RECAP: Beauty and the Beast – Season 2 Episode 14– Redemption

The Strange case of Dr. Keller and Mr. Hyde


We have a meant-to-be-psycho that isn’t a psycho. Two psychos that are the same psycho, a beast, a man, dream sequences and a LOT of exposition. We also get some lessons on fake-funeral-etiquette and learn that hospitals are a VERY dangerous place and that row machines were created by God.

The episode starts with something that should happen EVERY WEEK: Vincent working out… using a rowing machine… I mean… what can I say about THAT? …………………………………… Anyway! Cat enters the houseboat and tells Vincent she is there to talk about their relationship [while fighting the urge to touch him, I presume]. They go into the usual “is there still an ‘us’” debate and without much           preamble Vincent approaches Cat and leans down to kiss her. There was something definitely “off” about that scene… because it was a dream! Ug [DISCLAIMER… I kinda hate dream fake-outs].

At the COFFEE SHOP OF GIRL TALK AND BEAST CONFESSIONS, Cat confesses she got her beasts mixed up and called Gabe “Vincent” [luckily not during sex]. Talk about subconscious desires! At least they established Cat slept with Gabe without making a big deal about it [and w/o using bathrobes]. In any case, Cat has come to the conclusion that she needs to “stay away” from Vincent in order to move on. I think that when you are REALLY over someone, you aren’t that desperate to “stay away”. You just don’t care… especially if you are happy in your new relationship. But if you are calling the name of your ex, it’s probably safe to conclude you ARE NOT over him [no matter how hard you try to pretend you are].

Later, Cat and Tess sit at Gabe’s pitifully empty fake funeral. Maybe Gabe tried the “friendship” thing when he was very young, but he probably didn’t have much of a social life in the period that came after killing his parents and before trying to kill Vincent. Guess he had Cylon-Tyler… but she is dead. And not fake dead, like dead dead. But we conveniently forgot about that [suddenly I wish Tyler was alive, just to make Gabe unavailable!] But whatever…  Vincent and JT arrive at the church and awkwardly sit next to Cat and Tess.  Cat does her best to remember she is supposed to fake mourn and not focus on Vincent’s proximity [and his raspy raspy voice]. Finally, a fake funeral wouldn’t be complete without the failed killer offering his fake-condolences. So Sam talks to Cat and uses the opportunity to find out what she knows about Tony Barnes [which isn’t much]. Sam leaves and Tess follows him.

JT thinks V is an idiot for giving up on Cat, even if professing eternal love at a funeral is kind of tacky. But it is more than that. Vincent is smart enough to realize Cat won’t come back running at the snap of a finger. He needs to atone for his beastly sins. I respect Vincent’s reasoning since crossing over to the beast-dark side was why they broke up in the first place. Plus, I think there is something noble about trying to become the best man he can be for the woman he loves. Basically, Vincent decides to go “beast cold turkey” in an effort to prove he can be a good human.

Cat goes to Gabe’s apartment and tries to find a nice way to tell him no-one cared enough to show up at his funeral. She says something like “flowers are just like people”, but turns out Gabe sent himself the flowers. Now, that’s just sad… In my previous recaps, I’ve ranted endlessly about why Gabe/Cat should have never happened [you know I am NOT a fan]. However, the couple bothered me intellectually but it didn’t viscerally disgust me as much as Tori/Vincent. That is JUST due to the fact that I like Sendhil and I think he is a good actor… But the whole concept of “Cabe” didn’t make ANY sense [probably even less than T/V].

Gabe has a lot of free time, since he is pretending to be dead and all that, so he has been investigating Tony Barnes. He discovered Tony disappeared around the time Sam was abducted and has been the invisible millionaire ever since. Tess also finds some new information about the case. She followed Sam to ST. BENJAMIN’S HOSPITAL where he visited a mystery patient. Cat wants to go to the hospital to investigate. Gabe convinces Cat to take Vincent with her for her safety. What could possibly happen at a hospital full of people? Sam wasn’t even going to be there! Why was no-one worried about Tess? SHE was the one following the psycho alone! Basically, Gabe just managed to convince his girlfriend to spend time with her ex for no good reason. Gabe is SO confusing.

