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 are killed after breaking into a warehouse by a pyromaniac creature named 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 pyromaniac woge into the creature.

The suspect is identified as Fred Eberhart (Don Alder), a homeless person who works as a welder. Nick discovers he has a daughter, Ariel (Danielle Panabaker) working in a nightclub and decides to go. There, he discovers she is a Dämonfeuer while the audience includes many Wesen. Monroe (Silas Weir Mitchell) is revealed to be in the nightclub and reveals to Nick that a Grimm was beheaded possibly by the Reapers and advises him to watch his back.

Suspecting Ariel, Nick follows her home. She attacks him and seduces him. When Juliette (Bitsie Tulloch) talks in the phone, Ariel states that Nick was cheating on her. Nick manages to convince Juliette it was an accident. Ariel then calls Nick for help and he and Hank go to her house to investigate. Her house is covered in wire and decide to leave when the lightnings strike the house. Nick arrives home and discovers that Ariel has kidnapped Juliette and is planning on helping saving her father.

Nick and Monroe go to a cave in the tunnels to save Juliette. Nick fights Fred while Monroe tries to rescue Juliette. When Fred is too strong, Nick is forced to kill him. Ariel then ignites a poem and causes the tunnel to explode while Nick, Juliette and Monroe escape. Nick is now disturbed by the warning her aunt told him about leaving Juliette for her own good while Ariel is revealed to be alive.

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