"I have but to swallow this,
and be fore the rest of my days
persecuted by a legion of
goblins, all of my own creation.
Humbug, I tell you; humbug!"
Dennis and Emma Gladstone are throwing a massive Christmas party. The doorbell rings and when it is opened, their guests find a present on the front porch.
Monroe has decorated the house for Christmas and he starts the train for the first time for the season, much to Rosalie's excitement. Monroe then points out an invitation taped to one of the train cars to Rosalie. When it comes around, Rosalie grabs it. The invitation turns out to be an offer from Monroe to go on a honeymoon with him. Can I just say, it's about time. The two hug happily and they both say that they are going to be okay.
At the Gladstone's, a hand breaks its way through the present that was dropped off. Emma wakes Dennis to let him know that there is someone in the house. Downstairs, a kallikantzaroi, which looks quite like the Grinch becomes visible. Denis makes his way down the stairs after telling Emma to call the police and hears the sound of things being crashed. He confronts two kallikantzaroi with glowing green eyes. Denis calls out for help and tries to run back upstairs but the kallikantzaroi grab him by the legs and drag him away.
Trubel, Hank and Nick are at the Grimm trailer doing research on the Wesen heretics who burned the cross. Hank questions how they knew that Rosalie and Monroe were married. Back at Nick's Josh Porter is going through the Grimopedia in amazement, as he and Juliet talk about the fact that Wesen are real. Josh mentions that he thought his father was "crazy" and brought his father to Nick because he was dying. Josh reveals that there are days when he wishes he could be like Nick and Juliet points out that one day, he might not have a choice. Josh admits that this possibility scares him. Josh then questions if the threats against Monroe and Rosalie are real and wonders if there is something he could do to help. Juliet points out that he has enough to deal with right now and Josh concedes the points. The two sit and look at the tree and Josh says that this is his first Christmas away from Philadelphia.
Hank and Nick arrive at the Gladstone's, where Wu tells them that Dennis got banged up pretty badly in a home invasion. Wu adds that the nieghbours reported hearing a lot of strange noises. The cops enter the house and it is a complete wreck. Wu takes Hank and Nick to meet Emma, who is anxious to see Dennis. Emma tells them that she heard the attack and that when she finally got downstairs, whoever did this was gone. Emma explains that they had a party with a lot of their friends which went until about 11. Emma does bring up the present left on the front doorstep and points it out to Hank, who goes to check it out. Hank realises that the box looks like something or someone ripped it open from the inside. Nick picks up a piece of fruit cake that the perpetrators were munching on.
Trubel and Josh head back to Nicks's and Truble hands Nick the mask she took of the man. Trubel then brings up the incident where Bud asked her to help with a bully problem at his kid's school and reveals that it was really all about Shaw, a Wesen who was going to do something to Nick because he wasn't a Grimm anymore. Trubel adds that Bud thought that Shaw found out that Nick was no longer a Grimm, from a guy who attended Monroe & Rosalie's wedding. Trubel reveals that the mask was in the pocket of a Shackle that Josh hit in the head with a rock. Nick gets a call from Hank saying that the witness is ready to talk. Nick agrees to meet Hank at the hospital and tells Trubel to see what she can find out from Bud.
At the hospital, Denis describes his attackers as three kids who dressed up like red hairy monsters. Nick asks for more details on what the perpetrators looked like and Denis snarks about Nick and Hank filling out a police report for hairy little beasts. Denis suggests that they look for whoever was inside the costumes, so Nick says that more detail about the costume could help point them out.
Bud, Josh & Trubel watch the house from across the street. Using binoculars, Bud identifies some of the Wesen in the house.
A family returns home to their beautifully decorated house, not aware that kallikantzaroi are inside.
At the station, Hank plots out the different locations of where the attacks have occured. They take note that in the middle of the attacks is a Greek Orthodox church. Wu pulls them aside to show them the drawing the sketch artist made of the kallikantzaroi who attacked Dennis, asking how he is to handle this. Hank simply says very carefully.
Nick makes his way into Renard's office. Renard tells Nick that Elizabeth now knows that she has a granddaughter and that Elizabeth is on a quest to find her. Renard reveals that he told Elizabeth that Kelly has the baby and that he felt compelled to because Elizabeth is his mother and she saved his life. Renard asks if Nick if he knows where Kelly is and Nick answers that he hasn't heard from her and if he did, Kelly wouldn't say where she is. Renard is concerned that Elizabeth might just kill Kelly and Nick replies that he doesn't want Kelly to kill Elizabeth. I think if anything, Elizabeth is going to be the one in trouble if she dares to go after mommy Grimm. Renard then points out that with Adalind now back in the custody of the royals, it won't take long for them to figure out who has the baby. Renard then moves onto Wu and makes it clear that he doesn't Wu to discover anything about him. Their conversation is cut short when Hank enters the office to report that there is another attack in progress.
