RECAP: Beauty and the Beast – Season 2 Episode 10– Ancestors


What happens at the Russian consulate stays at the Russian consulate


The theme of this episode is "finding yourself", we know that, because everyone keeps repeating it every 5 seconds. It's all about [pretending] to move on, which involves undercover missions, treasure hunts, ancient manuscripts and plastic guns.

As the episode starts, we discover that our favorite fake “War Hero” has been invited to The Talk. I am not a fan of this plot development. The minute I heard the spoiler about Vincent going to The Talk, I wished it was a dream sequence. Unfortunately, it was real. The reason I am so against this is that, in my opinion, the “underground” feel is a very important element of the Beauty and the Beast story [not just this show, but going all the way back to the Disney version and the 80s show]. So, Vincent going public was never something I approved. But… it happened [and he was wearing a suit], so let’s roll with it. (*)

The ladies (Sharon and Julie) introduce Vincent as a “good looking war hero with amnesia”. Tori stands backstage acting like a total Beast-groupie. Julie asks Vincent if he has a special girl in his life and he answers “no comment”. I really wish he had answered something like “there was someone very special but now it’s over”, but I guess that didn’t fit with the whole amnesia story. Tori is clearly disappointed that he didn’t mention her. I am not sure what to say about that because I am always confused about Vincent/Tori’s “relationship status”. According to me, they were just “beasts sticking together” at this point; but it gets confusing during the next few eps. Finally, Julie asks Vincent what is next for him and you can tell he has no idea. What can a beast-assassin do after retiring?

At the COFFEE SHOP OF GIRL TALK AND BEAST CONFESSIONSTess walks in on Cat as she media-stalks war heroes. Tess comforts Cat and tells her that getting over Vincent is going to take some time. Tess is very understanding, which I loved, but I am getting tired of everyone pushing the issue of “Cat finding herself while being away from Vincent”. I get it… it’s the theme… but I don’t necessarily agree. I think Vincent needed to find himself; he had amnesia for God’s sake! However, Cat was a woman who dropped out of law school to become a cop because she believed in making a difference. I think it’s fair to say Cat had strong beliefs and knew who she was as an independent person [before Vincent]. Her issues were more about how she related to the people around her [boyfriends, dad, sister, etc.] Her mother’s murder haunted her and all the unanswered questions prevented her from interacting normally with others. She was able to let go of the uncertainty of Vanessa’s demise when Vincent came into the picture and I think he was her first truly meaningful relationship [on so many levels]. And yes, she sacrificed a lot for Vincent, but I don’t think she ever compromised her principles. I guess what I am saying is that I don’t think Cat needs to “find herself”. I think it is more about remembering who she was and learning to live without Vincent. The real question being: can you really go back to being by yourself after having experienced true love? [Even if that love is no longer an option].

BACK AT THE STUDIO Vincent is done with the interview and he is mad at Tori for “talking him into it”. I should have known it was Tori’s idea! He basically tells Tori that he doesn’t feel comfortable pretending to be something he is not. I liked a lot of things about this scene. I like that Vincent didn’t like the attention he was getting [we wouldn’t want a vain beast now, would we?]. I also thought it was one of the first times the old Vincent was clearly present. I think a lot of scenes in this episode relied heavily on subtext. Perhaps I am reading too much into it; but the way I saw it, part of the reason Vincent was acting out was not being with Cat. She was the one who took him out of the darkness and was navigating him through the road of self-discovery. I think Vincent instinctively knew Cat was his moral compass and his connection with the past. When he was finally forced to go out in the open, she wasn’t by his side and I think, on an unconscious level, he wished she was. He even hinted it to Tori in the last episode. When he refuses to go to the hospital he says he is scared of exposure “especially now that everything has changed”.
Meanwhile, Gabe invited Cat and Tess to a creepy storage room for a morning chat with FBI Agent DANA LANDON and her deceased companion MARA ANGEL. Dana explains that Mara was a professional thief recently hired for a big heist. The FBI was staking-out Mara but she spotted them and Dana KILLED HER. No-one even flinches when she shares this information. OK, let’s pause for a second. Since when is it acceptable for cops to just go around shooting people? What was wrong with… arresting Mara? But OK, moving on… In summary, the other thieves don’t know Mara is dead so they want Cat to go undercover and take her place. Cat is desperate for a distraction to avoid thinking about her now famous ex, so she is in.

