1×07 Let Your Hair Down
The enchantress was so hard-hearted that she banished the poor girl to a wilderness, where she had to live in a miserable, wretched state.
A young couple, dog-washers Dustin and Lauren, are hiking through Tillamook Forest to a lake, unaware that someone is watching them. As they kiss, a man with a rifle confronts them and tells them to get down on the ground. He takes them to his camp and ties them up, and explains that he’s growing pot worth $3 million. As he prepares to kill them, he hears something in the woods and goes to investigate. Something whips a coil of thick rope around his neck and hauls him away, while the couple manages to untie themselves and run off.
The next day, Nick and Hank go the campsite with DEA agents who are destroying the pot fields. They find the pot grower, dead, and confirm that he died of a broken neck. The DEA agents confirm that he’s Delmar Blake, who they’ve been looking for. Nick removes a strand of hair from the corpse’s neck and the park ranger confirms that Delmar’s supplies were taken but all of the pot was left behind. Nick goes to take another look at the body, alone, and collects some buckshot from a tree. He hears something in the woods and gives pursuit, and finally spots a female blutbad with long hair, who runs off before Nick can catch up to her.
Nick and Hank interview the couple at home and they admit that they didn’t see someone else. However, they heard something come into the camp and growled as it stole the supplies. The couple admits that whoever attacked Delmar saved their life. Back at the station, the partners report to Renard that they’re checking the hair but don’t think the couple are involved in the murder. In the office, two men, Delmar’s Brothers Micah and Roland, arrive and demand to see his body.
The partners take them to the morgue and Nick warns them to let the police deal with it. The two Brothers calm down but are clearly not satisfied. Back at the station, Nick and Hank run their records and confirm that they have minor charges but nothing to do with drugs. Wu tells them that they get a report on the brunette hair from the crime scene and have gotten a preliminary match on Holly Clark, a seven-year-old girl who disappeared nine years ago from her backyard and was never found. She was adopted by a woman after her birth mother was arrested as a drug addict. Wu starts pulling files while Nick goes to check on whether how Delmar may have been connected to Holly.
Roland and Micah watch the couple’s house and follow Dustin when he goes to work.
Nick goes to see Monroe, who greets him at the door and says he has something important going on. The officer barges in anyway and discovers that Monroe has decorated his house with Christmas ornaments. Monroe says that it’s a long tradition in his family and goes to work setting up a model train. Once he has it running, Nick shows Monroe a photo of Delmar’s corpse and ask if the killer could be a creature. Monroe has no way to tell from the photo and Nick tells him that Holly may be the killer and she’s been in the woods for nine years. The blutbad says that if it was Holly, she’d be a wild child by now and could survive, but would be a savage. Nick asks what Monroe knew of his nature when he was a child, and Monroe explains that the experience was pretty strange the first time that he transformed. The officer says that he’s going back out there to find Holly and asks Monroe to come with her, hoping that he can understand. Monroe warns that he’d be no match for a blutbad living in the woods for nine years, even if she’s wounded. Nick insists on going but Monroe tells him that they should wait until the next morning, and that he’ll go with him after all.
Bud the repairman is drinking with his fellow creature friends and telling them about Nick. They don’t believe him and Bud gives them Nick’s address to prove he’s telling the truth.
Dustin is closing up the business for the night when the Micah and Roland knock him out and abduct him.
Bud and his friends watch Nick’s house as he pulls up and parks. They drive away, briefly drawing Nick’s attention. As they go to bed, Nick and Juliette discuss Holly’s case and she notes that she studied feral syndrome and learned that most were cases of child abuse. She admits she doesn’t envy Nick his job of having to talk to Holly’s adoptive parents.
The next day, Nick and Hank meet with Renard, who gives them 24 hours to find something. Hank goes to talk to the adoptive parents while Nick goes back to the crime scene. When Renard asks if he’s taking anyone with him, Nick claims that he isn’t. He heads into the forest with Monroe and goes to the campsite, and they trace the path that Nick took earlier. Monroe picks up a scent and then finds burdock root. He explains that it’s a pain-killer and diuretic but has nothing to do with Holly, and suggests that they gear up because it’s going to take a while.
Once they’re equipped, Monroe follows the scent and they find a cluster of bones. He tells Nick that it’s spiritual sacrifice, revering the life given to sustain life. Monroe then realizes that Holly has marked her territory. They spot her running and go after her, until she stops and turns, revealing her creature form. Monroe takes on the same form and growls at her, and she howls briefly at him before running off. The two men continue the choice and Holly finally slows down, running out of breath. She manages to hide but Monroe can still smell her, but is unable to pinpoint the scent. Nick spots a broken branch and realizes that she’s climbed up into a tree where she’s set up a hunting blind. Monroe starts climbing up the tree to investigate.
