Grimm (TV series)

Lore & Background

The series' narrative centers on Detective Nick Burkhardt of the Portland Police Department, who learns he descends from a line of guardians known as Grimms, charged with keeping balance between humanity and the Wesen, mythological creatures. Throughout the series, he battles dangerous creatures with help from his Wesen friend Monroe and his partner Detective Hank Griffin. The supporting cast includes Russell Hornsby, Bitsie Tulloch, Silas Weir Mitchell, Sasha Roiz, Reggie Lee, Bree Turner, and Claire Coffee.

Grimm was originally developed for NBC but was shelved due to the 2007–08 writers' strike. In January 2011, the series moved forward at NBC. It has been described as 'a cop drama—with a twist ...

Reader's Guide

Grimm occupies a unique place in television history as a blend of police procedural and dark fantasy, drawing on fairy-tale motifs to explore themes of identity, duty, and coexistence. Its six-season run on NBC allowed it to develop a dedicated fanbase, and its reception improved over time. The series introduced a rich mythology of Wesen creatures and a complex cast, including Nick's transformation from unaware detective to seasoned guardian. The show's legacy includes its influence on later genre hybrids and its exploration of moral ambiguity through characters like Captain Renard and Adalind Schade. Though it ended in 2017, Grimm remains a notable example of network television's willingness to experiment with serialized fantasy storytelling within a procedural framework.

Did You Know?

• The series was originally developed for CBS but did not move forward due to the 2007–08 writers' strike.
• The term 'Wesen' is German for 'being' or 'creature.'
• The sixth and final season consists of 13 episodes.

Origins & a Bumpy Road to Air

Grimm was conceived by the writing team of Stephen Carpenter, Jim Kouf, and David Greenwalt, and produced under Universal Television's banner for the NBC network. The project's path to air was anything but straightforward. Originally developed for CBS, the series stalled during the 2007–08 writers' strike, effectively killing its momentum at that network. It resurfaced in January 2011 when NBC picked it up, and it finally premiered on October 28, 2011. The show was pitched as a cop drama with a fantastical twist, drawing its mythological creatures from Grimms' Fairy Tales and other folklore sources. It ran for six seasons and 123 episodes, concluding on March 31, 2017. The final season, a tighter 13-episode run, aired from January 6 to March 31, 2017, giving the sprawling narrative a more focused send-off.

A World Hiding in Plain Sight

At its heart, Grimm centers on Portland homicide detective Nicholas Burkhardt, played by David Giuntoli, who discovers he belongs to an ancient lineage of guardians stretching back to the crusades. These Grimms are sworn to maintain the delicate balance between ordinary humanity and the Wesen—mythological creatures whose name derives from the German word for 'being' or 'creature.' The series' opening narration frames Nick as a man living a life 'so strange, it had to be true,' the sole witness to the darkness hiding in plain sight, bound by calling and duty to stop the monsters within. His primary allies include his Wesen friend Monroe, a Blutbad who serves as his window into the supernatural underworld, and his homicide partner Hank Griffin. Beginning in Season 5, the narrative expands to include two opposing Wesen factions, Black Claw and Hadrian's Wall, whose political machinations pull many characters into a broader conflict over the future of both species.

Love, Loss, and Transformation

The ensemble cast drives much of the show's emotional weight. Bitsie Tulloch's Juliette Silverton, a veterinarian and Nick's girlfriend through Season 4, undergoes a dramatic transformation into the powerful Hexenbiest Eve, stripped of emotional attachment yet retaining all her memories and abilities. Her arc culminates in the death of Nick's mother and her own death by crossbow bolt in the Season 4 finale. Meanwhile, Silas Weir Mitchell's Monroe and Bree Turner's Rosalee, a Fuchsbau who runs a Wesen spice shop, build a love story that defies a Wesen purity cult's opposition to their mixed marriage; they wed in the Season 3 finale and later welcome triplets. Sasha Roiz's Captain Sean Renard, a half-Zauberbiest of royal Austrian lineage, joins the pro-Wesen group Black Claw in Season 5 and is elected mayor before resigning in Season 6. Claire Coffee's Adalind Schade, a Hexenbiest, becomes entangled with Nick through a complex power-stealing ritual, eventually giving birth to his son Kelly and beginning a relationship with him.

Finding Its Voice Over Time

Grimm initially received mixed critical reviews, but audience and critic reception steadily improved over the course of its six-season run, suggesting the show found its voice and audience as it matured. The series was described as a dark, fantastical project set in a world where characters inspired by Grimms' Fairy Tales walk among us, though the mythological sources extend well beyond that single collection. The supporting cast, including Russell Hornsby as Hank Griffin and Reggie Lee as Sergeant Drew Wu—who in Season 5 is infected with Lycanthropia and gains the ability to transform into a Neanderthal-like Blutbad—created a rich tapestry of relationships. The show's structure as a police procedural provided a familiar framework of homicide cases, partner dynamics, and departmental politics, while layering in the supernatural, making the fantastical elements feel grounded in the procedural rhythm of a standard cop show.

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