‘Grimm’ Review: “Season of the Hexenbiest”

So this week of 'Grimm' should be pretty intense as it's the final episode of the year. After last week's episode “To Protect and Serve Man,” we know that Monroe now knows about Renard and Juliette's problem, and that Adalind is returning to Portland. Will this give some closure, or is going to be a long wait until 2013? Find out in our review of the latest episode "Season of the Hexenbiest."

The episode opens with the quote "Oh! There is a terrible witch in that house who spewed her poison over me and scratched me with her long fingernails." As the last episode ended in Monroe's shop, this new one begins just as we left off with Monroe seeing Juliette and Renard kissing. Juliette runs out of the shop and drives off, only for her car to be followed by someone on a motorcycle. Renard drives off as well, and is also followed. Back at the station Nick gets a call from Juliette who asks if he's going to be home that night, and she wants to have a talk face to face. Nick then gets a call from Monroe, who also says they need to talk, and wants to talk over dinner. Awkward. The motorcycle drivers show up at a hotel where they show their tattoo'd hands and meet Adalind, who want to know everything about the Captain and Juliette.

Nick goes to Monroe's first, and the conversation starts awkwardly. Monroe asks about Juliette, and tells Nick that he saw a man he doesn't know kissing Juliette. Monroe also explains that he doesn't know the whole story, but that it may have something to do with the spell that Adalind put on Juliette, but Nick is ready to talk to Juliette. Renard calls Juliette and says that they have to deal with it, and Juliette explains that she knows Monroe, which is why she ran out. But then Nick shows up. He plays dumb to start, and she explains she has feelings for another man, that it's driving her crazy and that she doesn't know what to do. Nick asks who, and Juliette won't say, while Nick says it's none of his business any more, which makes Juliette cry as Nick walks out the door. Juliette shows up at Monroe's house, and he gives her a big hug as they decide to talk it out, while Renard goes home only for Adalind's people to corner him in an elevator. Meanwhile, Hank makes some microwaved food when he gets a knock at the door. It's Adalind. She apologizes and then suggests that Nick may have killed her mom, but Hank isn't buying any of it. She leaves and then Hank is attacked by wesen.

Adalind enters Renard's apartment, and begins taunting him about his relationship with Juliette. She says he's got 48 hours to get Nick's key, otherwise they'll tell Nick about Renard's real identity. Nick is crashing in his camper, and is called by Wu, who tells him that Hank got beat up last night. Monroe and Juliette talk in the morning, and she says that part of the reason she came over is because Monroe's was the last place she was before she entered into a coma, and Monroe was supposed to show her something. Monroe doesn't know how to respond and uses Nick's cop status as a way to explain her poisoning. She complains about being left in the dark, and Monroe says there's good things about not knowing, which sends Juliette out. Though I understand for pacing reasons why this conversation happens here, it's weird. Later we find out that she passed out, but it feels like structural they wrote themselves into a corner with this conversation.

At the hospital, Hank wakes up and tells Nick that Adalind stopped by. Nick says that he has something she wants and that putting Hank in the hospital makes Nick easier to get at. Renard calls someone in France who tells Renard that things are dangerous, and that his brother is making a move. Shortly after hanging up, Renard's contact is killed. Nick comes in the office to tell Renard that Adalind showed up right before the attack. Renard suggests they tie her to her mother's death. Nick gets a call from Monroe and he tells Nick about his conversation with Juliette, only for Nick to reveal that Adalind's back. Nick wants Monroe to hold on to Juliette, but she's already gone, so Nick goes to find Juliette. Juliette doesn't answer her phone and is about to head out when Adalind shows up at their house.

Nick gets home to find the place empty, only for Monroe to show up. Though their worried about her, Juliette is simply having coffee with Adalind. The two talk about what they've been up to, and Adalind brings up that her mother has been murdered. Adalind then asks if there's someone else in her life besides Nick, which Juliette responds to by saying they have bigger problems. Wu has the details on Adalind's arrival, but they don't know where she is. Nick gets Wu to triangulate Juliette's phone when he's pulled into Renard's office. Renard thinks they should talk. Renard asks about his relationship with Juliette, and Nick says he doesn't want to talk about, only to reveal that he thinks she's someone else. He says he doesn't want to know who it is, and Renard tells him to not let it get to him. They get a location for Juliette at the coffee shop. All the while, Juliette and Adalind talk about Nick's aunt, and Adalind hammers on Nick's Aunt's trailer. Nick calls and gets Adalind on the phone. She invites him to come to the coffee place. Juliette talks more about the trailer, and Adalind pries more and gets Juliette to reveal that the camper is in a storage yard. Nick and the cavalry then show up to arrest Adalind.

Outside the coffee shop, Juliette asks Nick why Adalind was arrested, but Juliette says that Adalind was in Europe when her mom died. Adalind pulls a 'The Dark Knight' Joker and suggests she wanted to be arrested. Nick puts Adalind in questioning and she says that she was in Vienna at the time and has proof, while she then needles Nick about his relationship with Juliette. Nick brings up Hank's beating and she plays innocent. She also explains that the hotel room is registered under her company's name, and makes veiled hints about the key. Nick goes to talk to Renard, and Renard pries about they key, but Nick plays dumb. Nick gets a call from Monroe, who's at Hank's place and says he knows the sort of wesen it is. Nick then figures that Adalind's working for the royals, and sends Monroe to Adalind's hotel room. Renard talks to Adalind in her cell, where she's still being playfully coy. She feeds Renard that Nick's aunt's camper is at a storage yard.

Renard makes a call about the camper and gets police to find it. Monroe knocks on the hotel room door pretending to look for someone else, while Nick goes back to the camper and gets the key when Monroe calls. He tells Nick that the people who assaulted Hank are at Adalind's hotel room, so Nick says he's on his way. Monroe goes back to the room and pretends he's still mistaken, which makes the gang follow him. Nick is ready to fight, so Monroe takes them to an island of food carts (so Portland). It looks like an epic fight, but this is television so Nick takes them down easily. When Nick is about to get a confession, another wounded wesen kills the talker, and so Nick and Monroe takes whatever evidence they can and bail.

Nick goes back to the jail to talk to Adalind, and she says her goal is simple: if Nick gives her the key she'll give him the name of the royal in Portland. Juliette is in bed when Nick comes home and tells her he's not sleeping on the couch anymore. She says he's not sleeping in the bed with her, so he gets his stuff and moves over to Monroe's. Monroe tries to be comforting, and then shows Nick a video of Renard, saying that Renard was the man who kissed Juliette. Renard then shows up at the camper looking for the key as the final words on screen are "To be Continued..."

The teaser for what's going on next year is pretty intense, but as we've seen with previous promos, much of what we're seeing is going to be stretch over many episodes. But it looks like there's no way around it: Renard and Nick are going to have it out. Whether they pull a 'Dexter' and kill off a familiar face or if they're going to try to put Renard on Nick's team is unknown, but it's great that they've finally got the show in a place where they can't reset (which is often the problem with serialized shows). Though this didn't resolve the amnesia, and for those who don't like the Renard/Juliette subplot it's unfortunate that this couldn't be resolved any other way, the show emerged from some wheel spinning to deliver one of the best episodes of the season. But what did you think? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below.