Director:Terrence O’Hara
Writers: David Greenwalt & Jim Kouf

Picture credit: Grimm NBC

Quote: “And they lived happily ever after.” : this one if from the most famous of fairytales, Cinderella.

The episode begins with pictures of a happy couple on their wedding day. They look very much in love. As the quote for this week’s episode is “And they lived happily ever after” and the fact that this is Grimm, anyone else feel like married or no, Juliet and Nick are heading for trouble? Marriage doesn’t mean a couple gets their happily ever after and sure enough, the episode moves on to show us the death of a man, an investor, who as it turns out embezzled the fortune of the young groom, Arthur. He calls another man, Spencer, his wife’s Godfather as it turns out for help and heads home to meet him. There he greets his wife first, who it seems spends her days shopping. He doesn’t tell her what happened, and the scene creates the impression that he keeps the realities of their life from her.

Spencer arrives and Arthur explains that he put all his and his wife’s, Lucinda’s, money with the dead investor, Adicoff. Spencer is horrified and advises him to go to Lucinda’s stepmother for help, but Arthur refuses. Then Lucinda comes down, dressed in another gown and eagerly showing it off to both Spencer and Arthur. It’s enough for Arthur to agree to go to Lucinda’s stepmother, Mavis, who unfortunately won’t give him the money he needs. Arthur leaves, and Spencer reminds Mavis that she was a hairdresser before her rich, late husband married her. Lucinda is only asking for what is rightfully hers, but Mavis disagrees. She believes she earned every penny after they married and she also believes Lucinda is aware of what Arthur did at this stage. She eventually tells Spencer to leave, coldly telling him to get a life of his own and to stay out of hers and Lucinda’s. He’s taking his Godfather role too seriously.

That night, Mavis is in bed when she hears a sound. It scares her and she gets up, in the dark to look for what the sound is. She checks under the bed and finds a creature that attacks her, clashing her cheek. She rushes the stairs, but a shadow tells her the creature is already there. She turns to run, but the creature is already there and emits a high pitched sound that makes her eyes and ears bleed. Mavis tumbles over the bannister to her death.

Nick is dreaming – of the coins, of his parent’s death when Juliet wakes him up. He explains what he was dreaming of, and that it has never really left him. For the first few years, he explains he felt like he wished he was in the car with them, but that Marie helped him to survive. Juliet asked about Farley Holt, the man from “Three Coins and a Fuschbau” who Nick discovered was once engaged to Marie. Nick tells Juliet that he let him go, but that he doesn’t know if anything he said was the truth. Juliet asks if Nick wants her to look into the accident and Holt a little bit more and Nick accepts her offer.

Arthur is at home drinking and still clearly on edge. Lucinda comes in to ask if he’s going to stay downstairs all night. She asks about what is worrying him, but Arthur won’t explain what is worrying him. He essentially doesn’t want to make her unhappy and she tells him she feels the same way.

The next morning, Mavis’ two daughters Tiffany and Taylor are on the phone to each other, trying to figure out where their mother is. Tiffany goes to the house to check on her and finds her body there. She calls the cops in.
Nick, Hank and Wu are discussing the scene, which might have been an accident if not for the bleeding and the cut on her cheek. There’s no sign of forced entry as everything was locked, but there is broken glass everywhere. They think someone had to have broken the glass, and that it had to have happened just as Mavis went over the bannister or after as she didn’t have any cuts on her feet. They also note that the lights that are broken would have kept everything in darkness and that there is also a mirror in the hallway, where Mavis fell, that is broken.

Nick and Hank then talk to the daughters. It seems that Mavis told them both exactly what happened with Arthur and Spencer yesterday and that Arthur was asking for money, which Mavis didn’t give them. They also make a point of mentioning that Spencer always thought Mavis was a goldigger and only ever married Henry for his money.

Julie calls Arnold Gubser, the detective who investigated the death of Kelly and Reed, Nick’s parents. She says she’s calling on Nick’s behalf and that he is searching for some closure. Gubser latches on to the word ‘closure’ and tells Juliet that there wasn’t much closure in this case. He takes Nick’s number in order to call him if he finds anything out.