BACK AT THE GENTLEMEN’S CLUB, JT is recuperating from a very violent home-invasion [Being BFFs with a Beast sure ain’t easy]. Vincent arrives… with Tori. Does Tori go EVERYWHERE with Vincent now? Maybe she should go FIND HERSELF…  Somewhere far away from NY… say Siberia. Anyway, the thug that broke into JT’s stole the Beast shackle. JT can’t figure out why he didn’t take the skeleton, which is much more valuable. Turns out, the skeleton has some of Vincent’s Beast-markers, so looks like the serum M used wasn’t completely synthetic. I guess that makes enough pseudo-science/sci-fi sense to me… for now [more on beast logic later].
And now it is TRACKING TIME! And you know how much I LOVE [NOT] these scenes. In a completely unnecessary Beast-monition, Vincent sees JT doing sciency stuff when a guy breaks in, throws him across the room and takes the shackle. So… basically everything WE ALREADY KNEW. Redundancy much? I seriously need someone to explain to me how this whole tracking thing works. Is Vincent picking up on clues and the images are just an illustration for the audience like they do on Sherlock and Psych? Or is Vincent actually “seeing” all that stuff like Phoebe Halliwell used to do? I was never able to figure that out and I am not sure it makes sense either way.

Tracking [superfluous] Beast-monition

BACK AT THE PRECINCT Dana gives Cat the details of her mission. Mara was supposed to go to FITZPATRICKS BAR, find the guy with the neck tattoo and “twirl her ring” [that sounds more like a signal to meet an online date than to find a professional heist crew]. Unfortunately, they never figured out what Mara’s specialty was, so they better hope she was a security expert and not a sniper of something… It was pretty clear from the get go, that this mission was something personal for Dana, even if she wasn't revealing anything. I was immediately intrigued by that… plus I like Agent Landon, it’s good to have a new female [I don’t hate!]
After the briefing, Gabe tries to talk Cat out of the dangerous mission and suggests she should go “find herself” under more controlled circumstances. Cat thanks him for his concern but tells him that this is who she is, that she is simply going back to what excited her about being a cop in the first place; which was precisely my earlier point. I still think Cat was being a little reckless and impulsive… but she’s been through a lot, so it is understandable.
In the meantime, Vincent arrives at the apartment of JT’s attacker… with Tori. Seriously girl, get a life. At least go to the mall or something. The apartment is empty and Tori is all “so JT got attacked… that happens like every other episode and I don’t care about the shackle… I have much prettier jewelry at home”. Vincent explains that he wants to find the shackle because it may be connected to his past and understanding his past will help him figure out who he is. I completely agree with that. I always thought Vincent getting his memories back was important to regain his “humanity” because, after all, we are the sum of our experiences.
Tori gets upset and suggests Vincent’s obsession with the “past” is just a way to get back with Cat. Vincent says that it “has nothing to do with Catherine”… I am going to go ahead and assume that was a lie [there is a pattern of those, you’ll see]. At the very least I think Vincent is in denial. I believe Vincent’s main motivation is to piece his identity together; however, Cat is a big part of that identity and he knows that. No matter how much he tries to deny it, reconnecting with his past means reconnecting with the memory of Cat. I am not alone on this, because Tori clearly didn’t believe him either.

Alias Font
Cat walks in looking all sorts of badass. I just find it amazing that someone as cute and sweet looking as Kristin can actually pull off being badass when required. She spots the man with the neck tattoo and gives him the LAMEST UNDERCOVER SIGNAL EVER. Neck tattoo A.K.A PETE FRANCO introduces the rest of the GOODFELLAS WANNABE CREW: his brother PATRICK, SHORTY (AKA JT’s attacker) and some other dude. Cat immediately starts asking a lot of questions [she really needs to learn how to make a subtle approach] and Pete gets suspicious. He sort of threatens Cat and she decides to kick his ass and pin him down to the pool table until he apologizes. I don’t see why that scene was necessary… but it was kinda cool to watch. Cat lets him go and tells him she will only take orders from Patrick because he is “cuter”. I guess… if you are into the puppy-dog-eye look… I actually liked Pete better.


Cat and Patrick start walking out of the bar just as Vincent walks in. Cat and Vincent freeze and look at each other intensely for just a second [a very charged second]. Vincent starts heading her way and Cat suddenly grabs Patrick and kisses him! I actually went “Well done, Cat”. Not that I want Cat to go around kissing every “cute” guy who crosses her path, but I think Vincent had it coming. Cat did walk in on him kissing Tori and they were still a couple, so I thought this was fair payback for that. Vincent’s face is priceless, not the face of a man who has “moved on”. As an added bonus, Tori walks in and realizes Vincent tracked Cat [he actually tracked Shorty, but Tori doesn’t need to know that]. She tells V to screw himself and walks away. And I think this is the last we see of Tori, which may be part of the reason I like this episode…  

WAREHOUSE OF HEIST PLANNING SESSIONS AND UNDERCOVER COP ATTACKS. Cat, Patrick and the rest of the gang walk in. Patrick and Cat start having a conversation that does nothing else than remind us of all the themes in the episode: Loyalty, difficulties letting go and FINDING YOURSELF SEPARATE FROM OTHERS. OK we get it! People are FINDING THEMSELVES! The unnamed team member sets them up with some plastic guns; they talk about getting a “gem” and something about “outfits”. Unfortunately for Cat, they don’t have a techie-type team member that suddenly starts detailing the mission like they do on spy movies/shows. So she still has no idea of what she is getting herself into.

