What is it about spiders that makes them so unpleasant to many of us? All those legs? The ominous fangs? The menacing multiple eyes? The freaky-deaky little hairs standing up on end on their bodies? The manner in which they move in their alien and other worldly way?
For me — and what I believe was the best thing to capitalize on regarding their many attributes — it was the fangy look of the arachnid in this episode of Grimm. Because that really did it for me. The overall look was especially hair-raising.
This was the best episode of the season to date. It had everything packed in it. Eerie story, wiseacring Monroe, superior story telling, snappy comeback Hank, Grimm back-story and mythology, the discovery of who’s been casing Nick’s house, developing Nick. There wasn’t a whole lot to quibble about in this one.
At the very start, however, I did. Right from the get-go with the egging of Nick and Juliette’s house. Nick was quick to grab his gun and head outside to investigate what was going on outside. “Really?” I thought to myself. “A firearm is needed for this situation?” I mean … if someone’s going to do you damage, you’d think it would be a bit more caustic and make more of a statement than tossing the incredible edible egg at a window, right? But like I said, the issue of the gun was immediately addressed when Nick thought out loud if it was really necessary. Bravo, writers.
While all the spidery scenes were appreciated for their visualness, one of the best parts of the story was Nick’s confrontation with the mysterious people who have been keeping tabs on him. He was quite the alpha male, wasn’t he? Without an ounce of fear, he entered that Vesen house — hesitation be damned — and got right in that dude’s face. When the other chap showed up, he did same to him as well. What really got me crowing, though, was the fact he turned tail to his original stalker and gave double the what-for, completely ignoring the guy behind him. He knew he wouldn’t be confronted; he knew no attack from behind would be forthcoming; nothin’. Nick’s really grown a pair of late, and he’s not afraid to show it. All of a sudden his character is coming along nicely. Bravo yet again, writers.
And man … was there a lot of information to absorb in this airing. All the details Charlotte tossed our way were pretty head-spinning. (No pun intended.) Spinitad are strange creatures indeed. Even Monroe mentioned he doesn’t consider them in the same phylum as the rest of the Vesen.
I would have been completely content if the Spinitad would have gotten away from Nick at the conclusion of the episode. But … there’s something satisfying knowing she will incarcerated, quickly aging from not being able to fulfill her nature.
Notes:
Quotes:
“Gaahhhh … !!! ” — Nick, dropping a severed finger
“What?” — Hank
“It moved!” — Nick
“It must have been a nerve. You want to pick it up again? Or do you want me to give you the finger?” — Hank
“Oh … come on in. You caught me making some badenwurst. I was feeling sort of homesick. My mom used to make this stuff all the time. You want some?” – Monroe, holding out a badenwurst
“Who’s in it?” — Nick
“I’d say that looks like a Spinitad; a death spider. Not many of them, thank God. They’re like the black widows of their world. I really don’t know much about ‘em … except they kill after sex. Which, to my way of thinking, kind of ruins the evening.” — Monroe
“I wish I knew something about their habits. Do they have any rituals?” — Nick
“I don’t know. Have you searched the web? So to speak?” — Monroe
Clacked by Michael Noble 
on Feb 10, 2012 @ 22:19 EST5EDT
Just got caught up on this last night, and I really loved this episode. I thought Amy Acker’s performance was spectacular (not that I would have expected anything different!) — the way she showed that she didn’t really want to kill, and she was so divided, and then a mom and wife. Loved the shades of gray there. Really well done episode.