Captain Renard is gathering his things in his office, including his passport. Nick and Hank come in, and he tells them that he’ll be out of town for a while – and that if they receive any communications from him, they should ignore them as they won’t be from him. If he does need to contact them, he’ll do it indirectly via Rosalee. Hank asks if Renard is in any kind of danger, and he says it seems so. Renard heads out, asking them to tell anyone who asks that he’s having a wonderful time in Tahiti.
A mother and father lead their young son into a Catholic church. They tell him that the priest is going to help him, and reassure him that he won’t be getting a shot. A young seminary student greets them, then goes to tell the Monsignor that they’ve arrived. The parents lead the boy, Daniel, in and tell him that everything will be okay, then the Monsignor sends the parents out and lock the door. The Monsignor begans to pray in Latin, and Daniel says he wants to go home. He begins to thrash, and the Monsignor tells the student to tie him down so he doesn’t hurt himself. Daniel’s face begins to change and he throws the seminary student across the room before he can be tied. The Monsignor keeps praying, and the parents rush to the door and start pounding on it, yelling to the priests to let them in. Daniel then throws the Monsignor across the room.
Hank and Nick arrive at the church, and Sgt. Wu fills them in. The seminary student is being taken to the hospital, but the Monsignor is dead – and Daniel is missing after an attempted exorcism. His parents are still at the church, but they don’t know what happened – they managed to force the door open, but the window was open and Daniel was gone. The three men go in and examine the crime scene, and Nick notes that the Monsignor’s injuries had to have been caused by great force. Hank wonders if a 9-year-old could do that. As Nick gets closer to the table Daniel had been lying on, he hears something. He asks Hank and Sgt. Wu if they can hear it, but they can’t. He leans down and opens a cabinet under the table, finding Daniel hiding inside. He tries to get him to come out or tell him what happened, but the boy just shakes his head. He then asks that someone get the parents, and once Daniel sees his mother, he jumps out and hugs her. As they lead the family from the room, Sgt. Wu covers Daniel’s head with his coat so the child won’t see the Monsignor’s body.
The detectives head to the hospital after the Curies arrive and talk to Daniel’s doctor. She tells them that his body is very stressed, which could be due to what he may have seen that night. She’s sedated Daniel, but wants to bring him out of it slowly, so he won’t be able to talk again for 24-48 hours. Nick and Hank then talk to the father, who tells them that Daniel started to change about a year ago. He has violent outbursts where sometimes his face changes, like there’s something inside him, trying to control him – but Daniel never seems to remember these times afterwards. They’ve taken Daniel to every doctor they can think of with no results, so they thought he must be possessed. Nick asks if the man is Daniel’s biological father, and he says yes, looking mildly shocked. Nick then asks if the father has ever seen anyone else that experience what Daniel is going through, and he says no. As they head out of the hospital, Hank says that they know what they’re dealing with now, but Nick says no – at least one of the parents would have to be Wesen. Back in the hospital room, Daniel’s face changes as he sleeps.
Renard arrives in Vienna and is met by one of his operatives, Meisner, who gives him a quick update on how things are in Vienna since Eric’s death – no one seems comfortable – and who will be at the meeting of Renard’s allies. One man is dead, which Renard says will change some alliances. Meisner then takes him to a safehouse near a cafe. It’s a dingy place but fairly secure, with beds set up in the basement. Renard comments that the last time he was in a place like this, he and his mother were running for their lives – from his family. He then tells Meisner that he doesn’t like that there’s only one way in and out, and he shows Renard a hidden way into the sewers. Meisner then tells Renard that they’ll stay there until they’re contacted about the meeting.
Nick and Hank go to the spice shop to talk to Monroe and Rosalee about what would happen if a Wesen had a child with a human being. The couple, clearly amused, tells them what would happen only using German terms, knowing Hank and Nick have no idea what they’re talking about. Nick gets a call that the seminary student is awake, and they head to the hospital, leaving the smirking couple behind.
At the hospital, the student explains that most cases of supposed possession are ruled out by medical or psychological testing before an actual exorcism will be tried – but the Monsignor was sure with Daniel. He then told the detectives what happened, and when Nick asks if he saw any physical changes in Daniel, he says that it wasn’t Daniel’s face anymore, but the face of a demon. Hank and Nick go towards Daniel’s room, where a nurse is attempting to draw blood. Daniel changes and wakes up with a growl, and the nurse screams and runs out of the room. Nick and Hank rush in, just in time to see Daniel’s face change, but after a moment, his face returns to normal and he tells them he wants to go home before lying back down. Nick stops the doctor in the hallway and tells her that he doesn’t think that she can help the boy, that there’s something going on here that she and her staff can’t handle. She doesn’t believe that, but he tells her that if anyone does anything confrontational – like tests – they’ll be in danger. He asks that they simply feed him and keep him under observation. She agrees, but only for 24 hours if Daniel is indeed that much of a danger.
Adalind gets a call, telling her that her presence is requested at ‘the house’ that evening, and they’ll send a car, hanging up without answering any of her questions. That night, she’s brought to the house of the new Prince.
Hank and Nick go back to the spice shop, hoping Rosalee and Monroe will have more concrete ideas. They still don’t know if the mother is Wesen, but Nick doesn’t think so. He also explains that the boy doesn’t woge – it seems more like a battle within him. Hank still thinks it’s devil worship, but is hoping they might have an answer. Monroe and Rosalee exchange a look, and Nick asks what? Monroe says he thought they were myths, then he and Rosalee explain that they think Daniel is a Grausen, a mutation or spirit that enters human children, causing them to be extremely violent. The violence was often blamed on Wesen, so the Wesen Council made an agreement with the Royal Families and the Grimms that any Grausen were to be put to death. Rosalee says that they have to inform the Council, but Nick and Hank don’t like it at all. After they leave, Rosalee says that they have to tell the Council, but Monroe thinks they should let Nick handle it. Rosalee then says if the Council finds out that they didn’t report a Grausen and that they made an agreement with a Grimm, they’d get into a great deal of trouble – and she’s going to report it.
