In the world of Grimm, knowledge is the type of leverage needed to survive. Nick had to learn quickly about the Wesen world in order to become a better Grimm, Hank’s reaction to the news that Nick can see creatures as well was one of comfort, and Juliette has been trying to get her memory back in order to fully love her partner once again. With Monroe having to pick up information at the spice shop in Rosalee’s absence, Renard continuing to obsess over Juliette with no end in sight, and Adalind attempting to get in good with the royal family to get vengeance for her mother, knowledge played a big part in “The Other Side”.
Decatha-lowen
The case of the night centered on an academic decathlon team from a local high school. One night after practice, a team member (Brandon) was walking alone down the street when he was attacked and killed by a Wesen. No money was taken from his wallet, nor were any credit cards – his death was about something personal. The rest of the team, including their ultra-competitive coach, are devastated by the loss of one of their own and searching for answers as to why it happened and who could have done it. Brandon was a fairly popular, well-liked student with a bright future and no enemies to speak of; after talking to the team members and one of the parents, Nick doesn’t pick up on any Wesen vibes, turning instead to the Lowen coach that expressed a desire for vigilante justice for Brandon’s death.
The coach has no alibi to speak of and a restraining order placed against him from an ex-girlfriend, though in the time that Nick and Hank spend investigating him, another member of the decathlon team (Jenny) is attacked under the bleachers. Another team member’s (Pierce) watch was found on the scene of the crime, which is consistent with the fact that he had agreed to meet her there earlier. But when Nick and Hank shift their attention to the young man, they find out that he’s not a Lowen and couldn’t have carried out the attacks – neither is his mother, for that matter. They’re a type of turtle-esque Wesen known as Genio Innocuo, a gentle, intelligent, compassionate species that originated near the Galapagos Islands.
After Nick and Hank leave (and Coach calls to inform Pierce that the meet is off), Pierce discovers blood in the washing machine, indicating that his mother did in fact carry out the attacks. Nick and Hank, meanwhile, head to the house of the coach and find him dead at the bottom of the stairwell in his house, with similar blood spatter and similar markings on his throat. While they’re there, Pierce calls trying to implicate his mother in the attacks, but he opens the machine again to find no blood…and his clean clothes. Pierce did carry out the attacks – his mother altered his genetics before birth and added Lowen DNA into the mix, but she never told him about it and he has no idea that it’s there. It’s almost like he blacks out once the Lowen takes over, as if it’s a separate entity entirely; it did talk to Nick separately from Pierce later in the episode, after all. When he finds out that he committed the crimes, Pierce heads to the water town and jumps, hoping to end things and keep others safe from him for good. Nick, however, catches him as he falls and handcuffs the young man to him, bringing him up and saving his life.
Pierce is charged with three counts of homicide and is last seen in prison attacking two large men that were bullying him during kitchen duty.
You’re My Obsession
With Rosalee still taking care of her aunt, Monroe has gotten more comfortable at the shop, able to rattle off complicated ingredients and complex recipes like he was reading his own shopping list. But one thing he couldn’t prepare for is Captain Renard showing up in order to find a cure for his obsession with Juliette. At a prior night’s award ceremony, where he was honored, the call about the case came and Nick had to leave with Hank, Juliette suddenly stranded. Since Hank walked to the ceremony and Wu was inebriated, Renard volunteered to take her home. Once they got there, he watched her walk to her door, take out the extra key, and head inside, following her after giving her a big enough head start that would keep him from getting caught. Renard crept through the front door, up the stairs, and into the bathroom where Juliette was taking a shower, though he snapped out of the trance-like state he was in, inadvertently cracking a picture of Nick and Juliette, and headed out the door before anyone saw.
Renard then accidentally plows into a man carrying his groceries before stumbling out of his car and hopping back in, speeding off and on the edge of sanity. Monroe questions the captain, obviously running out of options, about whether he wants to be obsessed or not, whether it’s a person or animal, and how long it had been going on, trying to place where he knew Renard the entire time. The right ingredients weren’t there the first time that he came into the shop, but Renard comes back later to not-so-good news. The physical element of the obsession can be controlled through what Monroe describes as “reverse Viagara”, but the emotional element is much more complicated and requires a dual treatment. If left untreated, it could turn into something even more dangerous, Renard’s desire becoming uncontrollable and anyone blocking him from quenching it could be subject to pain.
O Brother Where Art Thou
While we didn’t find out where Adalind was when she resurfaced last week, it turns out the hexenbiest is in Vienna, Austria…with Renard’s half-brother. The two meet at a local hotel bar and flirt away, though once she reveals that she knows who he is, they head back to his room to talk. It’s there that, in between the brother’s attempts to get into bed with Adalind, that we learn a little more about Renard’s history. Born to a mistress of his father, Renard’s mother (a hexenbiest) took him at a young age from boarding school and fled to Portland to get away from the wrath of the king. A royal producing a son with a Wesen was rather scandalous and, fearing for their safety, she made her escape.
In addition, Adalind reveals that she knows the Grimm that has been making waves in the Wesen world. Could she be heading back to Portland with royal backing in order to take Nick down once and for all?
Additional thoughts and observations:
-The department has a new intern named Ryan, who makes up for his lack of balance with his enthusiasm for the job. He had been following Nick’s career after the events of the pilot and has been working in records for the past three months.
-Next week on Grimm: A detective from New Mexico comes to Portland to help with a child abduction case, while Monroe tangles with neighborhood bullies.
Does anyone know who played Pierce?