“And they lived happily ever after.”

Or, you know... not.

So some BIG IMPORTANT things happened in Friday’s episode, and that was pretty awesome. But I’m going to go ahead and say it: the episode was… strange. Something felt off about it. Maybe it was because the set up felt like I was rereading the first forty pages of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (financials. GOD with the financials already). Or maybe it was because the creature was Spanish this time, and not German, which definitely threw me off a bit. Or maybe it was because I was seriously scared that there was going to be ZERO Eddie in the ep, which panicked me, not gonna lie. Whatever it was, it almost felt like it wasn’t an episode of Grimm. Not as we have come to know and love it.

Friday’s episode, based on the story of Cinderella, felt closer to the first few episodes where Nick was more like a pawn in the overarching story, as opposed to the other way around. Over the course of the season, this show has really learned how to do that well – making it about Nick and the situations he encounters. But this episode felt more about Lucinda, the bat-Wesen Cinderella, and Nick and Hank were the cops. It was kind of Law & Order-y. That’s not to downplay the mythology, though. We still learned a bit there. We also got more information about Nick’s Big Picture, which was great. The episode as a whole was just… not my favorite.

The episode opens with this young guy finding out that the man who’s been taking care of his money and investments killed himself. It was all very Bernie Madoff. The young guy panics and calls his friend, who turns out to be his wife’s godfather, because he needs a way to get his money back. Spencer, the godfather, suggests they talk to the wife’s (Lucinda – the Cinderella in this story) Evil Step-Mother, who flat-out turns them down. Well, that makes someone angry, because next thing we know, the Step-Mother finds herself dead.

The death scene was actually pretty awesome, so it bears specific discussion. It was actually the first time this show has made me scream out loud since the ep where the troll busted through Nick and Juliette’s window.  And y’all know how much I enjoy being scared (I am going to see Chernobyl Diaries when it comes out, y’all. And I sincerely hope it makes me piss myself). You see, while Mavis (the Step-Mother – aren’t you shocked at how many of the characters’ names I actually caught this episode?!) is getting ready for bed, she hears a noise, which sounds to me like an animal being eaten. And then the sound of what I’m imagining is blood dripping on carpet. Maybe I’ve seen too many scary movies and should sit CD out. Naaaah. But, so, she decides to take a peek under her bed, and there is a demon-eyed bat thing that screeches at her and scratches her. It’s at this point that I screamed “OH SHIT!” and had to pause my DVR to catch my breath. Also, my roommate was out in the hallway, so, thanks, show. If he didn’t think I was nuts already (which is likely), he certainly does now.

Anyway, so she runs, but it catches her and, like, screams its sonic waves at her, which shatters glass, makes her bleed out of her head holes, and FUCKING POPS HER EYEBALLS. Oh, and she falls over the landing, like two floors to the foyer… to her death. Let me reiterate, though: her eyeballs are popped. They are gone. Holy crap, man.

Dude, even WU is shaken by this shit. The next morning, he explains to Nank that Mavis’ falling could have been an accident except for the claw marks and exploded eyeballs, “which I can’t say I’ve seen before or want to again.” WORD, man. They also find the broken glass, but no sign of forced entry, or anything like that. BUT, they do find out about Arthur and Spencer’s visit, so immediately they are prime suspects. And this is where it gets kind of tedious. It really pains me to say that because I love this show more than most everything else on TV right now, Thursday comedies included. But… yeah. So basically, most of the episode is Nick and Hank running back and forth, questioning Arthur, Spencer, the two Ugly Step-Sisters (who Arthur actually calls ugly at one point, which made me laugh), Lucinda, blah blah blah.

During the initial questioning, though, Nick learns that Spencer is a bat creature, which he and Eddie later find out is called a Murcielago, which literally means “bat” in Spanish. They also find out that Nick has the one weapon used to fight them (because of course he does), called a Murcielago Matraca (“bat rattle” literally). They do end up having to use it, but against Lucinda, who turns out to also be a Murcielago. See, Lucinda was actually the one who murdered Mavis and Tiffany (the older of the Ugly Step-Sisters), because she’s a petulant child, apparently. She has no conscience, and basically gets what she wants.  In this case, it’s all the inheritance, so she plans to kill the Step-Mother and both Step-Sisters. Man, if only the real “Cinderella” was this brutal. I knew we couldn’t trust that feathery, pink, high-heeled slipper-wearing bitch.

