‘Grimm’ Review: ‘Wesenrein’

The wait between Grimm’s winter finale episode “Chupacabra” and its return to our televisions this past Friday with “Wesenrein” was nothing short of brutal. The finale saw Wu confronted yet again with the Wesen world, Juliette transformed into a Hexenbiest, and Monroe kidnapped in front of his own home by the hate group that has been tormenting him and Rosalee. Fortunately, “Wesenrein” picks right up from where we were left about a month ago.

Juliette is still in front of the mirror, going full horror movie scream queen at the sight of her unexpectedly woged face. She almost calls Nick, but decides against it. Considering the fact he and Hank were picking up Wu from a holding cell after his freak out at a bar in the last episode, he probably wouldn’t have been able to help much. It’s probably more of a show than tell kind of situation anyway, which is quite similar to the predicament Nick and Hank find themselves in with Wu. After springing him from the clink, our favorite detectives take him out to the woods to the trusty trailer. The dynamic between the three of them is tense and makes for some interesting work on the part of the actors. Nick flips through one of the many books, pointing out all the Wesen that surround them. It’s an intense info dump for both Wu and viewers. Nick gives Wu the opportunity to walk away—his second actually—but Wu agrees to stay. Welcome to the Scoobies, Wu!

Back at Monrosalee’s place, Rosalee is on the phone with her mom, unaware of what happened to her husband. She calls for Monroe, but there’s no response. She soon heads outside, finding the plate of food he had brought shattered on the ground in front of the police car, with neither her husband nor sketchy Wesenrein double agent Officer Acker in sight. She cries out again and Acker wobbles out of some bushes. Of course we know he’s guilty as sin, but poor Rosalee doesn’t. She also doesn’t know her husband is chained up in the back of a windowless white van surrounded by a bunch of Wesen bigots. You can probably guess this episode isn’t an easy one for the Wesen newlyweds.

Back at the trailer, things are still a little dicey between Nick, Hank, and Wu. The sergeant doesn’t quite get why they lied to him about the Aswang being real and even questions the truth of everything they’re saying now. I mean, I get it, but this is a seriously elaborate hoax to try and pull off on a guy. Wu then asks why they don’t just kill them all, to which Nick responds “Some of my closest friends are Wesen.” We know this to be true, since one of those friends calls him frantic about her missing husband. Yup, Wu’s lesson must come to an end for now as it converges with Monroe’s kidnapping. Worried about their friend, the men leave the trailer and head to Rosalee to find out what happened with Monroe.

Meanwhile, none the wiser, Juliette is trying to open a bottle of aspirin to deal with those killer “I’m becoming a Hexenbiest” migraines. Unfortunately, they’re too much for her and her new powers cause all the glass objects around her to shatter. While Juliette’s busy making a mess, Nick and company arrive at Monrosalee’s place to find out exactly what happened. Wu’s presence is smoothed over and Acker feeds everyone a line of bull about how he was knocked out by the kidnappers. Inside, Nick questions Rosalee, who is justifiably seething with anger over what’s happened. Nick arranges for Rosalee to stay at his and Juliette’s place; when he calls for approval, Juliette is sweeping up her mess. She clearly really wants to tell Nick what’s going on, but with Monroe’s kidnapping in play, she can’t just yet. Juliette agrees to provide refuge for Rosalee, even as the Wesenrein drag Monroe to their secret lair.

Back at the precinct, Nick and Hank question Acker about what happened. Every scene with this guy is frustrating to watch, because as a viewer, you know he’s bad news. Meanwhile, everyone else is oblivious. Sure, it’s a common storytelling trope, but I still want to throttle the guy. After talking to Acker, Nick and Hank go to Renard with the information they have so far on the Wesenrein as well as Wu’s new found Wesen knowledge. He sends them off to pick up Shaw, the Klaustreich that Trubel beat the crap out of a few episodes back, which they handle in short order. Shaw even has his Wesenrein mask hidden away in his pocket.

While Nick and the rest of Portland’s Finest are dealing with the investigation, Rosalee arrives at Juliette’s door. Here we get tears and hugs. Elsewhere, there are no hugs for Monroe. Instead, there are unmasked Wesenrein douchebags giving him vodka instead of water. I’m not sure I’ve seen a villain in four seasons of this show that resonates with real world loathing like these Wesenrein characters. After Monroe spits out the vodka, he turns around to find another captive named Terry, who has been imprisoned for how own intermarriage. I have a sinking feeling things won’t turn out so great for Terry.