The kallikantzaroi are destroying the christmas decorations on the front lawn of a house, when Hank and Nick pull up. When the kallikantzaroi see Hank and Nick, they freeze momentarily and two take off. Nick notices one on the roof and when it sees Nick, it falls off the roof. Nick and Hank approach the kallikantzaroi and Nick tries to tell it to take it easy but it leaps at Nick. Nick manages to throw the kallikantzaroi off and Hank manages to knock it out by breaking a garden gnome over its head. Nick is shocked that Hank can see it, which makes them both question whether or not the kallikantzaroi is Wesen. In the background, a police siren goes off. Hank says that they cannot take it back to the police station and Nick suggests that they take it to Monroe and Rosalie's. They pick up the kallikantzaroi up and both complain about the smell.
In front of Monroe and Rosalie's, Nick opens the trunk of his car so that Juliet can see the kallikantzaroi. The moment the trunk lid lifts the kallikantzaroi sits up, so Hank he cold cocks it, knocking it unconscious again. Rosalie injects the kallikantzaroi with a tranquilizer and both Monroe and Rosalie say that they have never seen one of these before. Hank puts the kallikantzaroi into the crate that Juliet brought with her, as she explains that they have about an hour, or an hour and a half, before it wakes up.
At the Grimm trailer, Nick, Monroe and Hank sit down to do some research. In the papers they find a reference to a kallikantzaroi - children of the Indole Gentile. Hank is shocked that they are children. Kallikantzaroi are apparently rare among the Indole Gentile and manifest around the winter solstice for 12 days around puberty. It seems that the transition only happens at night and Hank snarks that this is about raging hormones. Hank then questions if there is a way to stop them without cutting off their heads. It seems that when Kallikantzaroi each too much fruit cake, it renders them harmless and returns them to their natural state by morning. Monroe quips that there is really a reason for fruit cake.
Back at Monroe and Rosalie's, Juliet talks about all of the decorations that Monroe has set up. Juliet sits down saying that she is suffering from a little bit of nausea. Rosalie wonders if Juliet might be pregnant and Juliet worries that she could have gotten pregnant when she was Adalind. Their conversation is interrupted when they hear a noise. The women rush outside to the garage to find that the kallikantzaroi has escaped its cage. When they look up, they see several kallikantzaroi staring at them with glowing eyes from the bushes. The women rush into the house slamming the door and the kallikantsaroi push on the door, attempting to get in. The killikantzaroi rush into the house and Rosalie and Juliet manage to knock two of them out with a frying man. The third rushes into the living room, with the women quickly following in desperation to save Monroe's train. The killikantzaroi is quickly joined by two others and Rosalie and Juliet struggle to hold them off. Monroe bursts in, followed by Nick and when Monroe sees the damage, he vogues and howls, causing the killikantzaroi to take off running. Hank, Monroe and Nick chase the killikantzaroi outside but the killikantzaroi escape. Nick wonders how they got there and Monroe surmises that it must be the smell. Nick asks Monroe to track them but Monroe says that he cannot track three different directions at once.
The men head back into the house where the women are cleaning up. Monroe is happy to learn that the train was saved and Rosalie asserts that there was no way she was letting anyone near it. Nick apologises for bringing the killikantzaroi there. Hank and Monroe explain what the killikantzaroi are and Nick adds that they can be stopped with fruit cake.
Nick and Rosalie return home to find Trubel, Josh and Bud gathered around the table. Turble explains that at the house, there was a guy wearing one of the masks and Josh hands over a list of names of the men who were in attendance.
Rosalie and Monroe go through the destroyed decorations. Under the couch, Rosalie finds a medical alert bracelet.
Juliet worries that the guys Trubel, Bud and Josh observed are going to try something else on Monroe and Juliet. Nick makes it clear that he cannot arrest them yet but Truble points out that this is a Wesen thing. Nick replies that he tries to use the law at first when he can. Josh enters the kitchen and thanks Nick and Juliet for letting them stay there. Josh brings up the Wesen who attacked him and his father and says he has to go home to deal with this but asks if there is anyway he can learn more about this stuff before he goes. Nick replies yes, and then looks at Trubel. Trubel is surprised. Nick gets a call from Monroe to inform him about the medical bracelet.
