Recaps

Nick cooked breakfast for Hancock while they watched the Beijing Olympics’ closing broadcast, which reminded Nick of his longing to return to Cyrus. The chapter ended with Olympic highlights on television and Nick reflecting on how the world’s bright moment would give way to plague, war, and hunger.

• Nick cooked fried-egg burgers and lamb broth while watching Bob Costas’s commentary on the Beijing Olympics.
• Nick warned Juliet as she walked into a tree, then greeted her after she passed his house.
• Hancock arrived, watched the broadcast’s scenic montage of Cyrus, and said he wanted to visit on his next vacation.
• Nick told Hancock that he had tried more than a dozen times to travel to Cyrus but had been prevented each time.
• Hancock ate breakfast with Nick and praised his cooking, while Nick watched Olympic highlights and thought about the troubles that would come in the following decade.

Nick, a reincarnated former soldier now working as a Portland police officer, prepared to leave patrol work for a detective position while explaining the magical movie ticket that sent him into film worlds. He recounted his disastrous first trip into Alien and the Fake Death Revival skill he gained before dying there.

• Nick recalled how he had been reborn as a six-year-old after a car accident and later built a life with his aunt Mary in Portland.
• Nick explained that he had passed the detective exam and would report to the detectives' office the next day, while Hancock planned to celebrate with him at a cop bar.
• Nick showed Hancock the golden Magic Movie Ticket, which could take him into a random movie world when fully charged.
• Nick recounted entering Alien aboard the Nostromo at age sixteen and dying from oxygen deprivation and hypothermia before the main plot began.
• Nick received the passive skill Fake Death Revival after his first movie-world death, and it later cured his acne overnight.

Nick recalled his previous movie missions and his growing combat skills as he finished his last day of patrol before starting as a detective. A routine illegal-parking call took him toward Alberta Street, while dispatcher Leila invited him to a promotion party and teased him about his relationship with their supervisor Monica.

• Nick recalled failing to rescue a chained couple in a zombie-infested Barcelona apartment, though he survived the movie and gained the Lightning Reflexes skill.
• Nick considered leaving Portland if a drug-decriminalization measure like Measure 110 passed and reflected on his quiet years as a patrol officer.
• Nick received a call about a white Kia blocking a construction-site access lane on Alberta Street and headed there from Chinatown.
• Leila used the private radio channel to invite Nick to the Blue Knight party celebrating his promotion to detective.
• Nick agreed to attend and told Leila to delete their recording before switching back to the public channel.

Nick investigated a suspiciously parked Kia Rio and saw its owner’s face briefly transform into a monstrous shape. The frightened man fled from Nick, who chased him down and demanded to know what he was.

• Nick checked the Kia Rio’s plates and learned it was registered to Joshua Coffey, with no theft reports or violations.
• Nick approached the balding owner, suspected him of using drugs, and asked for identification.
• The man’s face grotesquely transformed when he turned toward Nick, then quickly returned to normal.
• The man screamed that Nick was a Grimm and ran, while Nick reported a foot pursuit and chased after him.
• The man stopped in a roadside wasteland and begged for his life, and Nick aimed his weapons and asked what he was.

Nick shot and killed a man who transformed into a beast and tried to shoot him, then secured the scene and called for backup. He concealed the transformation from Andrew Wu as he focused on whether his use of force had been lawful.

• The middle-aged man transformed into a hyena-like monster and revealed a revolver, prompting Nick to draw his Glock 22.
• Nick and the monster exchanged gunfire; after his pistol jammed, Nick cleared it and emptied the magazine into the suspect.
• Nick called in the shooting, confirmed he was uninjured, and found the dead monster had returned to human form.
• Nick held back bystanders and a local television crew until backup arrived.
• Andrew Wu secured the scene and checked Nick for injuries, while Nick recounted the gunfight without mentioning the transformation.

After Nick Burkhardt killed an armed suspect in a shootout, his colleagues praised his quick reactions, but none of them seemed to notice the suspect’s monstrous transformation. Nick wondered why only he could see it and hoped to find a healing skill that might help his ill Aunt Mary.