After his epic TRACKING FAILURE, Vincent goes to JT’s to have a BRO-TALK [I love those]. JT asks if Cat was in danger when he found her. Vincent is all “in danger of running out of air while she was making out with some dude”. Vincent is CLEARLY not happy about the fact that Cat was kissing someone else; but instead of talking about THAT interesting topic, JT brings up Tori. Grr… JT, I love you to death, but I don’t know why you were so #TeamTori in this episode. Let’s not forget, Tori is toxic [plus she may or may not be a psychopath] and she triggers some bad-beast-behavior… Of course that hasn’t happened in a while due to the MURKY TRIGGER LOGIC! Basically, JT tells Vincent that Tori values their “beast-connection” a lot and that it makes sense she got mad. Vincent just sits there and sulks, but JT is not having any of that depressed beast attitude. He gives Vincent a pep talk and encourages him to “beast up” and go “avenge him!”
So Vincent goes back to Shorty’s apartment to avenge JT. Vincent uses his beast-persuasion powers, meaning grabbing Shorty by the neck, hitting him and growling until he starts singing. In summary, Shorty tells him that they wanted the shackle because it goes with the “gem” and the gem is at the Russian Embassy. Then Shorty reaches for his gun but before he can shoot, Vincent kills him. Guess JT can consider himself overly avenged… Before leaving, Vincent finds the shackle in the chimney. Why he didn’t find it before? No idea… maybe Tori triggers loss of common sense these days… who knows…

Alias Font
Cat, Gabe and Dana go over the final details of the mission. They discuss the usual suspects and Cat mentions Patrick. Dana is all “Oooh new criminal! Who’s he?” Cat tells Dana she would like to protect Patrick because he is the nice brother or something. Gabe wants to know who will protect Cat and she is all “I’ve never needed protection in the past… Unless you count the night my mom died and then in the subway platform and then when I almost got hit by a train and when that psycho bitch shot me and that time I almost died in a fire …” If I were Gabe I’d take Cat’s protection rejection personally. She didn’t seem to have any issues when it was Vincent doing the “protecting”…  They argue about safety for a while until Gabe finally convinces Cat to wear a “wire” [We already knew Gabe had been watching The Wire, but seriously… he has to stop].
WAREHOUSE OF LOCK, STOCK AND A SMOKING WIRE. Pete announces that Shorty is dead. He immediately suspects Cat. It only gets worse when she shows up wearing the “wrong outfit” [when undercover ALWAYS respect the criminal dress code!] Pete concludes she must be a cop so they take her to the pier to scan her for wires. Why the hell didn’t they scan her at the warehouse? No clue. Guess Pete was feeling like going on a road-trip or he wanted a place where he could easily get rid of the body if he decided to kill her? When they are about to scan her, Cat attacks Pete and jumps into the river [to kill the wire]. How convenient for her that they were at the pier instead of inside a warehouse! Pete and the gang fish Cat out of the water and finally scan her… no beep so she must be legit right? Not the brightest criminals, this bunch.

Later, Cat is inside a bathroom. She has changed into a waitress outfit and is finally disposing of the infamous wire. Patrick knocks on the door to check on her. I almost feel bad for him… the poor guy is way too naïve to be running in criminal circles. Anyway, Cat tells Patrick that he shouldn’t be afraid to make a change in his life, but that he should do it before it is too late. I wonder where Cat’s head is at that point… Does she think she waited too long to “make a change”? Is she acknowledging she fears she won’t be able to walk away? In any case, Patrick tries to kiss Cat but they are interrupted by Pete. It’s mission time.

While the GEM STEALING GANG gear up for their RUSSIAN JOB, Gabe and Dana arrive at the PIER where Cat almost met her maker. Dana wants to look for Cat, but Gabe decides that they should let it “play out”. In other words, he decides to trust Cat’s ability to take care of herself. Regardless, he is a complete nervous wreck; which makes Dana realize he is totally in love with Cat. In that moment, I actually believed Gabe was “in love with Cat”, despite how inconsistent the whole thing is with his character… but that’s not Sendhil’s fault. Still… I NEVER believed Gabe was fully “reformed”, no matter how in love or not he was.

