Grimm 1.17: "Love Sick"

I know it has been a terribly long time since I've done any sort of episode review (those went on hiatus while I ordered a new computer and waited for it to arrive), but per my (usually late) norm I'm resolved to catch up on them, since season finales are fast approaching and all. :) And people, Grimm has been getting ridiculously good. RIDICULOUS. I loved this show pretty much out of the gate but as the season has progressed the quality of the episodes and storytelling and characters has gotten so much stronger -- it's just been a joy to watch it all come together. The team has set the bar VERY high for season two!

This episode opens with Nick (David Giuntoli) searching Aunt Marie's trailer, attempting to find the object or cabinet that the oddly shaped key she gave him before her death unlocks. Frankly, Nick, it's about time (just sayin'!). Since he's so fixated on the key, he (finally!) notices carvings on the case, and makes a "stamp" impression on a scrap of paper. Before he can investigate this new mystery any further, Juliette (Bitsie Tulloch) calls to remind him that Hank (Russell Hornsby) is expecting them to join him for dinner tonight so he can introduce his new girlfriend. Two things: 1) apparently there is NO fallout from Juliette refusing Nick's proposal in the previous episode (out of sight, out of mind?) and two) why oh why is Nick surprised that Hank's new girlfriend is Adalind (Claire Coffee), the Hexenbiest? I suppose I should cut Nick some slack for being all distracted by his Grimm side-life, but I thought it was kind of funny that he was so checked out as far as Hank was concerned, seeing as they're partners and all. :P Nick is, of course, immediately hostile towards Adalind, which is hilarious because Juliette is all "what the heck is wrong with you?!" and Hank is fairly happily oblivious thanks to Adalind's "magic cookies" (HA). When Adalind steps away from the table for a moment, Nick follows her and warns her away from Hank, while she basically laughs in his face because she knows he can't go all Grimm on her in public. I have to say I was quite impressed with this first exhibition of Nick really stepping up and copping a "take no prisoners" attitude as relates to his Grimm-self. He's apparently coming to terms with things, hmm? *wink*

Meanwhile, Renard (Sasha Roiz), looking unbearably hot as usual, meets unexpectedly with an acquaintance from his past who takes him at gunpoint to meet his cousin (I know Renard is some sort of royalty, but they sometimes this old family connections just relish in acting like the mob, don't they?). Anyway, apparently THE FAMILY isn't very happy with the progress (or lack thereof) that Renard is making regarding the "Grimm situation," a.k.a. Nick (I realize that Renard may in fact have something very nefarious in mind for Nick, but the fact that he's spent a good part of the season shielding his detective just makes me like him more, moral ambiguity be hanged!). Renard is all "leave me alone to handle my business" and his cousin is all "forget you" so Renard is all "no, FORGET YOU" and shoots them both. Again, I should not like the fact that the man is so good at taking care of business like this but I do (apparently my weakness for tall guys with good bone structure in sharp suits is really a fatal flaw in my makeup).

Renard then goes to visit Catherine (Jessica Tuck), who turns out to be Adalind's mother. APPARENTLY Adalind has been helping Renard because her mother is in debt to him (would love to know why) -- the plan loosely being that she will seduce Hank to get to Nick and get the key (this seems like somewhat dodgy logic but whatever, if Renard thought it up it has to be brilliant right?). *wink* I get the feeling from this exchange that one or both women have a past with Renard -- or maybe they just want to have a past? because I really want Renard to be classier in the love department than hooking up with witchy women. Ha!

So while Renard's been yakkking it up at witch central, someone called in the two dead bodies he left laying about and of course Hank and Nick are called to investigate BECAUSE THEY ARE THE ONLY HOMICIDE DETECTIVES IN ALL OF PORTLAND. The scene looks like the two men shot each other, but Nick smells something fishy -- plus he's a little distracted trying to convince Hank that his lady love isn't THE ONE. Also, he finally notices Sgt. Wu (Reggie Lee) eating things he shouldn't, like an ENTIRE FRIGGIN' CHAPSTICK, so all told it is a weird evening for Nick any way you slice it. Wu may SEEM perfectly normal since he got the plague from eating one of Adalind's magic cookies, but clearly his eating habits say otherwise, as he proves when they return to the station and he eats COINS. This type of abnormality kinda whigs Nick out, but there's not much he can do about it since Wu is in denial -- but then he passes out. In the hub-bub of waiting for emergency services to arrive, Renard takes the opportunity to cop the phones from evidence just in case one of his loser family members had his contact info saved in there. Renard, you bad, bad boy. :P

Following her visit with Renard, Catherine goes to visit her daughter -- and it's interesting that they go all Hexenbiest on each other before transforming into their "normal" selves. Clearly this lifestyle promotes hostility and paranoia to some degree. Anyways, Adalind takes the opportunity to whine about her assignment to seduce Hank -- and I'm torn. Because Hank is really very nice and he totally needs and deserves a decent love interest, but on the other hand I can totally relate to Adalind's obsession with Renard. In the alluring bad boy contest Renard trumps Hank every single time. Interesting that the magic cookie stalking side effects are still in full swing as far as Hank is concerned -- he calls to invite himself over while staring in Adalind's window, and she counters with a dinner invitation for the following evening. THINGS ARE PROGRESSING.

