Written by David Greenwalt and Jim Kouf
Directed by Terrence O’Hara
This felt like a callback to the earliest episodes of the series, when the stories were more blatantly inspired by classic fairy tales. The “Cinderella” vibe was palpable from the very start, especially once the gorgeous Lucinda stepped into the room. Immediately the stakes were established: why wouldn’t Arnold do anything to keep a lovely and frisky young woman like that happy?
Well, it doesn’t help if a lot of the money needed to keep your lady happy comes from questionable business deals, and they start to go sour. And it really doesn’t help when the only option is crawling to your wife’s step-mother for a bailout. The writers try to make her rejection of Arnold’s plea seem a bit unnecessarily harsh, but frankly, she’s well within her rights, even if she does seem to have an attitude when it comes to her step-daughter.
Predictably, Lucinda (and her godfather Spenser) are both Wesen, and this type is a bat-like creature that can use a high-pitched squeal to kill in a particular unpleasant manner. Needless to say, Lucinda looks much better in her human guise than her natural form. The nice touch is that the usual victim in the “Cinderella” story turns out to be a vicious, self-interest killer. It’s not the most subtle subversion of expectation, but it works.
Meanwhile, Juliette decides to give Nick a little present and dig up information on the thugs that killed his parents. Despite the flashbacks, I couldn’t quite recall the context of when we had seen the three that are already dead, but it really doesn’t matter, since there’s still a fourth out there to hunt down. What are the chances that this guy will show up in the impending finale, knee deep in whatever Wesen-driven situation threatens Nick and his crew?
And by “crew”, I still mean Monroe, since even Rosalee is out of the picture this time. Maybe she’s keeping a low profile after that business with the Resistance? Whatever the case, Monroe is always a great addition to any episode, but I’m still wishing Nick’s Scooby Gang could be expanded a bit. As many have noted, the biggest problem is that Nick is not that interesting, so a strong supporting cast could really help with the overall scheme of things.
And once again, how hard would it have been to have Juliette stumble on something Grimm-related during her researching? I still don’t trust that she’s 100% human. At this point, two options present themselves. Either she’s also part of a Grimm bloodline, just not “active” yet, or she’s a member of one of the ruling families, and really good at playing the innocent. Since we know that members of the ruling families, like Captain Renard, can maintain their human guise around Grimms, it wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility.
This late in the season, I was surprised to see an episode with so many stand-alone elements. The only real clue that places this episode in this position within the season is Nick’s comfort level with being a Grimm, and Monroe’s full investment in their partnership. I know that the structure of the show is intentionally less serialized, so I’m going to assume that the preparations for the season finale within the narrative will become apparent in due time.
Writing: 2/2
Acting: 2/2
Direction: 2/2
Style: 1/4
Final Rating: 7/10
