Game Ogre

"" is the eighth episode of Season 1 of Grimm and the eighth episode overall. It first aired on January 13, 2012 on NBC, and it is the first Grimm episode of 2012.

Synopsis
Judge Logan Patterson is working at night when an unidentified man breaks into his home, setting off an alarm, and murders him. Sergeant Wu and Officer Messina respond to the alarm and find Patterson's body. Detectives Nick Burkhardt and Hank Griffin arrive at the crime scene soon after. After Captain Renard arrives, the crime scene investigator announces that they have recovered a fingerprint from the gavel used in the judge's murder. Elsewhere in Portland, the unidentified man is seen throwing a severed hand into a body of water.

Back at the precinct, Hank is talking to Captain Renard when he gets a call that the fingerprint on the gavel matches that of Vince Chilton. Hank, Renard, and Nick accompany a tactical team to Chilton's apartment. The lead officer secures the area and reports to Renard that there is a dead body in the apartment. The body is identified as Vince Chilton and is missing its right hand. On the stump of the right arm is an old woman's watch. Hank remembers that Nick knows a watchmaker. The detectives go to Monroe's Home, where Monroe examines the watch and finds that the movement was glued to stop it at 10:15 on March 11th. Monroe traces the watch and finds that it last belonged to Mary Robinson. Hank recognizes the name as that of a retired assistant district attorney. Uniformed police, including Sergeant Wu, respond to Robinson's house, where there find her dead with her tongue cut out. When Hank sees the body, he realizes that he knows the identity of the killer.

Back at the station, Hank explains to Renard and Nick that the killer is Oleg Stark, who was convicted of murder in the deaths of Jack Lambert, his wife, and child. They discuss how Stark escaped from prison in California and that he is insensitive to pain and has very dense bones. Hank explains that Judge Patterson presided, Mary Robinson prosecuted and Vince Chilton was the jury foreman. The verdict was handed down at 10:15 on March 11th. Renard puts Hank into protective custody and tells Nick to trace Stark's movements.

Evidence of Stark is found nearby where Hank used to live and Nick and Capt. Renard rush over. While they investigate the area, Stark watches from afar to see if Hank will appear. Nick begins to sense something… like someone is watching him but when he turns, no one is there.

Nick heads to Aunt Marie’s trailer and begins to see if he can find a creature that matches Stark’s medical condition. Unable to find anything, Nick begins to look around. Inside the weapons cabinet, he finds a case and inside is a rifle with an engraving on how to use it.

Nick gets home and hears a noise outside which he attributes to raccoons but when he hears it again, he cautiously approaches the doors where the noise came from. When he gets close enough, Stark crashes through the window and begins to attack Nick. As Nick lies helplessly on the floor, Stark demands to know where Hank is. He slowly closes in on Nick and as he does, Nick sees Stark’s face change into a creature. Stark continues to pummel Nick as he tries to get away all the time demanding to know where Hank is. When Stark realizes that Nick is a Grimm, his anger amplifies and he is intent on killing him. Juliette comes in as Stark is about to finish him off. Nick yells for her to run and Stark goes after her. She heads to the kitchen to find something to fight with and as Stark follows her, she takes a pot of water that was boiling on the stove and throws it at him. The water scalds his eyes. Unable to see clearly, Stark stumbles out of the house as Nick gets off three shots.

At the hospital, the doctor tells Capt. Renard and Juliette of Nick’s condition. The Captain assures Juliette that Nick will have round the clock protection, as will she. Nick begins to realize how dangerous being a Grimm can be and how close Juliette was to getting hurt. After she leaves, Nick calls Monroe and tells him what happened.

Sgt. Wu informs Hank of what happened to Nick. Angry, Hank decides to take matters in his own hands but instead Wu devises a plan to get Stark using Hank as bait. They realize Stark attacked Nick to draw out Hank so he decides to bait Stark by visiting Nick at the hospital.

While Monroe visits Nick, Nick describes to Monroe his attacker. Monroe is able to identify him as an Siegbarste (otherwise known as an ogre) and tells him they are very rare but the worst of their creature kind. Apparently, he once had a childhood friend named Freddy whose father was brutally murdered by one, and that Nick was very lucky to still be alive. They carry grudges and are very hard to kill unless you have Siegbarste Gift (a poison) which was very rare. It calcifies an ogre’s bones so that you can shatter the ogre from the inside out. The trick is to get it into the ogre. Nick remembers there was a bottle in the trailer labeled as such and the rifle in the case was made to get it inside them. Nick asks Monroe to get the poison and rifle for him.

As Monroe gathers the items needed to fight Stark, Hank goes and visits Nick. Stark is nearby and watches him enter the hospital. Hank tells Nick about the plan to ambush Stark but Nick tries to tell him that it won’t work. It is then that Hank confesses that during the trial he “misplaced” bogus evidence that had the jury seen it may have given Stark a chance to walk. Although he and the assistant DA knew it was a set up by Stark, they didn’t want to give the jury any reason for reasonable doubt and it became “lost” on its way to court. Hank tells Nick that he intends to stop Stark and instead of following through with the Captain’s plans, he was going to lead Stark to the quarry where it all started. Nick calls Monroe and tells him to give Hank the gun but Hank had already left the hospital. Nick implores him to follow and somehow give it to him to use.

At the quarry, Hank confronts Stark and Monroe sees he’s too late. He sees that Hank is aiming a rifle at Stark and knows that won’t stop him. He opens the case and starts putting the Siegbarste Gewehr together. Monroe watches as Stark and Hank fight. As Stark is about to smash a piece of concrete over Hank, Monroe shoots Stark, killing him. Hank is dumbfounded wondering where the shot came from. Monroe nervously gets out of the area.

Monroe, still shaken from what he’s done, calls Nick and tells him that Hank is safe. Hank visits Nick and tells him that someone shot Stark but he doesn’t know who did it. At the precinct, Captain Renard chastises Hank for trying to be a lone cowboy, then tells him that the bullets taken out of Stark’s body were made in England over 100 years ago and was fired from a very old and rare elephant gun made for royalty. They both wonder who in the world would own something like that.

Press Release
An escapee returns to Portland seeking revenge against those who put him behind bars. His unusual strength and high tolerance for pain makes Nick take notice. As the case escalates Nick and Juliette are put in danger, and Monroe is called into action to help put an end to the convict’s deadly rampage.

Wesen

 * Blutbad
 * Half-Zauberbiest
 * Siegbarste
 * Mordstier (illustration only)
 * Rißfleisch (illustration only)

Continuity

 * This is the first episode in which Monroe learns about, and visits Marie's Trailer.

Trivia

 * The audio cue which was used in the Terminator movies to indicate that a terminator was on the hunt is used repeatedly on the soundtrack when the ogre is hunting people down.
 * Hank says, "He didn't seem to be from anyplace. No record of where he was born, no record of a family. It's like this guy just fell out of the sky." This is one of the only overt references to the giant from 'Jack and the Beanstalk' other than the opening title card.
 * Stark likes to be paid in gold.