Man is not what he thinks he is,
He is what he hides.
Trapped like rats as a former ally closes in on them, Nick, Monrosalee, and the gang continue their fight against now-Mayor Sean Renard as he continues his insane obsession to see Portland’s Grimm dead and gone.
Once again, we pick up where we left off last week (does any show do this more than Grimm?) as Renard and the Portland S.E.R.T. team moves in to take Nick down. Renard is ready to enjoy his victory when Hank and Wu speed in with an eleventh hour reprieve. Arresting their former police captain for the murder of Rachel Wood, they hope the gamble will buy Nick time to get out of dodge and back underground. While they temporarily take Renard out of the picture, S.E.R.T. moves in for the takedown only to be neutralized by the mysterious Stick—the artifact that healed Eve and resurrected Nick from multiple gunshot wounds. The gang uses the distraction to their advantage, retreating back into the tunnels (thanks to Monrosalee finding the outside exit last week) where they look to regroup.
Meanwhile, Hank and Wu do their best to keep Renard locked up but Portland’s new mayor is slippery. His initial thought is to use Adalind as his alibi for Rachel’s murder but she flat out refuses. Not until Nick comes to her with his own plan: make a deal with Renard using a Trust Me Knot where Renard drops all charges in lieu of Adalind testifying on his behalf. The first party to break the promise dies. As plans go, it’s pretty good. That is until the grand jury convenes several days ahead of schedule and, thanks to his connections, Renard is allowed to go free. Because Adalind’s testimony wasn’t needed, the Trust Me Knot is invalidated, meaning that Nick still has Renard on his heels.
More concerning than the mayor of Portland wanting to string him up is Nick’s growing dependence on the Stick being in his possession. An episode subplot—one that will become a larger part of this season’s narrative—is the mysterious (and invisible) writing on the cloth that held the Stick. Julieve (this current Juliet/Eve hybrid) recognizes that something may not be right with the Stick and convinces Nick to put it away, at least for a bit. He does so but not without a fight and, for several moments, his reticence to cede control of the Stick and the longing, almost orgasmic look he gave the item had me half expecting him to utter the words “Precious”.
At the end of the day, we’re left with a smug Renard, feeling as if he’s in total control and Diana, the little hexen biest that could, mapping out the cloth’s writing, invisible to all put her (and, in parts, to Julieve). It’s a foreshadowing of what is to come…and what will be. Good or bad, Nick Burkhart’s world is going to change.
Grimmtastic
- Though he’s firmly in the camp of ‘bad guy’, it appears Renard isn’t without regrets. In fact, during his short stay in prison, he hallucinates a bullet casing and gun, recalling last season’s murder of Meisner. Sure, it was a mercy killing compared to what Bonaparte had in store for the resistance fighter/HW agent but he still murdered a man who had helped him throughout the years.
- Speaking of HW, turns out they’re calling in Trubel, relieving Nick of one of his most powerful allies. We knew Trubel wasn’t going to be a series regular but it’s still a shame that she won’t be seen more in this truncated final season.
- And Monrosalee’s cat is out of the bag. Everyone knows the two are expecting a baby Wesen now. We won’t get to see how said baby turns out but maybe the series finale gives us a glimpse of a bright future for all our white hats. If only it were that easy…
Grimm: “Trust Me Knot” –3.5/5
