Contrary to what I predicted last week, Grimm premiered to some rather fantastic numbers, even besting some other NBC premieres this season ... on a Friday. Whether those ratings continue is anyone’s guess, especially since the full crop of competition is back this week.

"Bears Will Be Bears" did show some improvement over the premiere, allaying some of my frustrations with the pilot, and even adding some rather deep themes of family versus cultural values and when is it time to move away from them, if ever.

That type of weekly theme feels almost necessary in a show like Grimm since it’s based on fairy tales – we’re all supposed to learn something from them, right?

Nick was tasked with investigating a breaking and entering by who I assume was Goldilocks and her new boy toy into the three bears’ house, complete with plenty of old, scary, tribal weapons and a hole in the ground serving as a dungeon in the backyard.

Last week I mentioned that I wasn’t happy that Nick was parading different suspects and locations past Hank with little to no input, reservations, or even curiosity from him. “Bears” ended up solving this rather easily by building two separate groups: the cops and Eddie.

Hank is now on a much more even playing field with Eddie, because he’s now serving as an actual partner to Nick instead of just a sounding board that shows up every once in a while. He’s with him on every run and interview to collect information. In essence, Hank is the procedural side of the story - no fairy tales, no real (apparent) overlap – just crime solving.

That leaves Eddie as Nick’s Wikipedia for all things Grimm, all while still keeping that chemistry the two of them share, as well as the humor quotient alive and kicking. But this sharper role also comes with a cost: Aunt Marie isn’t really necessary to pass down every single scrap of Grimm knowledge - meaning she can finally rest in peace and pass on her torch, but not before she got to take down a priest who was trying to kill her. Good for you Aunt Marie, going out with style!

There were a few things that are still nagging me though, one being the pacing and the other how neatly everything is wrapped up at the end. The first half of the episode nearly put me to sleep because it felt like things were just progressing in a circle with a he-said, she-said back and forth.

In the second half of the episode, Goldilocks gets knocked out and Nick starts piecing everything together ... and then easily convinces Father Bear to help him get his son and save Goldilocks and her boy toy. Isn’t that a little too easy? I like where it led to, but they went from a hate, mortal enemy fest to a lovefest in 30 minutes or less.

Overall, I liked Grimm’s second episode more than the pilot. Will the things that worked continue? It’s hard to say because the show is still experiencing growing pains, but Grimm still makes for a fun Friday night.

Other thoughts:

• Nick’s girlfriend is still nothing more than a pretty face at this point, she’s given nothing to do and the scenes she is in are almost completely inconsequential.
• Really, Grimm? Really? You named one of the kids Barry?
• The ritual felt more like a hazing by some drunk Frat "bros" egged on by their Frat mother.