Director: Norberto Barba

Writers: David Greenwalt & Jim Kouf

“She looked in the window, and then peeped through the keyhole; seeing nobody in the house, she lifted the latch.”

Goldilocks and the Three Bears like you’ve never seen them!

The episode begins with a quote from the Goldilocks, accompanied by creepy music which actually very effectively sets the tone for the episode.  I LOVE the way the show does these things.

We see a huge house then and 2 shadowy figures running towards it. Inside, we see that they are a young couple who are breaking in and then put on the clothes and eat the food of the inhabitants. Gilda, the girl and whoever the guy is – no name yet, I wonder if he dies first? – play hide and seek in the bedrooms of the house when the guy sees the strange mask collection the inhabitants have. However, Gilda is a far more alluring thing to focus on and he quickly moves on, with her, out of this room into another where they proceed to make out on the bed, with another weird mask looking on.

Outside, we see a hummer pull up, with a HUGE stag on the front. Gilda hears the car pull up and she and her boyfriend try to make a quick escape. Or Gilda does, and Rocky her boyfriend is pulled back into the house and attacked, with the sound of bear growling heard over the attack.

Definitely not your grandmother’s Goldilocks.

We cut back to Nick, who after the cliffhanger of last week, where he is attacked and injected with something, seems to be recovering. A doctor tells him that he was injected with a neurotoxin, usually associated with a spider bite. The Doctor advises him to come back if he feels ill.

Outside, Hank, his partner meets him and they go together to see Marie, but another doctor advises him that she’s not unstable and they don’t want to risk letting her slip back into a coma. As Nick is shut out of Marie’s room, his Captain comes up, and after the cliffhanger last week of him being behind the attempt on Marie’s life, I have to wonder what sort of Big Bad he is, or is he another sort of monster? He seems to be incharge of the security around Marie, which can’t be good. The Captain proceeds to ask Nick questions about the attack, including the ID of the attacker – which sounds very much like he’s trying to find out how much info Nick has about his accomplice.

However, Hank pipes in and tells them he has the security tapes at the precint already, so the Captain, Nick and Hank head over to the precint to watch them.

As they do, the Captain starts to ask Nick questions about Marie, which to Nick sounds like general questions anyone would ask. But knowing that he was behind the attack changes everything for viewers, which is pretty fabulously done. Captain Renard, played by Sasha Roiza, is a character you want to believe in, that projects this authority that Nick can believe in that adds to the sinister undertones of the piece.

However, all the security tapes show is the back of the woman, and Renard quickly leaves the investigation after seeing that his accomplice is safe.

At that point, Gilda’s case drops into their lap.

They take her to the house, only to find that there are patrol cops already there. The cops tell them the owners reported a break-and-enter upon their return from a trip and as the patrol cop starts to tell them about the details of what he’s found inside – most notably no body parts – Hank says that they are only there to figure out how much of Gilda’s story is true, which she is admitting to the B&E, so part of this case is already solved.

Nick and Hank walk through the main room where Rocky and Gilda had sex, and there we finally see the Papa and Mama Bear, the Rabes (AKA Rabe = Bear) so to speak of the story. Affluent, somewhat smug looking I think and pissed off at what happened. Which is understandable, until in amongst the usual questions, Nick notices claw marks in the wood on the windowsill.

The couple takes them through their house, and their historical artifacts they own. Hank knows his art history and engages the couple, commenting on a Germanic bear clw of sorts, from about 900AD. This Is the piece that Nick takes the most note of. As they leave, Hank voices his opinion that Rocky is at home at the moment, sleeping off he and Gilda’s night, but instead, we next see Rocky blindfolded in a cave, with something growling over him. The bear slaps him, leaving claw marks behind, and then Rocky scream.

Next, Hank and Nick interrogate Gilda. She blames herself for Rocky’s disappearance, for not going back for him. Hank clearly doesn’t believe her, but Nick is more interested in her story. He asks her if she thinks an animal was after she and Rocky, but she knows nothing because she was too scared and just ran.

