Episode Title: 'The Three Bad Wolves'
Writer: Naren Shankar & Sarah Goldfinger
Director: Clark Mathis
Story:
Nick (David Giuntoli) and Hank (Russell Hornsby) question a thickly-muscled, dim witted man amid the wreckage of his home, destroyed by an explosion the night before. He tells the detectives that the same thing happened to his brother a month earlier. Unfortunately, he did not survive.
At the precinct, Monroe (Silas Weir Mitchell) shows up after getting a call from "Hap," the man whose home was destroyed. Realizing that the two are friends, Nick asks Monroe to keep an eye on Hap in the meantime.
Nick and Hank meet with Officer Orson (Daniel Roebuck), an arson investigator, who is convinced both explosions were purely accidental.
Later that night, Nick is attacked by a female Blutbad outside Monroe's home. Hap rushes outside to tell Nick the woman is his sister, Angelina. Inside the house, Angelina reprimands Monroe and Hap for working with a Grimm. Nick accuses Angelina of attempting to kill Hap to get his brother's life insurance money, but she insists she was out of town when he was killed.
Nick visits Aunt Marie's trailer to research Blutbads. Meanwhile, Angelina convinces Monroe to go for a run in the woods. Later, Nick sneaks into Angelina's house and he is attacked by a pig-like creature known as a Bauerschwein. Later, Hap is killed by the same creature while Angelina and Monroe are in the woods. The two return in the morning to find the police at Monroe's home, investigating the murder.
After leaving the precinct, Monroe tells Angelina that Nick was attacked at her place. She returns to her home, despite the warning and she soon realizes a Bauerschwein was there. Meanwhile, Hank learns that Officer Orson is related to two brothers in an unsolved murder case. Nick suspects Orson killed Hap for revenge after Angelina killed his brothers.
Nick confronts Orson, who momentarily transforms into a Bauerschwein. He warns Nick to stay out of the feud. Angelina breaks into Orson's office but he's not there. After Angelina's home is burned down, Nick goes to Orson's home, where he finds him in a mud bath. Orson admits to his crimes, however Angelina arrives soon after and attempts to kill him. Nick hits her in the back, a technique he learned from his aunt's book, and Orson shoots her. Despite getting shot, Angelina is able to make an escape.
At Monroe's, Nick asks for his help in finding his ex, but Monroe refuses. After Nick leaves, he finds a family picture belonging to Angelina at his door step.
Breakdown:
This was easily the best episode of "Grimm" to date. When I heard NBC would be airing two episodes of this show in one week, I wasn't looking forward to it. Now, I'm happy to say that Thursday's marked improvement was followed by an even stronger hour in Friday's follow-up episode, "The Three Bad Wolves."
The first thing "Grimm" got right in this hour? Hitting the ground running with the detectives already at the scene of the crime, instead of dragging us through the obligatory "I'll be right there" call. This was a well-paced episode filled with plenty of monstrous action.
The second item on my wishlist of improvements this show needs? The kind of whacky, weird and watchable characters you'd expect from a show like 'Grimm.' This week, we got 'em. I was truly bummed when Monroe's old Blutbad buddy, Hap was killed. I could have watched the wolfman chain smoke with a "shake weight" all day long…
It was also great to get some clues regarding Monroe's past and the behaviors he abandoned when he started working the Blutbad twelve step program. His late night romp in the woods with old flame, Angelina was a little bit too "True Blood" for me but I'm glad the show is exploring and expanding on his character. And She-Wolf, Angelina is a fun character to have out there in the 'Grimm-verse,' should she drop in again.
Of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the appearance of 'Lost's' Daniel Roebuck as Bauerschwein/Arson Investigator. The scene where he emerges from the tub of mud in pig-form was hysterical. "Grimm" needs to pull something like that, every week.
As I mentioned in my look at Thursday night's episode, I'm happy to see "Grimm" get better. There's nothing worse than watching a lousy hour of television and then having to rehash everything that's wrong with it in writing. And "Grimm" is the kind of show I want to see more of on TV, so naturally, I'm rooting for it. If these last two episodes are any indication, that shouldn't be a problem.
Crave Online Rating: 9 out of 10.
