank and Nick suspect him as the kille and becomes angry all the while claiming his innocence.
Back at the station, the guys fill Capt. Renard in on what they know – which is not much. They try to find a way to locate who Faith might have spoken to that night and decide to check her Facebook page. There, they find a picture she uploaded of a garden area an hour after she was last seen. They were able to derive the location of the garden and find out it’s from a bed and breakfast inn called the Bramble House.
They visit the inn and as they approach the front door, Nick admires the ’76 MGB Roadster parked in the front. They speak to the inn owner (Billy) and he tells them that he does remember Faith. He showed her a room and the garden but she didn’t stay. He noticed she seemed “disturbed and troubled” but didn’t get into it with her. Nick asks to see the garden. Billy leads the way and bumps into Hank who suddenly gets a weird expression on his face. The garden matches the photo uploaded on Faith’s Facebook page. Billy shows the guys around the colorful garden and as they walk through, Hank accidently steps on a toad. Visibly upset, Billy picks up the squished animal and as he is doing this, Nick notices his reflection in the fountain’s waters had changed to that of a goat-like creature. Hank and Nick leave and once they are far enough away, Billy eats the dead toad.
Back at the police precinct, the Reaper talks to Sgt. Wu asking for some information about a friend of his that was shot by a police detective and shows him the police article. Sgt. Wu tells Capt. Renard about this man who tells Sgt. Wu to inform the man that the detective is not available and that someone from the department will get back to him. Capt. Renard is not happy with this visitor.
Later that night, Nick heads to Aunt Marie’s trailer where he identifies Billy as a Ziegevolk, otherwise known as a Bluebeard, from the book. Bluebeards defile women who seem to fall under their spell. Nick heads to Munroe’s home hoping he could shed more information about Ziegevolks. Munroe tells him that they secrete some kind of scent that is somehow irresistible to women. Once they touch you, they own you. Many actors in Hollywood actors are Ziegevolks. That’s why you see them hugging everyone. Ziegevolks main goal is to pick out the best female from a group for breeding. Ziegevolks are mainly players and one night stand kind of guys.
Later, Hank tells Nick that the background check on Billy is pretty slim. All he can find is that he came to town a year and a half ago and bought the Bramble House. There is nothing about Billy before that time and Hank suspects that he may have changed his name. He did, however, notice a spike in missing women in Portland in the last 6 months and they are still open cases. They decide to look for other clusters like these in other cities and bring their findings to Capt. Renard. Hank and Nick tell Renard that they think Billy is responsible for Faith’s death. They also found three clusters of missing women in other cities, Detroit, Des Moines, and Tucson. The odd thing about these women was that all 17 were all found alive with 14 of them pregnant. The DNA showed that they all had the same father and none of the women were able to identify the man. They were dealing with a serial rapist.
Back at the inn, Billy heads down to the basement with 3 plates of food which he lays in front of three separate cages. As he walks away, he yells out “Bon Appetit!” and female arms reach out to take the plates. Billy then open up gas lines before going back upstairs. He gets ready to go out and as he walks through the garden, he picks up a toad and places it in his jacket pocket.
Hank and Nick head to the inn and place a tracker on Billy’s car and begin their surveillance. While waiting for something to happen, Nick notices Billy walk out but he doesn’t get into his car. The guys decide to separate: Hank will check out the house while Nick follows Billy.
Billy heads to a bar but just before going in, takes the toad out of his jacket and eats it. Nick sees him change into a Ziegevolk and change back. Knowing that Billy will recognize him if he goes in, Nick calls Munroe to come to the bar and watch Billy for him. When Munroe arrives, Nick fills him in tells him that he saw Billy eat a toad before going in. Munroe is surprised as that meant that this Ziegevolk was not only a breeder but a herder, which was very rare.
