by Faith-Ashleigh Wong

And they all lived happily ever after...or did they?  Nick finds out this week that there is a more adult, Grimm version to the known fairytale which involve a failed ponzi scheme and "bats out of hell".

This episode we see a darker more twisted version of the Cinderella story but with the same strained familial relations between Lucinda, ("Cinderella") , and Tiffany and Taylor the two step sisters.  Caught in the crossfire is Arthur, Lucinda's husband and standing on the sidelines but doing so rather shiftily is Spencer, Lucinda's overly involved godfather.

Nick and Hank's latest homicide victim is Mavis Kerfield and initially the crime scene has the detectives stumped.  With Mavis' eyeballs exploded and all the glass and mirrors shattered but with no obvious way of how, it was glaringly obvious: this had Wesen involvement written all over it.

Interestingly enough though, while you do see the creature involved when Mavis gets attacked, you don't know who (or what specifically) it is until later.  What I liked was the anticipation of wondering who it could be is mirrored in Nick's actions, particularly his facial expressions.  When everyone in the family is brought in for questioning, we can clearly see Nick watching each person intently, hoping to trigger them to reveal their inner Wessen.

The "Wesen of the week" is the Murciélago, a bat-like Wesen, who has the ability to emit a sonic shriek that is fatal to humans – hence the state of the crime scene and Mavis.  Nick's cover gets extremely dangerously close to being blown when Spencer makes an obscure confession with Wesen references with Hank there.  That moment was so awkward and uncomfortable – poor Nick!

We don't get to see much of Monroe this week but when he does swoop in to help his timing could not have been more perfect.  He gets to "play" with another one of Aunt Marie's "toys" – a matraca, a hand-crank siren – which he does with his usual child-like enthusiasm and charming humour.

Another significant sub-plot in the storyline brings us back to the failed jewellery heist from earlier in the season (episode 13; "Three Coins in a Fuschbau").  Nick has been having nightmares about his parents' untimely death in a car crash and his meeting with Farley, a friend of Aunt Marie's who suggested that there was more to the accident than meets the eye.

Ever the devoted partner, Juliette puts on her detective hat again this week and contacts Arnold Gubser, the detective who had been assigned to the case asking for it to be looked at again, hoping to give Nick some closure.  What gets unearthed has the exact opposite effect. 

With three out of the four suspects tied to the car crash dead, Nick's next move is obvious: hunt Akira Kimura down.  Being a Wesen hunter, this shouldn't be too hard! 

Faith also writes theatre reviews and musings for her blog at www.whimsicalbanana.com