Thank God Lassie was there to alert them…

“Then she began to weep bitterly, and said ‘What can a poor girl like me do now?’”

Well, shit. Last night’s episode had ALL the feelings. Again. And I loved it. Again. Well, let me qualify. It had ALL the sad/pensive feelings (still awesome). There wasn’t a lot of action (thought it’s Grimm so there’s always action), and I was totally okay with that.

We got more specifics of Juliette’s memory loss, but we also got to see more of Hank dealing with the fuckedupness of all the weird shit he’s witnessed over the past several months (or however long), which we had been missing. They alluded to it in last week’s episode, but I’m so glad we got details. But since that ties in really closely with this week’s Wesen, which we’ll get to, let’s start with Juliette.

God, this. I’ll tell y’all a little something about me. I’m not really a TV crier. I know plenty of people who get moved to actual physical manifestation of the emotion through stories and actors. But my heart froze over and died a long time ago, so it takes a lot of feels for my cockles to give off any warmth of their own. Fucking Nick and his MacBook Air, and his pictures and his showing them to Juliette… MY NOSE FUCKING TINGLED, you guys. And the tears started to well. God, just how heartbreaking was this scene? I don’t know what it is about these two, but they have always made my heart jiggle inside its sheath of ice. This has kind of become a battle cry of sorts for me in my recaps, but NICK’S FACE, YOU GUYS, NICK’S FAAAACE!

David “Holy” Giuntoli, you own me in these scenes. Every. Single. One.

Oh, but her not remembering the pictures isn’t the most heartbreaking part. When he’s showing her the pictures, she’s all, “That’s you and my in front of my house.” HER house?! And it just gets worse. Not only does she remember her coworkers, and a dog she helped birth, when Nick brings Eddie in to try to help jog her memory, she totally remembers him too. In fact, remember the dinner party from last season? Well, she definitely remembers the party, but in her mind it was only her and Eddie. So it appears her memory loss is Nick-specific, which is just, ugh, so horrible. Later in the ep, Nick and Eddie wonder if that was Adalind’s intention all along when she had her cat scratch Juliette. I, for one, wouldn’t put it past that crazy bitch.

The other emotionally charged bit of the episode was centered around Hank. So last season ever since he saw the Wildermann folge after he fell from the rafters in the theater, Hank hasn’t… quite been the same. Yeah, that’s the nice way of putting it. And since this is Hank, and I’m sorry, but he’s a man, the whole confusion and fear just sort of festered and it’s getting to a breaking point. Bless him, he even tried going to a therapist, but that ends kind of badly (he accidentally manhandles her. Don’t worry, nothing bad), and he leaves before his session is over. But he so clearly needs help. Back at the station, Nick sees what’s going on and is on the verge of confessing everything to him when they get interrupted by this weeks’ Wesen story.

And what a fucking disturbing Wesen story it was, eh? The idea behind it wasn’t exactly new (a pack of coyotes – though this is a new take on the whole wolf craze – kidnapping a girl to participate in a fertility ritual). But the way it was done.

Okay, back up. So, we get introduced to the girl and her father (in my notes I wrote, and I quote, “JACOB! IT’S JACOB, YOU GUYS! #SHIFTKEY”) are having a totally normal time at home, until she goes upstairs to bed and is immediately kidnapped by these two coyote dudes. They take her to this remote farm, because of course they do, and put her down a well to calm her down, because of course they do. I don’t know. But here starts the sheer creepiness of everything. The next day, once she’s good and calm, they tell her she needs to clean up to get ready, and then we get to see are forced to watch them scrubbing her clean in a metal tub while possibly also drowning her. Once she’s dressed again in a white linen dress (which just… somehow manages to make everything that much more disturbing), they start to tie her to the ritual altar. I’m not sure what the ritual entails specifically, but I am so glad that we don’t have to find out.

