‘Grimm’ Review: “Face Off”

It's been months -- literally - since we last heard from Detective Nick Burkhardt and the wesen that surround him. In the last episode of 'Grimm,' "Season of the Hexenbiest," (you know, from November) Nick found out it was his boss Renard who was in love with his girlfriend Juliette, while Renard seemed close to the trinket that could change the balance of good and evil, or some such thing.

There's a lot of ground to cover in tonight's episode "Face Off,' but honestly, we're just hoping for good pulp fun.

The episode starts with the quote "The will to conquer is the first condition of victory," and a shot of the all-important key. Then Nick and Monroe talk about Renard, as Nick reveals Renard is his boss. Monroe tries to stop Nick doing something rash when Nick is called back to food court where he killed a bunch of wesen. Renard brings an expert to Nick's camper, who gives him a key to the camper. Inside, Renard pokes around until he gets a call about the quadruple homicide. Nick is checking the bodies when Renard shows up, and there's no witnesses or video. Only tension.

Back at the food court, Nick makes pointed comments about the bodies they're looking at until Wu notices that all the victims have the same tattoos, and Nick remembers that a dead person (that Renard killed) also had the same markings. Renard gets a call from Juliette, who tells Renard that Nick moved out, and that she's confused. Renard makes a call to Austria to find out who sent the tattooed killers, when Wu brings in a tape outside a hotel showing Monroe leaving before the assassins, who seem to be following Monroe. Monroe gets a call from Rosalee, and she figures out that Renard has to have been the one who broke the spell that put Juliette in the coma. She also says that she's due back in the town the next day. Renard goes to Juliette's place, while Nick stalks the place and sees the two kiss. Monroe calls before Nick can bust down the door, and explains that the two are likely under a spell. Monroe thinks he can figure out a cure and that he and Nick should go down to the shop. Inside the house, Renard and Juliette make out like bandits,and though Renard tries to stop, both start ripping each other's clothes off until Juliette beats Renard with a gun (which makes him start to wesen out) and fires off a couple shots in frustration.

Renard runs out before the cops show up (shots fired and all), while Nick and Monroe start going through Rosalee's files. Nick helps Monroe piece together that the cure for Adalind's original spell against Juliette was asked for by Adalind's mom. Monroe says they should go to her, but Nick breaks the news that the mom's dead. Nick then gets a call from Wu about Juliette's shot up house. Nick comes over, but Juliette isn't speaking to anyone. Nick asks about the shooting, and Juliette says she shot the gun, but that the intruder took it with him. Nick tells Wu nothing and gets him to write it up as self defense. These are the sort of moments that you respect that the cast should get things to do, but it also make you think "how many cops are actually in this town?" Adalind is in jail, and she gets released. but doesn't want to leave. Outside the jail, she runs into Renard who needs to talk. He takes her in the car and drives off.

Back at Monroe's, Nick tells Monroe about the shooting, and that Juliette could have shot Renard if she wanted to. Renard takes Adalind to a lake and says that he needs help with the curse. Adalind's solution: Sex. She also gets Renard to reveal his wesen face, which is pretty gross. In the morning, Monroe picks up Rosalee. He brought roses, the two have a big kiss, and Rosalee thinks she knows what the problem is. Rosalee figures out that Renard is a Royal. Renard searches Nick's camper, but figures out that Nick left it at work. Monroe finds the cure, but they need Juliette and Renard to drink it together, and the cat that caused Juliette's coma, who is now dead. There may be something else, though. Renard checks Nick's desk and finds the key.

Renard pockets it when Hank shows up at the office. Renard asks about Adalind. Rosalee gets blending and Nick takes the same stuff as the Captain, or is about to when Hank calls to tell him the Captain was looking for Adalind's file on his desk and Nick knows what Renard took. Hank tries to stall the Captain, but it doesn't take. The Captain goes home, but gets a call from Juliette telling him that Nick knows. Renard then goes to Adalind and tells her he doesn't have the key, and so Adalind leaves. Nick comes to the station, just missing Renard, so Nick goes to Renard, though Hank warns him not to. In his car he gets a call from Renard asking if they can meet some place "they won't be disturbed."

The two meet at an abandoned house in the forest, which was used in the show's premiere. Renard says they have a lot to talk about, but Nick just wants to get to punching. They fight but Renard gives back the key and tell Nick that their problems are bigger than their beefs, and they need to figure out how to survive by working together. They show up at Juliette's, and then head to Rosalee's to drink the magic potion. Nick takes it, and thinks it's no biggie until it hits him hard, and could be dying. Back in Vienna, Adalind is pregnant with Renard's baby.

'Grimm' is back, and this episode covered a lot of ground. Hank knows Nick's secret life now, and it looks like most of the big secrets are now public knowledge among the principles (excepting Wu, natch). The preview for the next episode makes it look like a standalone, so we're probably done with big narrative-heavy episodes for the moment. But the drama tonight was mostly satisfying, so that's good. This was a mostly satisfying episode.