Twisted folklore not so spooky

The supernatural hunting detective Burkhardt pulls away from the usual bizarre creatures that he has to chase after but follows a folklore that is a little more sinister in the most recent episode of “Grimm,” titled “La Llorona.”

The Halloween special tells the title character’s tale, of a woman who killed her own children after being rejected by a man. However, she cannot cross over to the afterlife until she finds her kids. Now she haunts various rivers across the U.S., waiting for children to come by and abduct them in order to replace her own. The twist: she’s trying to find 3 specific three kids and drown them before midnight on Halloween.  

The episode starts off with a father who cannot speak English on a fishing trip with his son who hears a woman crying. He looks out into the river and sees La Llorona attempting to drown herself as she slowly treads into the water. He jumps in to rescue her, but it was a trick so she can get to his kid. The episode takes off from there as Burkhardt follows the disturbing trail of the ghost. The only problem is he isn’t sure where to start, since his witness cannot speak English. They bring in a translator, Juliette. It’s obvious that there is some tension between her and Burkhardt however they move past it as they try to solve the abduction. 

Meanwhile Monroe, the wolf-like Wesen who’s befriended the leads, has gone all out for Halloween by decorating his house extensively with silly decorations. He’s not really involved with the investigation in this episode, which is a bummer. Since this folklore is a different element for Burkhardt he has outside help from another Wesen; a disgraced detective, Pilar (Bertila Damas) from New Mexico who is obsessed with solving the ‘La Llorona’ story. Together they try to solve the mystery even after two more kids are abducted. The only entertaining thing about her guest starring is the fact that she is always determined and angry which is a bit stereotypical in my opinion. She is also a Wesen but when she changes to it, she looks like a creature from “Avatar.”

The major downside to the episode: it did not have all the spooks that the commercials led us up to believe. Yes, seeing the ‘La Llorona’ was a disturbing concept especially when you see her as her true self an ugly, bloody, almost zombie like creature. The idea of a ghost like woman killing innocent kids is very creepy but the plot was lacking in some creativity. Since it’s Halloween I was hoping for more jumps or a lot more spooks. 

The plus side it was a different kind of folklore in this stand alone episode that involved a different culture. There were some comedic moments from Monroe dealing with a bratty kid who smashed his window. I’m sure the kid had to change his pants after what Monroe pulled on him but overall the episode was lacking pizzazz for a built up Halloween special. 

B-