BEM – 11

「JUDGMENT」

This week’s episode went in a direction I was honestly not expecting. It’s hard to believe that the police or even the Dark Council that seems to be pulling the strings would allow the humanoid monsters to be revealed to the public, and while the purpose is to draw them out of hiding, either by turning their friends against them or by using their friends as hostages, wouldn’t it be easier to just find Bela and Belo, capture them, and then bury them in a hole so deep they’d never see the light of day again? In any case, Madame appears to be using these events to assert an idea that goes against everything Bem believes in – Humans don’t deserve to be saved. Not only will Bem, Bela, and Belo never be human, but they’ve wasted their immortal lives saving people who will turn on them, who will never accept them for their true selves, who will scream and run at the sight of them. Villains have been the counterparts to their heroes for ages, but with that said, visually Madame is stunning. She’s statuesque, composed, elegant, and brimming with confidence. When her and Bem inhabit the same frame, it makes for an intriguing contrast. Not in design, per se, since that is very similar, but in the attitudes their bearing and expressions convey. She is freer than Bem has ever allowed himself to be. She has no desire to be human, and instead sees herself as something superior on every level.

However, not all of the humans the trio have encountered were willing to forsake them. Bela’s friends may have revealed the true shallowness of their bond by betraying her, but the somewhat awkward boy from her class still thinks she’s incredible, even in her true form. As for Belo, his friends refused to abandon him even after learning what he is, because he’s always protected them. This had the unfortunate side effect of getting the shop owner injured (he’s fine) and the children taken, but them’s the brakes when you’re trying to catch an immortal with supernatural speed, strength, and reflexes. For all that Bem talks a big game about never being accepted, he’s unquestionably formed the strongest bonds of the group.

To be honest, it’d be for the best if Bem, Bela, and Belo never succeeded in becoming human, since them doing so would undermine the message that BEM seems to be getting at. Sometimes, beauty isn’t skin deep. Sometimes, beauty is a 7ft monster with hair the color of flames and an armored exoskeleton, and that’s the truth.

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