Tarantella

"Tarantella" is the eleventh episode of Season 1 of Grimm and the eleventh episode overall. It first aired on February 10, 2012 on NBC.

Synopsis
At a trendy gallery opening, Ryan, a well-dressed and attractive man, notices a mysterious brunette woman in a black hat. He briefly morphs into a Fuchsbau (fox creature) as he approaches her, ready to lay on the charm. The woman has a quick tongue and coyly plays against his advances, leaving the gallery and leaving him wanting more. He follows the woman, Lena, outside and manages to talk her into his stylish apartment. When she tries to leave, Ryan attacks her, throwing her down onto the couch. Lena turns the tables and pins him down, morphing into a terrifying spider creature. Ryan tries to fight back and even manages to bite off one of her fingers, but he's no match for Lena's spider form. She regurgitates a milky liquid, forcing his convulsing body to swallow it. Later, Lena emerges from the apartment, her hair a mess, her face smeared with blood, and one of her fingers missing, horrified by what she's done.

Nick and Juliette are at home when their home is egged. Nick runs outside and finds two boys. On seeing Nick, one of the boys briefly morphs into an Eisbiber; both boys then flee on foot. The next morning Nick is discussing his exposure to the creatures with Monroe. Monroe reminds him that Grimms are a curiosity to many members of the Wesen community - many Wesen tell their kids about Grimms to scare them: "Be good or a Grimm will come and cut your head off". Monroe asks about Nick's progress in revealing his being a Grimm to Juliette. Nick admits that he has not yet told her anything and Monroe responds that Grimms must not be so brave after all. Nick's cell phone rings, summoning him on a case.

Nick and Hank arrive at their latest crime scene to find Ryan's dead body completely desiccated. Nick and Hank are stumped; that kind of deterioration doesn't happen overnight, but his girlfriend talked to him on the phone the night before. Additionally, video surveillance from the gallery confirms that he was alive. Nick and Hank note him talking to the woman in the black hat, the question is... did they maybe meet up later after the event? Later, Harper examines the dead body and explains her discovery to Nick and Hank. The body was forced to ingest a highly corrosive acid, killing the victim from the inside out. The acid, suspiciously enough, is found in spider venom. Then, the victim's organs were sucked out by some mechanism that left a bite mark, literally sucking him dry.

Lena enters an upscale bar, this time, as a blonde. She sets her sights on a nicely dressed man dining alone and goes in for the kill. Later in a dark hotel room, Lena attacks the man the same way she did Ryan, forcing him to ingest the corrosive white acid as she morphs into a terrifying spider creature.

After investigating Aunt Marie's books, Nick discovers a spider creature that seems to match their suspect. He goes to Monroe with his suspicion and learns about Spinnetods, the Black Widows of the creature world. Monroe doesn't know much but says he has a contact who might be able to help Nick out. He takes Monroe to visit Charlotte, an old woman Spinnetod who turned her back on who she was years ago. She's actually 26 years old but appears 70; her condition causes rapid aging. The only way to stop the curse is to kill and suck the life out of young men. It must be done every five years, three victims at a time.

Nick goes to the address linked to the car that had been stalking his house. John Oblinger, an Eisbiber and also Bud's friend, answers the door and spills his beer on the floor at the sight of Nick. Nick sarcastically states that if "you can't hold your liquor, you shouldn't be drinking." Nick corners Bud and John in the kitchen and demands that they make sure no one visits his house again. Nick is also deliberately menacing to the Eisbibers, and does nothing to alleviate their fear till the end, when he states that he is not going to kill them, unless he feels that Juliette and himself are threatened. The Eisbibers are terrified and agreed fervently to whatever Nick says.

As the second victim is discovered, a match is found on the fingerprints at the scene. The prints are linked to a similar killing of three victims in another state five years before and an identical case five years before that. There seems to be a pattern, and only two have been killed so far. That means Nick and Hank don't have much time to track down their killer before a third man is found dead. Meanwhile, Lena removes her wig and makeup and greets her husband at her daughter's soccer game. As it turns out, our cold-blooded killer is also a soccer mom.

Later, after the game, Lena gives her husband the gold Rolex watch she took off Ryan's dead body as a gift. They share a passionate kiss; despite her horrible nature, it seems their love is true and genuine. Entranced by the watch, their young daughter takes it from her father's nightstand and takes it with her to school, showing it off to her classmates. When the principal reports her having the watch, the tracking number leads the police back to Lena. When Nick goes to question Lena, he notices her bandaged finger and is sure he's got her cornered. But when she unravels the bandage, her finger is there, intact.

Nick takes Lena's prints from the house and finds that they somehow match that of the severed finger from the original crime scene. While they can't fathom how it's possible, this is reason enough to take Lena into custody. They arrive at her house, but it's too late; Lena's already left for her third kill. The police track her to the Marina, where she's seducing a young man on his boat. The police intercept the young man and find Lena, who viciously attacks Nick, trying to make him her next victim. He fights her off and manages to trap her in a net, ironically leaving her in a tangled web. Later, Nick and Hank go to escort Lena's confused and worried daughter. Nick sees her morph into a young Spinnetod and is fearful of the cycle that will inevitably start with her as well. Meanwhile, a rapidly aged Lena sits in the holding cell.

Press Release
Nick and Hank find themselves on the hunt for a deadly heartbreaker leaving behind a web of dead bodies. Meanwhile, Nick’s growing recognition among the creature world is starting to threaten not only his safety but Juliette’s as well, and it may be time for him to take action to keep her safe.

Wesen

 * Spinnetod
 * Eisbiber
 * Blutbad
 * Fuchsbau

Production Notes

 * Reggie Lee (Wu) was not credited and did not appear.
 * Monroe introduces a new term for the creatures that Nick faces: Wesen.
 * For the first time, Nick is explicitly shown looking through more than one book.
 * One of the Eisbiber kids appeared to be normal, he did not morph. Yet Nick says he saw two Eisbiber kids. In the image shown above, only the one on the right morphs.

Trivia
Charlotte is a reference to Charlotte's Web