It only took 11 episodes, but "To Protect and Serve Man" finally began making a hand out of some of this season’s story cards.

But before getting to Monroe, Juliette and Renard, let’s begin with the case.

As much as I tend to complain when Grimm decides to veer back to its procedural roots, tonight’s episode didn’t bother me in the slightest. It could be due to some of the serial arcs this season because they are slow burning, but then that would take away from the genuinely compelling case.

The reason the case was so captivating was because of the ambiguity surrounding Ferren. Even with the context of the Wesen world seven years later, and Hank wanting to do his best to make sure that he leaves no stones unturned before a man is set to death, it’s still difficult to piece together if Ferren is a man who is truly haunted by these images and reacted out of fear, or if he is something more.

No matter what the end result of Ferren’s character is, it’s great to see Hank continually expand in small moments over the course of this season. The knowing glance between him and Ferren at the end when Ferren asks if he’s seen the faces is a great example of this. Hank’s initiation into Nick’s world has been violent, to the least, and he’s stood steadfast and been an exemplary partner to Nick, but, for Hank, it’s probably nice to know that there are others with similar experiences. 

As for Juliette and Renard, the sooner Monroe concocts and cooks this potion, the better. While it’s nice to see that Renard’s little privacy circle could be on the verge of crashing, it’s hard to know just what Monroe’s actions are going to be. Monroe is very loyal to Nick, but he also has a fondness (not in a gross Renard way thankfully) for Juliette. I’m wondering if he will respect Juliette’s privacy for her sake, and try to help her out of this jam without Nick knowing.

On the other hand, it’s equally as likely Monroe tells Nick everything. Whatever happens Monroe is about to get a little more information than the Grimm side previously knew.

One final moment of interest is Nick’s conversation with Juliette about what she remembers before heading into her coma. A few weeks back I speculated since Juliette doesn’t remember her love of Nick she can look at things objectively, and while she doesn’t remember why she was crying in front of the trailer (and Nick doesn’t really want to tell her) there are still plenty of touches that have been hit upon over the course of this season that Juliette can’t explain: Bud telling her Nick is a Grimm, the cat scratch, Nick’s odd schedule and secrecy, and, finally, the spice shop.

Juliette isn’t an idiot. At some point she’s going to start piecing together that Nick is up to some kind of extracurricular activities, and if she regains her memories a lot more will suddenly make a lot more sense to her.

Other thoughts:

• So happy to see Rosalee again! Hopefully she’ll be back before next week’s fall finale.
• With Rosalee’s hopefully soon return does that mean we can finally get Monroe back in the field with Nick?
• I’m now hoping for a Renard centric episode based on the plot of The Hangover.
• Tonight’s honorary member of Juliette’s rotating circle of gal pals is Katie Walder who is in one of my favorite indie movies: Shelter.