Grimm - The Hunter Becomes the Hunted

Chapter 16 - It's Showtime

"Under such conditions, whatever is evil in men's natures comes to the front."

At Carnival Metamorphosia, the crowd watches inside the main tent as Hedig, the ringmaster, shows off his four acts. Damien the Last Dragon, Ivan the Strongman, Genevieve the Bearded Lady, and Maximillian the Wolfman. All four use their Wesen abilities under the guise of magic tricks and end the performance to a standing ovation.

After the show, Max goes back to his tent. Genevieve asks if he's okay and suggests that they leave, "We promised each other that we would when we first joined." Max starts drinking and reminds Genevieve that they need the money. He walks out and briefly loses control of his Blutbad side, his left hand woging. He regains control of himself just as Monica and Dolores, two girls from the performance audience, see him. They come over and invite him to have a drink with them, and they drag him along when he hesitates. From the shadows, Hedig watches as Max leaves with them.

Monroe and Rosalee have Nick, Juliette and Rhett over for dinner and invite them both to be their best man and maid of honor for their upcoming wedding. The four then happily toast with their glasses of wine.

Dolores and Monica take Max to their house, flirt with him, and demand to know how he did his "illusion." After constant demands and being slapped in the face, Max loses control again and woges. He growls, terrifying the two girls.

That night, Nick has a nightmare of being recognized as a Grimm in front of Monroe and Rosalee's families at their wedding, thus causing bloodshed. Juliette says that he should bring his concerns to Monroe as to why he can't be the best man.

In Europe, Meisner and Adalind hide as Viktor continues leading a group of Verrat Hundjägers to find them. Adalind's daughter cries, while Adalind says she is hungry. Once the search party moves on, Meisner tells Adalind to feed her baby, leading both Adalind and her baby away.

The next morning, Nick and Hank are called to a crime scene. Wu is back on duty for the first time since he was released from the psychiatric hospital, and he leads them to where Dolores and Monica were killed. Nick finds photo booth photos of the two women together, and the detectives find two tickets to Carnival Metamorphosia.

They go to the carnival, and the ticket taker, Sid, says that he doesn't remember seeing the two women. Sid suggests that they talk to Hedig, but he warns them that he's in the middle of a show and that he won't be able to talk. Nick and Hank enter the main tent as Hedig is repeating the performance from the night before. Nick sees the performers woge and use their Wesen abilities, such as breathing fire and crushing skulls, and wonders with Hank whether or not they're allowed to do this in front of humans.

Back in Europe, Meisner goes back to the road where he and Adalind were first let off by Sebastien. The two find the badly beaten Sebastien in one of the cars, and he tells Meisner to go before it's too late. A Verrat agent points his gun at Meisner and orders him to surrender. However, Adalind uses her newly returned Hexenbiest abilities to telepathically force the agent to shoot himself instead. Sebastien tells them that Viktor had him tortured for their location. Sebastien tells Meisner that the Verrat will have heard the shots and be back soon, and Sebastien asks for the gun. Meisner gives it to him before driving off. When Adalind wonders why they're leaving Sebastien behind, Meisner says that his friend is doing what he has to, to protect them.

At the carnival, Max and the other performers meet with Hedig after the show. When Max questions him, Hedig reminds him that "This is MY show and I'm the boss." Nick and Hank arrive and show them the photos of the dead women. Max's eyes glow red briefly, which Nick notices, while Hedig insists that they do their transformations with stage illusions using masks. While the detectives go with him to his trailer to check the employee records, Genevieve weakly attempts to ask Max about the women. Ignoring her, Max leaves.

At the trailer, Hedig tells Nick and Hank that he bought the carnival ten years ago and that he himself was once one of the performers, and he gives them the employee list. As the detectives leave, Genevieve watches them. She then asks Max if he knows what happened to the women. He says that he doesn't remember, and when Genevieve insists on leaving, he reaches for a drink again. Genevieve snatches it away and shatters it on the floor, causing Max to lose control, woge, and knock her down onto the glass, cutting her leg. Hedig and the others come in, and Max gets control of himself and starts towards Hedig, but the other performers restrain him. Sid tells Hedig that Genevieve is hurt and goes to wrap up her leg. Hedig calls Max an idiot and warns that he'll ruin them all. Once Max is subdued, Hedig tells Sid to find someone to replace the injured Genevieve.

When Viktor and the Verrat agents return to the road, they find one of the cars missing and Sebastien sitting in the other now with his eyes closed. To their shock, Sebastien quickly opens fire and kills all of the Verrat agents, but he runs out of bullets when it's only Viktor left. After questioning Sebastien and being told that he doesn't know where Adalind and Meisner went, Viktor states that he believes him this time before shooting Sebastien, killing him.

