Grimm Episode 213
“Face Off”
Written By: Jim Kouf and David Greenwalt
Directed By: Terrence O’Hara
Original Airdate: 8 March 2013
In This Episode...
We pick up right where we left off last year, with Nick finding out that Juliette is hooking up with Captain Renard while he is still on his verrat-killing high. Monroe tries to keep Nick calm, because right now he looks like he could easily kill Renard. He is called down to a crime scene - the one he just created. Nick does his best to inspect the scene like it was all fresh to him, but Renard shows up and his anger again spikes. The victims have no IDs, no cell phones, and it appears they all died in hand-to-hand combat. At the crime scene, Juliette calls Renard - she doesn’t know what is going on and needs him. Before he goes to visit her, Renard speaks to his Vienna contact, convinced that his brother sent the verrat after him.
Renard finally goes to see Juliette. They kiss at the front door before retreating inside. Nick is watching this and marches to the front door, homicide in his eye. Again, he is saved by the phone: Monroe calls. After speaking with Rosalee, they think they know what is going on with Juliette and Renard. Monroe tells Nick that whatever obsessive-compulsive spell they are under, Renard likely saved Juliette’s life, and it is likely that neither of them have control over their feelings. Nick agrees to help Monroe look for a possible antidote instead of slaughtering his boss.
Meanwhile, inside the house, Renard and Juliette are locked in a bizarre scene of violence and passion. They are kissing passionately, almost violently, before Renard pulls away - then goes back for more. This continues, back and forth. Juliette bites Renard during a kiss. Clothing is torn off. Lamps and curios are broken as they throw each other around the room. At some point Juliette grabs Renard’s gun and pistol whips him, which nearly sends him into a Wesen fit. She holds the gun on him, then starts shooting all around him before dropping the gun. This breaks whatever magnetic hold is between them, and Renard grabs his gun and leaves quickly. The police arrive moments later, responding to complaints of gunfire. Wu is on scene, and he calls Nick, pleased to hear that he was nowhere near the house, but tasked with explaining to Nick what happened. He is frightened and rushes to the house. Juliette has been sitting on the couch, still in her ripped blouse, in silent shock, since Wu arrived. All Nick can get out of her was that she thought she saw an intruder, she shot at him, and he took the gun. Nick tells her that he knows who the other man is. Juliette is surprised, but says nothing.
Renard anonymously arranges for Adalind to be released from jail. She doesn’t want to go. Once on the street, Renard grabs her and forces her into the car. Adalind thinks that he is taking her to Nick’s trailer so they can search for the key. Instead, he takes her to the lake. He won’t show her the trailer until she fixes him. She cannot do that... but she promises she can make it better. He just needs a release. They have Wesen sex. In the morning, back at Renard’s apartment, he seems refreshed and focused, and lets Adalind stay at his place for the day. Renard goes to the trailer and searches for the key. He is frustrated, then remembers Nick hiding something in his desk at work. Sure enough, Renard finds it in the back of Nick’s desk drawer. Hank shows up and they make small talk.
Nick is with Rosalee and Monroe at the spice shop. They think they have a cure for whatever love spell Juliette and Renard are under. It will require Nick taking the same potion that Renard took to wake Juliette. Hank calls just before he can take the potion, and alerts him that Renard is snooping around his desk. Nick explains about the key and begs Hank to keep Renard at the precinct. He does his best, but Renard is in a hurry. By the time Nick gets there, Renard is gone.
On the way home, Juliette calls Renard to warn him that Nick knows about them. She seems mad. When Renard gets home, Adalind is eager for the key. He tells her he couldn’t find it. She is somewhat smug as she leaves. Renard’s brother has a car waiting for her and she promises to tell him that Renard tried “really, really hard” to find it. Renard then calls Nick and arranges a meet.
The men meet up at a cottage in the woods, the scene of an early case. The moment Renard shows up, Nick starts fighting him. Renard doesn’t really fight back; he mainly just blocks the blows. He is there to give the key back to Nick. He reveals some of his Wesen face, a blistering, deformed pustule. It takes Nick by surprise - but he doesn’t stop fighting. Renard has known about Nick since his aunt came to town. But this isn’t about Nick; it’s about the key - and about keeping it out of Adalind’s hands. The key phrase, however, to calming Nick down, is that no one wants the Juliette thing to be over more than he does. So the men collect Juliette and go back to the spice shop. Nick drinks down his potion. And waits. He starts convulsing and drops to the floor, turning a bright crimson color.
Also... Adalind arrives in Vienna... and discovers she is pregnant.
Dig It or Bury It?
I am surprised at how excited I was for Grimm to return, and how much I enjoyed this episode. The series got off to such a rocky and uneven start that I just didn’t think it would even out. Now I’m totally hooked. I love the mythology direction they are going in. It is much more engaging than the procedural format format season one stuck with. I am expecting Renard to finally reveal his whole game plan for the key, the royals, and Adalind next week. If he doesn’t, I am going to be very annoyed.
Big Bad...
...owl. The only Wesen in tonight’s episode (beside Renard) was an owl-man who was able to read the trailer lock and give Renard the proper key. He was in this episode for all of 27 seconds.
Fractured Fairy Tales
At the top of the show, when Nick gets the call for the quadruple homicide, he tells Monroe. “See, your life isn’t so bad.” Nick tells him that it is the four verrat they just killed. “Oh. Well, at least you know who did it,” Monroe offers unhelpfully.
Prophecies?
The Wesen community is up in arms when a gang of Wesen are robbing banks - in full Wesen face.