"I could DIE in here [according to Gabe]"
So Catherine brings Vincent to the UNSAFEST PLACE ON EARTH [according to Gabe] A.K.A. The hospital where he was a resident. As they walk in, they encounter some negligent paramedics who abandon a critical patient. Vincent gets all “concerned doctor” and sends the kid to the OR. Cat smiles and tells Vincent it is good to see the “old him”, which is probably just code for  “seeing you in sexy doctor mode” because Cat never really saw Vincent as a “doctor” before so…

Then, Vincent waits in the lobby while Cat investigates [why did he NEED to come with her again?]. After a while Cat returns and it is EXPOSITION TIME! Sam was at the hospital to see a patient, JACOB SUTTER, who is dying from a mysterious disease. She also found out that ANOTHER Jacob Sutter died at another hospital earlier that week. Vincent concludes Sam and/or Tony are injecting the Jacobs with JT’s serum [and using the 80s-Terminator-phonebook-method to find them? Eh… we have computers now… I am sure Sam could have found the right Jacob with all the resources he seems to have! But whatever…]

"Hey guys! Look, someone finally gave me a part
where I am NOT a psycho! I know... I am shocked too"
At that point Vincent finally runs into someone he knows: his former mentor DR MARKUS, played by Christopher Heyerdahl A.K.A the guy who plays a psycho on Hell on Wheels, played a psycho on Caprica, a psycho vampire on Twilight, another psycho vampire on True Blood and many more psychos. Mild Spoiler alert So… I was 100% expecting him to turn out to be a psycho beast hunter but he WAS NOT! I was so disappointed. Why cast an actor like Christopher Heyerdahl and NOT make him evil?! It is like casting Alan Dale as a good dad! End of spoiler Vincent introduces Cat to Dr. Markus and he immediately assumes she is his girlfriend [because it is obvious to everybody except for Dana]. Non-evil-Markus also mentions V was a great doctor [aw]. He excuses himself to go see his patients and Vincent has an emotional moment remembering what his life was like when patients were all that mattered. Cat’s all “yeah, whatever, so how does this help us solve the case?” [which was a tinsy bit insensitive… but I guess she is blinded by “moving on” madness and “If I am around you any longer, I will end up jumping you” fear].

In case you haven’t put this together yet, it’s time for the EXPOSITION FAIRY [more like the exposition monster] to make another appearance in the form of a phone call from Gabe. Jacob Sutter was the name of one of his fellow orphans. Sam is trying to find THAT Jacob Sutter by a very rudimentary process of elimination. Apparently, Sam couldn’t be bothered to run a background check on the Jacobs before trying to beastify them. “Jacob Sutter” isn’t even that common of a name! [They should have made him Kurt!] While they talk for WAY too long about the implications of Former-M orphans being “beast-inclined”, Sam finds a new Jacob Sutter at a construction site.

Spoiler alert, he is the right Jacob Sutter, which makes him… the BEAST OF THE WEEK! -->; JACOB THE BUILDER BEAST

This woman here depicted will possess unseen marks [?]
Cat goes to see Daddy-Bob who is rotting away in the PRISON OF CRIMINALLY UNDERUSED CHARACTERS. Cat asks about the Beast selection process and Bob is all “It had something to do DNA and stuff”. He clearly wasn’t very familiar with the science side of M. He doesn’t know the details, but he knows some people are genetically predisposed to become beasts. The ones that aren’t could die when injected with the serum. Then Bob totally loses his cool [Jack Bristow & his band of morally ambiguous TV dads would be so disappointed in him]. He goes into a desperate rant about Cat needing to deliver the world from beasts before they destroy her… meaning: she must kill Vincent. He almost makes it sound like he is reciting a prophecy and that it is Cat’s “destiny” to “render the greatest beast-power into utter desolation” or something. This shakes Cat.

Cat meets with Tess and they go looking for Sam inside an abandoned building. According to this episode’s logic: Going to a public hospital = too dangerous, MUST bring beast-back up But… Following a psycho to an isolated location = Perfectly safe for Cat and Tess alone… except it WASN’T. They learn the hard way that tracking down beast-making-psychos without back up is a bad idea. While Cat and Gabe were having endless phone call conversations, Sam used his time productively and turned Jacob-the-builder into a beast. As soon as Cat and Tess enter the building, Jacob attacks them. Then he jumps out of the window and tries to run away, but Sam is waiting for him with a tranq gun. I felt strangely bad for Jacob the builder beast at that point. That’s not a good way to have a beast awakening…

BACK AT THE GUILD, Vincent urges JT to find an antidote for dying-Jacob. JT thinks it might be possible because he never turned into a beast [at least they ‘tried’ to make it logical]. Cat walks in and repeats everything we already knew about genes, beast-predisposition, Jacob-beast, etc etc. Vincent explains that he is busy trying to save dying-Jacob, so he can’t go track beast-Jacob. Cat points out that Dying-Jacob has people taking care of him; however, Beast-Jacob is out in the world and Vincent is the only one who can stop him. Vincent can’t say no to Cat [and her logic], so he breaks his beast-cold-turkey vow and goes after Jacob the builder beast [a little déjà vu of the time V had to rescue Evan]. Cat stays behind and JT gives her a piece of his mind in the form of one of the best lines ever: “It’s hard to be Dr. Jekyll when everyone keeps wanting Mr. Hyde”. That line was genius; it encompasses everything that has been going on lately. It also snaps Cat out of her tunnel vision and allows her to finally take into account all the implications of asking Vincent to “be a beast”.