Trubel takes Josh to the Grim trailer and explains that the trailer contains the history of the Grimms. Josh says that its like the stuff his father had in the basement. Trubel pulls out a book for Josh to learn about the Wesen which are after him. Josh questions if he will ever become like Trubel and Nick.
Nick and Hank knock on the Katsaros's door and are greeted by Sophie. Nick enquirers if she has a son named John and Sophie quickly becomes concerned. Nick holds up John's medical alert bracelet and Sophie immediately vogues and she realises that Nick is a Grimm. Nick tells Sophie that he is also a cop who is concerned that John might be hurting people or get hurt himself.
At the trailer, Trubel reads about the Wesen and says that the women are to be killed first. Josh asks what his chances are if he goes back, adding that he has a life back there. Trubel says that she was on the run for years and that it didn't do her any good until she stopped running.
Hank and Nick are now sitting down with Sophie and her husband George, who explains that the condition their son might have while possible, is really rare. George says that John has never shown any signs and is home every night. Nick points out that they found John's medical bracelet at one of the homes which was attacked, causing George to realise that John must have been sneaking out at night and that this is why he is so tired. Hank asks where John is and Sophie says that he is performing with the church choir tonight for the tree lighting ceremony. Hank asks for a photo of John and George asks to talk to his son first. Hank is quick to inform the parents that their child isn't the only one.
Nick gets on the phone to Monroe and Rosalie and reveals that the know who one of the killikantzaroi is and that they need to set a trap.
Nick and Hank visit a food truck which sells fruit cake. They are offered a sample and then say that what they want is the entire truck. At the church, the choir is singing and in the back row, the eyes of three of the children flash a brilliant green.
Rosalie and Monroe leave a trail of fruit cake away from the church. In the back of the church, Hank and Nick watch as the choir sings. Suddenly, a group of the children shift into killikantzaroi and start reeking havoc inside the church. One of the killikantzaroi sniffs the air and rushes outside following the smell of the Christmas cake. Three of the killikantzaroi hop into the back of the truck and Rosalie and Monroe slam the door closed.
The next morning, the parents, Hank, Monroe and Nick approach the truck. When they open the door, the three killikantzaroi shift slowly back to their normal selves. Later, Nick thanks Monroe and Rosalie for their help and informs them they might have a line on the group who has been targeting them.
At the station, Wu pulls out a drawing of the creature that attacked him and compares it to the drawing of the killikantzaroi.
Nick returns home and find Trubel waiting for him on the front porch. Trubel thanks Nick for all of his help and adds that now that Nick is a Grimm again, he doesn't need her as much as he did. Nick questions if this is about Chavez and Trubel admits that it is a little. Trubel is very emotional and she explains that Josh shouldn't return home alone. Trubel says that she cannot say goodbye to everybody, particularly Juliet. Nick assures Trubel that they are not going anywhere and advises Trubel that she should do what she needs to do. Nick tells Trubel that she can always come back and Trubel hugs him with tears in her eyes. Trubel then grabs her bag and Nick takes her to his Aunt Marie's truck. Josh promises to take good care of it. Nick says that he wishes there were more that he could give Trubel and she tells him that he gave her his life. Nick watches with a smile as Josh and Trubel drive away. Juliet watches from an upstairs window. In the house, Juliet makes her way to the bathroom and checks her pregnancy test.
This was the expected Christmas episode of Grimm. I have to say while I enjoyed this Christmas episode my favourite one is still The Twelve Days of Kampus from season three.
In terms of the meta, there really wasn't much this episode. Nick is still stalling about telling Wu for some unknown reason. He has clearly seen enough to be suspicious and therefore telling him would only set his mind at ease. If it's okay for Hank who is not a Wesen to work with Nick, there's no reason why it shouldn't be alright for Wu.
I kind of laughed at Nick's conversation with Renard about Renard's daughter. There is no way Elizabeth stands a chance against Kelly. I do however hope that this is foreshadowing about the possibility of seeing Kelly again soon. I really enjoy her gruff character and she gives a respite from Juliet.
Speaking of Juliet, she might very well be pregnant. This could complicate things in terms of Nick and his Grimm nature. Kelly did after all have to give up Nick, will that mean that Juliet will have to disappear with the child to keep it safe if she is pregnant and decides to keep the baby? I for one would be happy to see the back of Juliet, particularly after her reaction to Nick being raped.
This episode we said good bye to Trubel and I have to admit that I am really going to miss her character. Grimm can scarce afford to lose a strong female character given how passive Juliet and Rosalie often are. I loved that Trubel had not problem kicking ass when she needed to and wasn't exactly prone to taking orders. Thankfully, they left the door open for Trubel to return and I hope the character doesn't sit in the plot box for too long.
