Oh, Monroe. You are awful.
There's a trend this season of the stories of the week both being particularly strong and being well-integrated with the fast moving arc-plot, and this excellent episode is no exception. In fact, aside from Adalind's and Viktor's interminable treading of water in Vienna, this has been a fine season.
The threat here is a gender-fluid Wesen, with two distinct personalities, one male and one female, sharing the same body- it's impossible not to see this in terms of trans issues, whether intended or not. The fact that there is only one Wesen here, and not a couple, is cleverly held back as the central mystery, although both Mrs Llamastrangler and I worked it out well in advance.
The ending is harsh, though: the Wesen (looking like the Creature from the Black Lagoon in Wesen form) is trapped in male form, with the female form, Stacy, effectively killed. Linus is arrested, a man in a dress facing jail time and heartbroken by the loss of his soulmate. I'm not sure I'm entirely comfortable with what this says about transsexual issues, but it's a moment filled with pathos.
As far as the arc is concerned, newly Hexenbeistly Juliette is still estranged from Nick, and Sean is still experiencing dreams of his shooting which are beginning to become dangerously real. Nick finally tells Hank about Juliette, while Juliette asks Sean of all people for a place to stay.
Meanwhile, Adalind is visited by the King, and told that Viktor is to return to Vienna, with another family member to replace hm. This feels rather awkwardly sudden. Did Alexis Denisof leave abruptly?
Whatever, this is still a brilliant piece of serial telly.
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