It’s at this moment that Nick and Hank, and her dad Jarold show up (turns out he and Hank know each other fairly well. Hank is even the daughter Carly’s godfather). By this time, Nick already knows that Jarold is a Coyotl, and Jarold knows he’s a Grimm. While the other Coyotls are adequately distracted, Nank find Carly once again in the well (this is just such a strange hiding place, it’s if it weren’t so fucking scary, it would be funny) and they run into the barn where she freaks out when she realizes Nick is a Grimm and she folges without meaning to, and Hank sees it.

Understandably, Hank freaks the fuck out, and Nick finally, FINALLY tells him. YAAAAAAYS! God, that was a long time coming. He doesn’t go into detail, but he explains that he can see it too, and that he’s seen WAY more stuff than Hank can imagine. And with the help of sweet Carly, Hank sort of snaps out of it, and is able to put the weird shit aside and do what he needs to do to save his friends. Afterwards, once the Coyotls are arrested, Hank is filling out a report and marvels at how it’s the first time he can’t write what really happened. But you know what? He’s totally cool with it. Jarold and Carly are his friends, his family, and no matter what, that doesn’t change. And that’s a really terrific thing for Hank to realize. It’s a really terrific thing for anyone to realize in any situation really. The family you choose is chosen for a reason, and all that. He even goes as far as to tell Nick that this was one of the best days of his life. Because of that realization. And that’s pretty cool.

Doesn’t mean he’s going to need a HELLUVA lot of time to heal, and a HELLUVA lot of explanation time from Nick. I mean, shit, you guys.

Oh, and here’s an interesting point: Nick made the decision to tell Juliette and NOT Hank, but by the end of the episode, when he brings Juliette home and she remembers the house, but nothing related to Nick (like how the window broke during his fight with Akira Kimora), it’s clear he’s not going to go there with her right now. Decisions reversed! I don’t think this is the writers going “oops, nevermind!” like has happened on other shows. It’s just very interesting, and kind of sad. I can’t wait for Hank to learn more! And Juliette BETTER get her memory back. My heart isn’t used to be this warm, writers!

Random Notes/Favorite Quotes

• “We got the perfect place for you, little lady.” Ugh, I just shivered. I think part of what made this story SO CREEPY was Todd the Coyotl. Whoever that actor is, GOD, kudos. Because you’re cute, but so, so, SO fucking creepy. You made it work. Now I need a shower.
• From my notes: “Is that Kris Kristofferson?” It was not. Sad.
• “I put three bullet holes in my closet, Nick, and there wasn’t anything there.” Russell Hornsby’s delivery of this line. Cockles, you guys. COCKLES.
• “I’m going to go run some predators.” LOLcop, sort of. Because he goes to AM’s trailer. Ha!
• “Well, Nick, when a mommy Coyotl and a daddy Coyotl love each other very much…”
• The fertility ritual, called a “aseveracion,” which literally means “assertion” (and makes me feel gross, has to happen on a full moon. This is funny as I noted to myself at the beginning of the episode that it was the night of a full moon. Well done director/editor/whoever’s decision that was. I’m sorry. I don’t know film terms. :(
• Re: the full moon – “That’s not a good night for me. I’m staying in.” I love you, Eddie.
• “There are some things about your family you don’t even tell your closest friends.”
• “It’s not going to be so bad. You might even like it.” Todd the Coyotl, you are the WORST type of person.
• Of course the Coyotls are roasting a pig on a spit. Of course they are.
• I may have LOL’d a bit when Hayden yelled “Quit yer firing!”
• “A Grimm… it’s sort of a family problem.”
• LOL to Wu complaining about doing three reports and cleaning out the coffee maker in the same amount of time Nick rescued a girl and took down 6 villains. “Yeah, we’ve all put in a rich, full day.” It’s okay, Wu, I know people who make my work days feel like that too.

ALRIGHT! So, now it’s your turn. Tell me EVERYTHING. What did you think of the episode? Did it cause you to feel lots of feelings too? What do you think they have to do to get Juliette’s memory back? Is Hank going to make a swift (no matter how unlikely) recovery? Do you know who played Todd the Coyotl? Come talk to me in the comments!