Episode Title: 'Beeware'
Writers: Cameron Litvack & Thania St. John
Director: Darnell Martin
Story:
Hank (Russell Hornsby) and Nick (David Giuntoli) are assigned to the case of a young lawyer, Serena Dunbrook found dead on a trolly car after a flashmob. Dunbrook's bloated face appears to be an allergic reaction to a bee sting but Nick spots a puncture wound, indicating murder.
After talking to Serena's boss, the detectives meet with a bee expert who tells them the venom was naturally harvested. At the precinct, Nick questions members of the flashmob and focuses on participant, Doug Shallow, when he transforms into a beast. After spotting another Hexen among the group, Nick and Hank visit an abandoned papermill where they spot Doug and another flashmob participant, who claim not to know each other, speaking with an unidentified woman. However, the detectives are soon attacked by a swarm of bees and seek cover.
That night, Nick looks through his Aunt Marie's book and identifies a type of bee creature known as a Mellifer. He asks Eddie to meet him at the paper mill. There, Eddie (Silas Weir Mitchell) gets a scent and leads Nick to company CEO Melissa Wincroft's old office. Afterwards, the two head to her abandoned mansion where they find an attic filled with honeycombs.
Nick learns that Serena was involved in a lawsuit against Wincroft's company, of which Doug Shallow was an employee. When one of Serena's co-workers is killed in another flashmob murder, Nick has the third attorney on Wincroft's case, Adalind Schade (Claire Coffee), taken in for her own protection. When he meets Schade, Nick recognizes her as the nurse who attempted to kill Aunt Marie.
While Hank attempts to comfort Schade, Nick questions her in a hostile tone. Schade tells Captain Renard (Sasha Roiz) that Nick recognizes her and urges him to find "the queen."
WIth no sign of Wincroft anywhere, Nick gives Doug his cellphone back and waits for him to contact her. When he does, Nick realizes that Wincroft doesn't know they have Schade in protective custody. He has Sgt. Wu (Reggie Lee) accompany a doppelganger into Schade's office, in hopes of flushing out Wincroft with the real Adalind Schade under Hank and Nick's watch a hotel. There, Nick confronts Schade about being a Hexen but she won't talk.
Outside the hotel, Wincroft (Nana Visitor) sends a swarm of bees inside where they find Hank, Nick and Schade. The Hexen makes a quick escape with Nick racing through the hotel to find her. In the hotel basement, he finds Wincroft and Schade engaged in a struggle. Wincroft explains that she and the other Mellifers are only trying to warn him of what's to come. She also urges Nick to put his duty as a Grimm above his professional responsibilities. However, when Hank arrives on the scene, Nick shoots Wincroft. Before dying, she tells Nick, "he's coming for you, beware it's close."
Later that night, Nick's fiance, Juliette (Bitsie Tulloch) tries to comfort him about the day's events. However, when Nick goes to close the window, he's stung by a bee.
Breakdown:
They say you catch more flies with honey than vinegar so let's start on a positive note; "Grimm" seems to have loosened up a bit in this third episode, thanks entirely to the show's supporting cast, namely Silas Weir Mitchell as Eddie and Reggie Lee as Sgt. Wu. Jokes were cracked, relationships began to take root and I even smiled over the scene with the humorless ME.
Now back to the "Grimm" reality (look, after feeling the sting of so many stupid bee puns in this episode, I'm allowed a few of mine own). Only three episodes in and this show is starting to settle into a rote formula that already feels tiresome. Are we going to get a scene with Nick paging through his aunt's Grimm encyclopedia followed by a call to Eddie every single week? I know we're only on the third hour, but this feels like really lazy world-building.
Also, how much longer can Nick keep Hank in the dark? We're supposed to believe Hank's a competent detective, thus he doesn't find it odd that he and his partner are being stalked by a swarm of bees, among other odd occurrences? And what about Eddie telling Nick he's had enough of hanging with a Grimm, last week? A bottle of wine was really enough to win him over? And why wouldn't Nick recognize the Hexen that tried to kill his aunt? He's only seen her three times already and he's, like, a detective. So there's that.
Aside from "Grimm's" obvious character flaws, the show is turning into a very low functioning procedural, with clues and evidence falling right into our lead's lap. So what does that leave us with? A somewhat clever Twitter/hivemind premise for a murder case? That only gets you so far.
Well, we did make some small inroads into "Grimm's" mythology with the revelation that the Mellifers are trying to warn Nick that "he's coming." I'm not exactly sitting on the edge of my seat waiting to find out who "Grimm's" nebulous big bad is (that is if it isn't Captain Renard) but I guess it's something to hold onto.
Truth is, I really don't want to hate on this show as I do think there's some potential here. And hey, "Beeware" is probably "Grimm's" best showing, so far. If you're as frustrated as I am with what could be a great new genre series in the Friday night geek ghetto, give it another week or two. Any show that get's Nana Visitor to play a Queen Bee is worth at least another shot.
Crave Online Rating: 6.5 out of 10.
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