Grimm recap: Skin Deep
The case-of-the-week offers a lesson in the dangers of vanity and greed — which, in this instance, will literally turn you into a monster. When a photographer Malcolm Caulfield (Jonathan Patrick Moore) approaches a woman named Summer who looks like Katy Perry’s twin, red flags start flying all over the place. He tells her he “likes her look” and offers to do some headshots for her.
Summer’s best friend and roommate thinks this is a swell idea and also doesn’t see the harm in Summer going over to his studio alone at night. Were these girls never taught about stranger-danger? Have they never watched a horror movie?
Malcolm seems professional enough — snapping gorgeous photos of Summer in his studio. Summer suddenly starts to feel dizzy from the camera flashes and passes out on the couch. Here’s where things take a turn for the creepy! Malcolm woges over her with mandibles shooting out from his mouth, and he latches onto Summer’s face. Anyone else get major Blade II reaper vibes?
Summer wakes up feeling just fine, but when she heads home, her roommate notices a large wrinkle near Summer’s eye. She blows it off and tells her she just needs to moisturize … because deep-set wrinkles suddenly appearing like that are super common. When Summer takes a look in the mirror, though, she sees wrinkles popping up all over her face. Before she can get to the phone, her arms start aging as well, and she collapses to the floor. So, what did Malcolm do to her? He stole her youth, and consequently, her life. Could he not have just stolen like, five or six years? He had to take it all?
We see Malcolm meet with a man in his car later night. It turns out he’s selling Summer’s human youth juice to a man named Dr. Forbes (Patrick Fabian) who owns a local cosmetic and beauty clinic. We all know where this is going.
Hank and Nick are called to the scene of Summer’s crime. They find her aged about 70 years and deceased on the apartment floor. Wu confirms that the fingerprints of the elderly lady match that of Summer’s, so they know this is most likely a wesen case (like 99 percent of the cases in Portland tend to be these days).
NEXT: Money and vanity make a monster of Dr. Forbes
They enlist the help of Rosalee and Monroe and hit the grimm books hoping for an explanation. Of course, it’s Rosalee who figures it out because she’s a genius. The wesen they are looking for is called a Musasat Alsh-Shabab — an Egyptian monster that uses its mandibles to sink into a human’s face and steal their youth. The legend says that anyone who uses the magical fountain of youth juice will become addicted and turn into a monster.
That’s terrible news because Dr. Forbes has been making cosmetic creams with it and putting in on client’s faces, dubbing it his “FOY Cream.” Of course he can’t just save it for his patients, he has to use it on his face constantly, too. When Malcolm catches a glimpse of Forbes’ TV commercial promoting his famous cream, he’s pissed. Not wanting the hassle of having to kill more people, he calls Forbes to tell him it’s over. But as soon as Forbes starts speaking to him in dollar signs, Malcolm changes his tune. A million dollars for just a few lives lost? No big deal.
In fact, Malcolm steals the youth (and life) of an innocent 19-year-old boy the next day. The poor kid dies while driving his car, and when Hank and Nick arrive on the scene, they find Malcolm’s business card on the floor. Bingo!
They guys pay a trip to Malcolm’s studio, but Malcolm plays it off cool, acting like he knows nothing. After analyzing Malcolm’s phone records, Nick & Co. see that he’s made calls to Dr. Forbes. The only way to get into Dr. Forbes’ clinic to get a sample of the cream, though, is to infiltrate! This means Rosalee gets to act like a client of the clinic. It all goes smoothly, with the guys listening in outside on the street, until Forbes starts going crazy and acting erratic.
Forbes has put so much of the FOY cream on his face that he looks totally botched. Let’s just say, he’s traveled into Cat Lady territory. Malcolm shows up at the clinic to sell Forbes some more youth juju, but wigs out seeing that Rosalee is there. Nick, Hank, and Monroe bust into the spa and a huge fight ensues. It all ends when Forbes loses it and stabs Malcolm in the neck. Well, that takes care of that then. I’m guessing only one dose of the FOY cream is harmless or else they’d be dealing with botched monsters all over town.
NEXT: Eve goes to extremes to uncover the truth
While all of this is going down, Eve is busy trying to decide what course of action to take with Renard and Rachel. Let me just say, I love that Eve’s not even bothering to consult other people and wasting time talking about what needs to be done. She comes up with a plan herself, she executes it well, and bam! Done. Keep slayin, Eve.
Eve tells Nick about Renard foiling her previous plot when she swiped Manwar’s cell phone, putting them in a position to gain priceless Black Claw intel. Eve decides to take things into her own hands. She replicates the spell that temporarily made her (Juliette) look like Adalind. Only this time, she turns herself into … Sean Renard! Brilliant plan! I’m guessing she’ll be having some meetings with Rachel very soon to find out what the heck they are planning.
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Things we need answers to:
What are Renard’s true motives? In this episode, he asks Nick and Hank if they would support him as mayor, so obviously he’s leaning toward running. Is he really going to get in bed with Black Claw, or will he double-cross them in the end?
Wu! We can’t forget that after being bit by the lycanthrope in the last episode, Wu’s obviously going to turn into something. Will we have to wait until the next full moon to see how this all plays out?
I’m still not forgetting about Rosalee’s ex-boyfriend, Tony. He has to pop up again at some point, right?