Nick and Hank visit Monroe and Rosalee at the spice shop and tell them about the Wesen carnival. Monroe and Rosalee explain that the carnival is part of an old tradition, dating back to Circus Maximus, but many Wesen disapprove of it because it exploits Wesen by forcing them to woge for a cheap pay. The carnivals technically don't go against the Gesetzbuch Ehrenkodex because people are made to believe it's just a magic trick, but local Wesen are still encouraged to get the performers to leave due to the risk of the Umkippen. Monroe explains to the detectives that the Umkippen is a result of Wesen who force themselves to woge over and over again, which can eventually lead to the Wesen losing control of their bestial side entirely. The detectives figure that the killer has given in to the Umkippen and head back to the precinct to do background checks on the performers. Meanwhile, Rosalee suggests to Monroe that they go to the carnival and stage an intervention. Monroe isn't eager to do so, but Rosalee points out that "Things can escalate if Nick gets involved as a Grimm, and not as a detective." Reluctantly Monroe agrees and the two head for the carnival.

After doing some research, Nick and Hank inform Captain Renard that there have been four brutal murders in small towns where the carnival has been, and Max has been a part of the carnival during the time of the murders. Renard points out that the carnival is leaving Portland in two days, giving the detectives a small time frame to find something before the killer leaves for good.

Monroe and Rosalee arrive at the carnival and approach Ivan. Rosalee woges to prove she's Wesen and insists that they're similar, but Ivan doesn't believe it and walks away. Before Rosalee can revert back, Sid spots her and takes her backstage for an audition to replace Genevieve in the performance. He leads her away before she or Monroe can come up with an alternative. Sid takes her to the tent, and Hedig has her woge and slowly spin around as an audition. Satisfied, Hedig tells Rosalee that she's hired and tells her to go to Genevieve's tent to put on her new costume and learn her part.

As Meisner drives to Zurich with Adalind and the baby, he thanks Adalind for killing the Verrat agent. She admits that she was only trying to make him drop it, but she is still a little rusty when it comes to using her powers. Renard calls to send Meisner coordinates for an airfield near Zurich and that Tavitian, with the Resistance, has found someone to fly Adalind and her baby out of the country. Once Meisner hangs up, Adalind asks Meisner " Are you coming with us?" "No I have to stay in Vienna because that's where my fight is".

Sid leaves Rosalee with Genevieve, and Genevieve tells her to get into costume. When Rosalee sees her wounded leg, Genevieve says that she fell on some broken glass and tells Rosalee that she doesn't want to be there. When Rosalee asks about the Umkippen, Genevieve admits that "All of the performers are suffering from it, but Max, my boyfriend, has the worst case". Bottling up her fears, she tells Rosalee to put on her costume for the evening performance. As Rosalee changes, Monroe sneaks in through the side of the tent, and she tells him what she's learned. They figure that Max is the killer, and Monroe slips by just before Sid comes in and tells Rosalee that she's on in ten minutes.

At the precinct, Hank finds records of more homicides dating back ten years ago. The detectives remember that the only performer who has been with the carnival the whole ten years is Hedig, and they head for the carnival.

At the carnival, Hedig tells Max that Genevieve has been replaced. Max starts to woge, and Hedig woges himself, revealing his Löwen form. He orders Max into the cage and reminds him that he could be in a permanent cell if the police ever find out what Max has been doing. When Hedig says that he stopped the girls from calling the police when Max woged, Max realizes that it was Hedig who killed them, along with anyone else who saw him woge. The ringmaster reminds the other performers that it's all just a show and ignores Rosalee when she objects.

Monroe calls Nick to explain what is happening and that Max is the killer. He then goes into the tent to watch the show and watches as Hedig has each performer woge again. Nick and Hank arrive just as the Hedig flicks his whip at Rosalee, ordering her to transform. Max loses control of his Wesen side and breaks out of his cage before his cue, attacking the other performers and Hedig. Genevieve tries to stop him without success. When Max goes for Rosalee, Monroe woges and attacks his fellow Blutbad. Hedig loses control and woges, just as Nick and Hank run into the tent, Hedig woges and sees that Nick is also a Grimm, and he runs away while Rosalee gets Monroe off of Max, who has no idea what he did. Rosalee reminds Monroe that he's sick and needs their help. Nick and Hank chase after Hedig, who goes into a fun house. He makes his way into the mirror maze, but he finds Genevieve, Ivan, and Damien waiting for him. They are there to take revenge on the ringmaster for their mistreatment and for framing Max for murder, while Hedig keeps insisting that "I gave you a purpose!" Ignoring him, they all woge, with Damien killing him with his Dämonfeuer fire.

Later, Nick and Hank show Renard a photo of Hedig's charred corpse. Renard says "Case closed, we can't prove anything against the performers."

Monroe and Rosalee send the performers on their way, with Genevieve thanking them for their help and reiterating Rosalee's previous sentiments, "If we don't take care of each other, who will?"

That night, Monroe is ready to go to bed. Rosalee comes in, wearing her costume from the carnival, and mischievously tells him that they're not going to bed quite yet as Monroe smiles and howls.

Meanwhile, Nick arrives home late to find Juliette already in bed, and Rhett already asleep. He walks to the bathroom, taking a shower and putting pajamas on. Just as he steps out of the bathroom, he is met with Juliette in her nightgown before they both climb into bed, exhausted from a long day.