Episode Title: 'Big Feet'
Writer: Richard Hatem
Director: Omar Madha
Story:
When Juliette (Bitsie Tulloch) makes a house-call for an injured horse, she and the owner come across two dead men in the woods. Nick (David Giuntoli) and Hank (Russell Hornsby) arrive on the scene along with Sgt. Wu (Reggie Lee), who finds a video camera near the bodies. Soon after, a hysterical woman runs out of the woods, screaming about Big Foot. Back at the precinct, the detectives learn the men were aspiring cryptozoologists in search of the legendary creature.
That night, Monroe (Silas Weir Mitchell) hears noises in his house. When he goes to investigate, he finds his friend Larry in Wesen form, badly injured and in need of help. Monroe calls Nick and lets him know that the Big Foot reported in the news might be on his couch.
Monroe tells Nick that Larry, who appears to be stuck in creature form, is not a killer. In fact, he was a part of a Wesen support group that Monroe belongs to and he is seeing Dr. Brinkerhoff, a Wesen therapist. Just then, the two spot police dogs on to Larry's scent, approaching Monroe's house. Monroe decides to throw them off by putting on Larry's shirt and running into the woods. The dogs give chase but ultimately Monroe scares them off. However, he has a run-in with Hank while in Blutbad form.
Back at the house, Larry wakes up and pulls something out of his neck before dying. A spooked Hank calls Nick and tells him he was hit while searching the woods. Nick and Monroe take Larry, who is now back in human form, into the woods and leave him with the device he pulled out of his neck. Monroe promises his dead friend he'll get to the bottom of what's going on.
Nick pays Dr. Brinkerhoff a visit, who tells him that Larry was struggling with impulse control problems. Hank calls to tell Nick that Larry's body was found, though he doesn't look like the same as when he encountered him in the woods. That night, a group of homeless men are attacked by a creature. At the crime scene, Nick and Hank note similarities between the attack and the murder of the two Big Foot hunters. They also come across the dead body of Alan Evercroft, who also had the same device found on Larry.
Meanwhile, Juliette examines the DNA of a strange piece of hair from the night she found the two bodies in the woods. Lab results come back inconclusive, meaning the DNA is neither human or animal.
Monroe stops by the bar where he and Larry went for the support group. He learns from a friend that Larry claimed to be cured of his Wesen urges by Brinkerhoff and that two other men from the group were also seeing the doctor.
The detectives learn that the device found on Larry and Alan is a drug pump, though no illegal substances were used with it. Monroe calls Nick to tell him about Alan and Dan, another one of Brinkerhoff patients. Nick tells Monroe that Alan is dead and Monroe soon learns from Dan's brother that he committed suicide a few days earlier.
Monroe confronts Brinkerhoff about killing his friends but the doctor says he was only trying to help the men with a drug that would eliminate their Wesen urges. He then begins to start transforming and attempts to inject himself with a syringe but it's too late. He leaps out the window as Nick and Hank arrive. Now in Big Foot-like form, Brinkerhoff crashes a swanky party and takes a woman hostage inside a theater. Hank shoots him before he can attack Nick and watches Brinkerhoff transform back into human form. Hank tells Nick what he saw, but Nick says nothing. The Big Foot sighting is attributed to a mask Brinkerhoff used to terrorize his victims.
Back at home, Juliette tells Nick about the DNA she found at the crime scene and adds that she's starting to wonder if things like Big Foot really exist.
Breakdown:
If there's one creature that's going to get the attention of the people of Portland, or at least Hank and Juliette, Big Foot is it. Both Hank and Juliette have been sufficiently spooked. Now it's up to Nick to either let the Big Foot out of the bag or watch his partner and girlfriend slowly go insane.
There's also the matter of Monroe, who doesn't want to end up on the wrong end of a witch hunt. He's not only popping up everywhere in human form, but now Hank's come face-to-face with Monroe's bad side. As naive as Hank's been, what he's seen can't be explained away by a convincing Halloween costume. At least it better not be.
As for Juliette, the idea of her professional duties bringing her into the creature world is a clever one. Nick can dismiss her concerns, but the science doesn't lie. The only question is how she'll handle it when she learns her boyfriend is a fairy tale monster hunter.
For all of it's early season faults, "Grimm" is doing some serious course-correcting in these final episodes. The show seems to work best when it focuses more on creating its own mythology and less on shoe-horning centuries-old fairy tales into modern times. With major revelation(s?) to come in the season finale, "Grimm" may finally have its own fairy tale to tell, heading into next season.
