Episode Title: 'Organ Grinder'
Writers: Akela Cooper & Spiro Skentzos
Director: Clark Mathis
Story:
Two teen boys are chased through the woods at night. One is taken captive while the other falls into a river. The captured boy is taken to a cabin where dead bodies are thrown into a fire pit, outside. That night, Nick (David Giuntoli) confides in Monroe (Silas Weir Mitchell) that he's thinking about telling Juliette he's a Grimm. Monroe advices against it, for fear it would be too much for the average human to handle. Nick and Hank (Russell Hornsby) are then called to the scene when a boy's body washes up on the shore, with apparent bite marks in his neck.
The medical examiner tells the detectives the marks may be from IV needles, as the boy, identified as Steven Bamford, has lost a signifigant amount of blood. While checking out the P.O. Box Steven rented, Nick notices a teen wearing the same necklace Steven had on. The teen tells the detectives he got the necklace from another street kid who makes them. The detectives find the find the girl, Gracie (Hannah Marks) and her brother, Hanson (Daryl Sabara) who knew Steven. According to Gracie, the last she heard from him was that he got a job working on a ranch.
At the clinic where Steven was a patient, the detectives meet with office manager, Tom Daniels (Steven Beckingham) and well as Dr. Levine (Valerie Cruz), who treated Steven for a spider bite. They're soon called to the scene of a car accident, where a cooler full of human organs and blood spilled open. There, Nick sees the accident victim transform while stuck inside the SUV and on the verge of death.
Later in his aunt's trailer, Nick reads about Geiers, a type of creature that harvests organs from living humans. Monroe tells Nick that Geiers use human organs for creature enhancement and that he knows a place that sells them. The next day, Monroe goes to the shop and buys some Gallenblase, which contains human gallbladder.
The detectives get a match on Steven's blood and the blood from the SUV. However, the organs are from different people. When the lab tech identifies the item Monroe purchased as human gallbladder, Nick goes to the shop and demands to know the storekeep's contact for human organs. It turns out to be the driver of the SUV. The shopkeep claims not to know the dealer, but gives Nick the number he texts him at. That night, Nick and Juliette (Bitsie Tulloch) take Gracie and Hanson out for dinner. Gracie tells Juliette about another teen named Kevin, who also went missing with Steven.
Nick learns that the numbers from the driver's phone and the number from the shopkeep point to the same address. Meanwhile, Gracie goes to the clinic and tells Dr. Levine about her dinner with Nick. When the doctor questions her, Gracie tells her what she told Nick about the case. At the address, the detectives find a trailer with a hostile inhabitant. After returning fire and taking the man out, they find a greenhouse out back, where human body parts are hanging to dry. When a call comes into the dead's man phone, Nick sees that it is from the clinic.
While out on the street, the clinic office mananger kidnaps Gracie and Hanson and takes them to a house in the woods. However, as they are forced into the cabin, Hanson leaves a trail from his shell necklace for the detectives. At the clinic, Nick sees one of the employees transform and demands she tell him where the kids are.
The detectives arrive at the house with backup from SWAT. Nick soon notices the shell trail which leads them to the cabin. After they break into the cabin, a shootout ensues. Nick races outside to find Dr. Levine — who has now transformed into a Geier — is hiding in a tree. She jumps down on him and he kicks her towards the firepit. Though Nick tries to save her from falling in, she loses her grip and is consumed by the flames. Back inside the cabin, Nick assures Gracie that Hanson and Kevin are alright.
Back in his office, Captain Renard (Sasha Roiz) gets a package with the ear he severed off a Reaper. He then gets a phone call, warning him to take care of the Grimm, as things are getting out of balance. Renard tells the Repear that Nick is different, as he has a conscious, but the caller is unconvinced and he promises to pay a visit in person, next time.
Breakdown:
Things are getting weird around here. That was Detective Hank Griffin's astute observation and it's about time he took notice. Meanwhile, Nick is starting to get antsy about Juliette. And sure, as a veterinarian, Juliette's probably had a few exotic creatures cross her path but looking into the eyes of a real life "Big Bad Wolf" might just send her over the edge.
"Grimm" has the challenge of making us believe a highly competant detective is near oblivious to something that by profession he should take notice of. There have been hints of Hank's suspicions before, but "Organ Grinder" made a point of showing Hank having a hankering that somethings up with all the whackadoodle cases that come across their desks.
However, Monroe makes a good point. Most of us would probably lose our grip on reality if we knew the world was filled with fairy tale monsters who like to feast on gall bladder powder and dried human kidneys. There's leaps of faith and then there's hunting for Sasquatch and the Loch Ness monster. Hank doesn't appear to be there, just yet but things are certainly starting to shift.
"Organ Grinder" also touched on Renard's friction with the Reapers. They aren't happy about Nick calling out creatures all over town. And it seems Renard isn't ready to stop the goodhearted Grimm. Could this lead to another attack, with Juliette caught in the crossfire? If Monroe isn't willing to pull his Blutbad party trick on Juliette, this may be the only way she'll learn the truth and actually believe it.
As for the fairy tale of the week, our modern day Hansel and Gretel was a clever transposition from the original tale, with a homeless teen's shell necklace replacing the white pebbles the children used in the forest and the evil doctor falling into a fire pit. We also learned about a whole new horrifying breed of creature known as Geiers and the Viagra-like properties of human testicles. Thank you, Monroe.
And while Detective Burkardt's Blutbad buddie (go ahead, say it three times fast) urged Nick to try to get to know him better, it's actually Nick who we need to get to know. Being a Grimm has got to have more of a downside than watching otherwise attractive people suddently sprout whiskers and fangs. There's got to be some physiological side affects to this. Nick is way too well-adjusted for a guy who sees fairy tale monsters on the regular.
Otherwise, "Orgran Grinder" was another solid entry in "Grimm's" first season. This show is getting there, with every Bauerschwein, Gefrierengeber and Lausenschlange that comes across Nick's path.
Crave Online Rating: 8 out of 10.