I had several issues with the overall plot at this point in the season [mainly Tori/Vincent]; nonetheless, I quite enjoyed this episode. Technically speaking, I thought it was well structured. It had a clear beginning, middle and end and the A-B-C stories integrated well. I also liked the way it was shot and I thought the dialogue was, for the most part, OK [on the nose at points but not as bad as in other episodes]. However, I think the real reason I liked this episode is because it looked like an Alias episode and I just have to love that. You may disagree, but think about it: Undercover operation CHECK, Foreign Embassy CHECK, people looking for mysterious artifacts mentioned in ancient manuscripts CHECK. Not necessarily a good thing, because the “action/adventure-spy” tone is not exactly the BATB style… but as a genre fan I couldn’t help getting excited about it.
I know the general feeling towards this episode was negative, but I actually saw it as a stepping stone in the characters’ journey. Yes, it was still a frustrating time as far as Catherine/Vincent goes… but I don’t think the connection was necessarily broken. I think Vincent was feeling betrayed and lost for obvious reasons, which is why he was acting defensive. Meanwhile, Cat talked herself into “walking away” because she thought it was the right thing for her at the time. I believe, whenever we try to do something we don’t feel or truly believe in, we start doing stupid things. Going against your true emotions [and beliefs] makes you act like a different person because you are forcing yourself into a behavior that is not your own. That’s what I thought happened to Cat during the last few episodes. Not the ideal behavior, but I kind of understand it. Emotional times have a way of clouding your judgment and make you lose sight of who you are. So I guess Cat needed to “find herself” after all [but Vincent WAS part of that equation whether she liked it or not]. I don’t condone everything the characters were doing and my heart broke during several scenes, but characters like humans go through “irrational” times. In the end, it is all about the journey. Hope I was able to explain this particular point of view [I don’t take any of this lightly!]

So there you have it… probably the reason I didn’t find this episode as difficult to watch as the previous one. Or maybe I just liked the lack of Tori and the spy stuff… But let’s continue…

Alias Font
The GEM STEALING CREW arrive at the Embassy. Cat’s job is finally revealed: She has to pickpocket the consul and gives the keys to Patrick. Not bad, as far as surprise criminal assignments go. Cat gets the keys without any issues and hands them to Patrick. He instructs her to keep the wife drinking while he goes steal the gem. Cat approaches the wife to load her up with champagne only to find her talking with Vincent-Keller-War-Hero! She forgets she is undercover and blurts out his name. Bitchy wife concludes she must be a groupie [like Tori] and Vincent doesn’t correct her. Ouch. At least he looks appropriately thrown and uncomfortable for a few seconds.
Later, Vincent and Catherine talk at the bar, and this is one of those scenes that needed subtitles, so I will go ahead and translate:
Catherine: Why are you following me? [Why are you here?! I am trying to move on and FIND MYSELF separate from you! It’s the theme of the episode!] 
Vincent: I am not following you. [Not intentionally at least, my tracking abilities are stuck on CAT drive apparentlyI didn’t follow you to the bar; in fact what were you doing at the bar? 
Cat: Same thing I am doing here, working on a case [Getting over you! Finding myself! Pay attention! so don’t blow my cover. 
Vincent: I see, so that’s why you had your tongue down some guy’s throat? No translation required. 
What you jealous? 
No, not at all. [YES!]
Finally Vincent tells Cat he is on a case too and suddenly they realize they are after the same thing. Catherine is obviously annoyed to discover that she can’t catch a beast-free break to go “find herself”. Then they keep fighting about who is getting the gem first. Vincent is all “don’t cross me Catherine”, Cat is all  “don’t make me shoot you [with my plastic gun] again, Vincent”. I am all “Gee... get a room already”. Yeah… it’s really sad to see them at odds… but it was also slightly hot.
Vincent walks away from Cat and approaches the consul’s wife. Since he doesn’t have a key (like Cat and Patrick), Vincent’s strategy is to “get invited” to the room; which wifey does… pretty quickly, I must add [not playing hard to get this one]. So Vincent and the consul’s wife go up to her bedroom and he starts seducing her… well… more like she makes it clear she is ready to be seduced. And yeah, this ticked me off a little bit… but at this point I was in complete “spy-show” mindset. This type of thing happens on spy shows ALL THE TIME [agents seducing random people], so it didn’t bother me that much. Also… it doesn’t last long because Vincent does his pressure point trick and she faints. So long SLUTTY DIPLOMAT WIFE.

