Episode 2.02
Writers: David Greenwalt and Jim Kouf
Director: Terrence O'Hara
THE ONE WHERE: Nick and his mother continue tracking the Mauvais Dentes, while Monroe and Rosalee fight to save Juliette who is finally awakened - but not quite in the way anyone would have hoped. Meanwhile Captain Renard has family problems and a painful transformation, while Hank gets closer to a breakdown as Nick is implicated in the deaths of several FBI agents.
VERDICT: Well, at the end of last week’s review I said I’d be seriously grumpy if Juliette came out of her coma with amnesia, but the Renard swerve actually circumvented expectations a little, making this one of Grimm ’s best episodes yet, even with the obvious ending. Moving away from the fairy tale of the week format of last season is really enriching the show, and the burgeoning mythology is some of the best on TV at the moment. Great stuff.
The FBI investigating Nick is an intriguing hook, not least because of the possibilities it offers for Nick stepping back from the police force – something neither he nor his Captain would be particularly pleased about. Also, it’s nice to feel when Nick and co are ankle deep in entrails that these deaths have ramifications in the non-supernatural world too.
As well as having his collar felt by crime-fighting colleagues, the other major ramification of all the bloodshed is Kelly having to leave her son again. It’s disappointing, because Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio’s performance is layered with intriguing abiguity and it’s refreshing to have a character who encourages some exposition. Hopefully Mama Burkhardt will return later in the run with some more answers...
This still isn’t a perfect episode though. Silas Weir Mitchell still seems short changed, and while the sexual tension between Monroe and Rosalee is fun I’m not sure it is actually a positive thing that they’re a more likable couple than Nick and his now-not sleeping beauty.
BEST BIT: The revelations around Captain Renard's family life and the sequence where he purifies his heart in a violent (and shamelessly topless) fashion. Have you even known such a furry Prince Charming? And does the fact that he endured the agony suggest he’s not as bad as we’ve always assumed?
BEST LINE: Nick (to Kelly): Look, I thought about you every day for my entire life. Having you back in it... I don't see how I could ask for anything more. [our usually stoic hero on surprisingly moving form – it was pretty much inevitable everything would go pear shaped]
Narin Bahar
Grimm season two will air in the UK later this year on Watch
