"The beast was simply the Call of the Wild personified ... which some natures hear to their own destruction."
This episode begins with a flashback with Hank still on patrol. He is called to a site and told that there is a fighting going on. When Hank hears gunshots, he calls for backup and runs towards the front of a house. Hank yells, "police, we're coming in," and kicks down the door. Inside, he finds two men shot on the ground and when he hears a noise out the back, Hank gives chase. He manages to catch the suspect and arrest him but the man keeps saying that the victims were animals and is shocked that Hank didn't see them. He keeps asking, "what are they? What the hell are they? They looked like monsters. They wanted to eat me, they tried to kill me."
Seven Years Later
Hank and Nick are walking and Hank is clearly not paying attention to a word Nick has to say. Hank asks Nick if he ever told him about a man named Craig he arrested seven years ago, who shot two brothers. Nick replies that he has never heard about it. It seems that Craig was an Iraq vet and was sentenced to death. Hank says that when he arrested Craig, he claimed the two men he shot had turned into some kind of monster and tried to attack him. Hank believed that Craig was out of his mind and that when he walked into that house that night, the two brothers looked pretty damn human. Hank says that his testimony helped Craig land on death row and in light of what he now knows, he wonders if Craig was telling the truth. Nick says that maybe Craig was telling stories, or maybe he was just drunk. Hank counters saying that maybe Craig saw something that isn't easily explained and asks Nick for his help. Nicks says that he can't do that without taking a look at the evidence or talking with the defendant. Hank cuts him off saying, "thanks, I was hoping that you would do that." Hank hands Nick a newspaper and says that Craig Fereen is scheduled to be executed in thirty-six and a half hours.
Back at the station, Nick reads the report which says that Fereen claimed that the victims turned into hideous monsters and wanted to eat him. Hank answers that at the time, it all sounded ridiculous, like he was building an insanity plea. Nick points out that even if what Fereen said was the truth, believing him is not going to get him off death row and that they have to find something concrete . Nick notes that detective Robert Anderson worked the case and asks what happened to him. Hank answers that he works white collar for the feds and picks up the phone to call him.
Renard is passed out on a bed with an empty bottle of booze beside him, when his phone starts to ring. He says that he was called away on some business at city hall and that he will be in soon.
Hank and Nick go to have a chat with Anderson, who says that his Feeren's guilt was undeniable and that Fereen even admitted that he was the shooter. Nick replies that some of Feeren's claims may have been justified and that he may have been attacked. Anderson asks if they found evidence that the Kreski brothers had weapons and Hank answers that Feeren accused the Kreski brothers of being cannibals. Anderson immediately dismisses this and says that they conducted a search and found absolutely nothing. Anderson says they interviewed friends, as well as neighbours and didn't find anything. Anderson assures Hank that he is not responsible for Craig Fereen being on death row and suggests that he allow justice to prevail.
Juliet is sitting with a friend and says that she doesn't know if she loves Nick and that it feels like she just met him. Juliet's friend asks if there is someone else and Juliet denies it, albeit a little too quickly, which causes her friend to ask the name of Mr. Complicated. Juliet says that the name is not important and that she is not sleeping with anybody, but admits that she has feelings for Sean Renard. Juliet says she cannot stop thinking about him and it's driving her crazy.
Hank and Nick knock on Monique's door to talk about Craig. Monique is suspicious because Hank was the arresting officer but Hank says that some of the cases they have been working recently have given them a new perspective and they want to apply that to Craig's case. Monique invites Hank and Nick in and tells them how Iraq changed Craig. Monique admits that though Craig had his issues, he was just starting to get his life back together when all of this happened. Monique looks right at Nick and says that it's ironic that Craig is the one who is being portrayed as a monster. When Nick asks if she believes Craig, Monique replies, that she is not in Craig's head but believes that he saw what he said he saw. Monique said that it haunted him and that because everyone told him that he was crazy, he stared to believe that he was. Monique hands Nick and Hank letters which Craig sent from prison saying that he didn't want to see her anymore.