In Renard’s office, we see the captain talking to a Skalenzahne. Apparently he has some plans of his own for the Wesenrein. When he departs, Wu comes in and we get a really fantastic scene between Renard and Wu. It’s delightfully awkward. Back at the Villain’s Secret Lair, the Wesenrein return to drag poor Terry away. Yeah. He’s toast. The kid who gave Monroe vodka remains absolutely insufferable. It’s okay to cross your fingers hoping for a fictional character to die, right?

When the show reaches the halfway mark, we get a very brief detour to Vienna to check in on Adalind and Viktor. He interrupts her beauty sleep with a brand new scheme regarding a return to Portland. I have to say, having Adalind back in town would be nice, as these somewhat forced and all too brief visits to Vienna do little for the character. Plus, I really want to see Juliette cut a ‘biest.

Once again, we return to the precinct where Nick and Hank are interrogating Shaw. Shaw plays dumb quite effortlessly, but since it is Nick’s gift to see through falsehoods, it doesn’t get him very far. Hank leaves Nick and Shaw alone. It doesn’t take long before Shaw’s sass mouth provokes Nick to slam Shaw’s face into the table; Shaw woges in response and, much to his chagrin, realizes Nick is a Grimm again. Shaw still won’t talk and Nick, shifting into zombie mode, almost chokes the life out of him before Hank stops the interrogation. Renard enters the room and Shaw starts throwing around threats of lawsuits, which the captain delightfully shuts down with talk of primal law. They agree to release Shaw to see what he does next and they put Wu on watch in his first official Wesen related case. However, before he can leave to cover Shaw, he bumps into Acker, who is full of apologies for what happened. Shaw arrives home, only to get a call that there’s an officer at his house and he should head out the backdoor. Outside, he’s greeted by a bunch of Wesenrein, including their Grand Master Charlie Riken. Riken knows Shaw didn’t spill the beans, but he knows he will. Riken woges into his Blutbad form and proceeds to kill Shaw. Oh well, I say. He’s been asking for it for episodes now.

Back at Nick and Juliette’s place, Rosalee is a complete mess. Juliette does her best to comfort her, but there isn’t much a person can do when your love has been taken away from you. Although Rosalee’s unable to sleep, Juliette manages to catch some shut eye. Shaken awake by an anxious Rosalee, Juliette agrees to check her phone for a call from Nick. Unfortunately, there are none and this only aggravates Rosalee more. In what might be the most unexpected turn, the two best friends become antagonistic, with Rosalee pushing Juliette to the point of woging into her new Hexenbiest form. Juliette, fully unhinged, attacks Rosalee and tears her best friend’s throat out. It’s one of the most surprising and gory scenes I’ve ever seen on the show, which is saying something. It’s also, fortunately, a dream sequence. As demented as the writers at Grimm can be, there’s no way they would have bumped off a character like that. Right? Right. Rosalee, completely alive, approaches a sleeping Juliette hoping to comfort her friend who is clearly in the midst of a nightmare. Juliette then offers to make them something to eat. Clearly the horrors of that nightmare have passed, for now anyway.

At Shaw’s place, a disembodied scream causes Wu to run behind the house and find the dead Klaustreich. Back at the precinct, our in the know cops are researching the backgrounds of the Wesenrein names they have record of when Wu gives them the call about Shaw. They arrive and enter the now deceased scumbag’s home, where they find a Wesenrein robe in his closet. More importantly, Wu spots a picture of Officer Acker on Shaw’s wall, exposing the traitor in their department. When they return to the precinct, Wu suggests they take a look at Acker’s phone records, which reveal a pretty suspicious history. I have to say, I love that Wu is already proving his worth now that he really knows what’s going on.

Back at the Wesenrein base, the irritating schmuck in charge of holding Monroe captive—the younger brother of the Grand Master—gets more and more obnoxious with each passing second. Fortunately, in one of the episode’s most satisfying moments, Monroe manages to woge and then clobbers him. Monroe finds his way out of the facility, but is spotted by returning Wesenrein members and is captured again. Unfortunately, this isn’t before he spots the crispy remains of his prison mate Terry, who had been impaled and set ablaze. Dragged back inside, the younger Riken gets snippy with Monroe; surprisingly, the older brother backhands the younger. Not quite as satisfying as when Monroe clobbered him, but it’s close. That said, Monroe’s life isn’t any less threatened because the older wants to follow rules that the younger doesn’t.

Wu’s phone record search pays off with a series of calls to a local prison, where a Mauzhertz named Walker Williams had been forced to play go between for Acker and an until recently imprisoned Charlie. While Nick and Hank are handling the case as only police can, Juliette brings Rosalee a list of names and reveals that one of the guests at her wedding to Monroe is likely the one that betrayed them. This sets up some interesting prospects for what might happen next week. Meanwhile, Monroe is dragged outside to the Wesenrein tribunal, closing the episode with just as much anxious energy as it began.