Manticores enter the Grimm world.
Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
A veteran working for a security firm is murdered after an encounter with a woman from his past. As his colleagues die, Nick and Hank find a cover-up leading back to their time in the military as someone's out for revenge.
Monroe and Rosalee make an emotional journey as Rosalee reunites with her family. Old wounds are opened and secrets are revealed, but is there healing to be had in raking up the past?
In Europe, Adalind's powers begin to return as she approaches her due date.
This episode provides examples of:
- Asshole Victim: The Manticore's victims were ex-military and gang-raped a female soldier, Frankie Gonzalez, years before. The only one not involved in the rape is the wife of one of them, who he confessed to intending to come forward. She tore his confession up and told him to keep it secret, seconds before she was killed.
- Bird People: Frankie Gonzalez turns out to be a steinadler, a hawk-like wesen.
- Couldn't Find a Pen: Frankie Gonzalez cuts her arm and uses the bloodstains to write the date of the day she was raped.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Rosalee visits her mother and sister for the first time in seven years. It turns out that her sister is resentful that she gave up a career to take care of their parents while Rosalee disappeared on her "rough patch," not even bothering to attend their father's funeral. At dinner, Rosalee admits the truth: she was in prison for shoplifting and didn't know he'd died until she got out.
- Dramatic Irony: Nick and Hank interview Desai, the commanding officer who failed to get justice for Frankie, over video conference due to his cancer. At the end, he indicates that it's time for his chemo and he has to go. Once the call has ended, it's revealed he's in a motel room, not a hospital.
- He Knows Too Much: When one of his fellow rapists says he's confessed to his wife, and plans to come forward, Jim kills the man and his wife to keep the secret.
- Hidden Weapons: Desai carries a knife in his boot, which he uses to stab Jim.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Desai gets stabbed with his own knife... which was his plan all along.
- If You Ever Do Anything to Hurt Her...: We know Rosalee's family problems are on the mend when her sister tells Monroe she'll kill him if he hurts her little sister.
- Irony: Monroe asks Rosalee what she was in prison for shoplifting. Turns out it was a watch.
- The Last Dance: Desai's plan is to hunt and kill everyone who raped Frankie before he dies from cancer.
- Not Afraid to Die: Manticores are noted to make excellent soldiers because they are completely without fear of death. Desai proves it by using his final days to settle scores with men he couldn't bring to justice by legal means, culminating in his own demise at one of their hands. Even the rapist he was trying to murder fought fearlessly.
- Red Herring: Frankie Gonzalez herself, who turned out not to be a manticore, but a steinadler.
- Terminally-Ill Criminal: Colonel Adam Desai was the Manticore Commander for soldier Frankie Gonzales in Afghanistan, who was unable to do anything to bring her justice after she was gang-raped by four Private Security Contractors, to his great regret. Years later now learning he's dying of cancer, Colonel Desai begins to hunt down and kill the four rapists.
- Thanatos Gambit: Desai sets up a confrontation with final target Jim, he leaves himself open to a strike just as Nick and Hank arrive. They witness him kill Desai and arrest him, exactly as Desai wanted.Desai: You can't arrest him for what he did to Frankie. But you can arrest him for what he did to me. [Dies]
- Wham Shot: Adalind has coffee in a Vienna café. As she reaches for her cup, it first scoots away from her hand, then zooms towards her.
