REVIEW - Grimm S02E11

If you ever found yourself stumbling into a world of monsters and magic, there's a lot of things you would probably have rattling through your head: 'am I sure I'm not dreaming' is probably the most prominent, but there's one that Grimm's Hank Griffin has dared to ask in 'To Protect and Serve Man':

'Does this mean I've arrested innocent people?'

The episode this time around deals with a 36 hour race to determine whether or not a death row inmate is truly guilty of murder.

On the flipside, this is the episode where things finally crumble apart for Juliette and Nick. While it doesn't match the horrified panic of season 1's finale, it's definitely heart wrenching to watch for anyone who's ever found themselves tangled up in an affair.

While the supernatural elements are still the driving force behind this episode's sub plots, they're definitely not the true focus. This time, we're focusing on the story of a man questioning the world around him and if he had just condemned an innocent to death while glimpsing into the mindset of a woman on the brink of having an affair.

I don't believe that cutting out the monsters and magic would have hurt the plot of the episode; it gives us context, but we can relate to Hank and Juliette's onscreen struggles.

I admit that the amnesia aspect of her character's plot has frustrated me more than once, but Juliette has grown on me as a character. I'm not sure others would feel the same given how said plot has dragged, but I personally want to see her come out of the looming finale in one piece.

Hank's struggle this episode, however, seems to fall flat in comparison. I guess I feel that way because we've had less foreshadowing of this case and impending excecution than we have of Juliette's growing feelings for Renard. This feels like something that we should have known about before there was only 36 hours left to save the poor guy.

We had a few great episodes where Hank struggled with what was real and what wasn't...what I'm wondering here is why we didn't have a scene where Hank looked over his old cases again and found things that didn't add up in one of those episodes? It seems like a perfect moment to do so.

That said, Hank's got some amazing moments in this episode. Like Nick before him, he hounds this case like a man possessed. There's the constant niggling doubt that he could kill an innocent man throughout the episode and we see it eat away at him. One interrogation in particular stands out.

I think the main reason Hank's struggle seems diminished in this episode is because it came after several episodes of him having adjusted to his discovery of wesen, and the audience was still on edge from last week to see what happened with Renard and Juliette post-kiss. If it hadn't been for the timing or the aforementioned lack of foreshadowing, Hank would have easily eclipsed Renard and Juliette.

With that I leave you guys to the finale... Here's hoping things don't escalate too badly.

They will, no doubt, but still a girl can hope, right?

Review by Greta Rehak