"What happened to you?"
Vincent finds the safe while Cat and Patrick crawl inside the air ducts [see? Classic spy show]. But why did they stole that key again? What did it open? I am confused. Anyway, Vincent opens the safe beast-style just as Patrick drops from the ceiling. Vincent half-beasts-out on Patrick until Cat comes down and points her plastic gun at him. Vincent is all “shoot me one, shame on you, shoot me twice… shame on you again, but it won’t happen a third time”. He rushes towards Patrick and grabs him by the neck. Cat keeps her gun pointed at Vincent, but she doesn’t shoot him. Eventually she lowers the gun and just asks him: “What happened to you?”  Disappointment and pain clear in her eyes.
I thought it was a very powerful moment. It felt like Catherine was tired of fighting and decides to appeal to Vincent’s human nature one last time. I think it gets to him; he looks ashamed, even if it is for just a second. Regardless, he grabs the gem and leaves. But in Vincent’s defense… he had good reasons to want the gem. It was significant to his past and he was “avenging JT” let’s not forget that! Let’s also give him some credit for not killing/crippling Patrick. I sort of wish they had written this scene differently. Maybe Vincent attacking the whole team but when he comes face to face with Cat he can’t hurt her so she takes the gem, but then she decides to give it to him. That’s the way I would have done it.

Alias Font
Cat urges Patrick to leave town before the police catches him for “stealing the gem”. She suggests he takes the opportunity to reinvent himself away from his criminal brother or something. Patrick is all “but I didn’t take the gem”, man he is naïve. Cat finally makes him understand, while indirectly praising Vincent’s criminal skills [and general cleverness]. They say good bye, wish each other good luck and then Patrick kisses Cat. I DON’T like the idea of Cat being with anyone other than Vincent, but for some reason Patrick didn’t bother me; perhaps because I saw him as such a “non-threat”. He was going to be gone; Cat was playing a part… It was a little bit like when you get dumped and your girl-friends force you to go out and you kiss a cute guy at a club…. It doesn’t mean anything at all, but it gives you that tiny peace of mind that tells you that “life goes on” and that it “will eventually be alright”. At least that’s the way I saw it, which is why I actually didn’t mind this scene. Patrick was completely inconsequential and I don’t think the scene was necessarily “romantic”. I think it was more about being “hopeful”, “moving on” and seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, even if you don’t know where you are heading yet [In the end you may even go back to the place you were running from!]. I felt it conveyed the “theme” of the episode/season better than all the forced dialogue they kept throwing at us. But maybe that’s just me…  [Just to be perfectly clear, I am NOT a Patrick/Cat shipper!]

BACK AT THE PRECINCT, Dana asks the obvious question: “Who has the gem?” Cat may be [pretending to be] “over Vincent”, but she is not over enough to sell him out; so she just lies and deflects by accusing Dana of withholding information. Dana breaks and tells Cat the whole story: Her husband was an archeologist helping her in a case involving “stolen artifacts” [47 of them?] and was murdered for what he found. Dana also confesses that she had her eye on Cat for a long time. Basically the magical Beast-stone was linked to murder cases that go all the way back to 1836. And… Cat’s ancestor, Rebecca Reynolds, was somehow involved. Dana ominously concludes that “there is something about the gem that is connected to Cat” eh… yeah, it’s tall, handsome with a sexy voice.
Speaking of tall, handsome and sexy; Vincent is with JT analyzing their newly acquired gem. Turns out, it fits perfectly in the shackle. JT concludes it was a [a very stylish] collar for the ancient Beast and this upsets Vincent, which is understandable. He basically just found out that his distant beast relative was chained like an animal. Vincent wants to find out what the “gem” does… and for some reason I already assumed it neutralized his beast-powers… that’s what mysterious gems always do, is it not? I am partially OK with this backstory. Beast ancient mutation, later used by M to create supersoldiers… I can buy that. However, a magical gem that controls the beast? That I don’t buy. What would be the scientific explanation for that? It’s in the realm of a “daylight ring” and that’s fantasy, not science fiction. So the whole gem thing annoys me. However, I do like that Cat’s ancestor was somehow connected to beasts. It goes well with the “destiny” theme of the show.
Anyway, looks like there is a new BEAST PUPPET MASTER in town and Vincent is on a mission to find him. JT gets all #TeamTori again and reminds Vincent that this involves her too, that they are connected because they are probably the last to members of an extinct species… blah blah. Ug JT… just when I was feeling so relieved that Tori didn’t show up in the episode since Act I!

