Sweet dreams.
Sleep is good, death is better; but of course, the best thing would be to have never been born at all.
Nick, Hank and Wu investigate a local hotel after a grisly murder leads to one of its guests who claims to be haunted by a frightening creature in the night.
At the Spice Shop, Monroe, Rosalee and Eve continue to research the origins of the symbols on the cloth and may be getting closer to unlocking its mystery.
Meanwhile, Capt. Renard continues to be haunted by his past transgressions.
This episode provides examples of:
- Alternative Calendar: The symbols Eve carved into the tunnel turn out to be a chart showing the positions of the planets on a specific date.
- Arbitrary Scepticism: Anselmo Baledin, the Black Claw member who speaks to Renard, expresses some cynicism that Nick has some sort of protection that can't be explained. This causes Renard to finally lose patience and tell Baledin, and Black Claw, to get lost.Renard: I was there. The Grimm should be dead, but he's not. Like I told you, he's being protected by something very powerful.
Baledin: That's the part I'm having a hard time understanding.
Renard: Oh, well, maybe you could understand this. I'm done taking orders, I'm done with Black Claw, and I'm done with you. - Foreshadowing:
- Nick's phone call to hotel owner Beverly Garwood gets a lot of screentime considering she says nothing useful. the whole thing could be summarised as, "I spoke to the owner; she didn't know anything," but the whole interview is shown, complete with Beverly in her apartment. Sure enough, the secret passages through which the Monster of the Week is attacking their victims leads straight to her apartment, because she's the monster.
- Going undercover as a hotel guest, Monroe sets up a camera on the dresser. It gets knocked over when the Alpe enters the room, indicating that the secret entrance is concealed behind the dresser.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: Averted. Beverly the Alpe pretends to do this, agreeing to leave town when Nick threatens to go Grimm on her, but attacks when his back is turned. She's quickly killed when he knocks her down and she bangs her head on a table.
- Let's Get Dangerous!: When the Alpe sneers that Nick has no legal recourse against her as nothing ties her to any murders, Nick pointedly tosses his badge to Hank and tells her what will happen if she doesn't get out of town.Nick: As you said, I am a Grimm. One less Alpe in the world? Who's gonna lose any sleep over that?
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Victim of the Week Michael Sobek is just a good person trying to help a man in obvious distress. Unfortunately, that man is suffering psychosis caused by chronic sleep paralysis and beats Sobek to death thinking he's part of what's happening to him.Dan: You want me to sleep?
Sobek: I just want you to be safe.
Dan: It's you, isn't it? [Knocks Sobek to the ground and slams his head into the pavement] - Oh, Crap!:
- When Monroe asks Rosalee how they get enough melatonin into him to ensure he's the Alpe's target, she holds up a large needle. Cue the face. (In fact, melatonin can be administered orally, but y'know, Rule of Funny.)
- When the camera set up in Monroe's room is knocked over, indicating the Alpe is in with him.
- Red Herring: A literal version with Mr Lynk, an old man who hangs around in his wheelchair, watching and generally looking shady but who has nothing to do with anything. Near the end of the episode, the audience sees his woge face: a red fish.
- Shout-Out:
- The episode features several references to real-life serial killer H. H. Holmes: Englewood Hotel bears an architectural resemblance to the World Fair Hotel in Englewood, Chicago, located on 63rd Street. Like Holes' "murder castle," it has secret passages enabling the Monster of the Week to attack guests in locked rooms.
- Monroe quotes the Oscar Wilde line, "Life is a nightmare that prevents one from sleeping."
- Sleep Paralysis Creature: The Alpe is the cause of sleep paralysis as it feeds on people while they sleep, draining their melatonin and making them unable to sleep. Since they repeatedly feed on the same victims, it slowly drives the person insane. One victim kills an innocent person in a psychotic rage, and another runs from her room in a panic and falls over the stair railing and dies. Monroe's aunt Ada was also a victim.
- Spirit Advisor: After Renard rejects an olive branch from a Black Claw member, Meisner takes on this role for him, warning Renard about an ambush and helping him escape by blinding one of the attackers while Renard deals with the other. When the attack is over, he indicates that his Unfinished Business is done and vanishes as he walks away.Meisner: This time, you chose the right side, Sean.
- Wham Line: Rosalee and Eve decode the tunnel carvings and realise it's a map of the planets, showing their positions on a specific date... in the very near future.Rosalee: I went way too far forward.
Eve: No, what do you mean? It matches.
Rosalee: Yeah, but that's not in the past, that's in the future. March 24th. [...] I think it is [a calendar]. Over something that hasn't happened yet?
