Hemlock Grove S03E03 "The House in the Woods" Recap

Roman wakes at the Godfrey Institute after Annie brings him there to be treated by Pryce. He seems to be recovering well enough but Pryce warns him to take it easy for the next twenty-four hours. Annie also brought along the body of the creature that attacked Roman and has been hunting Upirs, and Pryce is eager to dissect it. Upon further inspection of it, Pryce finds that it has similar attributes to Upirs but that doesn't make sense because Upirs do not feed from other Upirs to survive. But a tumor in the corpse reveals that some sort of experimentation has been done on the Upir to compel it to feed on other Upirs to survive.

Roman and Annie head back to Roman's home where Peter had only just learned of Roman's injury. Roman welcomes Annie to stay there for some time being and she heads upstairs in time for Ochoa, the private investigator, to turn up prepared to give over some information that will tide over Roman and Peter's search for Nadia and Madeleine while Ochoa continues to conspire with Olivia. Ochoa provides Roman and Peter with the evidence he found that would indicate that Spivak has been alive without aging for at least the last seventy years. Ochoa proposes that there is something supernatural at work here.

Annie comes downstairs and asks Roman about the book she found of Spivak's containing a drawing of a creature called the Omul Negru, also known as the Upir boogeyman. Roman is insistent about learning more and Annie suggests getting in contact with an Upir friend called Nate that would know more about it than her.

Ochoa returns to Olivia and relays another update on what has just happened with Roman and Peter and suggests that Shelley might be staying there, as he had heard Annie's footsteps upstairs but didn't see who was causing the noise. Olivia insists that Ochoa help her to break into the home so she can see if Shelley is there. Once inside, she finds a family photo with her face torn out of it. Ochoa promises to find Shelley, wherever she is.

Back at the Godfrey Institute, Pryce accidentally rubs some of the corpse's blood into his lines and he becomes infected with the virus. Immediately, his eye turns red and it spreads to the skin surrounding his eye till he collapses to the ground and begins gasping for air. Another doctor at the Insitute injects him with an EpiPen that revives him. Doctor Klaus suggests that Pryce get some sleep but Pryce remains determined to keep working.

Roman admits to Annie about why he wants to learn about this creature and how Spivak kidnapped Nadia but only says that the baby was Letha's without admitting that he is the baby's father. They reach Nate's place where other Upirs are there for dinner. Everyone must exchange pleasantries and have dinner before Roman can ask about the answers he is searching for.

Pryce's behavior is growing increasingly erratic, as he begins to set up a drum set out of various equipment from the Institute. He thinks that drumming is helping him to unlock the answers he is after and ignores Klaus' continued recommendations that he get some sleep.

Peter becomes alarmed when he finds out Andreas is planning on not only stealing some guns but some heroin too. Peter doesn't want drug-dealing going on in the family home but Andreas will not be muscled over by him so easily.

Shelley has taken up residence in a run-down building where other homeless people have taken up residence. She meets a kind man named Aitor Quantic who brings food that's past its expiration date that he's supposed to take to the dum but is still good enough to eat so that the homeless won't go hungry.

Nate is shocked by Roman's questions about the drawing of the creature resembling Spivak. He then finds another drawing and shows it to Roman, who identifies it as Spivak in his winged-reptilian form. Nate identifies it as the Jörmungandr, a creature that dates back to 14th century Norway. The mythology states that it grew large enough to wrap around the entire world and bite its own tail. It is also a sign that foretells the end of days - the apocalypse. But the more realistic interpretation of the folktale is that the large-as-the-planet creature is a collective memory of an entire ancient species that was evenetually wiped out. Only Spivak appears to have survived and he is inconceivably vicious. Roman becomes alarmed by the danger that Nadia must be in now and storms off angrily. But the party is interrupted by an attack from more of the infected Upir that intend to feed on all the party guests. Roman and Annie begin fighting them off and Nate then leads them to a barn where they can barricade themselves in.

Destiny returns home and Peter tries to ask if she is rushing into marrying Andreas, having only been dating him for four months. She interprets his concern as nothing more than his inability to move on and let go after losing Letha. Destiny later decides to perform some magic when Andreas takes too long to come home. She has a vision of some children playing together though it's unclear what the deeper meaning is, if any.

Roman attempts to run outside to get help but tries to run back when he is quickly surrounded by more of the creatures. Nate tries to stop Annie from letting Roman back into the barn and while Roman must fight one of the creatures off he discovers that the creatures are disoriented by light. Annie is able to break free from Nate's grip and let Roman back in, who then informs them of the weakness he has discovered. Roman then admits the truth to Annie about how Letha was both his cousin, half-sister, and how Olivia compelled him to have sex with Letha who never knew the truth about what happened to get her pregnant. The creatures break into the barn and Nate runs out to leave Roman and Annie to fend for themselves but he is swiftly killed outside by another one of them. Roman uses a flashlight to disorient the creatures that were trying to attack them but the battery begins to die. But the creatures are called away by the one that had killed Nate so they can all feed on him together. This allows Roman and Annie to escape.

Pryce continues his investigation while high from being infected by the corpse, all the while his online activity is being monitored by Ochoa who relays the information onto Olivia. There was one particular video that Pryce had been watching repeatedly so Olivia watches it and finds it's an infected rat acting in a strange, aggressive manner.

Hemlock Grove is available for streaming on Netflix.