‘Grimm’ Review: “My Fair Wesen”

Does Nick have a protege? Will this mystery character, Teresa Rubel (hence "Trubel" hence trouble) prove to have a lasting impact on the show or will she be excised from the story fairly quickly? We're heading into the home stretch of 'Grimm''s third season, with this the antepenultimate episode, so perhaps this is all set up for season 4.

The episode starts with the quote "No longer a dark gray bird, ugly and disagreeable to look at, but a graceful and beautiful swan." and picks up right where the episode left off. Nick talks to Juliette about letting Teresa stay with them for a while as Teresa just found out she's a Grimm, and has recently killed some wesen. In a chic clothing shop a group of women engage in some coordinated shoplifting, and they bring the clothes to Ken. One of the girls, Camella, almost gets caught so she doesn't come to their meet up right away. She shows up a little later while everyone else in the gang is eating dinner. She pleads for forgiveness but Ken woges and kills her.

Teresa is slovenly at the table, and says inappropriate things, but is thankful for the care. But she also has nightmares and tries to run away. Nick catches her on the way out and explains that she needs help, but also it could be beneficial to him as well. Sean takes Adalind to a hotel, and she seems to revert to her old seductive ways as she tries to get him into bed, but also talks about her deep connection to her baby. In the morning, Monroe is doing exercises when Nick calls and asks them to show Teresa that not all wesen are bad, while in a park a dog digs up Camella.

Nick and Hank show up with Teresa at Monroe's, and Monroe and Rosalee try to make small talk and woge to show her what it's like. They also tell her that a peace between wesen and Grimms is a new thing and they want to encourage it. Nick and Hank then get called in about the body. Adalind talks to a lawyer about her mom's estate, which has been reduced to the mom's belongings -- alas, there's no money. At the crime scene Wu informs them Camella has been drained of her blood. Teresa proves to be a bit of a bumbler when around other people, but she can tell the girl was killed by a wesen. Ken talks to his girl gang, with many of the girls sad about Camella's death, but he wants a new girl for his group. In the trailer they find the type of wesen who could do this, a Lebensauger, when they find out the vicitm, Camella has a record of shoplifting. While in the trailer Teresa finds a portrait of the kind of wesen who killed her foster parents.

Adalind goes through her mom's things looking for a book, but she can't make it open. Nick, Hank and Teresa go to the halfway house Camella used to live at, and Teresa sees that Camella's roommate is wesen. Nick and Hank talk to the girl, but she has no interest in revealing anything. Teresa investigates on her own, and gets a name: Donna. Her techniques are aggressive, which doesn't sit well with Nick, but she gets results (hopefully Hank doesn't get jealous). Back at the station Wu and Teresa have a moment together, where Wu almost confesses about his wesen experience, but he blanches. Teresa joins Nick and Hank on a stakeout and when they see Donna Teresa springs into action again. She makes contact with Donna and goes off with her, but Nick and Hank lose them both.

Nick and Hank have a partial plate and call it in, while Teresa is brought to meet Ken. Ken approves of her, and asked her to put on a dress and get made up. Nick and Hank get a match and go to the location where Nick decides to break in (Hank says Teresa is rubbing off on him), and they find some stolen clothes,and a second address. Teresa is presented to Ken and he's impressed, but he won't let her leave as she's part of the family now.

Ken drags Teresa into a room, and when he corners her she punches him. He woges and can then see she's a Grimm. She tells the other girls to leave, but it turns out that Donna is wesen as well. Nick and Hank show up, but Teresa's having no trouble taking on the two. Teresa kills Donna, while Nick shoots Ken. Back with her mom's possessions, Adalind is able to finally open the book when she bleeds on it. Nick goes home, and confesses to Juliette that she thinks Teresa is going to get herself killed. Teresa then comes in and apologizes and says she needs to know more. They pledge to talk about it in the morning.Teresa goes to her room and starts drawing the Lebensauger, while a man in a hotel clutches one of the special keys. So, yeah, the season finale is coming soon.

Teresa makes an interesting addition to tonight's 'Grimm,' which is funny as the show seemed to have finally found a way to mostly balance all the characters. This episode felt especially even-handed and brought in characters organically, with all of the main players getting a good scene or two. Teresa could make a good addition to the bench, but also, it might give the supporting players much less to do, which means she should probably leave the show soon. We'll see how this plays out.

This was more a monster of the week episode than we've seen of late, which meant we got a good and gross villain that tied into a case. But the further this show goes, the more unbelievable the police reports are getting. How could you explain tonight's goings on? "The woman then fell on a knife and the witnesses saw nothing..." It's not a deal-breaker, but it's getting silly. Adalind has returned to being the least interesting element of the show, though her machinations are likely to play big into where the show is going, and with 'Grimm' already renewed for season four, we're likely to get another cliffhanger to end out the season.

But I think it's that the show's built a great family that makes me more excited for Monroe and Rosalee's wedding than I am the grander Royals vs. Wesen narrative that the show's cooking. I like spending time with the characters and when the show has a more hang out vibe it's at its best. But as this season wraps up it's worth noting it may also be the show's strongest in that it's given all its players interesting narratives, and understood the shows greatest charms, and it will be interesting to see how the show mutates for its fourth season.