‘Grimm’ Review: ‘Bad Luck’

Even though I had over a month to recover, I’m still reeling from the last episode of Grimm. Fortunately, “Bad Luck” picks right up where we left off, meaning we get to process the post-#BIESTFIGHT insanity alongside Nick. If you don’t recall, Juliette beat the living crap out of Adalind and then revealed to Nick her new status quo as an incredibly powerful Hexenbiest. Nick reacts as you would imagine: he pulls a gun on his beloved and calls her Adalind. To be fair, if I was a Grimm and my significant other woged in front of me out of the blue, I’d be pretty freaked out too. Juliette convinces Nick she’s herself by reminding him of his failed proposal. She also explains that her new powers are how she killed her Wesenrein attacker and the Manticore bounty hunter in previous episodes. The cherry and whipped cream on top of this series of loaded confessions is that she learned via Henrietta—a Hexenbiest she met through Renard—that she will never be human again. Nick handles everything only a smidge better than you can imagine, before descending into self blame and leaving their house altogether.

Once that is out of the way, we find ourselves introduced to a fairly typical family, the Bennetts, made up of a single mom with a couple of teenagers. You guessed it. These seemingly average folks are the centerpiece of this episode’s Wesen of the Week shenanigans. After doing the dishes with their mom, the younger sister blackmails her older brother—who’s sneaking out to meet a girl—about getting coverage for their mom so she can sneak off to a party. Teenagers, right? In a fashion true to its horror movie and crime show ancestors, the boy, named Peter, meets his girlfriend in the dark woods and things start to get intimate. There’s even one of those battery operated plastic candle things. However, before the two can seal the deal, we get a big close up shot of an axe and the sound of rustling in the woods. I think we can predict where this is going. Peter’s girlfriend departs and he meanders to wear he hears some accordion music. Like your typical murder victim he goes towards the creepy sound and soon finds himself face to face with a creepy guy with a likely British accent and gigantic axe. The man woges into what we will later learn is a Leporem Venator, which in turn causes Peter to reveal himself as a rabbit-like Willahara. Peter Rabbit. Get it? The man with the axe chases Peter down and chops the poor kid’s foot clean off. His mom hears his cries of anguish and rushes out with her shotgun to find him, but she doesn’t make it in time. Instead she just finds her son sans foot.

While the case is gearing up, Nick is winding things back as he reflects on the things that have happened to Juliette because of him since he learned of his true nature as a Grimm. We get flashbacks to the overlong amnesia storyline from the second season and Juliette’s commitment to helping Nick regain his powers in this one. However, a call from Hank about a murdered teenager breaks him out of his self reflections and gets him to the scene of the aforementioned crime. Nick is understandably distant when he meets Hank and Wu, but he’s still capable of doing his job. They question Beverly about their neighbors and their family. She reveals her husband died a year before and the family moved for a fresh start. In a moment of maternal anguish, she woges, which Nick, of course, sees. She’s given them plenty of information with which to launch their investigation. The scene shifts elsewhere, revealing another young couple in the woods. This pair, however, aren’t to be sympathized with. No, they’re here to pick up Peter’s severed foot. They pay the murderer and get their infertility good luck charm. Another scene shift finds them in bed, hoping to conceive their first child with the foot underneath.  Anybody else wish they could get fried by a Matança Zumbido like in “Death Do Us Part”? I doubt it’s only me.

The next morning, Juliette finds Nick asleep on the couch. She jokingly promises that she isn’t going to kill him, which is certainly an embellishment on Juliette’s twisted sense of humor since her transformation. Things remain tense and Nick explains that he wants to talk to Henrietta. Juliette gives him the Hexenbiest’s address and we get a repeat of that cool parlor trick where she jumbles up all the letters and numbers moments later. Only a few moments later, Nick arrives at Henrietta’s door. The two immediately start talking about Juliette’s condition. Nick offers the “blood of a Grimm” cure for the average Hexenbiest to fix things, but Henrietta summarily dismisses it because of Adalind’s involvement. Henrietta then gives him two options: kill Juliette or accept her like she accepted him. After recovering from the scalding burn of that hot tea, Nick is almost seduced by Henrietta’s magic, though it was more of a “learning moment” than an actual seduction. She encourages him to stay a safe distance from his lady love. Bewitched, bothered, and bewildered he wanders out the door, knowing more and yet less of how to handle Juliette’s change.

At the precinct, Wu sasses Nick for being late, but Nick only offers a grumpy reply. Pleasantries now aside, they begin talking about cases similar to the one they’re dealing with. When Nick explains that their victim is a rabbit Wesen, Wu ingeniously makes the lucky rabbit’s foot connection. I do wonder how long it would have taken Nick and Hank to figure that one out together. Since our three intrepid policemen don’t know they are dealing with Willahara and Leporem Venator yet, they had to the trailer, where they find out about them and the disturbing tradition of using a severed Willahara foot under the bed to instill fertility. After Wu makes an exceptionally bad pun, they agree they should check in on Monroe and Rosalee to see what they know.