Sam locks Beast-Jacob inside BEAGONSTON’S magical cell. Poor Jacob can’t remember what happened during his beast-episode because Sam customized the new serum to come with “fugue-states-incorporated”. Don’t know why Sam bothered if he was going to TELL Jacob what happened anyway... In a nutshell, Sam informs Jacob that he attacked a woman [Cat] whose “boyfriend” [Vincent] will come after him for revenge [it really IS obvious to everyone but Dana… she really wasn’t a good profiler, was she? Being married to a psycho without knowing it kinda discredits you anyway…]

And just like Sam predicted, Vincent arrives at BEAGONSTON. He finds Jacob sitting in a corner in all his plaid-beastliness. Since Vincent is all about beast-atonement now… he decides to “reason” with Jacob. Clearly not the way to go... Jacob attacks Vincent and he is forced to transform. They fight while Sam watches the showdown with his best psycho look [heh, I love TES]. I respect Vincent’s desire to appeal to Jacob’s human nature, but he should know better than anyone that choosing “man” over “beast” takes time. I guess what I am saying is: Tranq first, reason later!

After failing at his beast damage control duty, Vincent goes back to the GUILD. JT tries to convince him that he may have lost the fight but he can still win the battle or something like that. He uses a Rocky analogy [which is much more fitting than a Brangelina/Les Mis analogy]; however, Vincent doesn’t want to kill Jacob. His days of eliminating beasts without question are over. I think he is desperately trying to be human in hopes of getting Cat back, but he also wants to be a version of himself that he actually likes. That is the difference between V’s honest desire to redeem himself and Gabe’s self-serving “atonement” façade [or whatever that was… it was never clear].

"It's hard not being evil... I am not sure of what to do...
[or where to stand]"
In the middle of all the beast madness and exposition overload, JT somehow managed to concoct an antidote for non-beast-dying-Jacob [JT works really well under pressure]. So Vincent goes to the hospital, steals some scrubs and sneaks into Jacob’s room, but he is caught by DR. SURPRISINGLY-NOT-EVIL-MARKUS. Vincent manages to convince the good doctor to allow him to inject his patient with the unidentified milky substance. Kind of reckless… but Jacob was clearly dying so… why not?

BACK AT THE GUILD JT tells Cat that Vincent chose to save dying-Jacob over killing Beast-Jacob. Cat is confused by Vincent’s decision so JT breaks the bro-code [GASP!] and explains that he is trying to walk away from beast-hood in an effort to win her back. Cat gives him a very unconvincing “but I am with Gabe now” reply [but doesn’t deny the possibility of getting back with Vincent later]. Whatever the case, I think in that moment Cat was more concerned about her dad’s “prophecy” than Vincent’s redemption motivations.

"I spend my days reading files in my fancy apartment, having
sudden revelations & then talking about them for hours"
And time for Gabe to have another revelation and talk about it for way too long. In summary TONY BARNES = SAM LANDON. Sam probably killed the real Tony Barnes and took his identity and… I will spare you the rest of the details because everything is pretty obvious at this point and I don’t love exposition as much as Gabe [or the writer of this ep]. Gabe reaches the conclusion that Beast-Jacob must be stopped… [Eh… weren’t they already trying to do that for the last 20 minutes?] Unfortunately, Vincent is occupied playing doctor. So Gabe volunteers to go reason with Jacob. So Cat decides to call Sam and tell him Dana is alive [Why? I have NO idea. Stall him? He can walk and talk you know…] Their plan was just layers and layers of non-sense. It was like an onion of bad plans. Anyway… During his conversation with Cat, Sam is kind enough to jump on the EXPOSITION WAGON and tells her that he is on a mission to beastify the world because he wants “revenge” from the people who hurt his son… How exactly? So NOT clear at that point. What is perfectly clear is that Gabe’s idea to go “save Jacob Beast” was stupid. Sam finds him and tranqs him [while still on the phone with Cat].

Meanwhile At the HOSPITAL, Vincent has saved the world, Dying-Jacob is dying no more and Dr. Markus is still NOT evil [much to my dismay]. He is even nice enough to pretend Jacob’s recovery was a “medical miracle” and tells Vincent he can consider himself “on the road to redemption” for whatever it is he is trying to atone. After DR.STILL-NOT-EVIL-MARKUS leaves, Cat arrives and asks Vincent to save Gabe and get more redemption or something along those lines.