• Captain Sean Renard reviewed the footage and told Nick he had done well, then placed him on critical incident leave and arranged for Hancock to drive him home.
• Hancock praised Nick for winning the gunfight in 5.5 seconds and explained that Nick’s pistol had jammed before he cleared it.
• Nick asked whether the footage showed anything strange about the suspect, but Hancock only mentioned the shots to the face and the contraband in the suspect’s car.
• The local news broadcast the shootout, and Nick remained the only person who appeared to notice that the suspect had transformed into a monster.
• Nick recalled that the Magic Movie Ticket still could not be recharged and wished he could obtain a healing skill for Aunt Mary, who was traveling across the country while living with chronic leukemia.

After returning to work, Nick was promoted to Detective II and assigned to the homicide unit with Hancock. Captain Renard arranged for Nick to attend firearms and close-quarters training, while the family of the man Nick shot took the body away without protest.

• The District Attorney's Office and police bureau confirmed Nick's shooting was lawful, and Captain Renard promoted him to Detective II and assigned him to the homicide unit with Hancock.
• Hancock asked Nick whether he had seen the bureau psychologist, and Nick discovered that she was Hancock's ex-wife.
• Nick applied for a long gun permit and a backup gun, planning to earn an advanced tactical shooting certificate so he could keep a rifle or carbine in his police car.
• Captain Renard offered to send Nick to Gunsite Academy for firearms and close-quarters combat training, and Nick accepted the opportunity.
• Nick tried to visit the morgue to see the dead man's body, but learned that the family had already taken it away for burial without threatening the bureau or Nick.

Nick bought a SIG P226 Tactical Operations handgun after testing it at a Portland gun store, then saw a blonde woman’s face briefly transform into a horrifying visage. Hancock did not see the change, and the woman hurried away.

• Nick visited Northwest Armory with Hancock and criticized the recoil and trigger of Glock handguns.
• A salesperson showed Nick a SIG P226 Tactical Operations with extended magazines, and Nick bought it after testing it at the range.
• Nick teased Hancock about his spending habits as they left the store.
• Nick and Hancock saw a well-dressed blonde leaving a coffee shop, and Nick guessed she was a wealthy professional.
• The blonde’s face briefly changed into a rotting, monstrous visage when she met Nick’s eyes, but Hancock saw nothing unusual.

Nick remained convinced that something was wrong with the world, though Hancock suspected he might be hallucinating. Their weekend was interrupted when Inspector Raynard sent them to investigate a woman’s scattered remains in Forest Park, where a fresh shoe print suggested a human was involved.

• Nick told Hancock he had ruled out personal causes and concluded that the problem lay with the world, but Hancock urged him to keep seeing his psychologist.
• Nick and Hancock answered Inspector Raynard’s call and drove to the west side of Balch Creek Canyon in Portland Forest Park.
• A park police officer showed Nick and Hancock a severed arm and other scattered remains, including organs, a torn red jacket, and a pink Nike shoe.
• The park police officer explained that large predators were unlikely to be responsible and led the detectives to a fresh shoe print beneath a fallen tree.
• Nick photographed the footprint and called for the forensics team to make a cast as Hancock said they would begin a preliminary investigation while awaiting DNA results to determine jurisdiction.

Nick and Hancock investigated a suspected death in Forest Park and found evidence that the scene might resemble a recent case at Manson Falls. They returned to the precinct to pursue leads, where Hancock brought back fingerprint results before dark.

• Hancock recalled a 1999 serial murder case in Forest Park and recognized similarities to a case at Manson Falls.
• Nick and Hancock found a pink iPod playing “Sweet Dreams” near the crime scene and bagged it as evidence.
• Nick volunteered to conduct background investigation while Hancock followed up on fingerprint processing.
• Hancock returned to the precinct before dark with the fingerprint results and instant noodles.

