Grimm: 2x03 “Bad Moon Rising”

“Then she began to weep bitterly, and said,

‘What can a poor girl like me do now?’ ”

Juliette: “Well, I guess we really know each other pretty well. Like... Like sleeping together well?

Nick: “We live together.”

One of the tragic things that can happen to a person is a memory loss. Some of you may agree or disagree and I am sure that there are lots of other awful things that can happen, but memory loss is still somewhere near the top. Can you imagine losing your memories, not knowing who you are, what you are and not remembering all those people in your life. It is impossible to process but somehow I think the memory loss is much harder on those around than on the person itsel.

 
Of course Juliette didn’t suffer to that extent, she still remembers her life, her work, names of her friends and the dog she delivered, even Monroe, basically everything and everyone but Nick. So just a part of her life is missing but it is a huge part both for Nick and for us as viewers, since what we see and have been witnesses of since the beginning of the series is Juliette's relationships with Nick and their life together. And what might be at the moment just puzzling for Juliette is really upsetting for Nick and that’s an understatement. David Guintoli was particularly good in all of his scenes with Juliette. Such desperation in his eyes, when he realizes that he’s just a stranger to her.

Another one who is having a hard time is Hank, who knows what he’s seen but unable to give it some sort of logical explanation. He is constantly jumpy and agitated, I guess you would be when you expect to see horrible creatures at any moment. 

It was established last season that Wesen sometimes allow people to see their true face, like in the season one finale when Nick asked Monroe to “change” so Juliette would believe him. However, we still haven’t got any proper explanation why even when “not allowed” some  people – namely Hank here – sometimes can see Wesen. I will go ahead and assume that after Monroe purposefully showed his true face to him, Hank is now in such a fragile emotional state that he is  prone to see things that others can’t. Very much like Nick is able to see Wesen when they are startled or afraid or taken by surprise.

After guarding his house armed and taking some pills he turns to professional help. Unfortunately the therapist is not a solution for Hank, because he can’t even spell out the actual problem (and how could he?) and she is not able to understand (and how could she?) and therefore help him. The only one who can is Nick and thankfully Nick was ready to finally reveal his secret. I wonder what Hank’s reaction would have been had that “talk” actually happened. He’d probably rather believe Nick’s crazy than the fact that such creatures actually exist, so maybe it is for the best that he was introduced to the world of Wesen through his friend’s family.

This brings me to the rather disturbing case of the week.
Hayden Walker, mechanic from Texas and his sons are Coyotls, a street gang of a Wesen world they run in packs and to leave the pack is according to Monroe a "big no-no". These coyote-type creatures have some sadistic tendencies and horrible rituals, one of them being mating ritual for introducing female to the pack. Hank’s friend Jarold, played by wonderful Mark Pellegrino [from Lost and Dexter] his wife run away not wanting their daughter to be subjected to that. However the other members of the pack must have kept track of them and as soon as Carly turned 17 they kidnapped her. Quoting Monroe: “The number 17 represents immortality, which supposedly breeds strength and longevity into the pack.”  

When Carly is kidnapped, Jarold comes to Hank for help. Luckily for Jarold, Hank's partner is a Grimm. Then the three of them rushed to save the girl. Thank God we didn’t get to see the actual ritual, the picture in the book was enough. I could also live without ever seeing that bathing scene. The whole set up of the case was to help Hank process the fact that there are creatures in this world and that he is not crazy. Though I do think they went a bit far with some of the scenes, the fact that Hank saw his goddaughter change in front of him, somehow might have made it easier for him to accept this reality rather than seeing someone else.

Some observations  

The house where Nick and Juliette live is Juliette’s house. Did we know that already?

The conversation in the Captain's office between Renard and Nick about murder of Catherine Shade and possibility of Adalind being behind it was such a delight in an odd kind of way, since both of them knew more than they were willing to share.

I don’t always catch the number, but this time I did: this is episode 2x03 and Hayden Walker’s apartment number was 203.   

Memorable Quotes:

Nick: “I’m gonna go run some predators”

(quite literally)

Nick: “These look like fertility symbols. You have any idea what that means?”

Monroe: “Uh, well, Nick, when a mommy coyotl and a daddy coyotl love each other very much..."

Monroe: “Uh, well, no, but listen, doesn't it seem strange that the only thing Juliette doesn't remember is you? Like, maybe that was Adalind's plan all along.”

(Well, Yeah!)

Sergeant Wu: “Hey, so let me get this straight. In the last six hours, you've arrested six villains, saved a damsel in distress, and reunited a family, while I filled out three dozen overtime reports and scrubbed out the coffeemaker. Yeah, we've all put in a rich, full day.”

Sol’s Rating: For Hank and Juliette’s parts – 4 out of 5, for the case of the week just 1.