BACK AT THE EMPTY LOFT OF BEAST AWAKENINGS Sam tries to re-beastify Gabe but is interrupted by the arrival of Vincat. The beasts fight while Cat goes after Sam. Unfortunately, turns out Jacob the Builder is a pretty bad-ass new beast and wins the fight. Gabe calls for Cat. She comes back and shoots Jacob dead [She really is becoming a serial-beast-shooter. Who has killed more beasts at this point? Vincent or Cat?]. Later she tells Vincent she feels conflicted about how easy it was for her to kill Jacob. She only thought of him as a beast, not a person. On the other hand, Vincent tells her he was unable to beast-attack Jacob because he couldn’t stop seeing “Jacob the person”. And so the lines between man and beast blur even further, which would have been a neat episode theme, but the characters were too busy EXPLAINING each step of their plans over and over again.

Cat also shares her conflicted emotions with Gabe. She tells him she feels bad for killing Jacob but also for getting in the way of Vincent’s redemption [especially because she knows he is doing it for her]. Gabe’s all “beasts will be beasts and one less beast won’t kill us”. It really annoys me that Gabe is so “beast judgy” considering he was a [bad] beast not so long ago. Essentially, Gabe is tired of Vincent being so present in their lives and he literally tells Catherine that he “has to go”. OK… first of all, it was Gabe himself who insisted on Cat using Vincent as protection when Cat and Vincent were trying to keep their distance. Second… Gabe and Cat started dating like … yesterday? It is way too soon for him to be making “demands” and giving her “ultimatums”! Also, I can’t believe Cat just stood there. Back in season 1, Vincent was suspicious of Gabe and he told Cat he didn’t want her to see him anymore. What did she answer? “You can’t forbid me to see anyone”. And I loved that about her.

So yes… I was a little disappointed in Cat, but I am not going to hate her for it either. Experiencing traumatic life events can alter your personality. I think, in a way, Cat has been spiraling ever since Vincent disappeared. She probably doesn’t even notice, but she hasn’t recovered and now she is [misguidedly] trying too hard to live a life that she thinks is the “right life”. But she is actually losing herself in the process… [even after she spent like 5 episodes FINDING HERSELF!]

And then there is a series of shots of Cat driving that look like they were taken right out of a Charmed episode. They even have a retro tune [yes, I hated the editing of that sequence… it felt so abrupt]. Cat goes to see Vincent and tells him they need to stop seeing each other. Vincent is all “na-ah I am not taking that, screw Gabe, we are destined, I love you” and then tries to kiss her but Cat pushes him away. He falls down, hits his head and DIES. But he is not dead dead, just dream dead. Cat screams like she is a cartoon character and wakes up… in Gabe’s bed [sidenote: Gabe's room reminded me of the Twin Peaks red room for some reason].

I know most people really liked this ending but I actually hated it… OK hate is too strong of a word… but I strongly disliked it. I did warn you: I don’t like dream fake-outs. I can’t even think of an example of one I liked. I don’t mind obvious dream sequences with symbolism [like they do on Hannibal] but the fake-outs always annoy me. It’s just a matter of personal taste and the fact that, along with voice over narration, it is one of the things they keep telling you NOT to do when writing.

In any case, I did like what it represented: Cat is conflicted about her feelings for Vincent and she is scared that she will end up hurting him. The issue is no longer whether or not he is a man or a beast. She knows he is trying to make amends and be more human. Now she is worried about hurting Vincent, whether it is physically or emotionally. It’s not about V returning to who he was; it’s about her figuring out what she wants and being scared of what she is capable of. At the end of the day, she still loves Vincent and doesn’t want him to be harmed. At least that’s what I got from the dream.

There were a few scenes [and lines of dialogue] I liked in this episode… but there were also big chunks that were really boring. It was SO exposition heavy! We barely SAW anything. While recapping I realized most scenes consisted of people telling each other stuff. And then there were scenes I just skipped in the recap because they had zero new information. I didn’t think it was completely awful and it had some good bits [especially that Jekyll/Hyde line], but I am not crazy about it [mostly because I can’t wrap my head around the Gabe/Cat relationship].

MORE RECAPS

QUOTES

JT: It’s hard to be Dr. Jekyll when everyone keeps wanting Mr. Hyde
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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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24 comments:

  1. Hello Alex, greetings from Germany. Great recap as always. I call most of the VinCat being apart episodes the 'dark episodes' and this one is the darkest, because it confirmed all my fears about BK going where he should never have gone.

    I almost lost my breakfast when I saw the episode for the first time and heard Tess confirm that they went to Mexico and .... well, you know. I cannot even write it. It grosses me out just to think about it.

    It would have really been helpful if BK had watched 'Season 1 more carefully and got more out of it than just the impression that 'they got together too soon', which he said is why he just HAD to break them apart in Season 2. This whole Gabe/Catherine arc is based on Catherine's desperate attempt to NOT be alone, to find somebody else to be happy with and to move on from Vincent.

