Welcome back Grimmsters! It’s been a long hiatus (4 months to be exact) since we last saw Nick and the Grimm gang. If you need a refresher of what happened in the midseason finale of ‘Grimm’, make sure you read ‘The Season of the Hexenbiest’ recap as Friday’s episode picks up where it left off.

Here’s a real quickie of where we’re at: Adelind has returned to Portland (and that always means she’s up to some witchy dealings), Nick finds out from Monroe that the other man in Juliette’s life is Renard  and Renard has found Aunt Marie’s trailer!

As the title states, this episode will deal with what fans have been waiting a season and a half for! A face-off between Nick and Renard!

Munroe is shocked to learn that the man Juliette was with is Nick’s boss, but not as shocked as Nick is! As he sets out to confront his commander, Nick receives a phone call to report to the scene of a quadruple homicide. The bodies of the four Hundjagers that Nick beat up were found. As Munroe says, “At least you know who did it.”

Meanwhile at Aunt Marie’s trailer, Renard calls in Al Eckert, an owl like Wesen who has a keen sense of sight. After examining the trailer’s lock, he gives Renard a skeleton key to get in without leaving evidence. While Renard finds a treasure trove of Grimm paraphernalia, he can’t find the key. Before he can look any further, he receives a phone call from the precinct to head to the murder scene that Nick was also sent to. (dum-dum- dum)

The Varrat are not the only Wesen that Nick would like to kill.

As Sgt. Wu and Nick examine the bodies, Renard arrives and Nick can barely contain his contempt as they talk about the murder victims and the tattoo on their palm that connects them all. Of course, Juliette takes this moment to call Renard to let him know that Nick moved out and begs him to help her understand the feelings that are between them. He tells Juliette that he can’t talk now but will call as soon as he can.

The interlocking swords tattoo on the “victims’” palms were a tip off to Renard that they were part of the Verrat and calls an informant in Vienna to find out if his brother, Eric, sent them to Portland. Here, we learn more about Renard’s alliance with the Resistance and that he’s really playing double agent between them and the Royals. None the less, his contact tells him they are playing a dangerous game trusting the Resistance as already one of their own has been found dead.

As he hangs up, Wu and Nick come in with hotel security footage which show Monroe with the 4 victims. While Wu says the guys looks familiar, Nick tries to throw off the scent and have Wu concentrate on other suspects.

Speaking of Monroe, he gets a call from Rosalee and fills her in on the whole Nick, Juliette, Renard triangle. As Rosalee listens, she figures that it was Renard that must have kissed Juliette when she was in the coma and broke her spell. She then tells Monroe that she’ll be returning to Portland (yay!) and will be there in the morning to help with the mess.

It all begins with a kiss…

Renard heads over to Juliette’s house and Nick secretly follows. He sees them kiss at the door before she lets him in. Infused with jealousy, he heads to the house to do who knows what when he’s stopped by a phone call from Monroe. (Okay, so far this whole “saved by the “telephone” bell before you do something stupid is already getting old.) Monroe tells his friend what Rosalee thinks is happening and tells him not to do anything rash. Nick turns and leaves to go to Monroe’s house while inside Juliette and Renard begin to get it on!

So for the next few minutes we have the I-wanna-have-sex-with-you-but-its-wrong-but-I-can’t-stop-ravaging-you-because-I’m-under-a-spell-so we’ll-have-angry-foreplay sex scene. It gets all too much for Renard (as it was for me writing that sentence) as he feels himself lose control and forces himself not to turn into a Wesen. Juliette manages to get a gun and proceeds to shoot the weapon off around the Captain who just stares at her in shock before turning and running out of the house.

Trying to see if they can find a purification spell to release what Renard and Juliette is under, Nick and Monroe head to the spice shop to see if they can find the piece of paper Adelind’s mother had given to Rosalee which may help them in making a potion. While happy to find the paper there is one problem. They need Adalind’s mother for that magical touch and Nick’s mom killed her. Monroe’s head begins to hurt right about now (and so does mine as all the twists and turns of the Shade ladies’ spell making come to light).

Nick gets a call from Sgt. Wu who’s at Juliette’s house. He tells Nick that he responded to a call of shots fired and that she refuses to talk about what happened. Nick heads over to see if she’s okay and when he questions her, Juilette tells him that she shot the gun on an intruder and the guy took the gun with him. He then uses this moment to tell her he knows she’s got the hots for Renard (after all, she’s already in shock. Why not take advantage of her mental state?)

Adelind helps Renard with his pent up “frustrations”

Meanwhile, Adelind is let out of jail which totally freaks her out as she knows she’s safer in. Renard takes her to the woods where he demands that she fix him. Unfortunately, she doesn’t have her witchy powers anymore but does have her…er…womanly ones and tells him she can help with his pent up frustrations. Cue more angry foreplay but before they really go at it, Adelind wants to see the “real” Renard, the side he would never show “her.” His face changes and together they have Wesen sex.

Since we on the subject of Wesen sex (or in this case lack of), Rosalee finally returns to Portland to save the day!

Nick, Munroe and Rosalee head to the spice shop to look for an antidote. Things don’t seem to be working out for the Grimm team as an ingredient for the potion is the instrument of original infection which was the Adelind’s cat’s claws… which is now dead. (Looks like everyone involved with this spell is dying off! First Adelind’s mother and now the cat! Who’s next?)

The trio better work fast as Renard found the key in Nick’s desk at the station! Hank suspects something so he calls Nick and tells him he saw Renard snooping around his desk.  Nick forgoes drinking the purification potion and quickly heads to the precinct.

Things don’t bode well for the Captain as Juliette has informed him that Nick knows about their attraction to each other. He heads home and lies to Adelind that he hasn’t found the key then calls Nick for a meeting.

Nick kicking ass…

The two meet in the woods where Nick’s first case as a Grimm occurred. Renard tells him they need to talk but Nick decides to use his fists instead of words. The fighting has Renard lose control and Nick sees him as the Wesen that he is. Renard’s sneaky ways all begin to dawn on him but before Nick can do more damage, Renard hands him back the key. The Captain tells Nick that they need to work together because if Adelind gets the key, they are both dead. Nick wants proof of Renard’s sincerely (and the fact that he wants out of the spell as much as Nick wants him out) and they head to Juliette’s to take her to the spice shop.

More purification potion is made and Nick drinks it. All seems to be okay until he doubles over in pain and falls to the ground. As he turns beet red, Juliette begs him to hold on.

Back in Vienna, Adelind takes a pregnancy test. Someone is carrying a Royal heir…..

The return of ‘Grimm’ was one worth the wait; however I feel that this episode should have aired before the 4 month hiatus. Then it would have been a conclusion of the first half with a new round coming in for the second half of the season – especially seeing how the events in the first half of the season were all interrelated and directly affected this episode.

Regardless, we finally see that Renard is actually a good guy no matter how Machiavellian his tactics may be. Clair Coffey has been upgraded to series regular so it’s a pretty good guess that she’ll play an important part in the Royal vs the Resistance storyline especially since she’s carrying a Royal child – but whose? While it would seem like it was Eric’s, do Hexenbeists gestate quickly enough to know they are pregnant in a matter of days? Or maybe Adelind is really good at knowing her cycle? This should get really interesting!

Obviously Nick survives the potion (as he lives to solve next week’s Wesen crime spree according to the previews for next week’s episode) but will the spell be broken and will Juliette return to Nick? It seems that this will most likely happen but you never know with ‘Grimm,’ right?

So what did you think of the series’ return? Was it worth the wait? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below then return next week as I recap ‘Natural Born Wesen.’