Juliet calls Nick to explain that Gubser is going to call him after he checks his files – Gubser mentioned during their call that the accident and the case was a long time ago – and Nick is pretty pleased at her results this morning.

I have to admit, this is a remarkably lame way to give Juliet something to do, other than being in the requisite 30 seconds of home-time Nick gets every episode. What logic is there to having her call Gubser, when Nick as a cop, could have done the same easily? She mentions to Gubser he’s a cop too. Honestly, this show is usually better than this.

Hank and Nick go to Lucinda and Arthur’s house to talk to Arthur, but Lucinda answers. Arthur and Spencer are in the study talking about selling art, which Arthur says won’t be enough to cover what he’s lost. Lucinda interrupts them with news of Nick and Hank’s arrival and they both go out to meet Nick and Hank. Nick informs them of Mavis’ death and that they need to ask them some questions. Arthur realizes they are considering them as suspects. Hank then lets the cat out of the bag about the content of their conversation with Mavis, surprising Lucinda, who as it is, is barely holding herself together. Spencer calls the situation outrageous and shifts into a bat-like Wesen.

Anyone feel like this is getting to be too easy?

Arthur tries to comfort Lucinda, who genuinely seems to be unsure of what is going on. Spencer asks them for a few minutes of privacy and Nick tells them that he and Hank will wait outside. Once outside, Gubser calls Nick and tells him that a year after the accident, the case was reclassified as a homicide, with four suspects. Three Nick recognises as he has already dealt with them in “Three Coins and a Fuscbau”, but the fourth, Akira Kumora, he hasn’t met yet. Gubser offers to send him everything they have.

At the station, Arthur explains that he never expected Mavis to just give him the money, he just needed some time to figure out what he was going to do. After the meeting, he says he went home and stayed there and that he never told Lucinda what had happened because he didn’t want to worry her. They’ve only been married a year, lived in their house for less than that and as everything has been going well, he didn’t want to take that from her. Arthur explains that his relationship between Mavis, Tiffany and Taylor is strained. He met them through a mutual friend at a party and he admits it was supposed to be a set-up. At the party, he danced with Tiffany and Taylor and then Lucinda and fell in love with her the first time they danced. He says the sisters have always been rivals, but that his marriage to Lucinda was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Arthur explains that Lucinda has always been the outsider in the family. Her mother died when she was young, and her father remarried when Lucinda was 11 and 7 months later, he died. It’s a classic Cinderella story.

Lucinda is next to be questioned about Mavis’ death by the guys and she seems to be genuinely heartbroken and concerned for Tiffany who found her mother’s body. She explains she was heartbroken after her father died, and blamed him for leaving her with people she didn’t know very well. She closed off after his death and explains that as a kid, she didn’t really know any better. Hank tells her that her father’s estate was left to Tiffany and Taylor, which she admits doesn’t’ surprise her as Mavis never considered her a daughter. Still, she believes herself lucky for meeting Arthur and would never do anything to jeopardize her life with him. When asked about Spencer, she explains he was her father’s best friend and that she’s known him her whole life. She calls him the only real family she had after her father died.

Spencer is next to be questioned, and he explains that he and Henry were very close. They made and lost several fortunes together, and while Henry remade his fortune the last time that happened, he didn’t. Henry it seems then employed him and Spencer has always been part of the family since then. He explains that Henry was never a good judge of women and that he always expected them to do the right thing, but they never did. He also explains that the night of Mavis’ death, he stayed at Arthur and Lucinda’s place because there was so much to do.

Hank and Nick report back to Renard about the case, explaining that there is no evidence to tie Arthur, Lucinda or Spencer to the scene, and that the techs have no real explanation for the tons of broken glass at the scene. Renard asks about the sisters Tiffany and Taylor and their possible involvement in the death of their mother and the guys explain they’re checking alibis at this stage. Renard warns them that this family is politically connected and that the DA won’t prosecute without hard evidence. As a result they need to be sure they make the right arrests in this case.

Nick then gets a message from Gubser who tells him he’s sent the files and he lets Hank in on what he’s researching. Nick brings up the pictures of the three dead suspects and Hank IDs them as the suspects from “Three Coins and a Fuschbau”. Nick explains that they were all suspects in his parents’ murder and admittedly Hank looks a little surprised, but all he says is that it’s that they were involved in those two cases. Nick brings up the photo of the fourth and for a minute he looks like he recognizes the guy.

