The Thing with Feathers

"" is the sixteenth episode of Season 1 of Grimm and the sixteenth episode overall. It first aired on April 6, 2012 on NBC.

Synopsis
The episode starts off with Nick and Hank at the precinct. Nick wants to make sure he is not needed during the upcoming weekend. Nick then asks Hank if he thinks that Juliette will say no. Hank says she won't say no to a romantic weekend; since that is not what Nick meant, he pulls out the ring. Hank is surprised Nick is going to propose, Nick then gives him the brochure of where he is staying at (Whispering Pines).

Next to the Whispering Pines welcome sign on the side of the road, Robin Steinkellner is on the phone. She asks the man on the other end when he will pick her up. The man tells Robin that his car broke down and he is waiting for a tow. He tells her he will be ready tomorrow. Robin then starts making her way back home. When she arrives back at her house, she looks to see if anyone is there. When she turns around her husband, Tim Steinkellner, is there. He is upset with her and asks her why she is outside. She says she wanted fresh air. They both morph into the Wesen forms, Tim tells her, "It's time to eat," and he takes her inside. Robin does not want to eat, despite that, Tim starts to make her a shake out of worms, yogurt and milk.

Back at the station, Hank is looking up info on Adalind Schade. He looks intently at her pictures and pulls up a map of the location of her apartment. Wu walks in and asks Hank if he has any weekend plans. Hank says he does not have any plans and asks if Wu does. Wu says he plans to sit on his couch with his cat Samson and watch "The Apprentice" while eating. Wu then proceeds to take a paperclip out of its cup and eat it.

Nick and Juliette are in their car on a narrow rural road, they pass a sign that says "Whispering Pines". Since Nick is unable to locate to road which leads to their cabin, he stops at a red farmhouse. He asks the man inside where the road is, the man says a drunk driver knocked down the sign a week ago. Back in the car, Juliette notices a sad woman looking out the window and finds it unsettling. Nick hears something fall in the house, then Tim Steinkellner (the man) yells at Robin, Nick sees him morph into an alley cat.

Later in the evening, Juliette sees Robin struggling with Tim outside. After Tim forcible takes Robin inside, she calls Nick over. To make Juliette calm down, Nick calls the local sheriff to report a domestic disturbance. The sheriff arrives, but he quickly goes in and back out to leave. He does not arrest Tim. After the sheriff drives away, Juliette is distraught and wonders why he did not arrest Tim. Juliette then comments that trouble is seeming to follow them, hearing that, Nick has a flashback of Oleg Stark breaking in and Fred Eberhart holding Juliette captive. Juliette wants to talk about all those situations, but Nick says he does not why things are happening.

Since Robin won't voluntarily eat her health shake, Tim says he has no choice but to strap her into a chair. He then puts a feeding tube in her mouth and food in the other end. He turns it on and the piston starts pushing the food into the tube. Sheriff Munson arrives just as Tim is in the middle of feeding Robin.

Back in Portland, Hank is becoming more obsessed with Adalind. He is even spying on her apartment. To see if she will answer his call, he calls Adalind, he sees through the window that Adalind recognizes the number but refuses to answer it. Just then, another man, Peter, walks up to Adalind's apartment and kisses her. He then goes inside the house and they both go into another room. After waiting for the man to leave, he tells him at gunpoint never to come back. The clearly angry man gets into his car and drives away. He is later seen talking to Renard in a car, this was clearly planned by Renard.

Nick quietly calls Monroe late at night so Juliette won't hear. Monroe is a bit surprised and irked that Nick would call him at 2:30 am. Nick then describes what Tim looked like when morphed. He said that he is not a lion nor a tiger but is not like a house cat, he is somewhere in-between. Monroe understands from the definition that he is a Klaustreich. They are total jerks; but women love them. He then tells Nick that Molly, Monroe's girlfriend in high school, left Monroe for a Klaustreich. The Klaustreich got her pregnant and she had his "litter" at prom. Her parents were upset and they got the police involved, as a parting gift he gave Molly a slash on the face. The police did not catch him, but Monroe says somebody did (probably himself).

The next day, Nick tells Juliette his plan for the day. He will take her to downtown Whispering Pines to go shopping in as many stores as she wants, then they will go grocery shopping for their romantic (proposal) dinner. At the grocery store, Robin is secretly talking to one of the employees. The employees says he will try to pick her up later in the day and will give her some money. Robin is trying to get away from Tim by going out of town where he will never find her. At the same store, Juliette bumps into Robin. After introducing themselves, Juliette gives Robin her phone number, just in case she is in trouble. Tim then tells Robin that it is time to leave and she makes her way to the register. Gary, the clerk/product stocker, is stocking shelves when in the background, Tim starts getting closer to him. Although they never talk or make physical contact, Tim definitely has his eye on Gary.

Nick is getting coffee when he sees Robin morph into a bird with golden plumage. Nick goes outside to call Monroe. Back at Rosalee's spice shop, Monroe is helping Rosalee stock the shelves. Monroe answers the call from Nick, Nick is wondering if he knows anything about a golden bird. Monroe thinks Nick is joking since he says they are rare. Rosalee overhears and says they are thought to be extinct. Rosalee then gets a book after Monroe mentions that they produce a rare golden "egg". Rosalee says it is called a Unbezahlbar; Monroe realizes that it is the woman with the Klaustreich, once Tim gets the stone, he will most likely kill Robin in order to retrieve it from her body. He urges Nick to look after the Seltenvogel. Rosalee finds multiple passports from different countries of her brother (under different names). Rosalee has no idea why her brother would have these.