In Europe, Council member De Groot brings in an operative, Alexander, and hands him his passport and a plane ticket, saying he’ll be leaving to deal with a ‘possessed’ child. The man immediately asks if it’s a Grausen, and the head of the Council says yes, asking if he agrees to handle it. The other man says yes.
That night, Nick and Juliette look through one of Aunt Marie’s books. They find a number of Grausen cases over the years, but one entry from 1920 gets Juliette thinking that this could be some kind of disease, and because it’s so rare, no one understands it. She says Nick needs to talk to the parents to find out exactly what happened a year ago, so they head to the hospital. When they arrive, the parents are very upset because they aren’t being allowed in to see their son. They don’t really want to answer more questions, but the mother finally tells them that they’d gone on a trip to Egypt, Israel and Jordan about 13 months before – and Daniel had had the flu during the trip. Juliette asks if they’re done any cultures, but the mother says no, the doctors said it was the flu, gave Daniel antibiotics and he was fine in a few days. At home that night, Juliette is still distracted by Daniel’s case and puts her shoes in a dresser drawer. Nick comments on it, but she just tells him that she doesn’t think it’s a virus. A friend of hers in vet school had done a paper on a case where horses were on a plane that had to stop in Jordan due to a storm, and not long after, the horses began to act very aggressively. Her friend argued that there was some sort of protozoa that caused the illness, but the horses were put down before she could try any treatment. Nick says that seems to be how everyone handles these cases.
Monroe and Rosalee are woken up by pounding on the door. Monroe gets to the door first and finds Alexander there, asking for Rosalee. She comes down the steps a moment later, and Alexander tells her that he needs to know where the boy is. She hesitates, but gives in and tells him that he’s at St. Joseph’s Hospital. Alexander thanks her for her loyalty to the Council and leaves. Rosalee and Monroe are both upset, and Monroe says that he has to tell Nick. Monroe calls Nick and tells him the operative from the Council is headed to the hospital. Monroe wants to go with him, but Nick tells him he won’t put him in danger.
Renard and Meisner are sleeping in the safehouse when they hear noises upstairs. A moment later, Wesen operatives burst in and spray the beds with bullets – but Renard and Meisner aren’t in them. They quickly kill the two attackers, noting that both have the symbol of the Verrat on their hands when they woge back to human. They then hear more people and head down into the sewers. Meisner goes to make a call, but Renard throws his phone into the water and calls one of his contacts for help instead.
At the hospital, they find out that Daniel has been released – and unbeknownst to them, Alexander hears them discussing that his parents have taken him home. Juliette, Nick and Hank hurry to the house, and Juliette explains her theory about the parasite. They look in on Daniel, who’s sleeping peacefully, and then start discussing getting him tested by a specialist. Meanwhile, Alexander has arrived and is upstairs in Daniel’s room. He woges into a Pflichttreue and attacks Daniel, who wakes up and responds to the attack. Both Daniel and Alexander are out the window before Nick and Hank burst into the room, and Nick jumps out the window to follow. He corners Alexander and leaves Hank to guard him, and then Juliette, Nick and Daniel’s father find Daniel in a fort in the woods. Daniel is close to hypothermia, and they see the parasites leaving his body because it’s too cold for them to survive. They get a sample, then get Daniel inside so he can warm up.
Nick talks to Alexander, explaining that medical tests prove that Daniel was infected by a parasite and gives him a copy of the test results and tells him to give them to the Council. Alexander is surprised that Nick is letting him go, but Nick says that he wants to think that they live in an enlightened age, where truth is greater than fear. Alexander replies that it’s difficult to change fear, and Nick says in a stern voice, “Try.” Back in Europe, Alexander reports to De Groot and gives him the medical file and explains what had happened. De Groot says that the Grimm is just as unusual as they’d heard, and Alexander replies that he’s nothing that they’ve ever seen before.
Nick and Juliette are in Aunt Marie’s trailer as Nick adds in the new information on the Grausen and the medical details – with Juliette’s help. The couple seems happy that this case came to an unexpectedly positive end.
This was a really fascinating episode with a lot of plot developments! I loved the Grausen myth – not Wesen but still having an impact on the Wesen community – and the fact that it took until 2013 to find the real cause of the problem. Things are definitely better in this modern age! It’s also great to see that Nick continues to follow his own path as a Grimm, challenging what his ancestors have done in the past.
It was also cool to see Juliette again taking a bigger part in figuring out a case. There’s no way Nick and Hank would’ve solved this without her help – and that help ultimately saved Daniel’s life, too.
Okay, Rosalee and Monroe – you’re very cute, but I want to know what in the world you were taking about in terms of Wesen procreation! English next time, please?! It was also hard to watch them disagree about going to the Council, especially when they could see each other’s side of the issue. Here’s hoping that Rosalee’s involvement with the Council doesn’t cause serious problems between them.
So Adalind met the new Prince. Did he want to see her because she was known to be involved with Eric, because the family suspects she’s pregnant, or just because she’s one of their lawyers? Apparently we’ll have to wait to find out…
I was surprised that Renard went to Vienna and didn’t immediately track Adalind down, but apparently his life is in serious danger from the Verrat. It seems like their must be a traitor amongst his allies in Europe if the Verrat managed to find the safehouse that quickly. It’ll be interesting to see what their meeting is going to be about.
And next week is the mid-season finale already – it’s gone so quickly! There are two episodes of Grimm back-to-back on Friday, so be sure you see them both!