At their house, Arthur is trying to convince Lucinda not to go to Mavis’ house as he’s afraid for her safety if she does. Lucinda however, wants to go there because she wants closure.

At Mavis’ house, Tiffany has ensconced herself at Mavis’ desk. She is arguing with Tiffany about giving someone money – Arthur and Lucinda or someone else? Taylor is pretty much losing it, while Tiffany insists that they have to be strong. Taylor says she’s not like Tiffany, and she isn’t because while Tiffany is set on taking things over, Taylor is getting drunk on vodka in the morning.

Spencer arrives at Arthur and Lucinda’s house, looking worried. Insider, Arthur is waiting and explains that this morning, Lucinda was gone. That she wanted to talk to Tiffany, which infuriates Spencer. He accuses Arthur of not being able to protect her and of not living up to his responsibilities as her husband.

Sure enough, at Mavis’ house, Tiffany is leaving, but opens the door to find Lucinda on her doorstep. Tiffany jumps in shock and Lucinda asks if Taylor is around as she wants to express her sympathies at the loss of their mother. Tiffany doesn’t buy it, saying Lucinda never liked Mavis. Lucinda denies and tries to explain it was the other way around, but Tiffany doesn’t want to hear it. Tiffany says that she acted as a child entitled to everything, a “princess” and Lucinda’s response is enough to give the impression that this is an old argument between them. Tiffany says that Spencer and Arthur can’t force her and Taylor to give anything to Lucinda, and though she doesn’t know how they killed Mavis, she apparently is sure they did. She attempts to drive off, but Lucinda stands in front of the car begging her to listen to one thing…and then she shifts into a bat-Wesen and screams, much like the creature that attacked Mavis.

So our Cinderella is the evil, murdering bat creature. Hands up who didn’t see that coming when Spencer shifted so early in the episode?

At the trailer, Nick and Monroe are investigating the creature Nick saw Spencer turn into. Monroe finds it in a diary written by a Spanish Grimm – Spencer is a Murcielago, a “bat out of hell”. Everything Monroe translates, Nick realizes happened to Mavis – they make a high-pitched sound that can shatter ear drums, pop eyeballs etc. The notes explain that the only way to face one is with a hand-cranked siren that messes with the Murcielago’s sound waves and negates their high-pitched sound. Nick realizes that he has one of those and he and Monroe put it together. Monroe is a delightful fanboy yet again and Nick lets him try it out and it emits a high-pitched sound that gets so high, that Nick can’t hear it, but Monroe still can. It ends up destroying a glass bottle that was sitting directly in its path.

Nick goes to visit Arthur to ask where Spencer is and Arthur assumes that Nick thinks Spencer killed Mavis. Arthur says he last saw Spencer that morning, but that he doesn’t know where he went. Nick asks after Lucinda, who appears on the stairs, looking every inch the golden and innocent girl of the story. Arthur tells her that Nick thinks Spencer killed Mavis, but she doesn’t believe it, but Arthur suddenly tells her that they have to stop protecting him. He tells Nick Spencer made him go to Mavis and that he never wanted to go to her. He thinks that Spencer went back to the house to talk to Tiffany. Nick rushes out and calls Hank to meet him at the house with some units.

It’s a perfect plan that plays into everything Nick suspects about Spencer as a Murcielago.

At the house, Spencer finds Tiffany in her car and immediately knows that Lucinda has done it. He sees that Taylor is calling her but he doesn’t answer and lets it ring. As he’s trying to figure out what to do, Nick pulls up and pulls a gun on him. Spencer insists he had nothing to do with it, but Nick doesn’t believe it. Spencer shifts and Nick warns him that he knows how he kills and that if he opens his mouth he will blow his head off. Spencer tries to explain to Nick, but Nick tells Wu to put him in a car.

At the station, there is still no official link between Spencer and either crime scene, nor do they know how he could have killed them as they didn’t find a weapon at either scene. Wu interrupts and informs them that Spencer wants to confess.

