Nick and Hank investigated a mythical lake monster that was all too real, and Meisner finally brought Nick into his underground headquarters for Hadrian's Wall in Grimm Season 5 Episode 8. Plus there was that thing with Renard and his endorsement of that mayoral candidate, I guess.

Not a lot happened on the Black Claw front, other than Nick's tour of HW's secret base, leaving the bulk of the episode over ot the Wasser Zähne and the two Luisant-Pêcheur brothers. So, if you enjoy Case of the Week episodes, this was probably a nice one for you.

Let's talk about the Hadrian's Wall stuff first. Meisner invited Nick to his base, and we learned some interesting information about HW.

For one, it's apparently funded by the United States government, though Meisner claimed not to know how high HW goes in the government. It's so secret that it doesn't even exist. Meanwhile, some taxpayer rights group is up in arms over the seeming disappearance of millions of dollars.

The secretive nature of the hierarchy makes me nervous, though. Fans of Alias will understand what I mean, I think. What if you're not actually working for the government, but the very people you think you're trying to stop? Now, that would be a twist, wouldn't it?

I'm still not quite sure what to make of Eve. Her brainwashed behavior was definitely disconcerting, but hopefully we'll actually get to see more in next week's episode. There was a moment of humor, though, over her dinner. "It's chicken."

While Nick never had the chance to bury Juliette (Eve's "only regret"), he did get the chance to mourn his mother, as Meisner took him to her grave in the woods. I'm not entirely sure whether Meisner was being kind or simply emotionally manipulative to make Nick more sympathetic towards them. I hope it's the former, but I can't rule out the latter.

Also, someone finally mentioned Meisner's name to Renard. Thank you.

Now! To the not-mythical-enough lake monster, otherwise known as the Case of the Week.

When the Wasser Zähne Logan came out of the water after killing the boater at the beginning of the episode, I had two main thoughts:

• The CG looked absolutely terrible. I saw better effects in the '90s.
• The lake monster was wearing a Speedo.

The first made me cringe, the second made me giggle.

What then followed was a fairly amusing bit of juggling as the Luisant-Pêcheur brothers Wayne and Oliver tried to keep cool, and then Wayne tried to double-cross everybody, up to and including his own brother. Yikes, that's cold. Too bad that Wayne was an utter idiot.

Logan: So who'd Oliver hire to kill me?
Wayne: Some girl.
Logan: [perplexed] A girl?

• Permalink: A girl?

I really liked that the story integrated Trubel into the proceedings, and she was fantastic as she hammed it up as a mercenary Grimm out for the head of the Wasser Zähne. And when Wayne attempted to flee by jumping into the lake, he forgot there were a bunch of trigger-happy monster hunters on the lake.

Fun fact: apparently, water makes for great protection against bullets, according to Myth Busters. Bullets rapidly lose speed after hitting the water, so Wayne probably would have been safe if he just dived. Of course, then we wouldn't have gotten Hank's subsequent moment:

[Their suspect was shot by monster hunters.] How are we gonna explain this one?

Hank

• Permalink: How are we gonna explain this one?

Be sure to check out our Grimm quotes page for a rundown of some of this episode's notable quotes.

Some final assorted thoughts and musings before I turn the conversation over to you:

• While Nick's reputation as a Grimm in the Wesen world is starting to spread, it seems that he and Hank have a growing reputation in the cop world, too, as the guys who close the weird cases.
• In Renard's office, while being briefed on the lake monster case, Hank appears to be fiddling with what looks like a sword-shaped letter opener.
• Rosalee got another letter from someone who "thought" he had a relationship with her in Seattle. How long do you think it'll take before said someone shows up in person?
• The "camera's eye view" during Nick's tour of HW's headquarters had a very Person of Interest vibe to it. Is Nick's number up?
• Eve mentioned Hitler trying to make a world run by Wesen; Nick watched an old news reel of Hitler in woge in Grimm Season 1 Episode 13, "Three Coins in a Fuchsbau."

So, fellow Grimmsters, what did you think of "A Reptile Dysfunction"? Did you find the Case of the Week story entertaining, or would you rather that they focused more on the Black Claw uprising story? And what do you think now that we've seen more of Eve? Let us know in the comments section below!

Reality is definitely not what it used to be.

Nick

• Permalink: Reality is definitely not what it used to be.

If you missed this episode, fear not! You can watch Grimm online to catch up before the next episode. Grimm Season 5 Episode 9, "Star-Crossed," is scheduled to air on Friday, February 12, 2016 at 9/8c on NBC. Until then!

Quotables for the Week Ending February 4, 2016

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