Bad Moon Rising (Grimm)

"Bad Moon Rising" is the 3rd episode of the supernatural drama television series Grimm of season 2 and the 25th overall, which premiered on August 27, 2012, on NBC. The episode was written by Richard Hatem, and was directed by David Solomon.

Plot

Opening quote: "Then she began to weep bitterly, and said, 'What can a poor girl like me do now?"

A girl, Carly (Maddie Hasson) is kidnapped by her cousins. Nick (David Giuntoli) is trying to make Juliette (Bitsie Tulloch) to remember him but she can't and for some reason, she can remember everything else, even Monroe (Silas Weir Mitchell).

Hank (Russell Hornsby) is struggling to maintain his stability after everything he witnessed, going as far as to threaten his psychiatrist. Carly's father, Jarold (Mark Pellegrino), who is also Hank's friend, asks for help in finding Carly. Nick sees Jarold woge into a Coyotl and discovers that when a female Coyotl reaches 17, a pack will make a ritual named Aseveracion.

They deduce that Jarold's brother-in-law, Hayden (John Pyper-Ferguson), may be responsible. They raid his apartment, but only discover dismembered animals. They finally locate the well where Carly is held and rescue her. The in-laws begin a shooting. While trying to hide in a barn, Carly discovers Nick is a Grimm and panics, showing her form in front of Hank. A paranoid Hank holds her at gunpoint and Nick is forced to reveal his Grimm identity.

Hayden threatens to kill Jarold and enters inside to retrieve Carly and kill Nick and Hank. They use a ruse to lure the in-laws into a trap and arrest them. Hank is now happy that he's not crazy, or at least that he is not the only one, understanding Nick's life as a Grimm. Juliette is released from the hospital but Nick is heartbroken as she shows no feelings towards him.

Reception

Viewers

The episode was viewed by 4.67 million people, earning a 1.6/4 in the 18-49 rating demographics on the Nielson ratings scale, ranking first on its timeslot and sixth for the night in the 18-49 demographics behind a rerun of Mike & Molly, a rerun of The Big Bang Theory, a rerun of 2 Broke Girls, Hotel Hell, and Hell's Kitchen.^[1] This was a 5% decrease in viewership from the previous episode, which was watched by 4.90 million viewers with a 1.7/5.^[2] This means that 1.6 percent of all households with televisions watched the episode, while 4 percent of all households watching television at that time watched it.

Critical reviews

"Bad Moon Rising" received positive reviews. The A.V. Club's Kevin McFarland gave the episode a "B+" grade and wrote, "It looks like Grimm is going to leave most of those plates spinning for a while. Renard's origins, the resistance movement, Adalind's whereabouts, Juliette's memory, Nick's mother, those goddamn coins — all of that is on the bench tonight, except for a few ancillary scenes. Instead, 'Bad Moon Rising' is a transformation into Grimm: Special Victims Unit, a tightly plotted standalone that accomplishes one important plot point. Hank is no longer in the dark, and though there are still a lot of questions, it felt right."^[3]

Nick McHatton from TV Fanatic, gave a 4.1 star rating out of 5, stating: "Ah well, I'm nitpicking. It's exciting to think what Hank might bring to the inside now that he knows the full story. He'll be meeting everyone again for the first time, which will be fun to explore. Grimm Season 2 has started out with great momentum and moved from 'sure, I'll watch it' to 'must see' on my viewing list."^[4]

Shilo Adams from TV Overmind, wrote: "Through issues of identity, sanity, memory, and family, the residents of Portland have slowly been confronting their personal demons, looking them dead in the eye and daring them to make a move. In 'Bad Moon Rising', an episode where every subplot found a character trying to get back to their idea of 'home', there was indeed some movement in that area."^[5]

Josie Campbell from TV.com wrote, "With the reveal of the truth, it's increasingly obvious this is a Grimm radically different than Season 1, determined to throw status quo to the wind rather than milking a plot. Moreover, this Wesen-of-the-week story did not feel like useless filler as so many of the Season 1 episodes did. It stood on its own and delivered a solid crime story that could have honestly been an episode of a regular procedural drama with the barest of retouches. No longer does the show feel segmented into monster episodes versus mythology episodes—just like Hank and Nick, the show is uniting all the separate pieces."^[6]

References