Another Monday, another new Grimm, another rough cliff we’re left hanging onto with only a couple fingers.

This week was all about trying to cover the tracks of last week’s season premiere. If you recall, last week we were left with Nick being ambushed at the lumber mill by the deadly Mauvais Dentes. We jump right into another fight and the eventual downfall of the assassin… with some help from mom, of course.

Nick’s hand is being forced more than ever before this season, and that theme seems to saturate the first two episodes. It seems the direction of this season is going to steer away from teaching Nick more about how to be a Grimm, and toward Nick using his knowledge of law enforcement combined with his Grimm heritage to walk that line between cop and vigilante.

We’re beginning to see a new Nick as well. More unhinged, more unpredictable, and more desperate with each passing day. The longer Juliette stays asleep, the more dire things feel for Nick, it seems.

After being forced to cover up his mother’s involvement in the deaths of the two federal agents, Nick goes back to work trying to figure out how to wake up Juliette. He intends to confront Catherine (Adelinde’s mother) again to see if he can’t gather any more information. Mom, however, offers her services. She believes she’ll be able to get a bit more information out of her when discussing things “mother to mother.”

Well, 5 minutes later, Catherine’s dead on the floor of her townhouse. And who gets the call? Nick! Man, could anything else go wrong for th-… well, lets not finish that question… just in case.

Before Catherine’s death, Nick’s mother learns what we’ve known all along. Someone’s pulling the strings in Portland. Royalty. A prince. Armed with this knowledge, Kelly (Nick’s mother’s name) reports back to Nick. They both decide that it might just be time for her to leave town, as she’s about to be implicated in two different homicides. She agrees, Nick takes her to the station, and she totally “leaves”, making a u-turn right out of sight from Nick, stealing a car, and going off to who knows where.

On the other side of town, Captain Renard is dealing with a bit of indigestion. A concoction from Catherine is attempting to synthetically “purify” his heart so he’s able to wake up Juliette. A solid bit of agonizing acting, Renard pretty much destroys his apartment in a fit of unbridled misery and pain, going through the transformation necessary to do what must be done.

Renard gets through it, though, and makes it to the hospital where he is able to give Juliette a small peck to help her wake up.

The episode concludes with the defining line of the whole season:

“Who are you?”

Well, who is Nick? In season 1, he was a cop just trying to do the right thing by everyone. Now, though? I don’t know, and I don’t think Nick knows either. He’s becoming someone completely outside of himself. He’s leaving Hank in the dark more than ever, he’s covered up two murders now, and his fiancee doesn’t know his name.

But enough about the theme, it’s time for some predictions.

First off, we have Hank. Hank set the tone for his character this season at the 40 minute mark. “I know there are things you aren’t telling me. Just don’t leave me out to dry.” We also see in the previews that he is again confronted by a Vessen who reveals himself to Hank, to which Nick replies “I can explain.” Does this mean Hank is finally going to get to play a bigger role in this? Or are we going to have another mysterious “memory loss” moment? I certainly hope season 2 doesn’t take a page out of Order of the Phoenix and build an entire story on angst and loneliness.

Next up, Juliette. What’s her deal? Will she get these memories back? Will Nick have to get her to fall in love with him all over again? How permanent is the damage? How far back does it go? She obviously doesn’t know his face or touch, so it’s tough to call at this point. On top of that, we didn’t get much information in the preview for next week outside of “wait more.”

Captain Renard: Is this purification going to change him at all? I’d like to see his character take a “conflict of interest” approach as a result. Will he become more compassionate? Or will his character remain unchanged? Again, another tough call, but I’m wondering if the introduction of Renard’s “brother” in France could allow Nick to have a new enemy, and give Renard some room to have a new character arc.

Finally, Kelly Burkhardt: What is her deal??? She took the coins to destroy them, but then jumped in a car and drove off somewhere. Is she on Nick’s side? Does she have other motives that she just can’t share with Nick? Is she really OK with Monroe and Rosalee being Nick’s friends? I think she’s sticking around a bit longer, but staying out of Nick’s hair. Trying to work on things in the background and determine the identity of this mystery prince in Portland.

All-in-all, we’re in for another good season if things keep going the way they are. What do you think we’re in store for? Comment with your theories, no matter how tin-foil-hat they may be!