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Supernatural television has become so popular lately that it’s practically its own genre. It’s spreading like lycanthropy, or perhaps vampirism – really, any number of supernatural metaphors apply.
One disappointing trend in this new wave of supernatural television is that most of the shows are trying to follow in the footsteps of Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight and stuff as much teenage angst love drama into the program as possible. There’s nothing wrong with that approach, necessarily, but it’s nice to see some shows break from the trend and make a series that’s all about chompy, blood sucking vampires rather than 110 lb., misunderstood, dark and mysterious vampires.
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The writers of Grimm, a new NBC show, have matured past the need for love triangles and prom dates to develop a TV series that is dark, supernatural, unique, and just plain entertaining. Grimm does occasionally mix werewolves with high school girls, but the outcome usually involves buckets of blood and screams of terror rather than breathy kisses and impassioned sighs.
The supernatural genre is just a skip away from the detective crime drama, which we’ve seen before in shows like Buffy and The Dresden Files. After all, if a vampire is going to go around sucking people to death, then cops are sure to show up.
Grimm follows a protagonist of the same name who is one of the descendants of the Brothers Grimm. As it turns out, the brothers wrote those fairytales as a way to prepare future generations for inevitable encounters with ferocious creatures of legend.
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With a trailer full of mystical murder weapons, a police badge, and a trusty werewolf sidekick, the hero of the series rids Portland, Oregon of the terrible threats of monsters, which conveniently commit crimes at a rate of one criminal per week.
This television series will certainly need to carve out its own niche amidst the plethora of supernatural shows, but its relatively unique premise has given it a good head start. The first couple of episodes have been promising, with a decent show from their actors and competent plots. As long as the writers continue to create good content and avoid become formulaic and predictable, Grimm can become a new favorite for many viewers.
