SGRoA: Forever Knight S03 E09: Let No Man Tear Asunder

You know, they don't say that at weddings anymore. At least not at any I've been to, which include strict Catholic at a Cathedral, wishy-washy Catholic at a church that looks like a hotel conference center, and a secular wedding at a zoo. Also, isn't this episode about organ harvesting? I'm already confused, and I haven't even pressed "Play". So let's get to it!

Some woman's getting a tattoo, and she's squirming a lot. Won't that, like, screw up the tattoo? Also, it's on her butt, but the artist is just pushing her underwear to the side. I wouldn't pay for this, is what I'm saying.

The artist runs out of ink and goes to get some more, and some other dude knocks him out with a tire iron. Then he gropes the woman, and then he knocks her out and stuffs her in the back of a panel truck.

So woman turns up dead, with her heart excised. But whoever took it tried to keep it undamaged, so obviously she wasn't killed where she was found.

And it's immediately Flashback Time! Nick's restrained on a table in a lab, with all sorts of those static-electricity balls from Brookstone and a bunch of Tesla coils. REAL SCIENCE, in other words.

Some dude named Hans is the REAL SCIENTIST, and clearly he's "curing" Nick, as usual. OMG IS THIS THE FRANKENSTEIN EPISODE? Seriously, it should have been last week. It's like someone wrote last week's and then went "D'oh! FRANKENSTEIN."

In the future, Nick actual has a solid detecting idea. Since the vic's tat is so fresh, they'll take a pic to local parlors to try to figure out who she is. Too bad Tracy shuts that right down: She has a friend who's into tattoos, and she recognizes this work from a place in Chinatown. Dammit, Tracy. You could have made Nick actually do his job for once.

Nick inquires about the heart - could it have been transplanted? No, says Nat, because besides being all black-markety, the vic had HepA, in very early stages. Of course, Tracy has the personal connection: Her uncle needs a heart. And then Nat tries to one-up by mentioning her own upcoming surgery - which Nick reminds her is just for a bad knee.

In the car, Tracy whines about her uncle some more.

I mean, I might care, if I thought this would be a salient plot point at any time beyond this episode. It won't be, though, so, you know. Not so much with the caring.

She says that if someone stole a heart for him, it would be - I think she might say "great" or "weird" or "fortuitous", but Nick cuts her off with "A huge conspiracy" in this completely dismissive tone. Except, you know, not really. People pay for black market organs all the time, and if they were white market organs, there'd be enough to go around and no one would die on a stupid list.

Tracy says that of course you couldn't condone such a thing, but if it were for someone you really loved, maybe you'd look the other way?

Which sends Nick back to the past - or a poorly costumed historical re-enactment, I can't tell which. Some woman is singing art song, presumably to show how "accomplished" she is. Her voice is fine, and Hans says she's being wooed by every opera company in Europe. Oh, so she's a whore, then?

Okay, look, I know. I know that this is Forever Knight, and they're not even vaguely trying to be historically accurate, but come the fuck on, now. No respectable gentleman - which Hans certainly seems to be - would marry an opera singer. Being an opera singer - even a celebrated, talented one - was not a path to fame, fortune, and respect in the 18-whatevers any more than it is today. But on top of that, women who acted or sang - or, hey, Nick, remember that ballerina you wanted to bone but wouldn't because she was so pure, and Lacroix set her up to look like a totally empowered woman owning her sexuality, and you didn't like it, even though Lacroix had a point when he said women on the stage were just loose?

So, yeah, FK, considering you did AN ENTIRE EPISODE about how performing women weren't considered respectable, I'm expecting you not to pull this "She's an opera singer! I will marry her! Everyone will think that's a great idea!" bullshit.

ANYWAY. So girl is singing her face off (well, lip-syncing her face off), and this is clearly Veronica, Hans's lady-love, who was mentioned in the previous flashback but didn't seem important. Hans and Nick walk Veronica out to her carriage, and of course Nick spooks the horse, despite him never having done so before. Hans is almost trampled, but Nick saves him - only to have Veronica get trampled, instead. Hans insists they take her to the lab, and not to a hospital. (Which, again, who goes to a hospital in 18-whatever? Poor people, that's who.)

Outside the tattoo parlor, Tracy recalls Nick to the present and tells him this is the place. Nick decides to turn his vampire hearing on, and hears - something that doesn't seem weird at all, actually, so he of course runs up to the door. It's locked, so Nick goes around the back, and finds the tattoo artist all tied up.

Tracy's been waiting at the front, but she gets antsy and goes around back, only to be attacked by some dude with a knife. Nick saves her, as usual, but lets her think she did it herself? Why?

So, vic's name is Mellora, and the guy who attacked Tracy is Mel, who was hired at the parlor just a week ago. The parlor owner was too shaken up to talk, so Reese sent him home with his daughter. For some reason, that news makes Nick look at Nat, who's just sitting on a bench in the precinct. Why? WHY NOT.

Mel had Mellora's blood in his truck and 20 grand under the floorboards. Tracy and Reese go to question him, but Nick stays around to give us some exposition in the form of Mellora's boyfriend, whom Nat was sitting next to. He collapsed in the morgue identifying the body, and Nat was comforting him, despite doing absolutely nothing to even imply that she knew who the guy was.

