After last week’s bitterly disappointing lead up episode, to say I had a few doubts about "Woman in Black" would be putting it lightly.

Good thing Grimm didn’t disappoint.

Nick Is Shocked

There were a lot of variables in play, and I want to take them one by one.

Juliette's Cat Fight
Just when we think Adalind is gone for good she slinks back into Nick’s life and goes after his greatest weakness – Juliette – with some demonic cat no less. Juliette even got the answers she (thought) she was looking for as Nick finally revealed everything to her, but after being so forthright and inquisitive last week Juliette took a turn for the skeptical as she began to worry about Nick’s mental health.

Anyone in her position would do the same, but I just wish she would have gotten a look at Monroe before passing out from the scratch. Why delay the inevitable? Even so, Juliette is now under some kind of spell since her eyes are completely black now just like the cat. Is Adalind controlling her? Will she even remember Nick or what he told her? Or is Adalind just giving Nick one last parting gift for taking away her power, now that she’s skipped town.

Hank finds his Arsenal
Poor Hank, he still has no idea what he witnessed, and Nick still has no interest in setting the record straight, and after the reaction Juliette gave him, there’s very little incentive for Nick to tell Hank.

Instead, Hank is descending deeper and deeper into paranoia, and eventually arms himself to the teeth by the end of the episode as his fears got the best of him and his closet. It’s an interesting development for the character, and while I’m still no fan of Hank this version of him does have some potential. A paranoid Hank won’t give Nick nearly as much leeway as he usually gets, and that pulls Nick from sides.

On one end Nick is saving Hank from these violent Wesen, and on the other his actions are having a direct result on Hank’s well being. Nick’s moral compass would have some confusion, on one hand he could look out for the greater good and his Grimm friends, and on the other he can bring Hank’s mind to ease and save him from going crazy.

My guess on whether Hank becomes part of Team Nick rests directly on the shoulders of Renard.

Nick is (still) a Badass
Nick doesn’t even worry about being caught as a Grimm anymore. He’s fully committed to it, and as the season has gone on we’ve learned that this is his family’s legacy and business. In the trailer with Juliette his enthusiasm for all of it was overwhelming at times, but it all comes down to one common theme: it’s a way for him to reconnect with his parents, and at the very least his mother. He revealed tonight that being a Grimm “comes from his mother’s side.”

Yes, as it turns out Nick’s mother isn’t dead. While I’ve been hoping Nick would meet some family members or other Grimm’s down the road this path offers stronger storytelling opportunities. Now Nick can finally learn what happened in that car crash. If it’s all just a cover up, what’s the deal with coins (she’s clearly on the hunt for them) and this entire Wesen world he still knows nothing about.

Finally tonight, we’ve all been speculating whether or not Nick has any special abilities, and while we’re never completely certain if he does or not, other than seeing Wesen’s true form, it looked like something did happen with Akira. Badass Nick only came out to play after Akira showed his true colors, and I wonder if seeing Wesen for what they are brings out something in Nick as well.

If there is one gripe I have about tonight’s episode it’s the time limit. So much of the episode felt rushed, as we hurried from one character to the next, and from one quick burst of story to the next, and if given room to breathe, the plot might have been better served.  It felt like Akira, Renard, Adalind, and Team Nick all got pushed to the side for the big reveal of Mama Burkhardt. There’s nothing wrong with that, but there was just too much to tell and not enough allotted time to do it.

Other thoughts:

• Renard is still completely mysterious. It’s an interesting bookend to his season long arc. Originally coming off as a villain, he’s now just another unknown in this big Wesen World we still know very little about. 
• Do Rosalee and Monroe even need the cat anymore? I'm under the impression Nick took the bowl of milk with him. Or did Hank interrupt that train of thought?