Episode Title: “Eyes of the Beholder”
Writer: Thomas Ian Griffith
Director: Peter Werner
Previously on “Grimm:”
It’s one thing when the Wesen you encounter are suspects in a crime, but it’s another situation entirely when one of your best friends is a Fuchsbau with an abusive Klaustreich for a husband.
Good friend that she is, Juliette (Bitsie Tulloch) welcomed her college pal, Alicia into her home to help her escape an abusive relationship. But when Nick (David Giuntoli) realizes that Alicia is a Wesen, he tells Juliette who can’t help but let her friend know that she’s in on her secret. Alicia isn’t exactly relieved when Juliette lets her know she’s not her only furry friend. Instead, she pretends to have no idea what Juliette is talking about.
According to fellow Fuchsbau, Rosalee (Bree Turner), Alicia’s behavior isn’t all that surprising. But when Alicia’s ex, Joe shows up at Nick and Juliette’s place, there’s no denying the truth. Joe may be able to scare his Fuchsbau wife, but Juliette “isn’t impressed” with his catty antics and when he realizes Nick is a Grimm, Joe wisely gives up the fight.
Aside from putting an end to Alicia’s marital woes, this episode also offers up a case involving Hank’s physical therapist, Zuri (Sharon Leal). She may have turned him down at first, but Zuri can’t avoid getting to know Hank (Russell Hornsby) when her brother, Jared gets mixed up in the murder of a Yaguarate gang leader.
The Yaguarate are a jaguar-like Wesen associated with a local gang of drug dealers, which Rosalee happens to be familiar with. Who knew Rosalee went through a “rough patch” that involved buying drugs from a Wesen gang? Monroe (Silas Weir Mitchell) still loves her, despite her troubled past and the reveal adds another layer to her character, which is always a good thing.
Jared witnesses the gang members murder Alonzo Banks, the leader of a rival gang of Yaguarate drug dealers, in the parking lot of the diner his girlfriend works at. When Alonzo’s killers spot Jared, he flees the scene in his sister, Zuri’s car, which he borrowed without asking. Nick and Hank are able to track Jared down, but he denies having any knowledge of what happened in the parking lot that night. But when the gang starts targeting him and his sister, Jared starts talking.
The detectives have Jared and Zuri placed in a safe house and Hank volunteers to keep watch. There’s obvious chemistry between Hank and Zuri, but the physical therapist is still hesitant to get too close to the detective. The reason becomes clear by the end of the episode; Zuri is a Yaguarate.
The theme here seems to be that Wesen are sometimes better off letting their non-creature friends know they occasionally grow whiskers and fur, especially if the non-creature friend is a Grimm. Ultimately, Zuri handles her brother’s problems in the same manner gangster, Alonzo Bank’s enemies dealt with him. Nick lets Zuri off the hook for taking a literal bite out of crime and Hank lets her know that he’s cool with the fact that she turns into a humanoid jungle cat when she’s angry. But Zuri still doesn’t think a relationship between the two would work. As for Alicia, she decides to show her true self to Juliette, woging into a Fuchsbau for her friend to see, bringing the two college friends even closer.
“Eyes of the Beholder” takes a break from all the royal family drama going on Vienna and frankly, it’s not missed here. Until whatever wheeling and dealing Renard and Adalind are doing overseas has an effect on Portland, it’s hard to invest in the royal family storyline. Though it doesn’t have much bearing on the larger story, at least this episode does touch on the sensitive nature of Wesen-human relations and further more, it looks like Hank’s luck with the ladies might finally be changing. Meow!