Alias Font
Looks like no-one ever told Gabe that tea is better than coffee [with a pound of sugar] to calm the nerves. He is basically having a nervous break-down while Cat talks to Dana. She finally comes down and Gabe rushes to her side. Suddenly, Cat comes to the realization that Gabe “trusted” her when the wire went down and let her finish the mission. Of course… if she had actually been in trouble we would be thinking “the bastard didn’t rescue her!” It’s all a matter of perspective… Cat doesn’t see it that way, so she kisses him [!]. END OF EPISODE. Where the hell did that come from? So a guy “doesn’t overprotect” Cat, and she is ready to go? She sure is getting around in this episode! As I said, I wasn’t particularly annoyed with Patrick because he wasn’t important; he was just a representation of “life goes on” and whatnot. However, I thought this was definitely overkill [Cat is moving on, we get it!]. Plus… I was never OK with the idea of Cat and Gabe together.
So, here is the deal. I never thought Vincent needed another love interest this season. That was already explored in season 1 [and not to our complete satisfaction]. This season he had enough going on: figuring out who he was, getting in touch with his past, etc etc. I always thought Vincent’s battle was internal. On the other hand, I actually thought it was important for Cat to have another love interest [for a short period of time]. Up until this point, her life had been consumed by her love for Vincent and the circumstances surrounding him. She needed to step out of it and experience “normal” [and eventually conclude nothing is stronger than her feelings for Vincent]. For this to work, she had to find a boyfriend that was actually NORMAL! I thought a great idea was to have Cat reconnect with a high school sweetheart at her reunion. Someone who was part of her life before Vanessa was killed and all the craziness started. That’s the type of love interest she needed. Not Gabe!

I get the feeling they only decided to use Gabe as a love interest because he was there! [Which unfortunately they do a lot on TV shows] Under different circumstances, I could see Gabe being a possible love interest [NOT a permanent one], but he had psychotic tendencies from the get go! He killed a guy to frame Vincent, killed Ray Sheckman to further his agenda plus he kidnapped, terrorized and beat Cat! And by beat I mean, he threw her across the yard; Vincent’s little shove was nothing compared to that! No matter how [fake] redeemed he is… he is hardly dating material! So even if I don’t hate Gabe, I just couldn’t understand why oh why Cat would forget the past and date him… especially when she was trying so hard to get away from beasts and avoid dangerous and complicated relationships. It DOES NOT make sense.

So there you go… I actually like this episode. There are still things I DO NOT LIKE about it (the Gabe kiss and some Vincat scenes that were a little too chilly among other things), but for the most part I enjoyed it. Perhaps it was the lack of Tori, perhaps it was me reading too much on the spy-show homage-style or perhaps it was me deciding to read A LOT in between the lines of everything Vincat did. Was I right? Was I just imagining things? I don’t know! But I rather enjoy an episode than agonize over it…

Till next week! 

(*) Even though, I didn’t like the idea of Vincent “going public” on Season 2; I am actually looking forward to seeing him reintroduced in society in S3. It’s different because he will be living a normal life but he will have a secret that only a few know. I really like that setting.

QUOTES

Sharon: Even when men have amnesia, they still remember to keep their options open
JT: Come on! Beast Up!
JT: Avenge me! MORE RECAPS
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TVEmpress

The TV Empress is a Media Management graduate, screenwriter in the making (and financial engineer in the meantime). She has serious plans to take over global television. You can follow the TVEmpress on twitter @TVRepublik

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15 comments:

  1. I love your recap, always very insightful. I concur pwith your theories about denial of Vincat love on both parts. Both Cat & V are hurting and it takes them a while before they realize they are meant to be together. Loved seeing a jealous Tori. I think she realized from the beginning Vin was never going to be hers and that her hold on him would not last. Tori started losing Vincent alomost from the beginning, better yet she never really did have him.

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  2. Agree with the Cat/Gabe involvement. Hated that so much. It was so out of character for her. His actions in season 1 were not the forgivable kind. Gabe should have been playing gin rummy with Bob...IN JAIL. But explain this....why is Vincent so hell bent on finding out about his "beast past"? His "past"... is that he grew up in Astoria with 2 normal brothers and 2 normal parents and had a normal childhood (I guess you could include Alex in that, but whatev). He was INJECTED, he was NOT born that way. That just doesn't jive with the backstory from season 1. The gem having powers was definitely predictable. And i still don't understand how that works...while it's on his person somewhere, sometimes he can change, and sometimes he can't. No consistency there in my opinion. Lastly, golf claps to Jay, as he did have some intense looks in this episode that were just spot on for the scene. But that's no surprise with him, as he delivers all the time. Oh. kudos on the subtitle section. Funny.

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  3. I think that Patrick would have been a much more believable love interest than Gabe. Patrick fits Catherine's "save the lost cause" thing with previous boyfriends. Gabe just doesn't work out in that aspect.

    And even if we all hate the Tori character, I still wish that they had shown us more of their so called relation. As we were kept mostly in the dark, it never made any sense with the bits we were given.

    I also liked this episode. Mostly because of the scenes of confrontation. JR and KK are so good at saying one thing with words, but expressing so much more through their chemistry.

