Tarantella (Grimm)

Plot

The episode opens with the quote: "Instantly, the priestess changed into a monstrous goblin-spider and the warrior found himself caught fast in her web." Ryan Showalter, a Fuchsbau, flirts with Lena at an art gallery and takes her to his apartment. When he attacks her after she decides to leave, she fights back, transforming into a spider-like creature and squirting a liquid into his mouth, killing him. She leaves with a missing finger.

Nick discusses with Monroe his decision to reveal his Grimm identity to Juliette, which he has not yet done. Nick joins Hank to investigate Showalter's murder; they find the liquid was spider venom. Lena later seduces and kills another man in a restaurant the same way. Nick confronts John Oblinger, an Eisbiber, and Bud, who were stalking his house, and intimidates them into stopping.

Monroe tells Nick the killer is a Spinnetod, a Black Widow creature, and introduces him to Charlotte, another Spinnetod who appears much older than her 26 years. She explains that to prevent rapid aging, a Spinnetod must kill three people every five years. Showalter's watch, given by Lena to her husband, is delivered to police after her daughter trades it at school; the husband is taken to the station. Nick matches the missing finger to Lena's fingerprint.

Police raid her house, but she has left and is on a boat about to kill her third victim. Nick arrives, is attacked, but Lena gets caught in a net and is detained. Nick sees that Lena's daughter is also a Spinnetod when taking her to her grandmother. In her cell, Lena begins aging rapidly.

Reception

The "Tarantella" episode of Grimm drew 5.30 million viewers, achieving a 1.6/5 rating among adults 18-49 on Nielsen’s scale. This represented a 10% viewership bump, meaning 1.6% of all TV-equipped households tuned in, while 5% of homes watching TV at that time were on this episode. Critical reception was positive. Kevin McFarland of The A.V. Club assigned a "B," noting the show dipped after a standout episode and still lacked serialized plot progression despite an interesting standalone case. Nick McHatton from TV Fanatic rated it 4.4 out of 5 stars, calling it entertaining but not the season’s best, and hoping for stronger storylines for Juliette and Eddie next week.