Killing in the name of religion was the theme of Thursday night’s The Blacklist, titled ‘The Vehm.’ The young men of a religion, bent on the destruction of those it viewed to be sinners, believe they kill in the name of their God, and are willing to die in the process if need be.
It was a show about the religion of…well…Christianity of course. What other religion could possibly fit that description? Here’s a taste of how the fanatical foot soldiers of “The Vehm” (I’ll explain later) go about their business.
In any event, the Vehm turns out to be a Germanic cult that meted out judgment for heresy and witchcraft in the 15th Century. Now, they’re a group that kills pedophiles. Which sounds kind of noble and endearing until you find out that the Vehm is actually made up of former pedophiles who have gone to…shall we say…unusual lengths to ensure they don’t molest again:
Doctor: I admit, three fully shaved dudes is kind of weird. It's not something you see every day, but then... Well, then there's something that you almost...never see.
Navabi: You've never seen a eunuch?
Doctor: W-well, no. I... I've seen a eunuch before. In fact, I've seen more eunuchs than I care to admit.
Navabi: Are they all eunuchs?
Doctor: Sliced and diced. But the beauty part -- and I use that term advisedly, of course -- is that it's self-inflicted.
Navabi: He did this to himself?
Doctor: They all did. Ouch.
Navabi: Yeah?
Ressler: Prints came back. The guy's name is Harlan Holt. He served seven years at Cumberland for, uh -- get this -- sexual assault of a minor.
Navabi: So he's a pedophile.
Ressler: Who got early release by agreeing to castration to mitigate his deviant desires.
Navabi: The Vehm at the morgue are castrated as well.
Ressler: So the Vehm are pedophiles, and their victims are pedophiles.
Navabi: It's monsters hunting monsters.
