- Air Date: 11/16/2012
- Starring: David Giuntoli, Bitsie Tulloch, Russell Hornsby, Silas Weir Mitchell, Sasha Roiz, Reggie Lee
- Guest Stars: Claire Coffee
After building up to this on and off for the past eleven episodes, GRIMM finally does something with that tension and bring (almost) everything into the picture (when is James Frain’s Eric Renard going to get involved more than obliquely?). Things pick up right where we left off last week, with Monroe catching Juliette and Sean kissing in the spice shop. Juliette sees Monroe and bolts, and so does Sean, as two bikers follow them. Back at home, Juliette calls Nick, all hot and bothered. They need to talk. Nick hangs up, and quickly gets a call from Monroe. Add another person to the important chat roulette. After presumably following Sean and Juliette, the bikers arrive at a hotel around the same time a leggy woman in heels hops out of a town car. Who could it be?!
Nick comes to Monroe’s house first, where Monroe, after his customary awkward hemming and hawing, tells Nick about what he saw, that Juliette is smooching another man. He doesn’t know who the Captain is, so, Nick doesn’t learn the identity. But it’s enough to shatter our leading man, as he returns home to talk to Juliette. There, Juliette admits that there is someone else, that everything is so complicated, but when given the opportunity to find out the identity of the lips she be kissin’, Nick refuses, not wanting to know. It’s so GRIMM. We’re routinely on the cusp of revelations or the plot moving forward, until the writers pull the rug out and just delay the inevitable a little bit longer, sometimes for an episode, sometimes for half a season. It’s frustrating, and not in a tantalizing, “what a brilliant ploy” sort of way. Overall, “Season of the Hexenbiest” has the most serialized plot of any episode this season, and promises some big happenings, yet it still tap dances around the point and the confrontations, teasing it out for a little bit longer. Stephen Carpenter, David Greenwalt and Jim Kouf would be perfect for HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER. That said, this is vintage HIMYM, when we still care about the characters and their journeys and can forgive a little bit of postponement, because we’re given some fun action. This is still one of GRIMM’s finest episodes of the season, yet it highlights a frustrating ceiling.
While Nick is dealing with his personal life, Hank gets a visit from his ex….yes, Adalind is in town! The beautiful and brilliant Claire Coffee owns this episode, and her return to Portland is cause for celebration (and her scene stealing turn in James Frain’s stead is the only reason it makes some sort of sense to leave a big gun like him on the sidelines so frequently). She apologizes to Hank for her treatment of him, reveals that her mother was murdered and hopes that they can reconnect. Then she leaves, and within moments, Hank gets the crap beaten out of him by wesen. Coincidence? False.
Juliette spends the night at Monroe’s, needing a hug. You’d think she’d have better friends to crash with than the one who SAW you cheating on your boyfriend, but any excuse to see more Silas Weir Mitchell works for me (it’s also the place where her memory started to get fuzzy, so there’s some logic). When Monroe is cagey about the details of that night, Juliette finally is fed up, tired of being lied to. Can’t say I blame her. On the cusp of full disclosure, she now has had half a season (and counting) of being in the dark and being manipulated by poison and potions. Of course, she’s never been more interesting than when she’s been with (or not been with) Renard. Her and Nick are/were pretty milquetoast.
Adalind is busy in the episode, paying a visit to the Captain and threatening to reveal his royal identity if he doesn’t recover the key from Nick, while Nick goes into panic mode, because Hank’s in the hospital and Juliette may be the next target (yet she doesn’t want to talk to him). There’s some great stuff, a few confrontations, and most promisingly, some change and developments by the end, helping to soften the dreaded “To Be Continued…” we receive, which the writers apologize for directly afterwards.
