Grimm season 3 episode 15 review: Once We Were Gods

This review contains spoilers.

3.15 Once We Were Gods

Grimm offers us a revisionist lesson on ancient Egypt this week, with the twist being that the animal gods they worshiped were, in fact, Wesen. We should have guessed, right?

In Once We Were Gods, contractors unearth an ancient Egyptian sarcophagus, much to the excitement of local archaeologist Vera Gates, who can’t wait to discover what’s inside. Dr Gates has clearly never watched a horror move, ever.

She would certainly have been surprised to discover the mummy inside the tomb is an Anubis, a dog-like creature, known as the ancient God of Death. In this case the Anubis was captured, and forced into Woging before being mummified by wealthy Egyptians who believed the creatures brought them good luck in the afterlife.

However there are those who aren’t one bit happy about what they see as human exploitation of Wesen. This includes a “Sicilian vendetta society” called the Beati Paoli, whose members believe it is their responsibility to protect Wesen against any abuse in society. They see both the mummification, and the scientific experiments planned by Gates, as immoral and sacrilegious to Wesen, so will stop at nothing to reclaim the Anubis. (One for fact fans: The Beati Paoli is actually based on an actual secret sect based in Sicily in the Middle Ages which fought for the poor, akin to Robin Hood.)

And it’s not just this radical group that believes such exploitation is wrong; Monroe and Rosalee are both appalled at the Wesen’s mummification, and the Wesen Council registers its opposition with the reappearance of the assassin Alexander. Last seen being sent away by Nick with his tail between his legs in Stories We Tell Our Young, he’s now back to enlist Nick’s help in stopping the Beati Paoli – or so he’d have us think.

The uneasy relationship developing between the Wesen Council and a Grimm is certainly a sign that Nick is a Grimm for a new generation.

While it’s easy to get caught up in the idea that any not-entirely-human creature in history is actually Wesen (we’ve had Santa Claus and Big Foot… perhaps the Loch Ness Monster’s next?) this episode’s focus on Egyptian mythology does offer us a glimpse into an apparent golden age where Wesen were revered as Gods by humans. Ah, good times.

Elsewhere, Renard’s man on the inside of the royal court, Sebastien, is singled out as a traitor by Prince Viktor in the wake of Adalind’s escape. Things really aren’t looking good for Sebastien.

Incidentally, Viktor seems to playing around with his image a little bit this week. We see him first emulating a 1960s beat poet with a goatee and pipe, before affecting the look of an English country gent in flat cap and gilet while on the hunt for Adalind. It’s a bad thing, just… new.

Meanwhile, with baby Schade playing some mind tricks on Meisner (leaving us wondering of the significance the two heartbeats), the three are on the move again, heading towards Geneva as part of their escape to the US.

Back in Portland however, the gang still think it’s a good idea to keep Wu in the dark about what he saw last week in Mommy Dearest. The excuses they come up with sound thin at best – particularly when they argue that Wu’s not as close to Nick as Juliette and Hank, and therefore unable to handle the news as well as they did. Um, what? Regardless of the validity of the argument, Wu has worked closely with Nick for a long time, and they’re evidently close enough for him to warrant a visit from Juliette while undergoing treatment.

With Wu confined to a mental health institution (enduring horrific nightmares about the Aswan) it seems cruel that everyone – with the exception of Hank – is apparently okay with letting him suffer.

Instead they palm Wu off with a visit from Juliette (like he isn’t going though enough) who reassures him that she went through a similar situation after losing her memory. She ambiguously tells him that it doesn’t matter if it’s true or not, it was important to overcome his fear of it.

Ultimately, when Wu does find out that everyone lied to him about seeing the Aswan, I hope he’s mad as hell – which is something I can’t wait to see.

Read Christine’s review of the previous episode, Mommy Dearest, here.

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