The Inheritance (Grimm)

Plot

Nick and Juliette are having dinner with Monroe and Rosalee, talking about their wedding plans, and they invite Trubel to join them. A man watches them eat from outside Nick’s house, then calls. Juliette picks up, and the man says he needs to speak with Nick. Nick takes the phone, but the man hangs up, seeing that Nick is occupied.

The man returns to a hotel, unaware that Agent Steward is watching him. He goes to his father Rolek Porter’s room. Rolek sends his son Josh to set up a meeting with Nick. A Hundjäger bursts in and attacks Josh until Rolek kills it by impaling it, which shocks Josh.

Rolek believes it was a Verrat agent, but Josh thinks his father is just paranoid. They leave for an abandoned building where Rolek keeps many Wesen weapons, hoping to contact Nick. Meanwhile, Adalind tries to learn Juliette’s work schedule when Renard enters. He orders Wu to put Adalind under surveillance.

Renard then shows Nick and Hank the dead Verrat agent’s body, which bears marks identifying him as part of the Verrat Ahnenerbe—a group that hunts valuable objects—and tells them to find Rolek and Josh. Josh arrives at Nick’s house but finds Trubel instead. She calls Nick, gets no answer, and decides to go with Josh. He leads her to the building, where Rolek shows her a collection of Grimm weapons passed down through his family.

He is dying and wants to give them to Nick, the last known Grimm, since Josh is not one. Rolek collapses, and they rush him to the hospital. At Nick’s house, Adalind takes some of Juliette’s clothes and hair. As she tries to leave, Renard shows up, having tracked her through Wu. Adalind uses her powers to knock Renard unconscious and escapes.

Reception

The episode drew 4.78 million live viewers, scoring a 1.3/4 in the key 18-49 demographic according to Nielsen. It placed third in its timeslot and fifth overall for the night in that age group, trailing Hawaii Five-0, Blue Bloods, 20/20, and Shark Tank. This represented a 4% drop from the prior episode, which had 4.93 million viewers and a 1.3/5 rating. The 1.3 figure means 1.3% of all TV households watched the episode live, while the 4 share indicates 4% of households actively watching TV at that time tuned in. When DVR playback is included, total viewership rose to 7.30 million, with a 2.3 rating in the 18-49 demographic.

Critics responded positively. Kevin McFarland of The A.V. Club awarded a B+, noting that while the show has many plot threads—Adalind’s child, the Fuchsbau coins, and Trubel—the central quest for keys, the Black Forest map, and the mysterious MacGuffin captivated him most. Nick McHatton from TV Fanatic gave 4.2 out of 5 stars, calling the episode a welcome return to the series’ earlier style of actively hunting Wesen. MaryAnn Sleasman of TV.com observed that while Nick and his allies have been targeted many times before, this installment marked the first time in a while that the show openly acknowledged how easily Nick can be found and how famous he is within Grimm and Wesen circles, even among those who have never met him or are deeply involved in that hidden world.