Plumed Serpent (Grimm)

"Plumed Serpent" is the 14th episode of the supernatural drama television series Grimm of season 1, which premiered on March 9, 2012, on NBC. The episode was written by Alan DiFiore and Dan E. Fesman, and was directed by Steven DePaul.

Plot[]

Opening quote: "Said the dragon, 'Many knights have left their lives here, I shall soon have an end for you, too,' and he breathed fire out of seven jaws."

Two robbers break into a warehouse and are killed by a dragonlike creature, a Dämonfeuer. Nick (David Giuntoli) and Hank (Russell Hornsby) are called to investigate. They go to the warehouse after a witness identifies a suspect. Wu (Reggie Lee) is injured and Nick sees the turn into the creature.

The suspect is identified as Fred Eberhart (Don Alder), a supposedly homeless person with a horribly scarred face, who works as a welder. Nick discovers he has a daughter, Ariel (Danielle Panabaker) who works in a nightclub as a fire eater and decides to go. There, he discovers that she is a Dämonfeuer, and that the audience includes many Wesen, including Monroe (Silas Weir Mitchell). Monroe tells Nick that a Grimm was recently beheaded in Europe, possibly by the Reapers. He advises Nick to watch his back.

Suspecting Ariel, Nick follows her home. She attacks him, pins him to the ground—and kisses him. When Juliette (Bitsie Tulloch) calls on Nick's phone, Ariel picks it up and pretends that she and Nick are fooling around. Nick explains to Juliette, to Ariel's amusement.

Ariel calls Nick and promises to tell him everything she knows. He phones Juliette to tell her that he and Hank are going to see Ariel. Laughing, Juliette promises him a fire dance of his own when he comes home. Nick and Hank go to Ariel's house, which is covered inside and out in copper wire. They leave at the sound of thunder, as lightning nears the house. Nick arrives home and discovers Ariel in their bed. She has kidnapped Juliette as part of a plan to save her father.

Monroe figures out that Ariel has created a classic quest scenario and identifies an old train tunnel that must be Fred Eberhardts' lair. Nick plans to fight Fred and distract him while Monroe takes Juliette outside, but Fred is so strong that Nick is forced to kill him, giving him the dignified death Ariel planned for her father. From inside the cave, Ariel chants a poem and ignites a plume of fire. Nick, Juliette and Monroe assume Ariel is dead.

Driving home. Nick tells Juliette he cannot promise that his work will get any better. She cannot promise that she can keep doing this. She is too tired to talk about it right now. Nick recalls the warning his aunt gave him about leaving Juliette, for her own good.

Ariel walks out of the tunnel.

Reception[]

Viewers[]

The episode was viewed by 5.05 million people, earning a 1.5/4 in the 18-49 rating demographics on the Nielson ratings scale, ranking second on its timeslot and fourth for the night in the 18-49 demographics, behind Blue Bloods, The Mentalist, and Undercover Boss.^[1] This was a 5% increase in viewership from the previous episode, which was watched by 5.30 from an 1.6/5 in the 18-49 demographics.^[2] This means that 1.5 percent of all households with televisions watched the episode, while 4 percent of all households watching television at that time watched it.

Critical reviews[]

"Plumed Serpent" received positive reviews. The A.V. Club's Kevin McFarland gave the episode a "B-" grade and wrote, "In all fairness, I'm surprised that Grimm made it all the way through thirteen episodes without having someone kidnap Juliette and forcing Nick to save her. The prince saving kidnapped princess storyline was an obvious one in light of the fairy tale genre, but even in a universe that accepted any and all types of creature, dragons are a tough one to weave in. As Grimm went to commercial with about fifteen minutes left, I predicted that Nick would set off for Juliette with Eddie in tow, and that Eddie would bring up just how classical the setup had become, and lo and behold, that’s exactly what happened. Eddie has a few nice quips about Nick being the Prince, dragons kidnapping his princess, and needing to slay said dragon and rescue Juliette in order to fulfill some classical honorific story."^[3]

Nick McHatton from TV Fanatic, gave a 4.4 star rating out of 5, stating: "'Plumed Serpent' was easily one of the most imaginative episodes of Grimm yet. We all give Once Upon A Time a lot of credit for bringing fairy tales and Disney to life, but Grimm should be given its fair share, as well, for delivering its own unique style and spin on things. How the show is shot, and finding the whimsical in and around Portland, can't be easy to do every week. And that's before they bring it all together as a modern day fairy tale. Plus, who doesn't like epic lairs? Those always get a little bit of extra credit from me. My biggest gripe with Grimm continues to be the lack of Eddie. It's hard to like Hank at all when there's a much better alternative out there for Nick. Honestly, did Hank serve any kind of useful purpose this week?"^[4]

References[]

External links[]

• "Plumed Serpent" at IMDb