The world of Grimm is populated with beasts and beings, but none is a greater threat nor leaves a more lingering impression than the Hexenbiests… witches of vast power, who are more often than not manipulative, self-serving, and inclined to be in league with the Royals. One of the most-hated troublemakers in the series is Adalind Schade, who is chosen by Sean Renard, a Zauberbiest (male version), to inject herself into the Grimm’s inner circle in order to obtain an ancient “key” that unlocks an incredible source of power. Adalind, who is in love with Renard, winds up nearly putting the Grimm’s partner in a coma along the way; Nick (the Grimm) retaliates by using his blood to remove her powers. This sets off a chain reaction, in which Adalind goes to great extremes to regain her magical abilities and have revenge on Nick. One of her spells removes his Grimm abilities, enticing his girlfriend Juliette to reverse the spell by playing with magic, which has unforeseen consequences… Juliette becomes a Hexenbiest.

This highly controversial twist forced audiences to face the darker realities of Hexenbiests. Juliette was always a strong-willed heroine, inclined to take matters into her own hands and handle matters her own way, but becoming a Hexenbiest increased her emotions and strengthened these traits into aggressive and violent behavior. She tried to get rid of her powers, worried that she was “slipping away” into evil, and finally gave in… becoming a villain driven through revenge. Even though Hexenbiests from the start had been portrayed as decidedly evil, Juliette’s rapid transition shocked her friends; and once she fully understood her new powers, she thwarted all their attempts to remove them.

The implication is that Juliette cannot help who she becomes, as the nature of the monster inside her overcomes her goodness. She is therefore a victim but seen as a villain… the equivalent of waking up one morning with a second, evil personality you cannot control and then being held responsible for it. Some of her paranoid delusions about how Nick will react are off-base, but others force him to confront his deeply-engrained prejudices. Out of all the creatures that populate Grimm’s world of absolutes, where you are either good or evil, Hexenbiests are the most feared and hated. Their violent, angry, and manipulative reputation precedes them, to such an extent that even the formidable wolf beasts are terrified of them.

The unsettling thing about Grimm is how through its writing it forces us to confront our own inner demons… after several seasons of creating a negative view in our mind of Hexenbiests, it takes its heroine and transforms her into one, leaving us, much like Nick, reeling… and like Nick, instead of having compassion for her, as Juliette slides further into evil and finally crosses a line, we wanted to see her destroyed. Rather than seeing her as a victim of a force she cannot control, many simply wanted to get rid of her.

What caused this psychological reaction in viewers? Is it out of an old-fashioned view that evil must be punished (the wages of sin are death) or does it reveal a deep-rooted sexism in modern culture? Renard has committed equal atrocities as Adalind and Juliette, but is a fan favorite; his behavior is excused where hers is condemned. Is it a tendency to look at surface actions rather than the root of a problem? To separate the person from their decisions? Or is it that if we choose to accept Hexenbiests cannot help their tendency for evil, but come by it naturally, we must find compassion not only for Juliette but Adalind as well?

Original fairy tales are dark. Evil is punished without mercy, and rarely can we find compassion or forgiveness in the offering. They reflect a time period where such thinking was commonplace… a time of witch burnings and persecution, when there was no answer to perceived evil other than death. Redemption simply was not an option… and when Grimm reflects that harsh, brutal worldview, it is not surprising; it serves to remind us to be grateful for a Savior who wants to save, and with His help, we can all escape our inner Hexenbiest.