The Grimm brothers were aptly named. They told dark, scary stories around the campfire.
They were morality tales, warnings. Obey those more wise than yourself. Watch out who you invite into your home, into your family.
Back in the days before the Green Revolution figured out how to feed vast numbers of people, starvation was a true threat. One bad crop or one foolish decision meant slow and lingering starvation. Ordinary people needed to teach their children early and make sure those lessons stuck.
Today we have full bellies. But we’ve forgotten evil and how to recognize it.
We have television instead.
Supernatural tells the story of two brothers taking up the family business, hunting monsters as they cross the country and listen to classic rock. Grimm features Nicholas Burkhardt, a cop living a normal life until learning he comes from a line of Grimms, people who fight the monsters called Vesen. Now he has to balance two worlds.
Grimm and Supernatural paint worlds where monsters stalk us. Ordinary folks can’t see them. We definitely can’t fight them. It’s up to a select few to protect us, knights reborn for a new generation.
Yet although they share the same theme, Grimm and Supernatural are very different shows and these differences teach us important lessons about fighting evil.
1. Lay it all on the line – again and again.
A hero puts it all on the line. The Winchesters pass the test. Nick doesn’t.
Nick’s not willing to risk his career or reputation. He keeps those he loves in the dark. He ties his hands, playing by cop rules when those he loves are in danger. Even when the European Royal Council of Monsters targets Nick and his family, he does just enough to keep his head down. He never takes the fight to things that send assassins into his home. He plays it safe.
On the other hand, Dean and Sam Winchester save the world from rogue angels, the King of Hell, and billionaire demons looking to turn the world into a factory farm. It doesn’t matter. They take all comers.
And they make the sacrifice. They’ve died for the world, gone to Hell. They’ve given up their souls and any semblance of a normal life.
In that, they show the true meaning of heroism. They lay it on the line for a world that can’t acknowledge their sacrifice because it doesn’t know about it.
That’s the lesson in fighting evil. It’s not about being thanked; it’s doing the right thing because it’s the right thing.
2. Attempting to balance two lives makes a hunter crappy at both.
Nick wears two hats – a cop and a Grimm. His knowledge of the monsters living in the world helps make sense. But being a cop ties his hands because he insists on fighting monsters with cop rules. That doesn’t always work when dealing with human monsters, let alone creatures with a taste for human flesh.
Even when the supernatural version of the Klan takes his best friend hostage, Nick still plays by the rules. He tries being human when dealing with those who see his fellow man only as prey.
Indeed, Grimm misses a great opportunity to deal with the question of whether the Vesen deserve human rights. They’re monsters that wear human masks. Even if Nick wants to maintain his code of ethics as a police officer, does he owe Vesen that duty? Does he owe them that duty at the expense of the other humans in Portland?
Indeed, would humans be wrong to tag the Vesen and observe them? Perhaps have them work in something like Larry Correia’s Special Task Force Unicorn – although without the evil commander – in order to prove their loyalty to humanity and America?
Ignoring these questions is a huge weakness in the show and in how it deals with the questions of Good and Evil.
On the other hand, the Brothers Winchester live a single life: hunting. They move from town to town, fighting the forces of evil. They have a single-minded dedication to their duty. In a way, they are like soldiers serving a tour of duty. And in this, they are supremely effective.
3. Hiding the truth from your loved ones is doomed to failure – and kind of a jerk move.
After learning about the fact that monsters are real, and eat people in Grimm, Nick promptly tells his fiancé, the love of his life… nothing. He lets her wander in the world unware. Ditto for his partner and fellow police officers. Even after it’s clear that those around him become targets because of their association with Nick, he lets them wander around in ignorance.
Nick’s fiancé, again the love of his life that knows nothing, is targeted by his Vesen enemies and nearly killed.
Sergeant Wu, a fellow cop, is allowed to eat carpet and get sent to the psycho ward because Nick won’t let him in on the secret world.
Not only is this insanely arrogant and dangerous to those he claims to hold dear, it makes his life unnecessarily more difficult. If those around him knew of the way the world worked, he wouldn’t have to remember the lies.
Even worse, he’s planning a life and a future. Being a Grimm passes by blood. Any of his potential kids could be Grimms. Any of his children could be targeted for being potential Grimms.
Sam and Dean keep the hunting under wraps but that’s more of a function of the fact that they tend to commit a lot of felonies. When they find a civilian that needs to know the score, they let him or her know. It keeps the body count from climbing, on the civilian side and amongst the brothers. Sometimes it even earns them allies.
In the end, the battle against Good and Evil is a war. Treating it as such, with the attendant costs, is the mark of the hero. Or, in the case of Supernatural, heroes. It’s something that Grimm’s Nick Burkhardt fails to understand and why, consequently, his fight against evil is less effective than the Winchesters.
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image illustration via here
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