Quill (Grimm)

Plot

Opening quote: "Death stood behind him, and said: 'Follow me, the hour of your departure from this world has come.'"

A Wesen park ranger, Ryan Gilko (Kevin Shinick), is attacked by an infected man and manages to escape from him. Nick (David Giuntoli) and Hank (Russell Hornsby) are sent to retrieve the infected man and when he attacks them, they kill him. Renard (Sasha Roiz) is informed that his family sent a Wesen called the Nuckelavee to get Nick's key.

Juliette (Bitsie Tulloch) is regaining her memories back but she still can't remember Nick or anything about him. Meanwhile, Gilko is beginning to get infected by the same disease. After Adalind's cat escapes, Monroe (Silas Weir Mitchell) invites Rosalee (Bree Turner) to a picnic, which she accepts. Gilko encounters them and chases after them but they manage to leave. They later kiss.

Nick sees the disease "Yellow plague" is spreading and asks Rosalee to find an antidote. Monroe discovers Rosalee is infected too. Gilko collapses and Nick and Hank take him to the shop where Monroe is forced to do the antidote for him but Rosalee escapes. She attacks Nick and he is forced to knock her unconscious so they can give her the cure and save her. The episode ends as the Nuckelavee watches over them.

Viewers

The episode was viewed by 4.62 million people, earning a 1.5/4 in the 18-49 rating demographics on the Nielson ratings scale, ranking first on its timeslot and fifth for the night in the 18-49 demographics behind a rerun of 2 Broke Girls, two episodes of Hotel Hell, and a rerun of The Big Bang Theory. This was a 2% decrease in viewership from the previous episode, which was watched by 4.67 million viewers with a 1.6/4. This means that 1.5 percent of all households with televisions watched the episode, while 4 percent of all households watching television at that time watched it.

Critical reviews

"Quill" received positive reviews. The A.V. Club's Kevin McFarland gave the episode a "B" grade and wrote, "If last week's episode — with a case centered around child kidnapping, inbreeding and ritualistic rape — was what Grimm: SVU would look like, now we know what this show would look like when filtered through a minor zombie plague outbreak. 'Quill' isn't Grimm's version of 28 Days Later or Dawn of the Dead or anything apocalyptic, it’s a standard plague, spreading through a small population, eventually infecting one of the major characters, before a quick remedy comes through right before the episode ends. Nothing particularly special on the plot front, but that's not as important as the character progress, which is moving along nicely to build a stronger character base so that riskier episodic plots will have a better chance for success."

Nick McHatton from TV Fanatic, gave a 4.5 star rating out of 5, stating: "If there's one thing Grimm does well, it's making unlikable characters actually likable (remember my disdain for Juliette?), and 'Quill' accomplishes just that with Hank. Congratulations on joining the pack. Hank! You're official off the 'I don't care about you' list!"

Shilo Adams from TV Overmind, wrote: "Grimm has done a fine job of filling out the Wesen world. Be it through the introduction of different types of creatures, a look at the ways they go about their intra-species hierarchy. Don’t get me wrong, the show is quite fantastical and appropriately supernatural; it's just that, nearly 30 episodes into its run, Grimm has managed to underline its theme (human duality) fairly well while making the Wesen world feel like, well, a world."

Josie Campbell from TV.com wrote, "Thematically Grimm continues to upend the pieces on the board. Just like Hank and Juliette, we're all frantically evaluating and re-evaluating with every new piece of information we have. We also have to ask ourselves what good and bad means to the various agendas and plots flying around. In Season 1 it would have been a good thing for Juliette to find out about Nick being a Grimm. Now that she has no memory of him, this feels like it'll lead to disaster."