Grimm - Season 2 Episode 4 - Recap and Review - Quill

"Quill," the follow-up to last week's excellent "Bad Moon Rising," is classic Grimm, weaving a procedural case-of-the-week with the more intimate, character-based stories that this show is becoming increasingly adept at telling. That said, when an episode tries to do as much as "Quill" does, in both advancing some of the lingering plot details of the season so far while also setting the table for the larger arcs forthcoming, it tends to suffer from some mild pacing issues. But that's a minor nitpick in what was otherwise a very immersive hour.

First and foremost, thank God they got rid of that atrocious new opening, leaving out the narration and simply allowing the images to serve as the hook to keep us watching. Of course, the opening titles are hardly the selling point of an episode, and "Quill" happens to have a lot more going for it than most. Our case of the week involves an outbreak of a Wesen-specific illness called Fluvus Pestilentia, an illness that is strangely similar to the Ebola virus, according to the medical examiner performing the autopsy on the first victim. The illness causes the Wesen to be unstable and blindly violent, and, in its early stages, even increases the libido of its victim.

As the episode starts, Nick (David Giuntoli) is finally cluing Hank (Russell Hornsby) in, answering all of his questions about Wesen and the nature of Grimms, giving us a hint as to how the Wesen might be able to recognize a Grimm: “I think they can sense it when I recognize them," Nick says, but he doesn't know for sure. Regardless of the lack of a definitive answer, it's good to see a mythology-heavy show have its characters at least speculating at the guidelines for how their fantastical world works. With Hank all caught up, the partners catch the case of Ryan Gilko, a Wesen who gets rear-ended by a Reinigen infected with Fluvus Pestilentia, leading to an attack that passes on the disease. Nick and Hank are forced to shoot the Reinigen, last name Stanton, when he changes in front of them and charges at them. Later, Sergeant Wu (Reggie Lee) goes to investigate the Stanton home and finds Mrs. Stanton similarly afflicted. She charges at him with a weapon, and Wu is forced to shoot her as well, after a brief struggle. There isn't enough chicken soup in the world for Fluvus Pestilentia.

As Nick searches his tomes to find a diagnosis for the illness, Monroe plans a picnic for Rosalee, in the episode's strongest subplot, as Silas Weir Mitchell and Bree Turner have fantastic chemistry and lend each episode an element of sheer fun that would otherwise be missing without their presence. The two lay on their blanket at the park, skirting around the issue of past relationships, when an infected Gilko, who is a Parks and Rec employee, changes into his Wesen form and attacks the couple. They narrowly get away and retreat to Rosalee's shop, where the two finally kiss, after being interrupted earlier by Gilko. It's a sweet, innocent moment that turns hot and heavy in no time flat. Monroe is having a hard enough time explaining the symptoms of Fluvus Pestilentia to Nick over the phone without Rosalee nibbling at his neck and licking his hands due to her suddenly-insatiable libido...which Monroe realizes is exactly the symptom he's describing to Nick. Monroe checks Rosalee and finds that she's been scratched. Suddenly, Rosalee is faint, and can hardly string words together, only that the recipe for an antidote is in one of her books. It's time for Monroe to roll up his sleeves and get cooking. The episode then bites the bullet and barrels on towards the climax, in which Nick squares off against a delirious and infected Rosalee, in her Fuchsbau form, while Hank and Monroe are putting together the cure for her and for the subdued Gilko.

Right away, the series is a thousand times fresher now that Hank knows the truth, and I imagine this story would have been a very difficult story to tell without Hank knowing about Wesen, as so much of the story was dependent upon Hank's presence (though you could say the same for last week's "Bad Moon Rising"). The Nick/Hank partnership is really one of the show's biggest bright spots, on a character level, and hopefully this will up the badass quotient in their partnership, since Nick appears more focused now that he has nothing to hide from his partner, and Hank seems even more determined now that he knows he's not crazy. It's a great dynamic, and one I hope the show continues to embrace.

I also hope the show continues to embrace the Monroe/Rosalee (MonRosalee?) relationship, since, in a lot of ways, they're the heart of the show. Nick is a good man, but he still needs a compass in his life to keep him on track, and his friendship with the two provides that support structure. That said, Monroe and Rosalee remain intriguing characters in their own right, completely independent of Nick and his investigation or relationship woes. The picnic scene, the scenes in the shop, the natural camraderie and romantic chemistry, it all coalesces in a way that makes Monroe and Rosalee feel like fully-realized characters, whether Nick or his fiance is around or not. Which brings us to Sleeping Beauty herself...

Juliette (Bitsie Tullock) is starting to remember bits and pieces of conversations about Nick, but not exactly Nick himself. She speaks with Monroe to ask how she and Nick were, as a couple. He insists that they were happy, but Juliette doesn't seem entirely satisfied, and tells Nick that she feels awful about something, but she can't apologize because she doesn't know what it is she feels so bad about. Old Juliette didn't seem very understanding (or, at the very least, believing) of Nick's status as a Grimm, but could New Juliette be more willing to accept the truth? We don't know just yet, but we're getting there, as Juliette speaks with Bud (the Eisbiber from season one, and the subject of Juliette's sudden flashes of memory) about her and Nick's relationship. He claims that they were the perfect couple, and states how surprised he was that they weren't married yet, since their love for one another was so obvious.

Juliette seems to consider Bud's assurances until he lets slip that Nick has done a lot for "us" as a "Grimm." Juliette has no idea what Bud means, forcing the Eisbiber to backtrack from his statements, claiming that a Grimm is simply a good cop. It might not have been the straightforward revelation that really would have shaken up the narrative, but it definitely has the wheels in Juliette's mind turning. I was genuinely surprised at how much I enjoyed the Juliette segments this week, as they were brief and very succinct in the story they were telling, playing out like a self-contained short film. Juliette hasn't confronted Nick since Bud let the "Grimm" term out of the bag, which provides the audience with a scintillating tease going forward.

Lastly, Captain Renard (Sasha Roiz) has his own issues that require attention, as he learns that the Families have sent a Nuckelavee to Portland in order to obtain the elusive key. The Nuckelavee is reportedly a dangerous fugitive, and Renard is shown evidence to this effect when one of his men reveals that a cab and its driver went missing within 30 minutes of this mysterious stranger touching down at the airport. As we later see, this Nuckelavee is tailing Nick throughout the episode, and he's even looking down on the gang from the skylight of Rosalee's shop, in his Wesen form, a menacing threat looming over the relative peace of our Grimm gang below. The series is in need of a constant source of danger, a threat that could upend their entire world with the shift of his appearance. The Nuckelavee could well be that threat, although it calls into question just how much Renard knows. For instance, do you think he suspects Nick told Hank about Wesen and his nature as a Grimm? And he seemed a bit off this episode: still a reaction to Catherine's heart-purification potion?

For every answer, we get another question, and Grimm is as good at laying on the mystery as any other mythology-rich genre show. Yet other genre shows aren't always as good at managing a web of disparate plotlines as Grimm happens to be. That alone should keep things pretty interesting as the season, which is shaping up to be a dynamic assortment of different storytelling styles, rolls on.