Hank reports next that Rocky isn’t at home and his father doesn’t have any idea of where he is. Hank is beginning to suspect that Gilda might have accidentally hurt/killed Rocky, but Nick insists they need to take a better look at the house. At that moment however, Marie calls asking to see Nick now.

At the hospital, Marie’s doctor tells Nick that Marie is still very weak, but she is allowing the visit because they might not have enough time. Alone, Marie tries to reassure Nick, who as much as he is confused and trying to make sense of what he is, seems ready and willing to become a Grimm, and hunt down the “bad monsters.” Marie also tells him that there are more Reapers around, and that they are a secret organization of hunters dedicated to killing Grimms. Marie also tells him that there are more Grimms out there, or rather she possibly means hunters, but that she doesn’t have contact with them. The monsters, she tells him, there are more out there than in her books and she warns him to keep her trailer safe. Unfortunately, in her weakened state, she isn’t able to talk further.

Hank and Nick head back to the Rabe’s house and encounter a gang of motorcyclists and discover that the Rabe’s son is part of the group – Barry Rabe. Hank questions Barry’s group, showing them pictures of Gilda and Rocky and asking if they’ve ever seen them before. Mame Rabe calls out Frank, her husband to look at the pictures Hank has, and as Nick questions the family together, he sees Barry change into a bear and then back to human again. He looks shocked, and Frank notices.

That questioning however, angers everyone, especially Frank who orders them to call his law firm the next time they want to talk to him.

Renard meets his assassin and orders her to find people, and by that he means humans to kill Marie. It seems he wants Nick on “his” side, and Marie and her explanations are an obstacle to that. They need a human that can get to her.

Nick begins researching the totem poles he saw outside the Rabes house and Juliette comes in with dinner and mentions her visit to Marie that afternoon, and the only thing I can think of is that she would be perfect for Renard’s purposes in order to get to Marie.

In the woods, we see Barry and his friends bury a body, which might be Rocky, but if his face is covered, so who knows.

Back in the trailer, Nick is drawing the totem pole he saw and Marie, clad in a hospital gown still walks in and puts knife through his hand…at which point Nick wakes up. He is still at home, while Juliette is leaving to operate on a bulldog at work. Her departure gives Nick a chance to head to the trailer again where he finds a claw, ailimarl to the Germanic one he saw in the Rabes’ house.

Next stop, Monroe. Who will never not be a fabulous blutbad AKA big no-so-bad wolf who does pilates. He’s irritated at Nick’s interruption, and Nick tries some sweetalking, that doesn’t work, until he just shows him the claw he found in Marie’s trailer.Monroetells him that Jagerbars use the claws for disembowling. Nick grabs his chance to ask for more information on Jagerbars. It becomes obvious Nick is in some serious need of help of the Grimm variety.Monroetells Nick those claws are used in the f Roh-Hatz ceremony, a “Bar Mitzvah for bears”. Nick leaves quickly, and goes to Marie.

She wakes in time to see his picture of a Jagerbar, and he tells her of the case. She tells him that the Roh-Hatz is a rite of passage from boy to man, so right there, I think of Barry. Back at the precinct, Hank tells him that the phone records of Barry Rabe place him at the house just when Rocky and Gilda were there, but right on the heels of that, Renard brings in more problems for Nick telling him that Marie’s guards were pulled because there was no hard evidence of an attack and basically it cost too much.

Best solution ever? Nick callsMonroeto babysit Marie, and tellsMonroehe’s the only one Nick can trust because he can see what Nick does. Ominously, after Nick walks way,Monroeadds, that maybe he shouldn’t. I don’t actually think this meansMonroeis the assassin Renard went to, but I think it’s more to do with his lack of control when his emotions sun high and his fear of the Grimms has always been apparent.

