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| Courtesy NBC |
Opening Quote: “Under such conditions, whatever is evil in men’s natures comes to the front.”
The Grimm goes to a carnival. My first thought was of course, if Nick kills a clown, then this show will redeem itself. My next thought was if Creepy Baby kills anyone, I’ll be happy. Let’s see if any of these things happen, shall we?
The Carnival Metamorphosia has come to town, and they manage to kill someone in the first 30 seconds! Darn, it was just a carnie trick. Maxmillian the Werewolf, played by the wonderful Sam Witwer ("Being Human"), is alive and well and drinking himself blind. As he leaves his trailer, he inadvertently loses control of his transformation. He fights with his girlfriend and stumbles outside where he is accosted by two young groupies. He later finds himself getting his groove on with the girls at their place to the tune "Werewolves of London." They get a little more than they bargain for when they ask him to show him how he does his little carnival trick. He transforms into a full blown Blutbad and the girls fake thrill-seeking screams turn unfortunately real.
The Monrosalee wedding is going to be on a mountain, out in nature. It’s a tradition they reveal over dinner with Nick and Juliette. Then they pop the big question. Monroe asks Nick to be his Best Man and Rosalee asks Juliette to be her Maid of Honor. Really? Nick hasn’t been that good a friend lately, just ask Sgt. Wu. Don’t even get me started on Juliette. That night, Nick has the best nightmare ever. It features a beautiful wedding cake complete with a Blutbad groom and a Fuchsbau Bride. As the pretty music plays, screams break out and blood sprays across the immaculate white of the little bride’s dress. Now that’s a wedding. Unfortunately Juliette, ever the killjoy, wakes him up and predictably wants to talk it out. Nick is concerned that he will have to behead Monroe’s grandma if he’s really in this wedding. I think it’s a valid worry. Ultimately, Juliette suggests he talk to Monroe about his feelings.
Over in Europe, Prince Viktor and cohorts continue to hunt Meisner, Adalind, and the bundle of joy I call Creepy Baby. Meisner seems surprised that Viktor is so willing to get his hands dirty. They then continue the trek back to the road where the Prince’s car containing Sebastian awaits. He was hoping it would be the last place the hunters looked. As he finds his friend in pretty rough shape, a guard reveals himself. The man is about to shoot Meisner when the gun in his hands starts to shake and ends up under his chin where it fires and kills him. It was Adalind using her rediscovered Hexenbiest powers instead of Creepy Baby this time. Knowing that the Prince and his men will have heard the gunfire, Sebastian stays behind to play the martyr. This disappoints me, he’s practically the only character I like anymore.
It’s dark by the time Viktor gets back to the cars. Sebastian plays dead in the backseat until he suddenly shoots one of the hunters. He then quickly dispatches all but the Prince. Much to my sorrow, he’s out of bullets when Viktor confronts him. Goodbye Sebastian. You were the best of them. As Adalind, Meisner, and Creepy Baby speed away she reveals that she only meant to make the guard drop the gun. She must be rusty. This chit chat is interrupted by Renard calling to tell them that Tavitian has found them passage to the U.S., but they have to get to Zurich. This exit strategy is only for Adalind and the baby. She seems very disappointed and I wonder if Creepy Baby will have anything to say about this turn of events.
Luckily for Nick and Hank, Wu is back to work and fills the Detectives in on the latest murder scene. In case you were holding out some hope that Aidan Max didn't kill those girls, they are very dead. The ticket stubs lead the pair off to the Carnival. Mr. Hedig, the steampunk Ringmaster of Carnival Metamorphosia, is performing with his Wesen act under the big top, when Nick and Hank arrive. We meet the rest of the act this time. There’s a dragon named Damien, Ivan the Ogre, Genny the Fuchsbau, and Turmoil (Max) the Werewolf.
As Nick shows the picture of the two dead girls around, Max can’t keep his eyes from sliding into the red zone, which of course Nick sees. Hedig quickly steers the Detectives to his personal tent where he claims that they use masks made in China with a secret and ancient method. Aww, it seems we have another Fuchsbau-Blutbad couple. Genny confronts Max about the girls. He claims he can’t remember as he reaches for the whiskey bottle. She quickly snatches it away and smashes it against the floor. Seeing his precious liquor seeping into the rug, he transforms into an enraged Blutbad and attacks her. She falls and cuts her leg on the broken glass, but Hedig and the other Wesen save her from further damage. Max is horrified at what he’s done. This is familiar territory for him if you watch "Being Human."
Predictably, Nick goes to Monrosalee for help. They tell him about the Umkippen. This is an unfortunate problem that afflicts Wesen when they are forced to transform too often. It makes them very violent, as you probably already guessed. As Nick and Hank rush back to the precinct to run background checks on the carnival staff, Rosalee decides that she and Monroe are going to go investigate themselves. They of course get into trouble right away. Hedig’s assistant thinks that Rosalee is there to audition for Genny’s spot since she’s incapacitated. She gets the part of course, and Hedig promises to make her a star.
Back at the big top, Rosalee is getting ready for her big performance. Genny tries to warn her away and inadvertently reveals that Max is the one suffering the Umkippen. While this is going on, Hank and Nick discover that the murders that coincide with the Carnival being in town go back more than ten years. Guess, who’s been with the show that long? Why, it has to be the Ringmaster, Mr. Hedig. He is currently revealing the same information to all of the other Wesen as Max confronts him. Mr. Hedig is a Lowen and he wastes no time informing Max that the police thinks that he is the killer. The show must go on though. As Rosalee’s turn to transform comes, she is overcome by stage fright and hesitates. Max has become increasingly agitated and chooses this moment to lose control. After he attacks Damien and throws Hedig out of his way, he stalks Rosalee. This is too much for Monroe, who also transforms and attacks Max. He eventually has to be pulled off him by Rosalee, who wants to help the sick Blutbad. As the crowds run screaming from the tent, Lowen Hedig and Nick come face to face. Hedig immediately recognizes Nick as a Grimm and flees through the crowd into the Hall of Mirrors, because that’s where one runs too when at a carnival. Anyway, he isn’t a very smart lion. He quickly becomes confused and then starts hearing the voices of his sideshow stars. It seems they are a little unhappy that he has been doing all of the killing and making Max think it was him. They solve the legal issues by having Damien burn him to a crisp. After getting the name of a place to help Max, the Wesen drive away with him safely secured in a cage.
You’ll be thrilled to know that Rosalee kept a souvenir from her time with the carnival though. Back at home she emerges from the bathroom in her carnival costume and puts on her foxy face. Monroe seems like a happy little wolf. I, however, didn’t get any clown murders or even Creepy Baby being creepy. I guess there’s always next week. Speaking of which, Mama Burkhardt returns! She has Adalind and Creepy Baby with her too. This should be interesting.
"Grimm" returns for an all new episode on April 4 at 9 p.m. ET.