Hank and Nick track down Craig's lawyer, who claims to have filed everything he could but it was all denied. The lawyer quips, "unfortunately, he got the legal defense he could afford." Hank points out that the lawyer only called one character witness, but the lawyer replies that Monique was the only one who got along with Craig. Nick takes a different approach and asks about Craig's military buddies but the lawyer said that this wasn't a good idea because on cross examination all the jury would hear is how well Craig handled a gun and what a killer he was. The lawyer says that he is a public defender and deals with 15 cases per day and has no personal life. The lawyer says he looked into the Kreski brothers but they were clean and if they were cannibals, they must have ate up all of the evidence. The lawyer pulls out Fereen's file and shows Nick and Hank pictures Fereen drew of the monsters he claimed that he saw and then points out that the pysch evaluation proved he knew the difference between right and wrong.
Hank and Nick head off to the great Grimm library to see if they can find a beast that matches the drawings. Nick comes across a matching image and says that it's a wendigo. They learn that wendigo's usually build pits under houses and basements to bury the remains of the people they consume. Hank now believes that this is an incident of self defense and Nick says that it's time they talk to Fereen.
When Hank and Nick head to the prison, Nick realises that there are many Hexen's locked away. When Hank and Nick finally see Craig, he says that he has nothing to say to them and asks if Hank is there to clear his conscience. Nick says that they might be able to help him and asks what happened the night Craig shot the Kreskis. Craig says that it was a mistake and that he didn't see anything. Hank holds up Craig's drawings and says that they got it from his lawyer. On his phone, Nick brings up the image from the book and tells Craig that the beast he killed is a wendigo and that he is not the only one who has seen it. Craig says that he was there to fix the Kreskis plumbing and they invited him to dinner. When Craig refused and tried to leave, they changed and had teeth like needles, yellow eyes and that it was nightmare. Craig says he fought them off, then he started shooting and ran. Nick thanks him and Craig says that no one is going to believe him.
Nick and Hank leave the prison and Nick says that they cannot tell the D.A. that the Kreskis were wendigos and they still need evidence. Hank points out that in the book, it said that wendigos bury the remains of their victims where they live. Nick points out that the defense never dug up the yard. When they get to the spot where the Kreski's house use to be, in its place they find a business.
Renard enters his office and pulls out his phone and calls Juliet. When she answers, he brings up the other night when they kissed and she says that it was a mistake. Renard tells Juliet that things have become worse for him and he has been thinking about what to do. Juliet believes that that the solution would be for them to never see each other again, but Renard tells her that this is not going to work. Renard instead suggests that there is someone he thinks can help them get through this and starts to give her directions to a shop, when Woo knocks on the door to say that the D.A. wants a word with him. Renard ends his call with Juliet.
Hank and Nick enter the store and Nick suggests that they get sonar to search for the bodies and that they are going to need a warrant to dig. They decide to head back to the precinct to talk to Renard. The two walk into Renard's office and discover he is chatting with the district attorney Lauren about their visit to death row. Lauren points out that Hank is the arresting officer and his testimony put Craig on death row and suggests that Hank better have a good reason for looking into the case at the eleventh hours. Hank says that it isn't about him and Nick adds that there might be some credence to Craig's claims. Lauren gets up and leaves the office, after they both admit that there is no doubt that Craig killed the Kreskis. Hank is not impressed and suggests that Lauren is more interested in her election but Renard points out that they didn't exactly hand over any evidence. After both Hank and Nick say that they believe Craig is innocent, Renard promises to stand behind them, but warns them that if they're wrong, this is not the kind of attention they want.
When they leave the office, Nick again points out that no judge is going to give them a court order to dig up the bodies without any evidence. Hank tells Nick that he does not have to get involved in this and so Nick asks Hank how he is going to solve this without him. When Hank apologies for dragging Nick into this, Nick replies, "you didn't, my family did." They sit and begin to work and Nick suggests that maybe they need to search the house where the Kreskis used to live. Hank adds that Johnny Kreski survived and suggests that Nick push him a little. Nick says it won't stop the execution but says that he might be able to persuade him. Hank says that if Kreski is still killing, it might prove that he is not the innocent victim. After doing a computer search, they cannot find a recent address for Kreski.
It turns out their hunch was right and Kreski is actually in a kitchen making a stew out of a human foot.