    If BK had watched 'Bridesmaid Up', he might have known that the real Catherine Chandler has already worked through all these issues about being a single girl for a little while and that there is NO need to panic and that she is not incomplete or broken and that she does not have latch on to the most unsuitable and completely WRONG man to have a significant other (not that Gabe could ever be significant).

    It baffles me that the show runner and his writers are seriously trying to convince us that one of the most beautiful women on the planet cannot be alone for a few weeks without going completely insane and chose Gabe of all people to help her get over the love of her life.

    It was quite clear that she was only mildly attracted to him, calling the Mexico weekend 'a little romantic' and telling Tess that she HAS to make this work and that it will only work if she stays away from Vincent to distract her. I know you say she is derailed and traumatized and that makes her do weired things, but I still maintain that the writers just changed her character drastically to fit the plot. The real Catherine Chandler - like you pointed out - would have never accepted an ultimatum like Gabe gave her. Instead of lashing out at him, she cried and bowed her head. NOT HAPPENING.

    I do not want to be only negative about this episode - there were a few 'gems' in it and you pointed out every one of them and I totally agree, the Dr. Jekyl/Mr. Hyde was pure gold.

    About the writing: there were a few things in there that were unnecessarily snide and at one point totally unprofessional (point 4)::

    1. Catherine's comment to Vincent about leaving Jacob to the REAL doctors - he IS a REAL doctor.
    2. Her recoiling when he wanted to check her out after she told him about Jacob's attack
    3. Her not correcting Gabe when he thanked her for saving his life by shooting Jacob - Vincent also helped and faught Jacob - he rarely gets thanked for constantly saving everybody's behind
    4. Catherine should have never revealed to Insane Sam that his wife was still alive - it was totally unprofessional and dangerous and served no purpose

    And I have a question: after tranquing Jacob outside the unfinished building, how did Sam get this heavy unconscious, dead weight body into his car and then again from the car down into the dungeon? No matter, not really looking for an answer here. LOL.

    Thank you for writing these wonderful recaps and giving us a platform to vent - and of course I am still watching and re-watching and re-re-watching even the dark episodes. Like Catherine said last year in 'Cold Turkey': I have no choice and luckily thing do get better eventually.

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    1. Hi Barbara ~ you are spot-on on the Will the real Catherine Chandler please show herself in Season 2? And I still can't even talk about her fauxmance without wanting to G-ag. The snide comments especially as you listed out were really unforgivable and uncalled for.

      Ale ~ Jacob the Builder?? Dyinnnnggg :D FYI I adore the VinCat dream sequences ~ especially since that was the only way to let us have some of that "action" we've been missing in Season 2 with our BBs on the outs. Having said that I hated THIS ending! Never want to see Vincent in that situation ever! *sobs* And Cat in bed with @#$! after the ultimatum ~ SO WRONG. Everything gross with Cat and Gabegate I've already repeated like a broken record all over the place with much eyerolling and ranting so I'll leave it at *whatyouALLsaid* Thanks for the headnodding and giggles as always! ♥

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    2. Hello ean. Missed your comments on this one and still love your creation of 'fauxmance'. So fitting for this big mess.

      Hope to see you in here tomorrow for the next review.

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  2. Alex, I loved your review...and, Barbara, loved what you wrote too! Thank you!

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    1. Thanks Denise. I gave advance warning that I had a lot to say about this one. LOL.

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    2. Welcome Barbara! I love reading your and everyone else's comments and Alex's replies. It all helps to enhance and explain S2!

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  3. Hello TVEmpress, i like your recaps very much!
    Nobody can imaging how damn angry i was, when i heard about Cancun. So damn angry! I cried, i screamed... If she had picked a random guy in a bar, fine by me. But Gabe? (I saw the character, not the amazing actor at this point). How could she?
    I saw her getting weak, while she got closer to Gabe. As if it wasn't hard enough to bear JT's words ("It’s hard to be Dr. Jekyll when everyone keeps wanting Mr. Hyde"), i had to suffer the ugly, creepy Gabe and his possessive manner.
    When he told Cat to stay away from Vincent, i wanted to push him. I wanted her to push him. She should have push him, with words or arms or martial arts.
    Like you, i loved her before in S1 for: “You can’t forbid me to see anyone”.
    I expected a reaction, that fit. But...
    Instead of a fight, we saw her in her car driving through the city. She killed Vincent in her dream (i like the scene).
    But, when i saw, where she woke up, i needed a puke bucket... (not literally)
    Why why why was she in Gabe's bed? After his ultimatum? If she would have been in her place, what happened before would have been acceptable. Argh, i was far beyond damn angry!
    Now, month later, i'm still angry. Sorry for that :-)
    Greetings from Germany
    Iris

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    1. Hello Iris. Nice to meet another German here on this board. And I am totally with you about the screaming and, yes, I too am still bitter and angry about this whole arc. I was hoping it would dull with time and multiple watching, but the feeling stays as raw as it was at first.

