Island of Dreams (Grimm)

"Island of Dreams" is the 15th episode of the supernatural drama television series Grimm of season 1, which premiered on March 30, 2012, on NBC. The episode was written by series creators Jim Kouf and David Greenwalt, and was directed by Rob Bailey.

Plot

Opening quote: "Soon he was so in love with the witch's daughter that he could think of nothing else. He lived by the light of her eyes and gladly did whatever she asked."

Renard (Sasha Roiz) reunites with Adalind (Claire Coffee) in an art gallery, where he gives her a vial of blood, telling her to make Hank (Russell Hornsby) like her. Meanwhile, Bud (Danny Bruno) brings a gift for Nick (David Giuntoli) and Juliette (Bitsie Tulloch): a quilt. Meanwhile, Adalind arrives at Freddy's (Randy Schulman) shop to retrieve some ingredients. After she leaves, two men rob the store and steal a drug called Jay. When they try to leave, Freddy bites one of the robbers and is shot to death.

While investigating his death, Nick and Hank contact his sister Rosalee (Bree Turner) for help in the murder. While in the store, Nick discovers Rosalee is also a Fuchsbau while she discovers he is a Grimm. Adalind uses a potion to make cookies for Hank to ingest using his and her blood. Monroe (Silas Weir Mitchell) decides to help with the investigation and also meets Rosalee where they reveal their identities.

While checking the store alone, Rosalee is attacked by the robbers but she manages to escape. Meanwhile, the potion in the cookies begins to affect Hank, having erotic dreams of Adalind. At the station, while Nick and Hank leave, Sgt. Wu (Reggie Lee) eats one of the cookies. He then goes to check the store with Monroe and Rosalee and passes out and his face begins to swell. Using a homemade recipe, Rosalee saves him but Wu is now tormented as he sees everyone as animated monsters.

Rosalee explains that Wu may may have had ingested a Zaubertrank 23 potion where whoever eats it, will get an emotional state for a person but if another person ingest the potion, it will happen an allergic reaction. Using a friend for help, Monroe and Nick go to a place called "island of dreams" where people smoke Jay. They discover the robbers there and apprehend them. Wu wakes up but he is now eating the foam of his couch. Nick decides to take Juliette to a firing range and Hank continues having the erotic hallucinations.

Reception

Viewers

The episode was viewed by 4.15 million people, earning a 1.2/4 in the 18-49 rating demographics on the Nielson ratings scale, ranking third on its timeslot and eight for the night in the 18-49 demographics, behind Dateline NBC, Shark Tank, Primetime: What Would You Do?, CSI: NY, Blue Bloods, Undercover Boss, and 20/20.^[1] This was a 18% decrease in viewership from the previous episode, which was watched by 5.05 from an 1.5/4 in the 18-49 demographics.^[2] This means that 1.2 percent of all households with televisions watched the episode, while 4 percent of all households watching television at that time watched it.

Critical reviews

"Island of Dreams" received positive reviews. The A.V. Club's Kevin McFarland gave the episode a "B" grade and wrote, "I'm now willing to accept just how average Grimm can be as a positive. There are a great many television shows on the air right now that use the same kind of structure as this one. But honestly, I'd rather watch Grimm over Bones, any part of the CSI franchise, and pretty much anything other than Psych on USA. That isn't because of humor, or character chemistry, but because Grimm has to build a world, and I find the slow widening scope of Nick's forays into the Wessen world more interesting than the standard male/female cop pairing that slowly builds into romance, or the usual ripped-from-the-headlines case structure."^[3]

Nick McHatton from TV Fanatic, gave a 4.2 star rating out of 5, stating: "Overall, Grimm's first episode back wasn't the best it has ever done – especially as a stand-alone episode. The case wasn't particularly interesting, but this doesn't feel like one that can be taken as anything other than the beginning of the rest of the season. There was a lot of set up, and I'm excited to see where it goes."^[4]

Shilo Adams from TV Overmind wrote, "'Island of Dreams' was okay, but it wasn't quite the episode I hoped for coming off of yet another hiatus. It felt more transitional, the chess pieces tentatively being moved around and setting up a big go-to move later on. The events depicted here, from Rosalee's flirtation with Monroe to Adalind's cookies of doom and Wu's decidedly different mental state, could be major players going forward, but for now, it was an episode that underwhelmed me a bit as a whole. A lot of it was done before and in an episode that featured a lot of callbacks, the original material had to be on point. Unfortunately this time, it was on point – a dull, dull point."^[5]

References