Adalind is getting out of the shower when Renard sneaks into her apartment to talk about Hank. He tells her it is time to stop ignoring Hank; the next time he calls, answer it. Despite being uncertain, she agrees to go ahead with the plan. Renard tells her, "Just be who you aren't." Sure enough, Hank calls and is surprised to hear Adalind's voice. She claims she was busy and had 18 hour work days and says tomorrow would be a good time to go to dinner. They both agree that they will have dinner tomorrow.

Robin is fixing Tim some tea when he gets a call. The person on the other end says he needs a tow. Tim says he does not know how long it will take and leaves. Just after his car is gone, Robin quickly runs outside. This was a plan made by Gary to give Robin the opportunity to leave; she had better hurry, if Tim gets there first, Robin would not get to leave. At that same time, Nick and Juliette are back from shopping. Juliette sees Robin leave and pleads Nick to follow her. He agrees and tells Juliette to stay home, the romantic dinner will have to wait.

On a forest service road, Gary is waiting to pick up Robin. After hearing some rustling in the woods, he thinks it is Robin and tells her to hurry. Instead of Robin, Tim pounces out of the bush in his Klaustreich form. Robin arrives at Gary's car only to see his dead body fall onto her lap, the face clawed and bloody. She jumps out of the car, running into Tim, who tells her that she should never have come and takes her back to the house for another feeding.

Nick is on Robin's trail and finds Gary's truck off the road, covered by some vegetation. Knowing that it is most likely a cover-up, Nick looks into the car to find Gary dead. He calls the sheriff and tells him there has been a homicide, the sheriff will be at the scene soon. Seeing this, Nick knows Robin is in danger, and quickly makes his way back to the farmhouse.

Back at the farmhouse, Tim straps Robin into the chair. He examines her Unbezahlbar and determines that it is ready to "hatch". Nick arrives and points his gun to Tim, he morphs and Nick says he knows he is a Klaustreich. Knowing Nick can't both attack him and turn off the machine, Tim then turns the dial to high speed and attacks. Nick eventually overpowers Tim, silences the machine, and unstraps a weak and grateful Robin.

Nick then takes Robin to the cabin Nick and Juliette are staying in. Juliette goes to get a coughing Robin some water. Robin questions why Nick is helping her since he is a Grimm. Nick tells her not to talk about it here. Trying to comfort Robin, Nick tells her that Sheriff Munson is on his way. Robin reveals the frightening information that the sheriff is Tim's cousin, a fellow Klaustreich, and a willing accessory to her captivity. As Munson arrives and the two Klaustreichs advance on the cabin. Panicked, Robin runs away while Nick pursues. Juliette, meanwhile, grabs her own gun and sneaks away to call the state authorities. Munson tells Tim that Nick is a cop and Tim tells Munson that Nick is a Grimm. Knowing they will be in the cabin, they set out to look for them. Robin and Nick do not get far, Robin collapses in the forest, the Unbezahlbar is blocking her windpipe. She pleads with Nick to remove it, and since he does not know how to, he FaceTimes Rosalee. Rosalee tells him to cut in a vertical line right where the skin is tight. After that, you must put your hand in the incision and "pop" the Unbezahlbar out of place. He does that and takes the "egg" out. Monroe and Rosalee are both amazed, Nick says he will call them back after the situation calms down. Robin is now able to breathe much easier and Nick wants her to keep the "egg".

Right as Nick is about to take Robin to safety since she can now breathe, Sheriff Munson and Tim Steinkellner arrive. They just want the stone, they even offer to give Nick a piece of the money. Unwilling to give up the egg, Nick throws it in the air and knocks Sheriff Munson to the ground. Juliette appears, having circled around behind the men, and fires into the air. Nick subdues Munson and tells Juliette to keep her gun on him while he gets Tim, who has run off with the stone. Nick tracks down Tim, but he trips and the egg flies into the air where it hits a tree branch and shatters. Nick arrests him saying, "You know what they say, to make an omelet, you must break a few eggs."

Back at home, since Nick did not have time on their weekend getaway, Nick proposes to Juliette. She turns him down. Although she loves him and would like to marry him, she feels like Nick has closed himself off and has been keeping things from her. While a distraught Nick goes to another room, wondering what he will tell her, Juliette opens the box to study the ring The episode ends with Hank and Adalind having dinner at a French restaurant. It looks like Renard's plan is working.

Press Release
Nick pulls out all the stops to plan a romantic getaway for Juliette in an attempt to get their relationship back on track. Nick’s duties as a Grimm get in the way of romance when he meets the unsettling neighbors and discovers that the troubled wife has a rare and valuable treasure to protect. It’s left to Nick to keep everyone safe. Back in Portland, Hank and Monroe each find themselves on the brink of new romantic relationships.

Wesen

 * Blutbad
 * Seltenvogel
 * Klaustreich
 * Hexenbiest
 * Fuchsbau
 * Half-Zauberbiest

Production Notes

 * Bree Turner (Rosalee Calvert) was credited as a "special guest star"
 * Neither Rosalee, Monroe nor Adalind morphed into their Wesen forms.
 * Footage from and  was reused (flashbacks).

Continuity

 * Nick is shown to be FaceTiming Rosalee from in the forest, but you need WiFi for that (There probably is no WiFi in the woods). However, if you jailbreak your iPhone, you can FaceTime without WiFi easily (Though you probably wouldn't get that good of a picture). Though there are third party apps such as Skype that can perform the same function using the phone's data plan without jailbreaking.

Trivia

 * The title of this episode is a reference to the line "Hope is the thing with feathers" in Emily Dickinson's poem "Hope."