Munroe heads into the bar and immediately finds Billy engaged in conversation with a woman. He manages to find a spot next to woman and listens in. The woman seems enthralled with what he is saying and as she lifts her glass of wine, Billy lightly stokes her hand. She is now under his spell. Munroe seems to also fall under Billy’s spell but manages to shake it off. Concerned, Munroe leaves the bar and tells Nick that he can’t stay there any longer as Billy is too potent. So much so that Munroe was almost ready to buy him a drink! Just then Billy comes out of the bar and Nick follows him. Realizing he is heading home, Nick tries to contact Hank.
At the house, Hank finds a piece of broken glass on the garden path. He remembers glass was found on the victim and decides to investigate more. He finds an unlocked window and heads in. While searching inside, he hears noises coming from a floor vent and decides to head to the basement. The gases seem to start affecting him. He opens the door where the caged women are and finds a bedroom set up. As he gets closer to the bed post, it turns into a snake catching him off guard and he falls. Just before he loses consciousness, he sees one of the females in the cage.
While all this is happening, the Reaper is going to his room and when he opens the door, he finds Capt. Renard waiting for him. Renard tells the Reaper hat he has made several mistakes, one of which was that the Reaper did not know who he was and should kneel before him. He continues to tell the Reaper that it’s his friend’s fault that he’s dead as he came to town without his permission. The Reaper wants revenge but Renard denies his request. He challenges Renard and asks if he is protecting a Grimm. Unhappy with the Reaper’s insubordination, Renard uses the sickle and slices off the Reapers ear telling him in French that the next time he speaks, he should listen and instructs him to leave town and not return.
Back at the house, Nick is still unable to reach Hank and calls the precinct to place a tracker on his phone. He sees a woman drive up to the inn. It’s the one from the bar. She goes in and just as Billy is about to show her his garden, Nick comes barging in asking to speak to her outside. Billy acquiesces but is not happy. Nick tells the lady that she walked in on a police investigation and tells her to leave. From a phone call from the station, Nick finds out that Hank is still inside the inn. He goes in to try to find him by calling his cell. Hearing his phone in the basement, Nick goes downstairs but is trapped by Billy who locks them in and turns on the gas. As Nick tries to help Hank out of the basement, Hank starts hallucinating again. They break down the door where the gas levers are and shut the gas off.
Billy realizes the jig is up and packs for a getaway. Outside, his lady friend from the bar returns as his scent is too strong for her to stay away. She asks if she could go with him and he agrees.
By morning, the caged girls are now free but Billy is gone. They use the tracker placed on the car to find him and follow him and his companion to a waterfall tourist site. Billy sees Hank approach them and takes off. Hank and Nick chase him and just as they think they trapped him, Billy turns into a Ziegevolk and starts to parkour off the walls and ceilings of the buildings nearby. As he runs across the road, a car hits him. Nick and Hank have their man. Billy will be taken to prison but first he is being treated for his injuries by the paramedic. As the female paramedic gives him oxygen and stokes his forehead, she begins to feel an attraction to him.
This episode was based on the French fairy tale ‘Bluebeard’ written by Charles Perrault (maybe that’s why Renard spoke French in the episode as an homage?). Although the original tale was not from the Brothers Grimm, they did write something similar called ‘Fitcher’s Bird.’ I particularly like the use of the toads as a means for the Ziegevolk to enhance its attraction as studies show that amphibians do secrete pheromones from their skin glands which would explain why Ziegevolks need to touch their target for the attraction to occur. As for the Renard story arc, seeing that his character is a higher up where even Reapers have to obey him is interesting. As his character unfolds, the dire warning from the Queen Mellifer in last week’s episode points to a confrontation that is sure to be eye opening .
If you’re a fan of the show, then I have some good news! Although the ratings have fallen a bit since its premiere, NBC has decided to order more episodes and keep it in their television line up. No word yet if there will be a season 2 but with the extra episodes and the fact that the show is up for a Best New TV Drama Award in the People’s Choice Awards, it looks like NBC is giving it a chance.
So what did you think of this week’s show and who do you think Renard is? If you missed last week episode and need to catch up, you can read the recap here.