In the meantime, Juliet is looking up obsession, but closes the laptop when Nick comes in. Juliet tells Nick that she couldn't sleep and asks him what he remembers from the night in the hospital when she woke up. Nick says mostly he remembers that Juliet didn't remember him, but was excited that she was awake. Nick then asks her what she remembers and Juliet says a lot of strange dreams like something being taken away from her. Juliet asks how one specific parts of her memory disappears. Nick suggests the cat scratch and Juliet is not buying it. Nick asks about her memories of the night she went into a coma and Juliet says that she was crying. When Juliet asks why she was crying, he said that if he told her now, it wouldn't make any sense to her. Juliet is not impressed and leaves the room.
Craig is in his cell and he is remembering the attack as he looks at a picture he drew of the Kreskis in wendigo. The next day at the office, Nick shows Hank a missing persons report which shows that in each neighbourhood that Kreski lived, there were slightly more missing persons than normal. After pulling his tax return, they decide to head to the last job that Kreski worked at. They find John Kreski at work and he quickly says that he has nothing to say. Hank confronts Kreski with the fact that he is a Wendigo and Nick watches as Kreski changes and says that Craig is going to die.
Juliet calls Monroe over at her shop to say that her aunt is doing better and that she will return in two weeks. Their call is interrupted by Renard, who says that he is bringing the woman in tomorrow and demands complete privacy. Monroe says that he needs at least half an hour to assess the situation but won't know more until he talks to the two of them because this is a complicated issue. When another customer comes in, Renard leaves saying that he will call when he knows what time he will be in tomorrow.
Hank and Nick break into Kreski's house saying that there is a warrant out for him because he skipped jury duty. They search the house and find scratches on the floor by the refrigerator. After moving the fridge, they find a hatch with access to a crawl space. Hank and Nick decide to head down and check it out.
Craig is lying on his bed when the warden comes in and tells him that it is time. At the Kreski house, Nick and Hank find a pit with decomposing bodies. Outside, Kreski pulls up and when Hank crawls out of the hole, Kreski attacks him and traps Nick in the crawl space. After Hank gets his gun out and shoots Kreski as he run away, Hank frees Nick.
Craig is brought into the execution chamber, where Monique is there as a witness. In her office, the D.A. is working on a speech about the execution. Hank tells Nick that he is going after Kreski and demands that Nick call the D.A. When Nick calls he is told the D.A. is gone for the day but he insists that it is urgent and cannot wait. Craig is being strapped to the bed. The phone in the D.A. office rings, just as Lauren leaves.
Hank is hunting down Kreski in a wooded area with his gun drawn. Finally, Nick gets a hold of the D.A. on the phone and tells Lauren that he has found bodies buried under Kreski's house and suggests that if they're right that they're bodies buried underneath Kreski's old house as well. Nick tells her that if she does not call the governor to stop the execution that he will. Nick is suddenly attacked and the D.A. can hear the whole thing on the phone. When Kreski realises that Nick is a Grimm, he jumps out of the window, only to be shot by Hank. In death Kreski turns back to human.
At the prison, a needle is being inserted into Craig's arms and he makes eye contact with Monique, who starts to cry. The death machine is turned on and started, when the phone rings. The warden stops and announces that the governor issued a 12 hour stay of execution. At the store where Kreski's old house stood, the police dig up the ground and find at least eight victims.
Hank goes to see Craig, who is still in prison and Craig says that he doesn't know what to say or why Hank believed him when no one else would. Craig asks Hank if he saw the monsters, and Hank says that it doesn't matter and that Craig is not crazy.
Monroe closes down Rosalie's shop and goes to the back and makes tea. Juliet and Renard are waiting in the main office and kissing, when Monroe returns to the front. When they break the kiss, Monroe is shocked to see Juliet.
For much of this episode it was basically yet another monster of the week, which we have become accustomed to on Grimm. The main plot moves so slowly that it is possible to miss a few episodes and not really miss anything at all. I have been waiting for some time for the attraction between Juliet and Renard to come to a head and this week we got little more than teasers, though it ended with Monroe discovering that Juliet is the object of Renard's obsession. This is the story that should have been the focal point of this episode.
