Parents’ worst nightmares become reality when three children are kidnapped this episode. It wouldn’t be Grimm without a supernatural twist, however, which appears in the form of a tormented woman from Chicano ghost stories as the kidnapper.
Nick and Hank, with the help of visiting Detective Valentina Espinoza, spend Halloween chasing down a woman known for kidnapping and then drowning children. With three kids missing and no clues to their whereabouts, Nick consults his Grimm lore and finds creepy records of this “wailing woman” dating back to Cortez. La Llorona, as she’s called, drowned herself and her three children when her husband left her for a younger woman. It’s just a sad tale… until Nick discovers that she reappears every Halloween to drown three more children. Apparently La Llorona has a thing for holding grudges.
Meanwhile, a subplot involving Monroe and devious trick-or-treaters celebrates all that is spookily wonderful about Halloween. According to Monroe, Halloween is bigger than Christmas for Wesen, since it’s the one day of the year they can let their true identities shine. Monroe explains, “My ancestors spent it running around in the woods scaring the crap out of villagers—literally sometimes.” There aren’t any villagers for him to frighten in the 21st century, but he makes do with a few preteen vandals.
Highlights of the episode include the reappearance of Brian the bumbling intern and the revelation that Juliette is fluent in Spanish. Juliette’s amnesia has been a complete pain to watch week after week, but busting out her bilingual skills just made her cooler. It was a relief to be in awe of her, rather than agony, when she took to the screen. Of course, foreign languages have the magical power to make anything more entertaining.
Best Monroe Quote of the Night: “I like the Wolfman [costume]; looks like my Uncle Herman before they chopped his head off.”