While most of the gang are about to meet up, Adalind has her own meeting with Renard. She tries to persuade her baby’s daddy to work with her against both the Royals and our heroes. She explains how Viktor will kill them both once he gets baby Diana in his possession. It’s a fair claim to make and she further emphasizes how nasty things will get between the Royals, the Resistance, and Nick. It’s almost like Adalind is a lawyer or something. Oh, wait, she is. Adalind also reveals she knows about Juliette’s new powers by taking off her sunglasses to reveal a well deserved black eye. The revelation doesn’t faze Renard, who explains Juliette came to him about her predicament. Adalind offers her prerequisite snark and then realizes Renard referred Juliette to Henrietta and Nick is a Grimm again. When Adalind pulls her “us against them” act, she’s sort of convincing, but both Renard and viewers know better. I’m sorry, Adalind, but Nick’s a far more trustworthy ally than you are.

At Rosalee’s spice shop, Nick and Hank get a modern take on the Willahara situation. Monrosalee explain that although it’s an antiquated practice, there are Wesen fertility clinics that could be using a Leporem Venator to sell these Willahara feet under the table. Rosalee, disgusted by the practice, offers to help shut them down, so she and Monroe plan on hitting up some clinics. During the discussion, Wu calls to explain the circumstances of Oliver Bennett’s demise, which includes a missing foot. He also explains that the family is now MIA. Nick and Hank depart the shop to find them while Monrosalee begin their clinic quest. Meanwhile, the remaining Bennetts check into a hotel. Unfortunately for them, the killer has a tracking device on their car and knows exactly where they are. Things are getting pretty crazy, huh?

While everyone else is immersed in the case, Juliette is restless at home. She wanders upstairs and pulls out the engagement ring that she has never officially accepted and slips it on her finger. Her hand involuntarily woges as she does. Some will make an allergy to cheap jewelry joke here and others might make a crack about using moisturizer. Me? I move along to the goings on at the precinct, which involve Nick taking a call from Monrosalee explaining how they narrowed down the prospects of the clinic peddling “rabbit’s feet.” Nick at first insists he come along, but they offer that the presence of a Grimm would throw everything off and the pair goes undercover together. However, before we can get all wrapped up in Baby Monrosalee feels, we find out that creepy axe guy has kidnapped Chloe Bennett. Her mother realizes what happens, but is yet again too late to save her. Fortunately, we get to wallow in feels for a minute to distract us from the anxiety inducing turn.

At the clinic, Monrosalee meet with the doctor to discuss their options. The pair pushes a little too far though and once they out-and-out request a Willahara foot, the doctor angrily throws out their file and asks them to leave. While that lead is a dud, the shady nurse who was eying them up in the waiting room stops them and tells them she can make the connection. Eager to stop the cycle of murder and mutilation, Rosalee offers an additional $5000 to the usual $10000 asking price of the foot, guaranteeing they’re next in line for Chloe’s foot. While they work their cover, Nick and Hank arrive at the scene of the kidnapping and confront Beverly with the knowledge they know she’s a Willahara. She’s reluctant to admit it at first, but one look into that deep dark abyss in Nick’s eyes and she’s persuaded. While the investigation is in gear, creepy guy has Chloe in the backseat and I’m getting serious Investigation Discovery vibes.

While Nick tries to comfort Beverly, a call arrives from Monroe and Rosalee. They tell him how they’ve made the connection with the killer through a nurse. He tells them to make sure she doesn’t leave, which is easier said than done. The nurse, unwilling to answer the couples’ questions, reveals her true form as a Drang-Zorn. Monroe woges to protect his wife, but in what might be the best moment of the episode, Rosalee punches the woged nurse across the face and knocks her out. She didn’t even go full Fuchsbau. Nic k and company soon arrive and find out about the couple that ended up with Peter’s foot. They soon come knocking at their door. After scaring the couple with his signature Grimm reveal, Nick finds Peter’s foot underneath their mattress and finds out where the couple met with the killer. Although Nick can’t arrest them for having the foot, he doesn’t hesitate to threaten them with a much deserved report to the Wesen Council. Suck it, Spinellis.

While Nick is edging ever closer to closing this case, Chloe is still with crazy at a cabin in the woods. She bravely refuses to woge, defiant to the creep’s demands, but that just makes him act creepier. Nick and Hank arrive, though they’re noisy enough to give him running and he heads into the woods with Chloe. He ties her up in the woods and then runs out with his axe to confront our favorite detectives. All the while Chloe struggles against what’s binding her. The fight between Nick and the killer gets pretty intense; Nick gets knocked back, allowing the Leporam Venator to make a brief escape before Chloe of all people clobbers him with the spike she was tied to and then drives it through his foot, all in the name of her father and brother. The villain overpowers her again though, but before he can impale her, Hank shoots him. Bye jerk!

The case closed, Nick returns home to confront Juliette. He reaffirms his commitment to her, but Juliette is resistant. She taunts him, woges into her Hexenbiest form, and asks him to kiss her. While someone should certainly knock some sense into her, I do get where she’s coming from here. I also get Nick being hesitant. It’s definitely the roughest situation they’ve been in so far. Speaking of rough situations, Adalind confronts Henrietta about helping Juliette. Henrietta, in turn, gives her news unrelated to Juliette’s impressive powers. Adalind is pregnant again. Cue flashbacks to her disguised encounter with Nick and dramatic soapy cries of “No! No! Nooooo!!” Looks like next week should be fun.