Hank goes to see Holly’s adoptive mother, Mrs. Clark. He tells her that they’re looking into new aspects of Holly’s disappearance, and asks if they spent time in Tillamook Forest. Mrs. Clark admits that they camped out there because Holly enjoyed it and had to borrow camping equipment from a neighbor. Hank admits that they don’t have anything specific yet and doesn’t want to get her hopes up. He asks to see her husband and Mrs. Clark explains that he died five years ago, and Hank gives her his card and asks her to call him if she can think of anything. He then gets an idea and asks if the neighbor they borrowed the equipment from might be now. Mrs. Clark tells him that the neighbor, James Addison, moved away years ago. As Hank leaves, he tells Mrs. Clark that he was one of the officers who worked the case nine years ago and offers his condolences. He then calls Wu and tells him to locate Addison so he can talk to him.
Monroe crawls up into the hunting blind and finds Holly passed out from exhaustion. As Nick climbs up after him, Monroe goes in and tells Nick to shoot Holly if she goes for his throat. He then pulls back her shirt and discovers that she’s badly wounded. Holly wakes up and growls at him, and Monroe lets his eyes transform and assures her that it will be okay.
At the station, Wu tells Hank that he found Addison, who had the best alibi on the day that Holly disappeared. He was in the hospital being treated for a dog bite that caused massive damage. He was out hiking at the time but was treated at a community hospital 100 miles away despite the pain. Wu has Addison’s last known address and goes with Hank to check him out.
Nick treats Holly’s wound, caused by buckshot. He addresses the girl by name and Monroe tells her that they’re there to help. When language doesn’t work, Monroe transforms and tries to communicate with her, explaining that she’s hurt and needs medicine. Meanwhile, Nick finds a barrette that belonged to her and shows it to Holly, and she manages to stutter out her name before passing out from the pain.
Dustin tells Roland and Micah that he didn’t kill Delmar and that there was someone else out there. They don’t believe him but head out to check the woods and find out if Dustin is telling the truth.
Hank and Wu go to see Addison, who walks with a limp and whose house is in poor shape. They insist on coming in and Addison reluctantly invites them in. Hank asks if he remembers where the Clarks went camping and Addison claims he doesn’t remember. Wu asks him if he was in the hospital that day to determine if there was any unusual activity in the woods, and Addison claims that he was hiking. Hank then asks why he went to the hospital further away and Addison claims that his doctor was at the hospital. He takes offense at the question and insists that he hasn’t done anything wrong, and Hank asks him to come to the station to answer their questions.
At the hunting blind, Nick tries to call for help but his cell phone is dead. He sees a camp stove with the name Addison on it, and then prepares to hike out to get help. Monroe warns against it, saying that they have no idea how she’ll react and has only killed in self-defense, but Nick refuses to let her suffer. The blutbad admits that they have no choice but to go with Nick’s plan. Once Nick leaves, Monroe decides to get her some burdock root to dull the pain. Holly tries to stop him but Monroe assures her that he’ll be right back.
When Nick gets back to his car, he sees the truck belonging to Delmar’s Brothers. He calls Hank and tells him that he’s found Holly and the Blake Brothers are out there, and that he’s found Addison’s name on the camping equipment. Hank confronts Addison with what happened and the man goes into a panic, insisting that Holly tried to kill him. The officer is forced to subdue him when Addison goes berserk.
That night, the Blake Brothers make their way to their brother’s campsite and hear someone. They circle around and spot Monroe, harvesting burdock root. They decide to follow him and see who else is involved. Monroe goes back to the hunting blind and gives Holly the root to chew on. She reluctantly takes it despite the taste and tries to talk. The Blake Brothers call on Monroe to come down and fire a warning shot. Nick hears it and comes running.
Monroe climbs down, telling Holly to stay quiet. Roland and Micah figure that he has something to do with Delmar’s death and are ready to kill Monroe no matter what. They hear Holly moving in the hunting blind and one brother climbs up to investigate. He finds the supplies that Holly took from Delmar’s camp but no sign of Holly, and climbs back down. Nick arrives and holds them at gunpoint, and tells them that Monroe is with him. He orders them to put their guns down but they refuse. Nick sees Monroe’s eyes glow and figures that he’s ready to make a move. However, Holly grabs one brother with her hair and Nick shoots the other brother in the shoulder. Monroe goes to Holly, who has collapsed from her wounds but is otherwise sokay.
Hank goes back to see Mrs. Clark and tells her that they’ve found Holly.
As Nick drops Monroe off at home, Holly clutches at him and he assures her that she’s not alone. Nick then drives to Mrs. Clark’s home and reunites mother and daughter. Holly hesitates but Nick assures her that it’s okay and she holds out the barrette. Mrs. Clark, crying, hugs her daughter.
Later, Renard gives a press statement on Holly’s recovery. He confirms that they have a suspect in custody. At the police lineup, Holly identifies Addison as the man who left her in the woods.