At the hospital with Wu, Nick gets a quick lesson in the eating disorder known as pica, which involves the compulsion to consume non-edible items. Hopefully Wu finally has this out of his system. ANYWAYS, Nick calls Monroe (Silas Weir Mitchell) to consult about this Hank/Adalind situation, and Monroe consults Rosalee (Bree Turner), which is of course ADORABLE because she seems super smart and he has SUCH A CRUSH ON HER. I love it. :) Nick's Wesen BFFs deduce that Hank has fallen victim to an extraordinarily powerful love potion -- and Wu's strange symptoms are probably food anointed with a potion not formulated for his body chemistry. So all of this chemistry class stuff boils down to a race against time to keep Hank from sleeping with Adalind, because that, my friends, is the point of no return. AWKWARD, hmm??

Back to Renard being a BAD BAD BOY for a second. He actually does more than simply STEAL potentially incriminating evidence, tampers with it by replacing the sim card in the phone with a useless, clean one. Devious, I know. But dang it he is so smart...and smart is very attractive, no? *wink* When Nick discovers that the cell phone is useless, he starts theorizing IN FRONT OF RENARD that a third man was involved. Dangerous game, Nick, dangerous game. On the plus side, though, now that Nick is really starting to embrace his Grimm-ishness, he seems smarter...or is that just me? :P

Rosalee, because she is BRILLIANT and which goes a LONG WAY towards making her worthy of Monroe's everlasting love and affection, has of course managed to uncover the exact love potion that was used on Hank, and whips up an antidote. Seeing as this is Grimm, the patient can't just swallow the cure, it has to be inhaled through the nose using something that looks like a bizarre neti pot. They decide to test the cure on Wu, whose hospital stay only put off his random and disgusting eating habits, as they find him eating his shag carpet in his boxers (MORE AWKWARDNESS). It's a bit of a tense moment, but Wu recovers (of course) and is hilariously mortified that he's surrounded by a co-worker and strangers while he's in his underwear. Poor guy. :P

Bolstered by their success, they track down Hank to his witchy lady love's house where he'd arrived earlier for a romantic rendezvous with Adalind. This is bad on multiple levels, because 1) Adalind is AWOL and 2) now that she's slept with Hank the cure is worthless. OH THE STRESS! Apparently now that Hank is completely in Adalind's thrall, the only possible save is spilling the blood of a Grimm, NOT the blood of the Hexenbiest who crafted the potion (because that, my friends,would make too much sense). Nick is a bit put off by this knowledge, but he's game because HE'S NICK THE GRIMM for goodness' sake, so he heads off the woods to meet a gloating Adalind for a knock-down, drag-out fight.

Now this fight was unexpectedly awesome, because Adalind is so sure that Nick has agreed to the meet to hand over Aunt Marie's key, but instead he's all "LET'S GET VIOLENT RHYMES WITH WITCH," and they proceed to beat the you-know-what out of each other. Seriously Nick, I had no idea you had that in you. I guess you just need to be properly motivated. :P So onto the save -- Nick distracts Adalind by kissing her, she responds by biting him, and that releases his blood into her system. Honestly given who he was kissing the whole thing was especially gross. But the results were fascinating -- not only did the release of Nick's blood end up curing Hank, but it actually removed the Hexenbiest powers (spirit?) from Adalind's body. This raises the question are Hexenbiests born or made? And are they the only type of Wesen who can have their powers/abilities extracted where they become normal humans? OH THE POSSIBILITIES. Now that Adalind is all depressed that she's normal, I hope the show brings her back occasionally -- given her knowledge of the Wesen world, I have to think normal life would be stressful to say the least. Her now powerless perspective could bring some interesting spice to future episodes. And I will admit that I felt just the tiniest bit bad for Adalind when her mother and Renard kick her to the curb now that she's a regular human -- that was more than a little cold.

So Adalind's heartbreak aside, the episode is pretty much all's well that ends well, bringing to a conclusion the "Donkey Cabbages" inspired storyline that was first introduced in the "Island of Dreams" episode. Side note: Monroe's awkwardness at how to explain his and Rosalee's presence in Adalind's bedroom when Hank wakes up was hilarious. :) I absolutely loved this episode -- Nick being all decisive and Grimm-like, Renard being shady whilst wearing amazing suits, and Monroe making googly eyes at Rosalee (especially the latter). Looking forward to seeing how Renard starts to cope with the more assertive Grimm on his hands, Nick 2.0. Also, any ideas about the key? :)