Grimm - The Hunter Becomes the Hunted

Chapter 8 - A Krampus Christmas

" O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree, How steadfast are your branches..."

It's almost Christmas and two boys, Darren Boyce and Brady Baxter, smash the window of a car and steal the presents inside. As they make their escape, they are wished "Merry Christmas" by a Santa on the streets. Delighted by their success, they rifle through their loot before being attacked by a creature in a Santa suit who declares, "You've been naughty!" The creature catches hold of Brady, hitting him mercilessly with a whip before stuffing him into a sack. Darren manages to hide in a car but is discovered by the creature. It slashes at him with claws, leaving two long cuts down his cheek, before leaving with Brady slung over his shoulder.

In the Austrian Alps, Tavitian is stopped by the police on the road due to an accident ahead. He starts shooting them, knowing they are Verrat. He takes down everyone at the scene, including a female Hundjäger who tries to retaliate. Tavitian arrives at the Resistance's hideout and is greeted by Renard, Meisner, Frenay, and other members, who inform him of Breslau's betrayal. Tavitian expresses his hatred of the Royal family unabashedly, piquing the interest of Renard, who finds it refreshing to hear someone state their distaste for the Royals so bluntly and directly to him. Sebastien takes his leave, not wanting to make Viktor suspicious.

Rosalee asks Monroe if he is going to come by the spice shop, but he awkwardly declines by trying to make excuses that he will be busy. Rosalee, amused, leaves for work. Monroe then quickly lets Juliette and Rhett, who have been waiting at the back door, into the house after confirming that Rosalee had not seen her.

At the Resistance's meeting, members express their distrust in Renard due to his lineage. They heatedly debate for a while, before Tavitian advises Renard to say something. "I understand your distrust of me, but be assured my blood gives me access to the people needed and that I understand Wesen in a way they cannot comprehend. Also remember, I have a Grimm on my side, plus he's a detective under me." Afterwards no one dares to contradict him, deciding to leave the area due to it has become unsafe with police having found the bodies of the Verrat enforcers Tavitian killed earlier.

Nick and Hank are called to the crime scene of Brady's abduction, where someone had found the body of Darren. They find the stolen presents, a jacket with "BB" written on it, and a piece of coal. Wu bags the coal to bring with them to get analyzed. An officer walks up to them and shows them the body of Darren. Wu enters the car to see if he can find a wallet for identification, but when he tries to search Darren, he wakes up and freaks out, proving to not be dead after all.

At Monroe's house, Juliette helps Monroe set up Christmas decorations. Juliette says that she thinks Rosalee should be the one helping Monroe because it is the first Christmas they are spending together, but Monroe insists that it would be better if they surprised her, especially because of the fact there are 42 boxes of decorations.

Nick and Hank briefly discuss with Darren's doctor how Darren could have gotten the scratches on his face before they question Frank Baxter, Darren's father. He expresses disappointment in his son and suggests that the jacket at the crime scene could belong to Brady, Darren's friend. The duo attempt to question a dazed and unwilling Darren, learning that someone attacked both Derrick and Brady and abducted the latter, before Darren catches sight of a man in a Santa costume outside his room. Screaming and freaking out that the Santa was going to get him. Nick and Hank question the man in the Santa costume, but he has an alibi, as he was in the hospital "spreading Christmas cheer" at the time Brady was abducted.

A teenager on a skateboard grabs a woman's shopping bag and escapes. He is rifling through the bag in a lonely parking garage, when the creature from before attacks him, hitting him with a switch. As it tries to stuff him into a sack, a man enters the garage and is bewildered by the scene before him. The man threatens to call the cops and catches sight of the creature's face as it leaves with the boy kicking and screaming in the sack. Once more, the creature leaves behind a piece of coal.

In Vienna, Renard and Meisner break into Adalind's hotel room. Renard finds the jar of the substance from Frau Pech's remains that Adalind has been applying to her stomach. Upon opening it and sniffing it, he woges briefly in disgust. Noticing a hidden camera in the corner of the room and leaves Adalind a rose and a note on her dresser.

Nick and Hank arrive at Brady's house, only to have Bud answer the door instead. Bud assumes that they are there because Brady's father, Jerry, reported Brady's disappearance. Jerry confirms that the jacket belonged to Brady and gives them a photograph to identify his son. Hank receives a call that they are needed. When they are out of the house, he tells Nick that someone witnessed "Santa stuffing a kid into a bag."

Monroe looks out his window as Rosalee drives up. Rosalee steps into the house to find it filled to the brim with Christmas decorations. While Monroe excitedly tells her about the decoration's history, she seems to wilt more and more, before finally telling Monroe that her favorite aunt and uncle died in a car accident on the way to her family's house for Christmas Eve when she was seven years old, adding that Christmas has been a dark time for her ever since.

At the crime scene of the second boy's abduction, Wu briefs Hank and Nick about the witness' account. The witness describes the Santa as "my worst drug-crazed, acid-induced flashback nightmare." Nick and Hank exchange a look, and they decide to investigate the place where the boy had snatched the shopping bag, as well as the Santa's at the scene.

Stopping at a food cart, they demand the license of the owner. He reluctantly gives it to them, and Hank tells him to take off his beard. The owner insists that he hasn't done anything. Scared, he woges into a Schakal and is horrified upon realizing that Nick is a Grimm, making him run. Believing this is the proof he needs, Nick tackles the Schakal and punches him repeatedly. This gets filmed on video by bystanders, some of which are horrified by the attack on "Santa."