Detectives Nick and Hancock identified the remains as Selvi Oster, a nineteen-year-old art student who disappeared during her morning run. Nick stayed late to investigate her relationships, determined to find the killer, while the unexplained footprint remained a possible lead.

• Nick and Hancock learned that no large carnivores had been reported near the crime scene and that a missing student’s fingerprints matched the lab results.
• Nick and Hancock visited Selvi’s roommate, who recognized the victim’s iPod and described Selvi’s running clothes and routine.
• Nick estimated that Selvi was attacked around eight in the morning, after considering what kind of creature could have killed her so violently.
• Hancock confirmed Selvi Oster’s identity and told Nick to follow up on the footprint with the forensics team the next day.
• Nick studied Selvi’s Facebook profile and decided to investigate her relationships and pursue the truth.

Nick and Hancock struggled to find a motive in Selvi’s murder and had only a boot tread as a lead when an Amber Alert reported six-year-old Robin Howell missing. As police began searching her route to her grandparents’ house, Nick and Hancock focused on Berkeley Park, a small forest between the school and the house.

• Nick told Hancock that his investigation had found no romantic suspects or clear motive in Selvi’s murder, and Hancock showed him the matching Dr. Martens boot tread.
• Nick and Hancock spent the day questioning Selvi’s teachers and classmates before an Amber Alert announced Robin Howell’s disappearance.
• Nick and Hancock went to Robin’s grandparents’ house, where Andrew Wu said the six-year-old had gone missing on her walk from school.
• Captain Renard briefed officers on possible explanations for Robin’s disappearance and assigned teams to search her route and check surveillance cameras.
• Nick and Hancock noticed that Berkeley Park lay between Robin’s school and her grandparents’ house, and the mention of her red coat made Nick uneasy.

Nick and Hancock searched Berkeley Park for six-year-old Robin Howell and found her schoolbag and boot prints matching those from the dismemberment case. Nick followed the tracks to a residential street and began looking for witnesses or camera footage.

• Nick told Captain Renard that the victim in the dismemberment case had also been wearing a red coat, and Renard hoped the cases were unrelated.
• Nick and Hancock searched the wooded park along Robin's route home from school.
• Hancock found Robin's schoolbag beneath a spruce, and Nick identified the spot as the likely attack scene.
• Nick found fresh boot prints matching those at the Balch Creek Canyon crime scene and followed them through the undergrowth.
• The tracks led Nick to a residential street, where he found no nearby cameras and decided to ask residents for help.

Nick saw Eddie Monroe transform into a werewolf and arrested him, but found no evidence linking him to the missing girl or other crimes. When Nick confronted Eddie again that night, Eddie called him a Grimm and invited him inside to talk.

• Nick watched Eddie Monroe transform into a werewolf, then chased him into his house and arrested him.
• Hancock told Nick that Eddie had a clean record and a good reputation, while Nick remained suspicious of his connection to the missing girl and other attacks.
• Nick watched Eddie from across the road that evening as Eddie marked his yard like a dog.
• When Nick followed Eddie into the backyard, Eddie transformed and warned him not to come back.
• Nick confronted Eddie with his gun, and Eddie called him a Grimm before inviting him inside to talk.

Nick learned from Eddie Monroe that he was a Grimm, a hereditary monster hunter, and that Eddie was a Blutbad Wesen. He began connecting the revelation to his aunt Mary Kessler, whose name clearly frightened Eddie, but still knew little about the hidden world.

• Eddie Monroe called Nick a Grimm and asked how long he had been awakened, but Nick said he had never heard of Grimms or Wesen.
• Nick told Eddie that his aunt was Mary Kessler, and Eddie reacted with alarm before trying to end the conversation.
• Nick ordered Eddie to sit down and explain, placing his P226 on the coffee table.
• Eddie said Blutbad were the creatures behind the big bad wolf stories and asked whether Mary had shown Nick the family journal.
• Nick recalled downloading the TV series Grimm before crossing over and realized its supernatural setting might be real.
• Eddie explained that Wesen was a general term for creatures like Blutbad, while blood werewolves, wolf monsters, and big bad wolves were names other Wesen used.