    Donna, I can see why he wants to find out about the beast past. Yes, he was injected, but as it has now turned out that it wasn't purely synthetical, he wants to find out more about it. That would be a part of discovering who he is.

    As usual, your recap is spot on, and I'm eagerly waiting for your next!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Irene. But I feel that would make more sense, if he was still actively looking for a cure. And season 2 doesn't mention anything about that.

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    2. I think maybe they wanted to go more with the theme that in S2 Vincent is accepting who he is, accepting he is a beast instead of being ashamed by it like he was when we first met him...

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  4. I like this ep ~ for all the reasons you mentioned ~ lack of Tori ~ Alias Mr and Mrs Smith vibe ~ Vincent getting green-eyed at the bar ~ Vincent and Cat's verbal sparring at the embassy hot yummm! I'm not a Patrick/Cat shipper either but would rather she had a fling with a meaningless cutie like him than the incoming insipid fauxmance with St GaG (yeah I'm still bitter and always will be at this!) AND of course everything that made me want to throw things at this ep involved him ~ Landon saying to G how long have you been in * with her? Blegh. And Cat kissing him at the end DOUBLE BLEGH. JT being all #TeamTori wasn't a yay either needless to say.

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  5. Awsome recap as always - loved every word of it and nodded all of the time. I totally agree with liking the 'spy'-ish style of the episode and the bright lights and sparkling champagne scenes. Their banter with the undercurrents - priceless. Very bad moment when Catherine is called a 'little fan' and Vincent looks very coldly and dismissively at her over his shoulder (like she is not even worth turning completely around for) and Catherine's hurt and stunned face as she stands there with her stupid tray.

    Funny little directing plothole: when clumsy Tori and Vincent find JT sitting on the floor, he is holding a bag of ice to his bruised head. So obviously he had gotten up and gotten this bag of ice from the kitchen already, so why sit back down on the floor and have to be helped up by Vincent? Loved how Vincent ordered stupid Tori around to get more ice, though.

    What I hated about this episode was the beginning of the Gabe/Catherine arch and 'Hello ean' I am so with you, I am still bitter about this unrealistic and downright wrong pairing. Our REAL Catherine would NEVER do this, no matter how much she is in denial, or in pain, or doing irrational things because she is traumatized or whatever. NOT HAPPENING. JUST NOT HAPPENING!

    In season one she tells this young rockstar that her mother always told her: 'forgive, but never forget!' So, she can forgive Gabe (I would not) but she should NEVER EVER forget what he did and definitely NEVER EVER start any kind of relationship with him.

    Also, I would love to own a magic red coat like Catherine has. This magic coat is dripping wet from her dive into the water, but about one or two hours later it is completely dry again and she wears it in the van on her way to the Russion Embassy. LOL.

    I know these little things are not really important, but they are fun to notice. Like you said this trip to the docks unnecessary and IMO lame writing. Normal criminals would have just forced her to strip and they woud have found the wire immediately. Also, why stress about the 'correct clothing'? When the correct clothing was stored at the warehouse all the time anyway - or where did her correct dress magically appear from?

    No matter, mostly enjoyable. I just skip the end when re-watching. Cannot take her kissing the one whose name we won't mention.

    Thanks for this and looking forward to the next one.
    Barbara

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  6. The episode is a mix of perfectly reasonable and logical emotions after a break-up and perfectly rational (not really) crime investigations and then the writers (bless their little brains) throw us a fantasy magical gem? What are we? 12?

    Jay Ryan shows as usual he is the master of any strange scripts and plots. Whenever he is on screen it all falls into place and becomes natural and understandable. I love how his Vincent is smarting from the break-up and is rather truculent about it. That short instant where he follows the Embassy 'slut' up the stairs and seeks Cath's eyes to make sure she is watching is priceless.

    Sendhil R plays Gabe with his usual placid countenance, I found it symbolical that the only ones that try to convince us that he is in love with Cath are other people. Gabe seems pretty indecisive about the whole thing.

    JT's 'You (two) may be the only beasts left on the planet' was pretty insensitive. Because who had exterminated them all except for Tori? Well Vincent, that is who. So now JT all of a sudden want beasts to survive? For what, scientific experiments? But Vincent luckily seems not to notice, he is just after finding facts, not planning to propagate the species for some unspecified reason.

    TV-Empress, you wrote: "I just couldn’t understand why oh why Cat would forget the past and date him… especially when she was trying so hard to get away from beasts and avoid dangerous and complicated relationships. It DOES NOT make sense." You forget, it does make sense, if 1) Cath is just deluding herself that she doesn't love Vincent and so grabs desperately anyone to fill the gap and 2) that she wants a beast-alike that is docile and does whatever she wants.

