‘Grimm’ Review: “The Law of Sacrifice”

With Adalind and Nick's mom Kelly back in Portland, tonight's 'Grimm' is definitely building to a season three finale. How that plays out is anyone's guess as the show has spent a lot of time this year building on the show's created universe and tonight's episide completely abandons any pretense of having a monster of the week.

The episode opens with the quote "The Queen was terrified and offered the little man all the riches of the kingdom, if only he would leave the newborn child alone." Adalind is munching on food and talking with Sean about what she's been through and what comes next when Nick shows up at Sean's apartment complex. Sean buzzes him up and Adalind tells him that if Nick tries to take the baby, Sean should kill him. Back in Austria, Viktor receives the news that Adalind is in Portland. An FBI Agent named Stewart (C. Thomas Howell) in Portland is called by Viktor and is told to watch Sean and Adalind, and get the baby. He's also told everyone else is expendable.

Sean confronts Nick in the hallway and he tells Nick in no uncertain terms he can't have the child, and then shows Nick his gun before letting him in. Outside, Kelly sees Stewart show up and case the area. Stewart wants to check the security footage to confirm it's Adalind, which slows him down. Nick lays out that Adalind is in trouble and that the Verrat know about her relationship with Sean, which means his place is likely to be watched. But Nick leaves after the warning, which leads Sean to be curious about Adalind's relationship with Viktor. Stewart tells his men where Renard's apartment is, but then gets taken out by Kelly. When he arrives downstairs, Kelly shows Nick Stewart's ID and tells Nick about the two guys, so they plot to get upstairs before the killers. Adalind and Sean agree to work together and maybe start dating again, even though they've both slept with one the other's family members. Sean then gets a call from Nick who tells Sean to leave, immediately.

Sean and Adalind leave as the killers climb the stairs, and then Nick shows up at the elevator just in time to shoot one of the killers while his mom takes out the other. Monroe and Rosalee are making out in bed when Nick calls. Nick tells them about what's going on (which leads to more exposition comedy) and plans to bring Adalind over. Stewart wakes up just in time to see police show up at the building. Nick gets everyone to Monroe's and lays out the plan when Adalind's baby levitates Kelly's jewelry to her. Once inside, Monroe and Rosalee show Adalind to her room while everyone else sorts out how they feel, and Rosalee comforts the new mother. Man, Nick is rough on Monroe and Rosalee's sex life. Kelly tells Sean that the child makes him and Adalind vulnerable. Stewart goes home and has a drink as he stresses out, but then he's confronted by Kelly, Nick and Sean, the latter who punches Stewart out.

Stewart wakes up (knocked cold twice in one episode!), and threatens Sean, who he says is a dead man. Sean slaps him around and finds out who sent him as Sean, Nick and Kelly play bad cop, bad cop, and worse cop. They find out that Rispoli is on his way to Portland, and Viktor is with him. They ask Stewart to deliver a message, or promise to kill him and Stewart reluctantly agrees. The trio leave and bring Hank into it, who -- after some explaining -- is game to help. At Monroe's the baby is keeping everyone up as it's screaming and a little feverish, the baby then makes all the clocks act up as someone approaches from outside. The baby stops crying when Kelly shows up, for some reason...

Stewart heads to the airport to meet Rispoli and Viktor while Hank takes pictures. Stewart delivers the message and asks to kill Sean, which Viktor agrees is a good idea. Nick and Juliette look for a truck as the Verrat head to the precinct. Viktor goes to meet Sean and tells Sean that he wants the baby, and, Sean, Sean's mother and Adalind will be murdered if he doesn't hand the child over in the next two hours. Nick goes in to Sean's office and is told to make the arrest (but of who?). Viktor asks about Kelly and gets in the limo when police show up at Monroe's and arrest Kelly for the death of Adalind's mom.

Adalind calls Sean, and he needs a statement from her. Adalind comes in and tells Sean the baby's name: Diana. Adalind is then put in a room with Kelly, who explains why she killed Adalind's mom. Renard leaves the precinct with a baby, while Kelly reveals that she's been stalling her as Sean gives the baby to Viktor. Adalind makes contact with Wu (he gets a line this episode). Adalind finds Sean, who tells her that the baby is gone. She runs outside and her scream breaks all the nearby windows. Viktor and Rispoli head to the airport when the baby wakes up and levitates some coffee. The Verrat are ambushed at the airport by the resistance who take the baby, but the resistance is revealed to be the gang. Kelly drives off with the baby, who levitates some toys in the car.

It looks like next week returns to a less mythology-based episode, but tonight was all about the machinations of who gets the baby, which was never that interesting to begin with. It resolved strongly, but there's definitely a problem with the greater picture as the show has never defined the stakes beyond "this could be bad for everyone." Fair enough, but it doesn't mean much.

Which is probably why the show loves to make a joke out of how everyone has had interactions with Adalind but other characters didn't know it, or how the characters have to info dump on each other every once in a while. It may be the only option, but it's smart that the show knows it's pretty funny when it happens. You almost expect the show to pull a 'Top Secret'-style look to camera as seen here:

That said, it seems that this thread is wrapped up for the moment, which could give the show some interesting breathing room. How Diana comes in or out of the narrative (and with Diana heading off with guest star Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, who's to say when or if she'll comes back) is not really defined. Perhaps we won't see her again until next season. Honestly, I'm more stoked for the wedding than any of this baby stuff. But the interplay between the characters in this show remains stellar, which is why it works, and the episode found its moments to let the actors play with each other, even when things got tense. All in all it was satisfying to watch, even if the end results didn't mean much.