Nick questioned Eddie Monroe about Wesen and Grimms, learning how Wesen transformed and why they feared Grimms. Eddie recognized Nick as the man from a recent televised shootout, leaving their conversation poised to turn toward Nick’s fight.

• Nick asked Eddie Monroe about other Wesen, and Eddie described several kinds while insisting he was a reformed werewolf.
• Eddie explained that Wesen shared the ability to transform and that Grimms could see their true forms even when ordinary people could not.
• Eddie told Nick that Grimms had hunted Wesen for centuries and compiled knowledge about their forms and weaknesses in Grimm’s Journal.
• Eddie explained that Wesen feared Grimms because generations of brutal killings had made that fear seem instinctive.
• Nick connected the explanation to Wesen he had seen flee from him, and Eddie warned that some Wesen fought back.
• Eddie recognized Nick as the man who had won a televised Wild West duel during a recent shootout.

Nick pressured Eddie Monroe into helping him track the Blutbad responsible for abducting Robin, and the pair followed the scent into the woods. They reached a cabin, but Eddie began losing control and warned Nick he could go no farther.

• Nick accused Eddie Monroe of knowing who had abducted Robin and forced him to agree to help find the culprit.
• Eddie told Nick that the kidnapper fattened his prey between hunts and tracked him through the woods by scent.
• Eddie located the Blutbad near a cabin in Forest Park and rubbed wolfsbane on himself to mask his scent.
• Nick and Eddie crossed the icy stream and approached the cabin, where Eddie began shifting between human and werewolf forms.
• Eddie warned Nick that he could not safely take another step, leaving Nick on guard with his pistol drawn.

Nick and Hancock followed the trail to a cabin where they suspected a missing six-year-old girl was being held, while Nick kept Monroe out of danger and arranged for an anonymous police tip. The chapter ended with the detectives inside the cabin, sizing up a polite, apron-wearing man whose embroidered cushions made Hancock doubt Nick’s lead.

• Nick told Monroe to leave and call 911 anonymously with the cabin’s location, then called Hancock for backup.
• Hancock arrived alone, and Nick claimed he had traced a suspicious van to the cabin using traffic cameras.
• Hancock agreed to investigate after Nick reminded him that a six-year-old girl’s life might be at stake.
• A middle-aged man in an apron answered the cabin door and invited Nick and Hancock inside.
• Hancock examined the cabin and questioned the man about his embroidered cushions, then privately challenged Nick’s choice of suspect.

Nick and Hancock identified the mail carrier as the Blutbad who abducted Robin, but Hancock shot and killed him before they could learn where she was. Nick found Robin hidden in a cellar and carried her out as backup arrived.

• Nick recognized the mail carrier humming the song from the murdered girl's iPod and accused him of being the killer.
• The lights went out, and the Blutbad attacked Nick and Hancock before fleeing; Hancock shot him twice as he ran.
• The dying man recognized Nick as a Grimm but died without revealing where Robin was hidden.
• Nick searched the house, found a concealed cellar hatch beneath the loveseat, and rescued Robin from a tied bed.
• Hancock waited anxiously beside the body until sirens arrived, then saw Nick emerge carrying Robin.

Nick helped rescue Robin and uncovered that the cabin’s owner was a serial killer and cannibal who had kept several red coats. Robin’s grateful kiss charged Nick’s Movie Ticket, and he ended the chapter by calling Aunt Mary.

• Robin thanked Nick with a kiss, and he felt energy flow into him as PPB reinforcements arrived at the cabin.
• Nick ordered the sausages and sausage stuffer tested, then found four red coats in the basement and told Hancock he had taken down a serial killer and cannibal.
• Inspector Raynard imposed a media gag order while the PPB and FBI formed a task force to handle the case.
• Nick accompanied Hancock to the hospital, then went home and saw that Robin’s kiss had charged his Movie Ticket.
• Nick called Aunt Mary and asked how she had been feeling.

