Greetings, Grimm Fans! Or Grimmsters, as the network would have us call ourselves.

Grimm is coming back this Friday (March 8th) and if you’re anything like me, then you need a revise and review before jumping into the second half of the season (especially after the preposterously long hiatus). …And it’s a chance for me to make up for where I’ve been remiss. I’m going to assume that if you’re reading this review that you’re all caught up with the show. And if you’re not, then you’re running out of time. And, FYI, the rest of us have no sympathy for you, you impertinent whiner. I don’t understand people who read reviews and then complain about getting spoiled. But I digress. Let’s review!

So at the beginning of the second season, Juliette is in a magical coma, Nick is adjusting to his not-dead mother, Monroe and Rosalee are still fighting for Team Grimm, and Prince Renard is still mysterious. And we’re discovering along with Nick that being a Grimm is a bit, well, grim. The expectations, assassinations, the study of weapons, potions, and Wesen, and finding places to dump the bodies; it’s a complex and grisly job. And what’s worse, he has not a duality, but a triad of conflicting moral obligations; to his cop side, his Grimm side, and to the Wesen he’s sworn to protect.

First, let’s talk about character development. I have to start off by saying: where the heck is Rosalee? I rather like Rosalee. She’s strong in an “I’ll kill you, but only if it doesn’t compromise my morals” sort of way. A moral compass like that is a good thing to have with a reformed Blutbad and a Grimm being taunted by the dark side. If for no other reason, simply so that you have a gauge for just how far the others are straying. It feels like they’re phasing her out when they should be using her more. I’m hoping the little mini-web-series they did, seemingly to reassure us that there will be more Rosalee, means that we’ll be seeing more Rosalee. And what are we doing with Hank and Juliette? Hank is coming to terms with being surrounded by mythical beasties rather well, but seems like he might fancy a Wesen genocide if the mood is right. I hope that’s intentional and that he and Nick are going to be put at odds. It would be great to see him be the Judas… or the Brutus… or choose your favorite betrayer to make your comparison. And I mostly just want to slap Juliette. I don’t want her to die, but she definitely is rocking the “I’m-a-cardboard-cut-out-here-to-look-baffled-and-cry” look. She keeps having conversations with friends who don’t seem to have ever met Nick or have any input about their relationship. And since coming out of her coma, she asks all the wrong questions and takes absolutely no action. The only time she makes a move is when she’s pushed by Nick or Prince Renard. And speaking of the prince, can I just say that I love him? Because I do. I know I’m not supposed to, but he’s awesome. He’s got a plan to usurp the throne and rule on his terms, and it seems that Nick is part of this plan. He’s emotionally conflicted and he’s got enemies attacking from every side. And finally, I feel like Nick could be more tortured. I mean, yeah, there’s the whole Juliette ordeal, but he needs to be worried about his family and friends and his moral obligations. He needs to be faced with tougher choices. At this point, the Prince is more interesting than our main character.

Now, let’s take a look at the plot. Nick’s mom- a more traditional, genocidey Grimm- kills Adelind’s mom, pretends to leave town, and stays to do lord knows what. We have yet to see any hint of her being in town, let alone her return, which I find very irritating. Nick has been learning more about Wesen, doing weapons training, has added Hank to Team Grimm, and has not been learning about the key, the royal family, or very much about the Verrat. I really feel like he is not focusing on the right things right now. I mean, Adalind’s… well she’s an evil hell witch, but that’s just what she is. All signs are pointing to “find this royal in Portland and figure out the significance of the key you have”, but all Nick is worried about is his vendetta. I really feel like Nick often is asking all the wrong questions, as well. Or at least he’s not pursuing the answers to questions with the proper amount of urgency. Meanwhile, Prince Renard has been trying to keep his family out of Portland and away from his Grimm long enough to… we don’t know. We still don’t know what he has planned for Nick, or why he doesn’t want Nick to figure out who he is. I mean, it seems to me that he might want to work on getting Nick in on his plan at some point. Also, he kidnapped a princess from one of the seven families. We never found out if he’s killed her or if he’s going to ransom her or what. Rosalee… hasn’t really been around. *shrugs* And Monroe has continued to be awesome as Deputy Grimm. I am at least happy that the latest episode gave us a fight scene and some dead bodies to deal with. But, considering he’s a cop, Nick is a really sloppy killer. I’m always disappointed with the lack of care he uses when cleaning up his murder scenes. And we’re left with Prince Renard about to walk into Creepy Aunt Marie Nick’s trailer. He won’t find the key ’cause Nick already retrieved it, but it’s bad news all the same.

Finally, let’s talk about the future. I would like to precede any further theories about the future by just pointing out that Nick did an exceedingly awful job at preserving the secrecy of the trailer. I mean, he, Hank and Monroe all go back and forth from there with little care for secrecy even though the royals are frequently attacking them. We know that the key that everyone wants to kill Nick for is a map, assembling the keys means the ability to unleash some kind of apocalyptic power, and that Renard has a plan. So what I think is going to happen is Renard is finally going to recruit Nick. Or at least try to. And I’m hoping that Hank turns on Nick for his Grimm methods of justice. And I don’t know where they’re going with Juliette. I’m sure they’ll break the love spell soon, but if her memory can’t be restored, it’s going to be a long time before she can get initiated to Team Grimm. And having her just be the chick Nick has to keep a secret from is pretty tired at this point. And I’d like to see something/someone drudged up from Rosalee’s past to throw a wrench in things. Just because that would be interesting. And I hope we see more from Nick’s mom. Or at the very least, I hope we see Nick have to hide evidence to protect her. Also, I’m not the only one who wants to see more fight scenes with the Verrat, right?

There are still a few things that I want to comment on. Like, how Nick and Hank are the only homicide detectives in Portland. At the award ceremony for Captain Renard, Nick and Hank were called away to a murder scene. I mean, they were busy. Was there no one else? And what about Nick’s response when Juliette asks him why she was crying in one of her last memories? “If I told you why now, it wouldn’t make any sense to you,” says Nick, being as vague and cryptic as possible. He definitely could have answered it a lot less like he had done something unforgivably horrible. And considering Monroe and Nick are involved in a steady bromance, why hasn’t Nick asked how Wesen identify him as a Grimm? I mean, is it some kind of taboo between them? Also, Juliette has a bit of nerve giving so much attitude to the super-hot love-sick live-in boyfriend for wanting to keep her safe from the murder suspect she’s having coffee with. Especially since she just finished shredding his heart by telling him she’s in love with someone else. And I’d just like to quickly mention that in the La Llorona episode (yeah, I didn’t care much for it, either) the grandmother tells Juliette she can help her with her problem, and I’m wondering why she never followed up on that. And finally, you might say, “Chelsea, let this obsession you have with Nick’s mother go.” But I would argue that if they didn’t want to return to the mother story line, then they shouldn’t have included her in the main graphic art for the show. (scroll up and check out that picture, she’s right there.)

Since I hate spoilers with the passion of a hundred… passionate… things, I haven’t looked at any previews, but I am still excited for what’s to come. There’s always the chance that they will royally mess things up (like by introducing a billion more loose ends without tying any up), but I’m optimistic and confident that we’ll be getting to see some of these story lines resolved. Which will hopefully make way for bigger, better ones. …And maybe some more shirtless Prince and/or Grimm scenes?