Nick is called away when Hank calls to tell him Gilda has taken Rocky’s gun and is heading for the Rabe’s house in order to get Rocky back. Once tere, she finds the mother in the garden, scaring her, unti Barry attacks Gilda. His mother congratulates him on adding another to his hunting for the Roh-hatz and orders him to get rid of her truck.

Later, Frank and then Nick and Hank pull up to tell them that Gilda is after them. Hank hurries about searching for Gilda’s truck and running down to the road to keep an eye out for her truck giving Nick enough time to have it out – conversation wise – with the Rabes. Cards laid out on the table, Frank calls Nick a threat to his family and most interestingly enough, it seems Frank really doesn’t know that Barry is planning for his Roh-hatz, and realizes his wife is behind this. Frank agrees to help Nick, while his wfe goes into the house. And back at the road, Hank is keeping watch for Gilda, but sees tyre tracks into the woods and finds Gilda’s truck.

In the cave, Barry starts his ceremony smearing blood over Rocky and Gilda for their hunt.

Back at the hospital, Monroe is freaking out and babbling in essence until Marie wakes up and we see his eyes change indicating how close he is to losing control. At that moment though, he looks up to see a man heading for Marie, before the guy swerves away to another direction when he sees Monroe is there – Monroe follows him – distraction to get to Marie perhaps?

Back in the woods, Frank leads Nick through a trail, while at the hospital, Monroe follows the guy to the basement and gets into a fight with the guy and his partner. He’s losing until he changes and defeats them….and oh my, pulls a guy’s hand off. Literally. WOW.

Frank leads Nick to a cave, where Frank tries to make it into the cave to talk to the boys, but Nick refuses. Gun drawn he follows frank in, but it’s too late, they’ve left, and hunt has started. Frank smeels the blood on Rocky’s shirt and changes, andruns out past Nick hunting, I’m assuming Barry, his friends, Gilda nad Rocky.

Gilda nad Rocky are running through the woods, until they stumble onto Nick searching for them. He tells them to run, as he takes on Barry, who changes back into human in time for Frank to come to his rescue, standing in front of his son, so that Nick doesn’t shoot. During the standoff, Barry sees his mother in bear form coming up to attack Nick from behind and screams for her not to attack, I thought because he agreed to stop the hunt, but instead, he was warning her about the pit with spikes he and his friends had dumped a body in earlier. She had no idea it was there and falls and is gravely injured.

Later,  Diane is taken away in an ambulance, still spouting a line about respecting her ancestors, while Frank seems to have moved on past that to live in the present, to want a normal life for his family, and happens to get an arrested son and wife for his troubles.

Frank tries to explain to Nick that his wife wanted her son to know his history to explain why she did what she did, and he reminds me ofMonroe, trying to live in the world as best he can.

Nick gets a call fromMonroe, explaining that he tried to protect Marie, but that things got out of hand. He tells Nick to get to the hospital quickly, but instead, we see a priest try to attack Marie with a scalpel,but Marie, HBIC that she is, saves herself and kills the attacker. Nick arrives in time to have her die in his arms from her disease.

Nick and Juliette go to visit her gravestone and unbeknownst to them, something is watching them as they leave.

I enjoyed this episode immensely, and I love that the show is keeping up with making the monsters Nick is supposed to hunt more complicated than just good or bad – there are those that are just that straighforward, but then there is Monroe and Frank. Frank and his family was a wonderfully done acknowledgement thatMonroeis not the exception to the rule of “bad” monsters, but that the supernatural beings can be blind to even members of their family and their actions.

Marie, I was sad to see die in this episode. I wanted her strong influence to carry on, and as fabulous and funny a replacement asMonroeis, it struck me just how male-heavy this cast is. I guess I keep comparing this to Once upon a Time and I should stop, but that difference did stick out to me. That said, the writing and the complicated characters here are far, far more interesting that the ones in Once Upon a Time. This show challenges the audience with the good and the bad characters, while keeping it’s gritty and pretty creepy tone throughout the episode.

What did you think of the episode?