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  7. I like this episode, Cat was awesome and finally be her own person.
    The last previous episodes dealt too much with Vincent, I was getting bored.

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  8. Thank you! While waiting forever for season 3, your recaps are very much appreciated. I also enjoyed this episode for one reason, the scenes at the Russian consulate. We knew about channeling Mr. & Mrs. Smith but it was actually handled well. A surprise. Other than glasses appearing and disappearing on the tray, I loved the glitz of the entire setting. And I even loved the song that led us into the scene. "The Throw" was perfect there.

    The plot holes all seemed to involve the Gabe character. Why call Tess and Cat to the basement just to say no, Cat shouldn't take on the assignment. Why not just say no to Dana?

    Why have someone wear a wire, yet remain in the warm safety of the precinct. Isn't the purpose of wearing a wire to have a rescue nearby in case?

    The red coat drying instantly bothered me. And the whole waterfront scene was ridiculous. If they had the correct clothing for Cat at the warehouse, why not demand she change there to begin with? Just to have the ineffective Gabe show up and wring his hands?

    Cat said she wanted to be a cop again like she was "before Vincent" but didn't he actually solve cases with her all through season 1? She was a better detective after meeting him. Tess even said that to Evan at one point.

    Kissing Gabe at the end of the episode was not only icky it was extremely unprofessional. Go behind the office door or something, not where the entire precinct could see and comment. And to kiss the guy who tried to kill you is not very smart. The end scene with Patrick was much nicer. The lighting, the tenderness and the possibilities.

    I didn't understand JT's enthusiasm for Vincent to "beast up" That seemed so out of character for him. Waving his arms around and demanding "avenge me" was shocking. He was always trying to insure that Vincent didn't beast out, trying to find a cure, preventing blackouts. Suddenly he wants a murdering beast? Not only one, he is shipping the Vincent/Tori beast parade.

    Thankfully, in this episode we weren't burdened overly long with Tori hanging around speaking terrible inane lines.

    Thank you for a memorable recap. For all my complaints, I liked it too.

    Marsha



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  9. Loved your recap. Terrific as usual! Thank you! Makes the hiatus a little easier. Can't wait for your next review.

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  10. Love your perspective with this recap. For me TOTALLY agree. Thanks!!

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  11. I, too, felt like they were talking too much about Cat needing her own life in this episode and the reunion episode. Like how she needed to find herself and stuff. Like 1,000 times. It's like wow you're ruining the show by making it seem like she can't be a normal independent person while in love with V. Stop talking about it and just show it. Like mention it once and move on. I'm still sad for the things we missed in season 3. Cat never got to cry on the man she love's shoulder. She was robbed of being there when he came out in public as not dead. I always thought they would do that together. Tori being there made that even harder. It always felt like such an important thing for them. I also think having him come out as not dead happened a little soon, maybe too soon. I'm not sure. I guess it depends on the future episodes. I liked that he was underground, but I guess him being out in public makes Cat's life easier. Poor girl was going to break down dealing with anymore drama. Plus, it's not like he's some normal guy in the open now. He's still a beast with secret powers and basically a secret life so that is the underground aspect in a way.
    "Meanwhile, Cat talked herself into “walking away” because she thought it was the right thing for her at the time. I believe, whenever we try to do something we don’t feel or truly believe in, we start doing stupid things. Going against your true emotions [and beliefs] makes you act like a different person because you are forcing yourself into a behavior that is not your own. That’s what I thought happened to Cat during the last few episodes. Not the ideal behavior, but I kind of understand it. Emotional times have a way of clouding your judgment and make you lose sight of who you are." YES except I think this applies to Cat for a lot of the season eps until ep 16 YES Gabe beat up Cat in the s1 finale!!!!!! Your point about C needing a love interest does sort of make sense to me and make me feel a little better. Why the love comment and sex though? My poor Vincat loving heart. She wasn't supposed to move on and I know she didn't really bc she was still hanging with V, but those things conflict with that.
    "I am actually looking forward to seeing him reintroduced in society in S3. It’s different because he will be living a normal life but he will have a secret that only a few know. I really like that setting." YESSS I also don't like that they made Cat's bad boy things from high school come up. Like I assumed she liked bad boys after college when her mom died bc she was afraid of getting close and losing people. That kiss made me want to vomit. And so it begins...Gabe and Cat are no longer foreshadowing, but are happening. ugh god. Bless Tori for almost being gone. She barely bothers me anymore. I'm too worried about Gabe.

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  12. Oh please answer my query TVempress.. How did JT come by the shackle??? I mean why was the skeleton and shackle in his possession ... and since when?

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    Replies
    1. Vincent gave it to him to analyze. They referred to that in the episode.

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