I can’t even think about this picture. It freaks me out.

“On many a dark night people would see her walking along a riverbank and crying for her children.”

I have to say, this story was kind of creepy. It was the Halloween episode, so that is excellent. It was also kind of really depressing, at least up until the part where they actually rescued the children. So, not so fun, BUT I really did enjoy the scenes with Monroe, which were.

The main story here was based on an old ghost story called “La Llorona,” or the Weeping Woman, who drowned her children, and now abducts children, drowning them to get her children back. So it appears that Portland is the next stop for a crazed woman who believes herself to be this ghost woman. But, as Nick and Hank learn, she’s not just a crazed woman, but an actual La Llorona. Here’s the interesting/strange part. This isn’t actually a type of Wesen, but just a strange phenomenon one of Nick’s ancestors came across (and apparently never returned from his encounter). But she’s real, and gruesome.

This episode was interesting because we did get an actual Wesen who surprisingly wasn’t somehow involved with La Llorona, at least not in the sense that she was an accomplice. This one, a jaguar-type creature with an extremely obsessive nature, is called a Balam. She came in the form of a former Albuquerque detective, who had gathered YEARS worth of research on the weeping woman. She helped Nick and Hank track the woman, telling them how many child abductions there were going to be, and approximately where they would be (around two rivers, and the children would then be drowned where the rivers met). That was pretty interesting actually, and it was fun because while everyone was all “what does embraso de rios mean?” I was all “it’s where the rivers meet! Come on. One of you even SPEAKS Spanish.” Anyway, they swoop in a the nick of time, Nick starts to lay on his Nick Burkhardt Beatdown™ but La Llorona drowns and/or gets away. That was a little ambiguous actually. Did she escape his fists, or did he actually defeat her? I’m thinking she escaped. Either way he seemed startled when she changed back to her normal face from her monster face. That’ would take anyone aback, my friend.

Another part of this story that I really enjoyed was that the cops’ go-to translater was apparently on vacation, so they called in Juliette, who speaks Spanish (because her grandmother is from Spain. Yeah, I wondered initially too. Like red-headed white girls can’t speak Spanish. You know you though it too. We all terribly presumptuous.) Anywho, she meets this woman at the home of the first boy who was abducted who tells her some very interesting things. For one, she somehow knows that Juliette was ill, doesn’t remember it, and it was because someone sent her a cat who was ill. She also told Juliette that she would have to choose between the two who she has feelings for: Nick or Renard. I know who I would pick. Totally Nick. I mean, Renard is cool and badass, and has shirtless rage, but NICK’S FACE YOU GUYS NICK’S FACE! How can you pass that up when he can emote all over you with that face? (insert disgusting sex joke here). But, so, I’d like to know more about how she knew what was up with Juliette. Is this woman going to be back? Is she going to help Juliette, or was that sort of a one-off thing, and now we just have to wait for Juliette to make her choice?

The last story line was with Monroe, and it was just so fun and… very Monroe. So, it’s Halloween, and if last season’s Christmas decorations were anything to go off of, we should have known that Monroe would go ALL OUT in his Halloween decorations. There’s skeletons and headstones, and like mechanical rabid dogs who jump out at you from their dog houses! There was some actual legit scary things in his display. I also loved that he borrowed a mace flail thing from Nick to complete his decorations: a skeleton that maces the shit out of pumpkins. But of course things go wrong when these trouble-makers (whippersnappers, get off my lawn, etc.) use that piece of his display to break his front window. Of course his revenge is classic: changing into a Blutbad right in their faces to scare them off running. AND he kept their cell phone until they can pay for his window. THAT is how you deal with those meddling kids! And, btw, he’s totally going to get away with it, in case you were wondering.

Random Notes/Favorite Quotes

• I was really annoyed at how Hank was acting about Luis only having a cellphone, all, “There’s no hard line.” As if only having a cellphone is a weird thing these days…
• LOVE Monroe helping the little girl get her candy back. Those damn kids causing trouble and such. *shakes cane*
• I was kind of disappointed that we didn’t get more out of the Balam. She served a very particular purpose, helping Nank solve the case, but she was in and out so quickly. I think maybe it was strange because this was the first time that’s really happened. Yeah, we’ve had Wesen come and go with little significance, but Valentina kind of played a vital role, only to have her Wesen-ness pushed to the background. I don’t know. Just seemed strange to me.
• “I think she’s an angel.” “That’s nice.” Children are so creepy, man.
• LOL at the kids who were all, “Oh, it’s Monroe’s house! I love this place!”
• The souls of La Llorona’s children coming out of the river really creeped me out.
• The intern kid annoys me.

So, overall, it was an enjoyable episode. The La Llorona story was legitimately creepy, and watching that poor father, Luis, cry and worry over his missing son was really heartbreaking (kudos to the actor for that!). I’m pretty interested to see what’s coming next for Juliette. I really do hope that that woman returns because I feel like Juliette needs some sort of spirit guide. Though with a show like this, I suppose another one could come along shortly. So, what did you guys think? Did you like the ghost story? How do you feel about La Llorona not actually being a Wesen? Who do you think Juliette is going to choose (really that’s the biggest question, isn’t it?)? Let me know in the comments below!