“Danse Macabre” opens with an interesting juxtaposition, cutting between a rave in a warehouse, led by “DJ Retchid Kat,” and a string quartet rehearsal at a swank private school. The music director, Paul Lawson (Ted deChatelet) screams at the musicians, storms out and ends up being eaten alive by rats in his car later that night. Naturally, Nick (David Giuntoli) and Hank (Russell Hornsby) are called in to investigate.

DJ Retchid Kat is the alter ego of Roddy Geiger (Nick Thurston). Roddy is a violin virtuoso who was recently suspended from school for fighting. His father, Ephram Geiger (Russell Hodgkinson), is the proprietor of Geiger Pest Control, and the “pests” his company specializes in are rats.

The Geigers are considered the prime suspects, especially after the detectives discover rat cages labeled Geiger Pest Control near the crime scene. Interestingly, one of the string players, Carter Brimley (Will Cuddy), pointedly mentions the fact that Roddy’s father owns a pest control company. Nick and Hank visit the Geiger household and find Roddy playing his violin to a rapt group of rats in cages.

Nick soon realizes that Ephram and Roddy are both rat-like creatures called Reinigen. They bring the two in for questioning, but realize they are innocent.

Eventually, the evidence points to the three boys in the string quartet, led by Carter, who wanted Roddy out of the way so he could take his place as the best violin player in school. Before Nick and Hank can haul the three boys in, Roddy tries to take his revenge by leading a group of rats pied-piper style to an abandoned warehouse and luring the students there. This is despite the fact that Eddie (Silas Weir Mitchell) paid the boy a visit to talk to him creature-to-creature at the behest of Nick. However, Nick and Hank step in before any damage is done.

Points Of Interest

1. Nick is setting himself up to be the “kinder, gentler” type of Grimm. It seems like his aunt was much more of a hardliner.

2. Juliette (Bitsie Tulloch) now suspects something is going on with Nick, following the final scene in the episode. It’s about time! This should ramp up the drama a bit in the future.

3. Speaking of drama, Adalind Schade (Claire Coffee), who we know is some sort of creature that tried to kill Nick’s aunt, has just asked Hank out on a date. This will not go over well with Nick!

What Worked

This was an entertaining episode. There was nothing stellar about it, but it worked well as a standalone, and even the connection to the “Pied Piper” fairy tale worked fairly well. Establishing Roddy as a hugely popular DJ was an apt metaphor, in addition to the much more obvious scenes with the rats.

What Didn't Work

It was very easy to guess who was responsible for the death of the teacher within the first several scenes. Up until now, this show has usually surprised me, and the predictability of this plot was disappointing.

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due

“Grimm” stars David Gluntoli, Russell Hornsby, Bitsie Tulloch and Silas Weir Mitchell. “Danse Macabre” was written by David Greenwalt and Jim Kouf, and was directed by David Solomon.

“Grimm” airs Fridays at 9 p.m. ET on NBC.