‘Grimm’ Review: “One Night Stand”

With almost all of the plot strands from the season premiere wrapped up, we're curious to see what 'Grimm' has up its sleeves for the rest of the season, as we can't tell what's going to be the big season arc this year. Will it be Nick's zombie side, or Adalind's baby, or both? We shall see.

Tonight's episode starts with the quote "More and more she grew to love human beings and wished that she could leave the sea and live among them." A group of teens are hanging out near the river as they play guitar, drink beer and do a little swimming. They're being watched, but it's by a young deaf girl Ellie, one of the teen's sister. The deaf girl says she's in love with one of the boys, Jake, but she gets sent off. The older sister goes skinny dipping. Jake follows and so the young deaf girl steals Jake's phone. One of the boys is grabbed by something under the water, and then so is Jake.

Ellie saves Jake, and it seems she's a mermaid. At Monroe's, Rosalee is moving in, but she has some reservations, which just seems a way to get the two to kiss. Nick and Juliette go through the morning motions and Juliette checks on his doctor's report on his health. Nick hasn't seen it, and jokes that he's undead. Nick and Hank are called in about the dead teen. They think it might not just be the river, so they go to talk to Jake, who tells them that his friend was pulled under water by something or someone. He tells them about the girls, and mentions the girl that saved him, but thinks it might have been a hallucination. They go back to the scene of the crime. Nick hears Ellie and chases after her, but she dives into the water and swims away fast.

Hank catches up to Nick, and so does Jake, who says that was the girl who saved him. Back at the station, they talk about their case with Renard, who then gets a text. He's been sent a photo and it's of Adalind. He talks to his contact and finds out that Adalind's been dealing with Frau Pech, and about the baby. Renard figures out that Adalind might be selling the baby. Hank and Nick then check with in with Monroe and Rosalee and are told about Nyads, water nymphs. Monroe suggests they go to the trailer, and Monroe hints that he wants to go with. At the trailer they find out more about the Nyads, which are like sirens, and when kept out of the water for hours they die from dehydration. They find out Jake's phone is at the marina, and they take Jake with them. And guess what? Ellie is nearby. They talk to a man named Abel who works there and the phone is inside the house. Nick finds a picture of the Nyad girls. Jake was told to stay by the car, but when he sees the girls he goes to say hello. The girls pretend not to know him, and it turns out they're with two neighborhood boys. The cops arrest the girls, and Abel reveals he's a wesen.

The two boys are actually wesen as well, and they want to cut Ellie because Abel supposedly didn't raise his daughter right. At the station, Nick questions the blond girl, Sarah, who's already peeling. The brunette, Anna, also stays mute. Renard says he doesn't want two unexplainable dead bodies, but he won't let them go either. Abel shows up to confess, but he doesn't hold up under questioning. They decide to use the confession as a way to get the girls to talk. Back at Jake's apartment, someone's broken in. He's a little freaked out, but it's Ellie. He knows she saved him, and he tells her about the cops. She takes him the pool at his apartment and shows him that she can swim super fast and has glowing eyes and webbed hands. He's then beaten over the head by one of the neighborhood boys, who then kidnaps Ellie.

At Monroe's, Monroe unpacks the final box of Rosalee's, and finds a weird looking bunny. She confronts him about his nervousness about their new commitment to each other, but everything's okay and the two make out again. Nick and Hank go to the girls to see if they'll break. Sarah finally tells them that the two boys from the Marina did it. They get a full confession, and find out that sacrifice is part of the old ways, and that the boys were part of an arranged marriage. Since Nyad men are born sterile, they're not happy about the breeding process. Then Jake calls Nick and tells him everything, so Nick and Hank have to race to the marina to stop the boys from cutting Ellie. Back at the Marina, Ellie fights, but they tie her up and torture her.

They hold her underwater hoping to get her to change shape, but the cops show up and so they unintentionally knock Ellie unconscious as she's dragged under water. Nick and Hank fight the boys successfully and then Nick dives in to find Ellie. He unties her and brings her up after a record amount of time. Ellie is reunited with her family. Juliette checks Nick's email and though the doctor says Nick is fine, Juliette finds an email from someone named M who says they love Nick. Renard checks in on the news about his brother, while Jake IDs the perps in a lineup. Jake then tells them about Ellie, and how she's special. He says that she's not normal. Nick's response "Nobody is, Jake. It's Portland."

If that wasn't one of the best plays on the final line of 'Chinatown,' this episode of 'Grimm' could be considered a write-off. The "Nick is a zombie" thing is definitely staying in play, though it mostly seems to make life better for Nick, which will hopefully lead to greater challenges. But what makes this episode a bit disappointing is that Monroe and Rosalee, generally the best part of any episode, are not only given nothing to do, but have the exact same scene about three times. Look, I like seeing this couple together, and their courtship was very sweet, but their relationship dramas right now are a non-starter. Still, they're better off that Juliette, who's no longer in a coma but still hasn't t got anything to do.

The better part of this was the mystery elements, and those pieces came together in a pleasing way, which made this palatable, still, this was a lesser episode.