Nat exhorts Nick to catch the guy - although, you know, they already pretty much caught him - and then we're back in the lab with Hans and Veronica.

Nick asks if there's anything he can do for Veronica, and Hans says, "Of course, vampire! You can make her a vampire!" Which, duh. How did Nick not see that coming?

Nick of course says no. He talks a pretty line about consent, but it's really just that Nick's a lame 90s tortured vampire who won't "inflict" vampirism on Veronica.

Nat gets a page from her orthopedist, and she and Nick have an incredibly boring conversation arranging a ride home after the out-patient procedure.

Mel claims he had nothing to do with anything, and just went to the parlor to get his last paycheck. He attacked Tracy because he thought she was a prowler. Then he lawyers up.

Nick says they should look at the transplant list, and Tracy says she knows a dude who would know about the organ black market. Which is Vachon, of course, but why would a vampire know anything about stolen organs?

In her pre-op, Nat argues about general anesthetic for a knee surgery, saying she'd prefer an epidural. The surgeon says that general will keep the leg as immobile as possible, but, guys, I have had an epidural. Nothing moves. Seriously. I'm also side-eyeing the surgeon doing her own pre-op, but whatever. That is the least WTF-worthy thing in this whole episode, so let's just go with it.

Tracy asks Vachon about black-market hearts, and he's all:

So are we, Vachon. So are we.

Tracy's heard of this stuff happening in "bad", "other" countries, like China and Central America. Vachon's all, "Um, I am not your weird version of Wikipedia. I do not know all criminals everywhere just because you need me to." She's all, "Well, it's not just that - My uncle (whom I will never, ever mention again, remember) needs a heart."

Apparently, SCREED has heard of vampires trafficking in stolen organs.

Vachon gives her all the deets on this vampire-organ-trafficking ring, because of course he does.

And now it's time for some Nightcrawler! "Do they celebrate death days on the other side?" OMG, WHAT EVEN IS THIS AND HOW DOES IT RELATE.

Hans packs Veronica in ice and hooks a bunch of electrodes up to her to keep her heart beating. Nick's all WHUT R U DOIN? and Hans says he needs a new heart for Veronica, that he can replace hers, and Nick better go get him one, or he won't cure him.

BTW, Hans is wearing a 19th-century popped collar this entire time. It's pretty sweet.

Nick of course refuses to bring a heart. Hans is all, "Get a bad person's heart!" and Nick's all, "I can't judge them! I won't interfere in life and death!" And Hans is all

Nick stalks off and gets accosted by a street prostitute who stabs him when he won't buy her services. He eats her. I'm guessing Hans gets his heart.

Nick goes to some...doctor's office, I guess? and asks for the transplant list. The nurse says, "Sure, no probs, I've got it right here!"

Nat goes under, and her doctor is looking menacing.

Tracy's at the shady doc's office, discussing her uncle's case. He tells her that's not what they do there, but probably that's because it says in uncle's file that he was a cop, and Tracy probably stinks of it.

Veronica's transplant works, but she looks pretty terrified. Of what? Who knows?

Nick sees something in some patient's file and gets all agitated, telling the nurse he needs to see the background immediately.

Orthopedist rushes Nat to...a helicopter, maybe? I'm not really paying attention.

Tracy begs Shady Doc to do something, and he says that things can be pushed along...for a lot of money. She says it's no object. He says she has to fill out forms, because clearly, what criminals really want is a paper trail.

He leaves the room and Tracy goes a-wandering. Turns out Orthopedist's son needs a heart - AND A SOUL, because he's a ginger. Why are we wasting organs on soulless gingers?!

Anyway, Tracy creepily spies on some "emotional" exposition from those two, and then continues down the hall. She sees Nat being wheeled into an OR and calls Nick. Of course, while she's on the phone, Shady Doc pulls a gun on her and forces her into another room.

You know, Trace, maybe people wouldn't be saving you all the time if you stopped doing stupid shit to get yourself in trouble. I'm just sayin'.

Nick calls it in to Reese, and then flies out of his car. Like, literally, flies. He goes to the Raven to ask Vachon where Tracy went, despite the fact that Nat already told him where she'd be, BECAUSE NICK IS PICKING HER UP AFTER THE OPERATION.

Shady Doc calls someone to make plans to force Tracy to be a donor, but he takes his eyes off her and she kicks the gun out of his hand, then knocks him the fuck out.

Nick busts into Nat's OR and makes everyone stand against the wall. They haven't cut yet, of course.

Veronica is wandering around looking weird, and then looks in a mirror and starts crying. Because...she had a heart transplant? How would she even know? Nobody told her. But this is so upsetting that she stabs herself in the heart.

Tracy finds Orthopedist and arrests her.

In the coda, Nick brings Nat flowers in the lab, where she says she's had a spontaneous regression of knee pain. She's awfully chipper for someone who almost died. She and Nick have some terrible banter and an almost-kiss, and that's the end.

Next week: IT'S THE AMNESIA ONE OMG OMG YOU GUYS YAAAAAASSSSSS!