In the second episode of Netflix’s The Grimm Variations, a cautionary folktale is turned upside down. The red cloak is turned in for a red hoodie, and Little Red Riding Hood is back in a dystopian world. The makers of this show really deserve a round of applause for the UNO reverses they keep pulling out.
Spoilers Ahead
How Can The World Of Ar Be A Perfect Hunting Ground For The Wolf?
Mr. Grey is the wolf in this story, and his lust for blood knows no bounds. He lives in a different world than we know of, and here, an alternative reality which offers spiritual immortality to its residents. In Progress is a corporation that has sent death and disease for a holiday in their alternative reality. The residents are given a nano machine called the “Eye Drop.” The residents live in a vibrant community, unbothered by any physical ailments. This alternative reality offers them anything they could dream of. A person can be 80 years old and still look like a teenager. Food and drinks can be conjured out of thin air, and basically everything we know, the Eye Drop can replicate. This world is a colony of skyscrapers just above the real world, and it’s most likely that only the rich get the chance to live here. Mr. Grey is a member of a club that encourages men to hunt women. The murders have to be tasteful, like art. Grey is a psychopath who’s addicted to the smell of real blood, and he rejoices in killing people.
What Does Mr. Grey Do To His Victims?
Grey comes off as a charming personality, wearing fine tuxedos and wooing women into his trap. Grey meets a woman who is wearing a red dress. He gets her drunk and takes her to a hotel where there are all sorts of wicked men and prostitutes who indulge in their business. The woman hoped to have a normal affair and a fun night, but it turned out to be a nightmare. Grey refuses to let her go and bites off her lips and ears. The smell of fresh blood only fuels his hunger for more, and he stabs her body until he is completely drenched in her blood. The maniac goes home to wash off the blood of his prey and waits to feel the same rush again.
Who Is Mr. Brown?
Mr. Brown comes to see Mr. Grey just when he’s done washing the blood off him. Mr. Brown is a representative of the aforementioned club. They call it the “Wolf’s Club,” and the members of the club were impressed by Grey’s hunt last night. Mr. Brown applauds Grey for his impeccable killer instincts and also expresses his disappointment over how the other new faces of the club often chicken out. Mr. Brown didn’t come empty-handed, and he shows Grey a bottle of authentic wine he managed to acquire. Both of the men agree that the real things are always the finest. Grey’s craving for real blood and meat doesn’t surprise Mr. Brown, and he compliments him for being identical to a real wolf.
Why Does Mr. Grey Come Into The Real World?
The bloodthirsty Grey grows more and more desperate for real blood. His craving gets the better of him, and he becomes nothing more than an animal. Mr. Brown catches Grey about to bludgeon a woman and stops him. He insists that their way of killing is way more sophisticated, and he shouldn’t overkill. Mr. Brown reminds Grey that his urge for authenticity shouldn’t become the end of him. There’s a limit to the club’s resources and influence, and if Grey goes off the rails, the club would have to cut ties with him. Mr. Brown gives him an envelope and asks him to visit the place mentioned there. Grey comes down to the real world to meet a woman named Madame.
How Does Madame Help Grey?
Grey comes under attack from a teenage boy as soon as he walks into the slums. The boy threatens him with a knife and asks him to leave his belongings. An elderly woman appears and makes the boy go away; this is his grandmother, also known as Madame. Madame invites Grey in, and Grey is stunned by the things that are present in the room. Fruits of all sorts, plants, and even a bird stay inside. Grey admits that even though one can mimic seeing all these things using the Eye Drop, nothing can match the real deal. Madame now asks Grey to state his reason for visiting her, and she knows it’s no small thing that brought the rich guy down here. Grey wants a target for hunting—a real woman he can slaughter. Madame sends him the prey’s details; a few days later, a woman named Scarlet is to be killed by the Wolf. It’s important to mention that Madame points out that how the story ends is up to the Red Riding Hood, not the Wolf. This implies different outcomes for the same story. In the version of the Grimm brothers’ Red Riding Hood, the girl doesn’t get eaten by the wolf but rather emerges victorious when a huntsman saves her and the grandmother. They fill the wolf’s stomach with rocks, and that eventually kills the wolf. The grandmother in this interpretation is Madame, who’s giving the wolf exactly what he wants.
How Does The Little Red Riding Hood Kill The Wolf?
Scarlet gets hit on by Madame’s grandson, and she refuses to leave a party with him. The guy follows Scarlet down a dark alley and slaps her when she rejects him multiple times. He pins her to the ground with his leg, but Grey arrives to save the day. Scarlet isn’t much impressed with his heroics, and she leaves without thanking him. Grey follows her and tries to make conversation, and Scarlet takes him to her place for a drink. The hunter and his prey drink together, and Scarlet reaches down to kiss him. Suddenly Grey blacks out, and he wakes up in what appears to be an operating room.
Grey is tied down on a table, and Scarlet approaches him with a scalpel. He is in disbelief about what’s happening, but she is in no mood to pay attention to his feelings. Scarlet is the Red Riding Hood who doesn’t need a man to protect her. Scarlet knew all along that she was nothing but prey for him, and she beat him in his own game. She rips out his nails one by one and gouges one of his eyes out. Scarlet makes it clear that it’s not just the wolves who like to hunt, and she’s the hunter in this story. The play is about to end as Scarlet guts him to stuff rocks in his stomach. The sparrow in Madame’s room tells her how Grey got hunted by Scarlet, and she knows what happens to men who get addicted to blood. Madame gets a phone call from Brown, and she refuses to tell him what happened to Grey since he wasn’t associated with the club when he came down in the real world. She suggests Mr. Brown look for a new member and warns him that the real world has too many temptations, and it’s best if they stay cooped up in their little immortal land. Scarlet arrives at Madame’s doorstep, looking for hunters. She is no different than the wolf; she craves blood, and it doesn’t matter if it’s anyone else’s or her own.