In interrogation, Spencer wrongly assumes Hank knows that he is a Murcielago and that Nick is a Grimm, and while Hank looks confused, Nick gives this shifty-eyed side glance at Hank that seems to go right over his head. Spencer gets it and confesses to Mavis and Tiffany’s murder. He explains that he could not bear that they turned out Lucinda’s request for help especially having seen how they treated her growing up. But then, Hank brings up the question of how he killed them and Spencer explains that he has the ability to produce a high-pitched sound that can kill…earning a thoroughly confused look from Hank while Nick looks like he’s in a state of shock. Spencer wants to move things along and wonders if he should be writing things down. Hank thinks Spencer is trying to set up an insanity defense and leaves.

Which is exactly what Spencer planned to happen in order to speak to Nick alone. He explains that he watched over “her” all those years, making sure she got everything she wanted so she never lost control. But that she has no conscience and made Mavis and her daughters’ lives miserable. It finally dawns on Nick he’s talking about Lucinda, and Spencer warns him that Taylor doesn’t have long to live because once she dies, Lucinda gets everything and they won’t ever be able to prove she had anything to do with it.

Nick calls Monroe and asks him to meet him at Taylor’s place with the siren and at his desk, tells Hank he doesn’t think Spencer did it. Hank is way ahead of him and has already confirmed that will or no will, with Taylor dead, Lucinda inherits everything. Unbeknownst to them, in the interrogation room, Spencer has shifted and uses his voice to break out of the room. Inside, they find the room empty and the windows broken and Hank just keeps repeating to himself: no way.

At the house, Arthur is on the floor, three fingernail slashes in his cheek when Spencer arrives. He asks Arthur what happened, and Arthur tells him he finally did what Spencer advised him to – he stood up to Lucinda, and Spencer correctly realizes, Lucinda has gone to Taylor’s. He leaves in order to stop her, and doesn’t hear the rest of Arthur’s heartbroken statement – that Lucinda said she never loved him.

Taylor is awakened by a call from Nick who warns her to lock the doors and not to open them for anyone because her life is in danger. However, it’s too late; Lucinda is in the house already. Taylor tries to runaway afraid, but Lucinda hunts her, taunting her with the memory of this same game when they were children and Lucinda always caught her.

Outside, Nick and Hank arrive, and can hear Taylor’s cries. They realize Lucinda is already in the house and break the door down startling Lucinda. She runs off, with Nick following and Hank sitting with Taylor. Outside, Monroe finally arrives and warns Nick not to go after her because they have to force her out. They set up the siren and inside; Lucinda grabs her ears in pain as around her glass and everything else starts shattering. She jumps through a back window to escape and runs into Spencer. She begs him for help and he agrees, saying he should have helped her a long time ago. On the other side of the house, Nick and Monroe have stopped using the siren, when they hear the high-pitched sound again. Monroe wants to set up the siren again, but Nick tells him not to.

On the other side of the house, Lucinda lies dead, her eyes, ears and nose bloody. Spencer apologizes, saying he’s done the best he could and goes to kiss her cheek, it seems, when she comes back to life and bites his neck. His screams are loud in the night and when Nick reaches them, they’re both dead.

Nick’s explanation for the two bodies? He turns in the siren as the weapon and it’s plausible enough for Renard to buy.

At home, Juliet apologizes for opening all wounds for Nick, but Nick says it’s something he’s going to have to deal with. On the computer screen, is the picture of the last remaining suspect in his parents’ death.

Grimm plays with expectations in this one, with Arthur and Lucinda’s happily ever after being anything but, and Lucinda being anything but Cinderella. It was a well done case, with Lucinda being thoroughly creepy and turning expectations of Cinderella on their head.

It did make me wonder if Nick and Juliet will ever marry because happily ever after doesn’t happen on this show. And I still wonder if Juliet is everything she appears to be as well. I was, however thoroughly disappointed at how lame and thin Juliet’s purpose in this episode was – she’s calling a cop for information on Nick’s parents’ case, when Nick is a cop and could do so much more easily? I should be grateful that she did something in the episode I guess.

A part of Nick’s past gets added to the mix with the three suspects of his parents’ case reappearing, along with a fourth. Are they everything they appear to be? Two more episodes to go to find out, I hope!