Anyway, the Matraca doesn’t kill her, but as she’s fleeing, she runs into Spencer, who does end up killing her, for her own protection, or something. He shrieks at her, and her eyeballs pop, but then she comes back from the dead (vampire bat?) to bite him and kill him… as her last act… of evil? It was weird, and totally played into the Killer Comes Back for One Last Kill horror movie trope, which kind of gave me a sad. I was kind of hoping they’d put Spencer in a loony bin.

BUT, crime story aside, like I said at the very beginning, there were some BIG IMPORTANT developments. First, when they arrested Spencer after Tiffany bit it, he knows what Nick is, and I guess just assumes Hank knows, and ALMOST OUTS NICK IN THE INTERROGATION ROOM. He actually says “I know what you are, and I suppose you know what I am.” Nick and I both totally had an “OH HOLY CHRIST ON A STICK” moment. Spencer proceeds to explain about his ability to emit a high-pitched sound, and luckily Hank just thinks he’s crazy. But when Spencer uses said high-pitched noise to break the windows in the room and escape… Yeah, I kind of feel like Hank knows something is up. Who else wishes the Men in Black would come by with their flashy thing?

The other Big Thing that happened was that Nick, with Juliette’s help, found out more about the car accident that killed his parents back inRhinebeck,NYall them 18 or so years ago. The detective who worked the case, explained that a year after it happened, it was reclassified as a homicide (isn’t this something Nick would have known already? Though I guess you don’t talk about that kind of stuff with a 9-year-old), AND they had 4 suspects.

The detective sends the pics to Nick, and we see the dude Solidad that they killed in the ep with the German coins is one of them. This is great because it confirms the story that the Man in Black, a.k.a. Whatever the Character’s Name Was, a.k.a., the dude who was in love with Aunt Marie, told him back in that ep I just linked to. So, that’s good news. Two of the other suspects were the Irish dudes, who are also dead, which is good too, but that actually confuses me. How could they have been involved? I know I’m really shit at gauging people’s ages, but they seemed about Nick’s age, no? Were they involved in the murder of two people when they were children? Do Wesen not age as quickly as other people? But anyway, there was also a fourth man, Akira Kimora, whom we have not yet met, and that smells like trouble for the finale, eh?

I’m excited to see how this all plays out. Week to week, I always think I’ve figured out who’s going to find out about Nick’s Grimm heritage first, and every week I found out something that makes me doubt myself. Now I’m not sure again. I really do hope it’s Juliette. I think she can probably handle it better than anyone else. I mean, she’s still with Nick after all that shit, so… that’s a good sign. Though finding out could be the straw that breaks the camel’s back, to use a cliché (that was also used in this ep! Haha). I don’t know. We’ll have to wait and see.

So, let me know what you guys thought of the episode in the comments. How do you think the episode held up to other recent episodes? How do you think everything will tie together? Who is Akira Kimora? Do you think he’s linked to Renard somehow? Let’s chat… or I will straight up Matraca your asses. But first…

Random Thoughts/Quotes/Favorite Moments

• I wish this episode had been more traditionally recappable because at one point I wrote, “TO THE AUNT MARIE’S TRAILER!” in my notes, and that would have been really fun to incorporate. #recapperproblems
• Eddie explaining that Murcielagos have a duality to their beings: good and bad, yin and yang, “the Ike and Tina Turner of it all.” LOL
• Nick: “You wanna do it?” Eddie: “Oh, man. SO BAD!” Out of context HoYay FTW!
• “You think you’re going to get out of this by playing the crazy card.” Doesn’t it always work, L&O?
• I love that to explain the crime, Nick has the balls to turn the Matraca over to Renard as evidence. And he seems so amused/proud of himself for doing it. I’m sure Eddie wasn’t so happy to see such a fine piece of craftsmanship go the way of the evidence room, though.
• You guys think Renard actually knew what it was? Is that why he asked them how to use it? Because if not, dumb. Does he WANT his eyeballs exploded? Maybe it’s into that sort of thing…
• Oh, also. This episode was called “Happily Ever Aftermath.” Nice. Me love you long time, writers.