      I am not a psychiatrist, but I think that the reason is that we really like the main characters and identify with them so much that the lines sometimes blurr between show and reality. I for example take it as a personal insult to KK that she has to play Catherine in that manner. Portraying a woman who is not quite right in her head for forgetting/forgiving so easily what Gabe did to her and Vincent not so long ago and climbing into bed with him. And not only that, she has totally lost her own voice, opinion, thought and anything else that made her a strong independent woman and is now living under Gabe's armpit and constantly deferring to him, bowing to him and telling everybody (and herself) constantly that 'she is with Gabe now.' And all we hear out of her is: Gabe says, Gabe wants, Gabe thinks, Gabe does, etc. I am so sick of hearing that!

      Unfortunately, this 'I am with Gabe now' will follow us for another 2 episodes and it is a lie the first time she utters it and it is a lie the last time she says it.

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    2. Hello Barbara,
      first, i never commented here before, because i thought, i couldn't express my feelings in English, but now i know that i was wrong. Thank you for your reply! (It's maybe a problem of Germans, always want to be perfect?).
      If i watch a TV Show and i start to like or love it, i always loose every distance to the characters and story. I start to care about a way too much sometimes ;-) But, on the other hand, i love to love and i love to hate!
      I totally agree with you. The next times, i needed a puke bucket, was her mantra-like 'Gabe says, Gabe wants, Gabe thinks, Gabe does...' (as you wrote in your reply). I am also not a psychiatrist, but i guess, we are both strong women, so it's hard to watch, how another woman we care about a lot, becomes weak. But, if this is the writers idea of showing, how a woman find herself in the middle of a big mess, unfortunately we have to deal with that. Bear it or switch off the TV. But the latter isn't an option, is it? ;-)
      Greetings
      Iris

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    3. But besides that, there are a few scenes i really like. E.g. the scene where the Fabulous Four are sitting on the bench in the church. "Rough night?" I laughed out loud, it was so well acted and a lot of fun to watch. Or the scene in the hospital, when Vincent wants to inject the antidot and tries to convince DR. SURPRISINGLY-NOT-EVIL-MARKUS (thanks TVEmpress, your expressions are so funny). And i like the second last scene at Vincent's. "Screw Gabe!" Yes! Screw Gabe! That 's what i said every time i saw Gabe, even in S1.
      Greetings
      Iris

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    4. I agree. I liked all the scenes you mentioned which is why I don't entirely hate this episode, I still think it had its moments. However, overall it wasn't very good. But I am actually more annoyed at the exposition-overload than the storyline hehe

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    5. Even though it is my least liked episode (right before Ancestors), I can appreciate the good parts in it. It is just so hard to concentrate and like the good parts when slimy and useless Gabe has so much screen time that the show should be called 'Beauty and the Ex-Beast/ADA/Soon-to be-Beast-Again'. BK's love affair with Sendhil is so annoying. And yes, the exposition was annoying, too. They could have shown us more of 'Vincent in the hospital'.

      And Iris, please stay around. I like your passionate comments - straight from the heart. And switching the tv channel is NO option when it comes to this show. EVER.

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    6. Thank you, Barbara! Of couse i'll stay. I've read all recaps and i'll read the next one, too. I'm curious about, because it's one of my favourite eps :-)
      Greetings
      Iris

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  4. great review as usual!
    some of your comments were so spot on (and hilarious), such as "Cat goes to see Daddy-Bob who is rotting away in the PRISON OF CRIMINALLY UNDERUSED CHARACTERS"
    regarding this : "And so the lines between man and beast blur even further, which would have been a neat episode theme, but the characters were too busy EXPLAINING each step of their plans over and over again" -AMEN
    wont elaborate further, this is exactly how i felt aobut the episode
    oh and regarding catherine being so weak at the end with Gabe, I would add to the reasons u mentioned the fact that she probably felt guilty towards both herself and gabe cause she was with somebody she had not feelings for - hence she was more likely to be tolerant of his inexcusable behaviour...(just an added reason)
    anyway as i said ditto to all and cant wait for your 15 review (one of my fav episodes - so many things i loved about 15)

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    1. I agree with what you said about Cat... I was just thinking about that while writing. The difference with what happened in Anniversary and now was that last year, Cat KNEW nothing was going on with Gabe, while now... she is aware on some level that she IS in love with Vincent. So she probably doesn't feel like honestly arguing because it would be a lie. Something along those lines...

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  5. Thank you as always for making me laugh today.