Monroe lies awake in bed with Rosalee, before getting up and walking into the living room, surveying the decorations.

Adalind comes back into her hotel room and finds Renard's note which reads:

"Cameras in room, watching you. We must talk. Seitenstraße Café. Do not leave this note in your room. Stay five minutes. Change your clothes. Smile as if I wrote something charming. Sean."

Adalind makes a watery smile and folds the note. Cautiously looking around for the camera and locating it, realizing that it perfectly captures the mirror before which she cooed to her child. 

Rosalee wakes up in an empty bed. She gets up and goes downstairs, only to find all the decorations gone and Monroe passed out on the couch.

Juliette, holding Rhett, calls Nick over to look at the news on TV. It's footage of Nick roughing up the Schakal Santa. Juliette asks Nick shocked, "You arrested Santa?!" There's a knock at the door, and Nick switches off the TV as Juliette goes to get the door. It's Bud, who is worried about Brady. Bud comments on the arrest that's all over the news and asks Nick if that's the man responsible for the kidnappings. Nick states that all he found was two lumps of coal, before leaving for work. Stunned, Bud muses over what Nick said, before making a connection and running out frantically.

At the precinct, Wu comments on Nick and Hank's arrest of Santa. He then reveals that the coal at the crime scenes was mined from the North Pole. At a loss, Hank questions what to do. Nick suggests they go "talk to someone who believes in Santa."

At the spice shop, Rosalee confides in Juliette about ruining Monroe's Christmas. Juliette suggests that they do what Nick and she did, make up their own traditions. Rosalee ponders over her traditions, remembering that her aunt used to put out beer and cigars for Santa instead of cookies and milk.

Nick and Hank pay a visit to a gloomy Monroe, who goes on for a bit about Rosalee's distaste for Christmas. Nick then brings up the Christmas from a couple years ago when Monroe said that he liked dressing up as Santa. Nick had expressed disbelief at the time about a Blutbad as Santa, and Monroe had said that he was "no Gefrierengeber." Nick describes the abductions to Monroe and asks if it could have been a Gefrierengeber dressed up as Santa. Monroe declares it impossible to be one, but he asks the dejected detectives if the kidnapper had left behind any coal or if the victims were doing anything that could be described as "naughty." When they confirm both, Monroe cautions that they might be dealing with something much worse, Krampus, a creature who kidnaps children and hangs them from the tallest tree at the tallest spot until he decides to devour them on the winter solstice, December 21st. Realizing that it's already the 21st, they have to save the children ASAP.

Meanwhile, in the forest, Krampus empties his sack and takes out a struggling girl, putting her into a basket, and hanging it up onto a branch. Several other baskets are hung there, all of which contain shouting teenagers who are cold and hungry.

Monroe, Nick, and Hank discuss which tree is the tallest in Portland and where the tallest point is also. They suggest Forest Park, Council Crest, and Washington Park. Just then, Bud knocks and Monroe answers the door. Bud tells them about the connection he had made between the coal and Krampus, and Nick, Hank, and Monroe let him know they realized the same thing. Bud believes the tallest tree and the tallest spot are in Council Crest, and the team decides to go there, despite Bud denying that Krampus exists.

Arriving at the forest, Monroe's Blutbad senses get overwhelmed by "the smell of fear on Bud." Nick hears the cries of the victims in the distance and leads the team to the tree where the children are hanging in baskets. While Hank, Monroe, and Bud rush up to help, Nick hears Krampus coming up from behind. He steps backwards out of sight to find Krampus, who has brought another victim. Attacking Krampus, allowing the kid to run away, Nick is overpowered by Krampus, who begins to choke Nick, causing him to turn gray due to his PTZD or Post Traumatic Zombified Disorder from his encounter with the deceased Baron Samedi, the Cracher-Mortel. In a sudden burst of energy, he punches Krampus, effectively knocking him out. Hank and Monroe rush to Nick's aid arriving to find the already knocked out Krampus. Hank asks what he is, much to Monroe's surprise that Hank can see him woged. The trio debate what they should do, and Hank and Monroe say they probably need to kill him before he disappears for another year and starts kidnapping more victims. Nick tries to figure out another way and tells Monroe and Hank that they should kill him. Monroe says, "It's not really a Blutbad thing to mete out justice." Monroe tells Nick it will be hard to bring Krampus into the precinct and explain everything. Krampus starts to wake up, and Hank tells Nick if he won't shoot him, then he will. Loading his pistol and aiming. The clock strikes midnight, and suddenly, Krampus reverts back into his human form. The man wakes up and is baffled and realizes with a grown "it happened again."

At the precinct, the detectives question the man, who is a freelance photographer from Salt Lake City. He tells them he blacks out every December and then wakes up on the 22nd in a forest dressed as Santa, sometimes with blood on him. He tries to tell them he has done nothing wrong and is innocent. Nick asks the man what kind of Wesen he is, but the man claims he doesn't know what that means.

Nick, Hank, and Monroe go to the trailer, where Nick adds an entry about Krampus into one of the Grimm diaries. They deliberate over what to do with the man who doesn't even know he's a Wesen and end up deciding to inform the Wesen Council.

Monroe returns home to find it fully decorated again. Rosalee is asleep on the couch, and Monroe tenderly puts a blanket over her, before seeing the beer and cigar Rosalee had left out, causing him to smile.

Nick arrives home and is greeted with Juliette with a disapproving look on her face. "I still can't believe you arrested Santa Claus". Rhett has a little Santa outfit on and has his sack over his shoulder as Juliette helps pull out a early Christmas present for Nick.