The Thing with Feathers

"The Thing with Feathers" is the 16th episode of season 1 of the supernatural drama television series Grimm, which was premiered in the United States on April 6, 2012, on NBC. The episode was written by Richard Hatem and was directed by Darnell Martin.

Plot[]

Opening quote: "Sing my precious little golden bird, sing! I have hung my golden slipper around your neck."

Nick (David Giuntoli) plans a romantic weekend with Juliette (Bitsie Tulloch) in a cabin on Whispering Pines, where he plans on proposing to her. Meanwhile, Hank (Russell Hornsby) is still suffering from his obsession with Adalind (Claire Coffee), going as far as to stalk her and watch her house. He sees her kissing a man, Peter (Michael Sheets), and leading him into the bedroom. Hank threatens Peter, at gunpoint, telling him he must never see her again. This supposed encounter was orchestrated by Renard (Sasha Roiz). Adalind hates Peter.

That night, from their cabin window, Juliette sees the occupant of a nearby house, Tim Steinkellner (Josh Randall) abuse his wife, Robin (Azura Skye). (The audience has seen him force-feeding her a repulsive concoction that includes earthworms.) Nick calls the sheriff, who checks on the house but leaves without arresting Tim. Tim has manifested as a Wesen. and Nick calls Monroe (Silas Weir Mitchell) for help in identifying him. Monroe tells him that the man is a creature called Klaustreich. Although they are abusive, women are strongly attracted to them. When Monroe was in High School, a Klaustreich impregnated a friend of his. She gave birth to his “litter” at prom, and when her parents called the police, he slashed her face before leaving town. (Monroe says that the Klaustreich did not escape justice, suggesting that he himself took care of it.)

While in the local supermarket, Nick discovers Robin is a Seltenvogel, an extremely rare Wesen. Monroe and Rosalee (Bree Turner) tell him that Seltenvogel are prized because they grow an egg-shaped object composed chiefly of gold on their necks.

Tim kills a store clerk who was helping Robin to escape. Nick discovers the corpse and calls the sheriff. He rescues Robin, who is in “labor”, and takes her to Juliette at their cabin. The sheriff pulls up and a terrified Robin tells them he is Tim's cousin and part of this. Robin flees into the woods. Nick finds her. Over the phone, Monroe and Rosalee guide him in extracting the stone from Robin's throat. Tim and the sheriff find them, but Nick uses their obsession with the egg (which is very fragile) to distract them. Tim falls and the egg shatters. He arrests them.

At home, Nick proposes to Juliette, but she declines, saying that, although she loves him and wants to marry him someday, he has been too closed off since his Aunt's death. Cut to Hank and Adalind having a romantic dinner as the restaurant closes around them.

Reception[]

Viewers[]

The episode was viewed by 4.45 million people in the US, earning a 1.3/4 in the 18-49 rating demographics on the Nielson ratings scale, ranking third on its timeslot and sixth for the night in the 18-49 demographics, behind 20/20, Primetime: What Would You Do?, CSI: NY, Blue Bloods and Undercover Boss.^[1] This was a 7% increase in viewership from the previous episode, which was watched by 4.15 from an 1.2/4 in the 18-49 demographics.^[2] This means that 1.3 percent of all US households with televisions watched the episode, while 4 percent of all households watching television at that time watched it.

Critical reviews[]

"The Thing with Feathers" received positive reviews. The A.V. Club's Kevin McFarland gave the episode a "B-" grade and wrote, "My bigger issue is that Grimm is stuck with a Hank Problem as well. He and Juliette are similarly nebulous in their relation to Nick. Hank is the unnecessary partner, the one that provides less guidance in comparison to Eddie Monroe, and whose connection to Nick is much more tenuous. Why do he and Nick have such a cohesive partnership? Why would his involvement with the Hexenbiest Adaline Schade be such a big plot point moving forward? Grimm has not done a good enough job establishing the police partnership as an integral relationship in the show on par with Nick's relationship to Eddie or to his girlfriend/potential fiancé. To me, they serve a similar purpose, and if the preview for next week is accurate, Hank is about to assume the damsel in distress position that Juliette occupied a few weeks ago, and he will also have no idea what the Wesen world has to do with his involvement in a case."^[3]

Nick McHatton from TV Fanatic, gave a 4.0 star rating out of 5, stating, "Getting to the episode, not much happened this week, and for the most part Grimm suffered because of it. Most of it is due to the unresolved obstacles between Nick and Juliette. I'm all for characters growing further apart as the secrets one or more of them harbor continue to pile on and on, but when it happens too quickly or things begin to get out of hand it's time to change things up or resolve it. Grimm has reached that point."^[4]

Shilo Adams from TV Overmind wrote, "Grimm may have been about the birds tonight, but thankfully, it didn't lay an egg. (Har har.) 'The Thing with Feathers' felt like a strong balance between procedural and serial, Nick and his supporting cast, the human and Grimm sides of Nick Burkhardt. It's been tough for Grimm to strike that kind of harmony between all of its elements, with only a few episodes clicking on all cylinders. Last night may have featured a slightly rote case, but it was surrounded by a lot of good stuff and the way it was handled differentiated it from the dryer, less unique episodes earlier in the season. Grimm may have found a way to handle a solid supporting cast and two important sides of its storytelling, but it looks like Nick has to figure out just how much of his other life he'll let Juliette in on, if any at all."^[5]

References[]

External links[]

• "The Thing with Feathers" at IMDb