Grimm: “The Law of Sacrifice”
(Episode 3.18)
Whenever a story or plot centers around a special baby with special powers, there’s always that New Testament Mary, Jesus and Joseph feel. In last night’s Grimm, Adalind and Sean did everything they could to protect their blessed baby, ultimately learning that the law of sacrifice is a difficult pill to swallow.
At the beginning of “The Law of Sacrifice,” Adalind makes it clear that she is ready to kill to protect her baby, and that she will not give her up willingly. But we already know that Viktor is prepared to do the same to get a hold of the child. So it’s not too surprising when he calls an FBI agent in Portland (Stewart) and gives him instructions to track down Adalind and Poppa Bear Renard, and to do whatever’s necessary to get a hold of that fancy little baby. Nick tries to explain to the new parents that nobody is safe with that baby roaming free, and that Adalind should, therefore, accept his help.
Stewart quickly tracks Adalind down, but Nick’s mom stops him in his tracks with one swift blow to the head. Between Kelly Burkhardt on Grimm and Maya Pope on Scandal, can we just take a moment to give it up to these bad ass mothers on primetime television right now?
Moment.
And Nick was right about Adalind needing his help sooner rather than later. Stewart had sent two of his wesen lackeys after her, so they stashed the little purple-eyed, blessed one at Monroe and Rosalee’s place. It was seriously funny watching as Nick calls to hastily explain to Monroe and Rosalee why he was bringing Adalind and her baby to their house (and who the father was, and why his mother was involved, and how Adalind was still unaware that his mom had killed her mom). It’s always helpful to say things aloud so you can hear the craziness therein.
As usual, Monrosalee come to the rescue, welcoming the new mom into their home. Nick’s mom and Renard make nice (sort of) before they rush off to get some information out of that FBI agent. They leave him with a message to pass on to the Royals: a phony location of the baby.
Nick also has to tell Hank that Adalind is back in town … baby in tow. This was especially hilarious because Hank was basically a potential babydaddy—but all is cleared up for him and, relieved to know he dodged that bullet, he’s ready to start helping.
Meanwhile, Viktor shows up in town and heads straight to the precinct. He threatens Renard but leaves with some questions about the woman involved in all of this—he seems curious about Kelly, who’s busy getting faux-arrested for the murder of Adalind’s mom. Renard, Nick, and Kelly orchestrated something pretty terrible and appear to hand the fancy baby over to the Royals. When Adalind realizes what Sean has done she loses it—like any mother would—running into the middle of the street and screaming at the top of her lungs. But she’s a hexenbeist, so that scream shatters all of the glass around her.
The twist at the end of “The Law of Sacrifice” is pretty awesome. The gang (Nick, Hank, Monroe, Kelly, Sean) goes all-black-everything and stop the Royals just as they’re about to board the plane with the baby. Monroe is unrecognizable and super-scary, screaming German at them and demanding that they hand over the baby. With guns pointed at him from all sides, Viktor has no choice. The baby is safe, and rides off into the sunset … with Kelly?
Earlier in the episode, when they were trying to distract Adalind from the whole ordeal, Kelly had given her a little speech about fancy babies like Nick and Diana (because the baby finally has a name!), and it all comes back around in the end. Kelly did not get to raise Nick, but seeing her interact with Diana (she’s the only one who seems to have a calming effect when the baby is breaking household objects with her cries) suggests that she’s getting a second chance at motherhood. We’ll have to wait and see how Adalind feels about all of this, if they ever tell her the truth.
There are few things more exciting and terrifying than the arrival of a new, small person, and the last few episodes of Grimm have captured that perfectly. Although Diana is safe for now, we hope this isn’t the end of this particular storyline. It’s made for some great drama this season.
Favorite Quote of the Episode: “Hexenbeist got your tongue?” (Viktor to Sean)
Shannon M. Houston is a New York-based freelance writer, regular contributor to Paste, and occasional contributor to the human race via little squishy babies. You can follow her on Twitter.