In a "Grimm" episode that basically felt like it was marking time before the series reaches its end, we learned that in Portland, there aren't just Wesen on the police force. We'll get to that in a minute, but overall, this felt like a return to run-of-the-mill "Grimm" fare, with a few bright lines and a bit more progress toward figuring out the meaning of the ancient cloth, the mysterious stock and so on and so forth.

We'll pause now for the usual spoiler alert. If you haven't yet watched Episode 6, "Breakfast in Bed," and want to be surprised, you know what to do.

We were back to another Monster of the Week, this time a glowing greenish creature that sneaks into people's bedrooms and preys on victims as they sleep. The idea of something attacking us while we sleep has been around for ages, and it's still a good, scary notion.

But "Breakfast in Bed" didn't do a whole lot with the idea. Nick (David Giuntoli) and Hank (Russell Hornsby) found out that the creature was an ancient Wesen species called an "Alpe."

How did they find out? Why, with the help of Monroe (Silas Weir Mitchell) and Rosalee (Bree Turner), of course. Monroe had a special grudge against Alpes, since one had preyed on his late great-aunt Ada, and it drove her mad.

The episode also took us to another glamorous Portland location, a flophouse hotel for low-income folks who looked like they were lucky to have a roof over their heads.

The "Englewood" hotel, as it was called, isn't going to be turning up in any visit-Portland articles, though it looked to be located on lower East Burnside (we saw a victim passing the exterior of Grendel's Coffee House), an area that has been getting re-developed -- like so much of Portland -- with new housing and restaurants.

Here are notable moments from "Breakfast in Bed":

First it was the mysterious stick, now it's the cloth: Eventually, Nick and the gang will figure this out. In this episode, Eve (Elizabeth Tulloch) and the rest kept studying the strange symbols on the cloth, which looked like a jumble of Sumerian, Mayan and other ancient languages and drawings. Monroe and Rosalee suggested it had something to do with constellations, and after using her skills at unraveling constellation details (is there anything Rosalee can't do?) Rosalee and Eve get the idea that it's a calendar of some sort. Not only that, the calendar is pointing to a momentous date in the near future -- March 24. Well, that's coming right up.

Meisner and Renard have a moment: Renard (Sasha Roiz) is so obsessed with the ghost of Meisner (Damien Puckler) haunting him that the Captain walks into his office at the police precinct and starts asking, "Meisner, Meisner, are you here?" Then he gets an unwelcome visit from a Black Claw boss, who's not happy how everything went down last season, and how their plans for Renard -- that whole take-over-the-world-by-making-Renard-Mayor-of-Portland scheme -- went south. Renard's not going to be threatened, and announces, "I'm done with Black Claw, and I'm done with you."

But the ghost of Meisner does show up again, to warn Renard that Black Claw baddies are waiting to kill Renard, in the parking garage (where all bad things happen in the world of TV.) Taking the ghost at his word, Renard goes to the parking garage, and kills the guys waiting for him. For a Portland Police captain, Renard sure gets away with killing people willy-nilly.

"You saved my life," Renard says to Meisner's ghost. "Why?"

"This time you chose the right side, Sean," Meisner's ghost says, then he walks away, apparently being finished with his Renard rehabilitation project.

The not-deluxe Hotel Englewood: Nick and Hank first get on the case as they respond to a crime at Northwest Park and Couch (yay, Hank, for pronouncing Couch correctly.) A volunteer from a shelter has been killed by a crazed guy who's been staying at the Englewood. Crazed guy has been preyed on by the Alpe, and Nick and Hank visit the hotel to see what's going on. The manager (William Russ, a veteran character actor) and other denizens turn out to be Wesen. But the Alpe is the hotel's owner, who we had earlier thought was one of those nasty absentee owners of distressed Portland properties. She was instead living in secret in the hotel, and when confronted by Nick, Hank and Monroe -- who agreed to be the bait -- she at first accepts Nick's condition that she sell the hotel and donate the money to Portland homeless shelters. But then she woges, tries to attack, and conveniently falls, striking her head and dies. That's all it took to kill this powerful Wesen?

Lines of the Week:

"Yeah, if you speak hodgepodge" -- Monroe, on how confusing it is to translate the mix of words and symbols on the cloth;

"I'll take a cold-blooded murder over an unsolvable, ancient riddle about the universe any day" -- Hank, telling Nick he doesn't mind responding to yet another Portland homicide call;

"You looking for Wesen?" -- Monroe, knowing exactly why Nick and Hank have dropped by for a visit;

"You have a number?" -- Nick, asking Wu (Reggie Lee) if he's got details on reaching the Englewood's owner;

"No, it's my first day on the job" -- Wu's sarcastic response;

"This reminds me of some foreign films my second wife used to drag me to, except this one has a better plot" -- Hank to Nick as they watch so-far uneventful surveillance camera footage of Monroe at the Englewood;

"I am a Grimm. One less Alpe in the world -- who's gonna lost any sleep over that?" -- Nick, threatening the Alpe hotel-owner;

"Well, like the man says, life is a nightmare that prevents one from sleeping. So, sleep well" -- Monroe, as he, Nick and Hank look at the Alpe after she struck her head and dies.

-- Kristi Turnquist

kturnquist@oregonian.com
503-221-8227
@Kristiturnquist

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