Nick traveled to 2024 Los Angeles as Levi Kane, a retired Marine sniper who had recently attempted suicide, and received a summons to report to Camp Pendleton. The movie ticket assigned him the mission to save the world and the female lead, but the story left him without clues about the movie or its danger.

• Nick used Fake Death Revival to sleep, sent a report to Captain Renard, and tore the Magic Movie Ticket to begin his next journey.
• Nick awoke on a Los Angeles beach after a golden retriever licked him and found a notebook, an M1911, and false memories identifying him as Levi Kane.
• Nick learned that Levi had served as a Marine sniper and private military contractor before retiring after severe PTSD and depression.
• Nick checked Levi's identification and phone, realized he had arrived in 2024, and received a message ordering him to report to Camp Pendleton on June 7.
• Nick received the mission objectives to save the world and save the female lead.

Nick was recruited by an elderly woman he recognized as Ellen Ripley for a secret one-year mission paying $600,000, though its purpose remained unclear. After three months of specialized training, he boarded an AC-130 transport plane still unsure whether he was meant to save the world or do social-assistance work.

• Nick waited in his apartment until a government Suburban brought him to Camp Pendleton on June 7.
• An old woman who looked like Ellen Ripley interviewed Nick privately and questioned him about his military record, personal life, and health.
• Nick passed a psychological evaluation while presenting himself as mildly depressed but not suicidal.
• The old woman offered Nick a secret one-year mission for $600,000, and he accepted after learning he would first undergo three months of specialized training.
• After training, Nick boarded an AC-130 transport plane, uncertain about the mission's purpose.

After three months of practical technical training, Nick was drugged and flown to a secret drop point in the mountains. He parachuted down safely beside a small lake, then prepared to continue north toward his reporting destination.

• Nick learned carpentry, engine maintenance, plumbing, electronics, and survival skills, while the organization gave him no sniper training.
• Nick woke aboard an AC-130 transport aircraft, removed his IV, and handed his smartphone and identification to the pilot.
• The pilot told Nick to walk 35–40 kilometers north after landing and gave him a sealed waterproof pouch to open later.
• Nick put on his parachute, attached his backpack, and jumped from the aircraft when the signal light turned green.
• Nick chose to land beside a small lake with no surrounding trees, making a safe start to his trek through the mountains.

Nick traveled through the mountains to a fog-covered gorge, where he met JD, the Royal Marine whose year-long assignment was ending. JD showed him the West Watchtower, Nick’s isolated home for the next year, and explained that contact with the East Watchtower was forbidden and the gorge was blocked by mines and automated weapons.

• Nick used his map to confirm his destination and hiked through the mountains toward it.
• After crossing a ridgeline, Nick found a fog-shrouded gorge flanked by two tall bunkers and realized he had reached his destination.
• JD greeted Nick, introduced himself, and learned that Nick had no idea what his mission involved.
• JD told Nick he had spent a year alone and that his assignment would end at midnight, then explained that Nick would take over the West Watchtower.
• JD pointed out the East Watchtower and said the two sides were forbidden from making contact, while mines and automated weapons blocked the gorge.
• JD led Nick into the West Watchtower and showed him its old elevator.

Nick learned that his new post involved maintaining defenses along the Canyon, where a secret alliance had kept watch since the end of World War II. JD revealed that the mist-filled depths held creatures called Hollow Men, leaving Nick to realize the Canyon might be connected to his mission to save the world.

• JD explained that Nick had to maintain the western Canyon’s Gatling guns, railings, sensor mines, and satellite-shielding equipment, reporting by shortwave every thirty days.
• JD showed Nick the watchtower’s machine guns and explained that Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union had secretly formed a Defensive Alliance to guard opposite sides of the Canyon.
• Nick suspected the Canyon was connected to Movie Ticket’s mission, then struggled to eat JD’s cooking.
• JD tossed a timed grenade into the Canyon, and strange howls rose from below after the explosion.
• JD called the creatures Hollow Men and recounted that more than 2,400 soldiers had entered the Canyon after World War II and none had returned.