    As a fan of Hell on Wheels, I kept waiting for Christopher Heyerdahl to go insane on us. I thought he was a beast master at the very least.

    I hated that Vincent was to be sacrificed to save Gabe. It didn't matter if it was his humanity or his life. She even knows that she is sending him to his death or his beastly purgatory. For someone who isn't supposed to have deep feelngs for Gabe, it seemed rather convincing that she really did. When willing to kill off your ex lover for a new one??

    It is difficult to figure out Gabe's interior decorating scheme. Purple/blue under counter lights in the kitchen and red "hooker" lights in the bedroom. Sends a mixed message to me.

    I was shocked when Dana's witness protection was outed by Catherine. For someone always reminding Vincent that she could be "thrown off the force" for any slight in the rules, this was major misconduct.

    The entire episode was full of conflicting lines and actions. But then we should be used to it by now.

    It makes my day when I can read one of your reviews.

    Marsha
    .

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    1. I loved your comment about Gabe's apt decoration! So true! Even his apartment is confusing!

      And I still don't know why Cat outed Dana! There wasn't even a point! It was almost like she was just making conversation with Sam! haha

      And thanks for reading and commenting.

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  6. This episode is so boring and repetitive, not to say plain stupid, that even your powers of excellent writing are affected. I beg your forgiveness TV-Empress, you know I love your reviews for being so witty and clarifying. But there is not much to clarify here. Only utter stupidity and after a while you just have to give up. Of course your "Their plan was just layers and layers of non-sense. It was like an onion of bad plans. " had me in stitches. And your note about Bob's scientific knowledge “It had something to do with DNA and stuff”. And about Sam "Apparently, Sam couldn’t be bothered to run a background check." So yes, your humour is unaffected.

    Dreams are a bad story telling device, I couldn't agree more. But in this case ... I thought the mirroring effect was clever, because instead of showing how far V and C are apart on the surface of it (with Cath in Gabe's bed, pfui, pfui, pfui) it had the undercurrent of showing how they are really twin souls.

    Sendhil Ramamurthy can do sniveling surprisingly well, like in the scene where he is almost injected with beast serum, he sobbed convincingly with fear there. I was even swaying from my firm opinion that he was just pretending to be a good guy. But my doubts were short-lived, Gabe was so breathtakingly stupid in the rest of the episode. No good guy can be that foolish, even in a tv-show. And of course a couple of episodes later he embraced his beast hood happily . So Sendhil used his feeble acting powers to mislead us - that is about all he can do. IMO.

    As usual it is Jay Ryan who saves the episode. How Vincent deals with his dilemma of being human and beast is beautifully presented in a way that is both emotionally moving and logical. Some of the most telling scenes are the contrast between how Vincent immediately picks up on Cath's distress over shooting Jacob and comforts her and how Gabe first doesn't even notice and then goes on to what Cath can do for his own well-being.

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    1. Oh, Yvonne, thank you for pointing out this contrast between Vincent and Gabe - it was so poignant when VinCat talked about her feelings and so repugnant when Gabe mocked her about her feeling guilty. And of course he never leaves out a chance to badmouth Vincent, whereas Vincent calls Gabe a 'good guy' in this and even in the next episode. Don't approve of that of course, but I guess the writers wanted to show that Vincent again wanted what he thought Catherine wanted.

      Also noteworthy is Vincent's reaction when Catherine got hurt by Jacob. He was immediately concerned and wanted to check her out, whereas Gabe just walked into the apartment - all full of his selfish problem about how to get Vincent out of their lives - while Catherine painfully and slowly peeled out of her coat without his help. How dare he declare that he loves her!

      Okay, okay, I know Gabe dressed her wound, but the minute she displeased him he did not care about that anymore.

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  7. I really wish the writers and show runner had listened to the fans who really did not get into S2. You are totally right in your review, The only thing that saved S2 was the actors. Maybe if they had listened and fixed the mess they made of S2, we would not be waiting and wondering when and if we get to see the few episodes of S3. We would be happily watching a whole 22 episode season of Beauty and the Beast! Sad!

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    1. I agree. The writers needed to pay attention to the fans. If they had we might still be enjoying new seasons of BatB.

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  8. I hated the intro with Cat telling Tess about Mexico and Tess saying they made love. SERIOUSLY. I'm going to fugue out. That was disgusting. And they showed Cat in Gabe's bed once. Why after waiting so long to mention a sexual relationship even mention it at all? We could have happily convinced ourselves they didn't have sex. It seems so gross and OOC that Cat would do this with Gabe. Ugh. Upsetting for her to go away with him and do that. She never went away with V on vacation...I mean I am not naive about 20 somethings and sex at all, but it doesn't fit into the whole epic love storyline. It's more vindictive or shallow teen show storyline. I thought BATB was different. I was wrong. it is a CW show. F. Why establish Cat had sex with G? I hate this crap. And why have her sleep with gabe only to break up with him like 2 episodes later? It's like they made V and C get in new relationships that were super brief so why make it known they had sex with others. SO unnecessary. and why have cat say ILved Y in ep 17 or 18 to Gabe. I don't believe her even though she said it bc it seriously makes the least sense out of all the horrifying things that happened in season 2. I hate Cat's mean leave it to someone who knows what they are doing hospital comment. It's like she forgot all that he used to be. He was a doctor. Stop trying to pigeonhole him into just a monster. He is more than that. Let him be who he is. TV made more sense than CG as a couple IMO. CRIMINALLY UNDERUSED CHARS is hilarious! LOVED JT's line to Cat about how she is basically making him be the thing she told him she hated-the beast. Dr Jekyl and Mr. Hyde. Homegirl needed to be called out. I love that she admitted that she was only with G bc she couldn't be with V bc he went beastly. Loved JT breaking the bro code. YES Gabe is so hypocritical with the beast judgment. It's so annoying. He wa the WORST beast.
    " I can’t believe Cat just stood there. Back in season 1, Vincent was suspicious of Gabe and he told Cat he didn’t want her to see him anymore. What did she answer? “You can’t forbid me to see anyone”. And I loved that about her.I was a little disappointed in Cat, but I am not going to hate her for it either. Experiencing traumatic life events can alter your personality. I think, in a way, Cat has been spiraling ever since Vincent disappeared. She probably doesn’t even notice, but she hasn’t recovered and now she is [misguidedly] trying too hard to live a life that she thinks is the “right life”. But she is actually losing herself in the process" YES And her staying the night with him after his ultimatum is another form of her just taking his demands. Who the hell is this woman? Not our strong Cat.

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  9. It's like she was like don't leave me. I will do anything to not be alone and have to deal with my feelings for V. Just gross. Why show them in bed? The first time I saw it I wanted to vomit. Again, why with the illusion to sex with this monster? so unnecessary. People in love don't fall in love or have sex or with other people. I was under the impression V and C were in love? AGH! I mean I guess maybe people sometimes do when they are messed up? I just wish this stuff never happened. I'm tired of having to rationalize it to myself. lol I love V and C separately and as Vincat. So seeing Cat's character take these hits was painful. Like this was another OOC Cat moment. It helped me see why she was with Gabe though to some extent-I still don't get it or what the writers were thinking. She wasn't herself. I loved the dream, hated where it happened. At least we got some insight into Cat's mixed feelings. Like I had no idea what she was thinking bc she was acting so contradictory to her words and past actions."I did like what it represented: Cat is conflicted about her feelings for Vincent and she is scared that she will end up hurting him." YES I am with Barbara regarding Cat and mexico. WTH So unnecessary, too. And tess being giddy about cat being in Mexico. Please note Cat was like oh we went to Mexico like he kidnapped her and took her to a slaughterhouse for vacation. She wasn't that into it. She seems desperate to make it work like she can't be alone or else her feelings for V will make her run to him. It's like she needs to feel committed to Gabe to make herself not be with V.
    "I agree with what you said about Cat... I was just thinking about that while writing. The difference with what happened in Anniversary and now was that last year, Cat KNEW nothing was going on with Gabe, while now... she is aware on some level that she IS in love with Vincent. So she probably doesn't feel like honestly arguing because it would be a lie. " Team, I never thought about that. I like that a lot. Thanks for making one piece a little bit better. People who are guilty do weird things. Plus, she looked so sad to me like a confused little girl in that scene. Also, when her and Gabe were outside with V and Gabe was putting his arm around Cat, she looked so awkward. Like she didn't want V to see it or she was uncomfortable being with Gabe. I don't think she had deep feelings for Gabe. I mean honestly he was like a great guy during season 2 so she was like okay you're a great guy and it's hard not to care for great guys. Forgetting all of his season 1 stuff, which I didn't, but she did. Anyway, point it so she couldn't help but care for a guy (in her mind since she forgot s1) who bent over backward for her and loved her a ton so I am okay with that to an extent, but love hell no. is in love with V or else why would she accept him back so soon after. They had no real dating period again so she must have come out of denial and realized she was still in love with him. YES Gabe always takes the opportunity to badmouth V. Everyone who is close to her besides JT does. It's like the poor girl feels like V is the devil. tess, Gabe, her dad, her sis, are all not team V. And the first 3 are Team Gabe. I think V does want what Cat wants bc he just wants her to be happy. Selfless love. Having Gabe dress her wound seemed gross bc V is her doctor lol in my mind. Although the only two who have really dressed her wounds if I remember correctly are Evan and Gabe.

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