Last week's episode of the NBC television show Grimm ended with a surprise that would resonate with anyone who has dealt with issues of self-acceptance. Don't read this post if you're a Grimm fan and haven't seen the episode yet! (This is the episode "The Hour of Death," which aired 2012-11-02.)
For those who are unfamiliar with Grimm (those friends of mine who haven't already been bored by me telling them about the show), it is a dark fantasy police procedural involving a young Portland detective named Nick who learns that he can see creatures such as werewolves who look like ordinary people to everyone else. He learns he is a "Grimm," a hereditary group of people who have this ability, who have for centuries taken it on themselves to police the creature world. The creatures refer to themselves as Wesen, and inhabit a social underground; they normally have an intense fear of Grimms because of the persecution their community has experienced by the Grimms. But Nick has befriended and earned the trust of some of the Wesen, including a werewolf named Monroe, and an werebeaver named Bud. (The latter is an Oregon State fan, naturally.)
In the present episode, Nick and his partner, a detective named Hank (who knows about Nick being a Grimm), are trying hard to solve a kidnapping. They get lucky and arrest an apparent perpetrator, but are forced to release him for lack of evidence. Desperate to save the woman who has been kidnapped, Nick decides on a risky plan: use an old Wesen/Grimm truth-telling potion on the perp (who happens to be Wesen). He goes to the perp's house with a crossbow (to administer the drug) but finds out someone got to the perp first---the perp has been tortured and killed. Nick and his partner Hank soon learn that another Grimm is in town, who phones Nick to taunt him that he isn't doing his job as a Grimm, to kill all Wesen. Monroe and Bud are frightened because this new Grimm is branding on his victims an old sign, a German letter 'G', which hearkens back to the Middle Ages, when Grimms conducted pogroms against the Wesen.
At the end of the episode, Nick and Hank rescue Bud, who has fallen into the hands of the new Grimm---and is surprised to learn that the new Grimm is no Grimm at all, but instead is Wesen. The would-be Grimm is a particularly repulsive Wesen creature (resembling a lamprey) who apparently is ashamed of himself and hates everything Wesen. This theme of Wesen coping (or not coping) with their unusual status has come up before in Grimm---Monroe calls himself a "reformed" werewolf (he no longer runs through the woods tearing apart animals for the sheer joy of it)---but the present episode had a particular resonance for anyone dealing with issues of self-acceptance, especially gay men, who typically have to wrestle with claims that gay sexuality is evil or that gay men can change their sexuality. (The NY Times ran an article last week about ex-gays and their efforts to find healing from their sexuality and their efforts at finding acceptance as ex-gays.) I have thought of Grimm as a guilty pleasure, but I was surprised at how emotionally charged this episode was, and I am impressed at how well they showed the dangers in issues of self-acceptance or self-rejection. Perhaps this will be helpful to younger viewers who are dealing with these issues.