GRIMM: A Fast Moving and Surprising Winter Premiere in “Face Off”

Grimm returned last Friday night with the winter premiere, Face Off. It was quite the roller coaster ride, which ended with a shocker.

Face Off picks up exactly where Season of the Hexenbiest left us. Monroe had just revealed to Nick who the man was that came into Rosalee’s show with Juliette. This is what I have been waiting for since finding out that Renard knows Nick is a Grimm, although having the situation with Juliette thrown in there gives it all added spice and excitement. Nick is ready to hunt Renard down right then and there.

Throughout most of the episode when Nick comes close to confronting Renard, he is interrupted by a phone call. The first one comes when Nick is called to – his own crime scene. Remember the Wesen he and Monroe took down in Season of the Hexenbeist? Yeah, those guys have been found by the police and now Nick and Hank have to investigate. And Renard is there. It’s all Nick can do to reign himself in as he discusses the crime with Renard. So which is more difficult, keeping yourself from ripping off your rivals eyelids or covering up a crime you committed? Such a dilemma.

Photo by: Scott Green/NBC

As the investigation continues, Sergeant Wu finds a video showing the three victims following Monroe out of the hotel he had met them in. Suspicion falls on Monroe once again as Wu recalls bringing him in for questioning in the pilot episode.

The crime is forced to the rear in Face Off, because what really matter is what’s going on between Nick, Renard, Juliette and Adalind. Renard pays Juliette a visit looking for Nick, who is outside in his car watching. As he starts to approach the house his phone rings and it’s Monroe, who says he knows why Renard and Juliette are canoodling and it may not be their fault. Nick leaves.

In a scene which set Twitter on fire, Juliette rips off Renard’s shirt and the completely lose control. Both giving into and fighting against their urges, they move from near sex to slapping each other to Juliette finally pulling a gun on Renard and shooting up the house.  Not a very smart thing to do because who is called in to investigate a shooting at his house but Nick.

Juliette won’t talk about what happened and how the house came to look like a crime scene, and Wu is hoping that Nick can get her to tell what happened. She gives him some story about an intruder, but Nick tells her he knows who it was. Of course, after Nick and the police leave Juliette calls Renard and tells him that Nick knows about them.

Renard, however, is with Adalind, after he bails her out of jail. He threatens her into telling him what her plans are and she admits that his brother is after Nick’s key. He tells Renard to get the key and she will tell him how to break the curse between him and Juliette.

Renard remembers seeing Nick put something in his desk drawer and while no one is looking (or so he thinks), he searches the drawer and finds the key. But Hank has seen him and calls Nick. Nick tells Hank to stall Renard until he can get there but Renard manages to leave just before Nick shows up. Nick tells Hank all about Renard and then goes after him.

Photo by: Scott Green/NBC

Renard is at home with Adalind after they slept together. Adalind finally gets what she wants. Renard finally calls a meeting with Nick at the house from the pilot episode which belonged to the “Red Riding Hood” criminal. Face Off! Fists fly and Nick’s Grimm comes out, but Renard finally tells Nick that his brother is after the key and it’s imperative that he doesn’t get it. He then returns the key to Nick but he’s already made an imprint of it. (Remember the map it makes when fully opened?) Then Nick tells Renard Monroe and Rosalee may have found a cure for the curse and they both go to the spice shop, where Juliette also shows up.

The potion is the same one Renard has to drink to make himself able to kiss Juliette awake. Kind of a funny scene because after Nick drinks the potion and nothing happens, Renard says something like “Give it a minute”. Immediately after that Nick doubles over and Renard says, “And there it is.” (Laugh!)

Meanwhile, Adalind is back at Renard’s place with an EPT in her hand – and the test shows positive.

This was a very strong episode, wrapping up some season one stuff and opening up a whole new playing field leading up to the season 2 finale. Did Adalind plan the baby? How does Nick drinking the potion help Juliette and Renard? Will Juliette get her memories of Nick back as well as everything else he told her the night she went into that coma? Will Renard and Nick team up against his brother? Can Nick trust Renard?  I’d love to hear your thoughts, speculations and predictions! You can add them in the comments below.

Next week, the Wesen code of honor comes into question when Nick, Hank and Monroe discover a series of bank robberies with Wesen using true natures as their disguises in Natural Born Wesen. Here’s a look ahead to that episode: