RECAP: Beauty and the Beast – Season 2 Episode 20– Ever after

Fish are wiser than birds


Cat pretends to be Richard Castle and Vincent pretends to be a normal Canadian dude? Not exactly sure, but he was watching hockey. In any case, they discover the grass is not greener in suburbia and that fish are excellent listeners. Meanwhile JT & T attempt to face the big evil alone while overdosing us with cuteness.


The episode starts with Cat standing in the middle of an abandoned garden staring at a golden bird like the Disney Princess she is [she is actually a re-used CBS character…] Her fugitive Prince startles her and she proceeds to knock him down to the ground. OK…I didn’t necessarily hate the Disney vibe with the bird, but they never used that type of symbolism before so I didn’t see the point. Also, Belle wasn’t even into birds, she was into books. So it wasn’t even a good reference… But let’s move one.

After Vincent recovers from the Cat attack, they proceed to recap the last few episodes. In summary: Vincent is still a hunted man, Cat is willing to run away with him and they are still hoping to get rid of Gabe and figure out “their normal”. Unfortunately, that is not happening any time soon because WATSON THE CINDERELLA WITNESS disappeared and won’t testify against Gabe. Vincent stupidly volunteers to track Watson.

Tess is not so happy about her witnesses disappearing either. She goes to Gabe’s apartment and he is either having a psychotic break or had 10 too many espressos. Either way, he is getting arrested. In the meantime, Cat and Vincent go to the motel where Watson was last seen. Vincent has a BEASTMONITION and thanks to the wonders of Beast-Green-Sight he realizes Gabe killed Watson [Ug… *tracking logic* won’t even bother complaining].

BACK AT THE PRECINCT, Gabe tells Captain Ward that Vincent killed Watson and is trying to pin it on him to divert attention from his manhunt. [That is a thin theory. Gabe is seriously off his game] Tess points out that Gabe’s theory doesn’t make any sense. So Gabe’s all “she is just defending Vincent because he is her BFF’s boyfriend!” Wardy is all “Let’s just chill for a minute…” and then Gabe leaves. That wasn’t the best interrogation…

Meanwhile, Vincent is on a mission to find WITNESS WATSON. Because that’s what you should do when you are a wanted fugitive: Get involved in ANOTHER crime. Anyway, he follows Gabe’s trail to a crowded NY area, where he gets confused by all the smells and people [tracking is magic, but not perfect]. Since Vincent is a… hmm memorable man, he quickly gets recognized by one of the passerby. Fortunately he manages to avoid the NY Mounties and doesn’t get caught.

Agent Knox just put Beast in the corner
At THUNDER G-MAN’S OFFICE (AKA the FBI), Vincat get scolded by Agent Longshadow [yes I am trying out a new nickname]. Catherine tries to explain the situation: “They were tracking Gabe to find where he stashed Watson’s body”. Agent Knox is all “Tracking? What the hell does that even mean?” I wonder that every single week, Agent Knox. EVERY SINGLE WEEK ! Cat gives him a really stupid explanation about tracking, which only pisses Agent Knox [and me] more.

Cat begs for a solution. She is desperate because there is no safe place for them anymore… I don’t want to argue with her but… Vincent did live underground for 10 years… maybe he should just... find a nice warehouse and stick to tunnel/rooftop night outings for a while. He did it before! Guess he got used to walking under the sun or something. Anyway, Agent Knox suggests WITNESS RELOCATION and they decide to go for it.

Vincent and Catherine break the news to Tess and JT. Tess takes it much better than JT who shrewdly points out city people can’t survive in suburbia [SO TRUE]. But since they don’t have a choice they decided to ship out to Suburgatory that same night. JT promises to continue the Gabe-investigation and Vincent is all “Hmmm you don’t exactly have my never-explained-and-always-confusing beast abilities”. JT gives him the BEST answer ever “I may not have Beast-sense but I have common sense, all right? Plus my girl here’s got a badge and a gun” POINT JT. Move away Vincat, there is a new power couple in town.

Meanwhile, Gabe coffee-bribes the guy who spotted Vincent on the street. The witness “guesses” where Vincent escaped and mentions he was with a “cute little brunette”. OK, so what was the point of this? The guy had no useful information and it is not like Gabe didn’t know Vincent was with Cat… Anyway, after learning… NOTHING from the witness, Gabe goes to Cat’s apartment. He finds her wallet, car keys and cell phone. Unfortunately he doesn’t assume she is dead, so he turns on the charm and goes to question the neighbor. Like everybody else in this episode, Cat’s flirty neighbor provides completely useless information: She tells Gabe that Cat goes up to the roof a lot to spend time with her fugitive boyfriend plants. She does, however, mention that Cat will be out of town for a while. Finally some relevant info, sadly given to the wrong person.  

"Real Houses..."
"And fresh air..."
Vincent and Catherine finally arrive at SUBURGATORY and marvel at the size of their new house as any normal city person would. The neighbors instantly notice them and start waiving. New Yorker Cat has no clue of what is going on. Shockingly Vincent seems better adjusted to suburban life [I guess suburbs are more beast-friendly in general]. They have a cute moment that ends with Cat telling Vincent she would give up anything and go anywhere with him [wouldn’t we all?]. And then, something BIG happens [OK big for me]. Vincent and Catherine reveal their ALIASES which are MR. AND MRS. VAUGHN. I am sorry… if that ain’t an Alias reference, I don’t know what is. So yeah… you’ll have to excuse me while I go geek out [and rewatch the episode where Sydney and Vaughn go undercover in suburbia]

The day after, Vincent and his bathrobe wake up happy to find out that what happens in Manhattan, stays in Manhattan. Meanwhile, Cat is trying her hardest to become “Veronica Vaughn: Mystery Writer”, but she is clearly longing for the polluted, crime infested big apple she loves. [Sidenote: No-one would ever believe Vincent’s name is Tim].

Back at New York, JT is frustrated because he hasn’t been able to pick up Gabe’s trail like he promised Vincent. Not having illogical-maybe-magical-tracking-abilities makes finding people harder. Tess tells JT that he should stop acting like Vincent’s side-kick and find Gabe using his “big professor brain”. So JT comes up with a techie-type plan that has something to  do with cell towers. Filled with confidence he kisses Tess and tells her she is a “genius”. Tess seems to enjoy that.

"Hello Humans..."
Meanwhile, Vincent has his first close encounter of the neighbor kind. The friendly dude is FRANK. Vincent is terrible at pretending he is NOT a wanted fugitive fleeing New York. I thought no-one could ever look more suspicious… until they enter the house and run into “Veronica”. Cat looks like she doesn’t know how to make small talk, shake hands or be around people she is not about to arrest. The poor girl has lived in the city for too long. [Seriously, it’s like she is on an episode of The Neighbors]

Vincent and Catherine also meet APRIL, Frank’s wife who just… walks into their house. Do people do that in suburbia? Walk into stranger’s houses? April asks Vincent if they’d met before. Vincent is convinced she is on to him; Cat thinks she is just being suburbanish and I thought she was trying to come on to Vincent. We also learn that Snotty April hates nice Frank, that they have a son in NYU and that they recently got robbed [two out of those three facts are important].

Later that day, Vincent starts feeling paranoid. He sees a cop, DEPUTY LEWIS, going into SUBURB FRANK’S house. Vincent panics, but Catherine thinks he is exaggerating. However, looks like he isn’t because, a second later, a gunshot is heard. Vincent and Catherine run towards their neighbors’ house and find a desperate April crying on top of her dead husband’s body. DUN DUN DUN.

*Sighs* This just turned into the CASE OF THE WEEK. I thought we were done with those…

Oh well…

It’s time for the “Veronica Vaughn Show”: A former cop goes into witness protection as a mystery writer and solves crimes in suburbia. Think about it as Castle meets In Plain Sight meets Veronica Mars. It would actually be a good show… but probably not the best idea for a single episode.

Anyhow…


Crime of the week: Frank Harris [ha wonder if they picked the name on purpose], nosy suburbanite killed in his own home by… a cop.
Suspects:
Well… we know Deputy Lewis shot him so? Are we trying to figure out why? God… is this something like Motive now?

The day after, Catherine wants to go out and play with the other cops. Vincent protests but she doesn’t listen and just runs out. He tries to go after her but realizes he can’t possibly go out wearing HIS HUMONGOUS BATHROBE.

Outside, Cat decides her cover as a nosy neighbor allows her to ask the lead detective lots of questions. He doesn’t appreciate that and he is about to get mad, but Vincent finally comes out of the house and drags Cat inside. SUPERCOP CAT explains she just uncovered a murder plot [yes, she did that by having one conversation with the victim and eavesdropping for 5 seconds on the witness interrogation].

Anyway, here is what happened according to Cat: April wanted Frank dead. Frank went out armed because April told him there was a suspicious vehicle outside. Meanwhile, April called the cops and hid Frank’s keys. Frank, still holding his gun, had to climb the fence to get inside just as the cop arrived and shot him thinking he was an intruder. OK, that is a REALLY bad mystery. Vincent gets mad at Cat because they are in hiding and solving murders doesn’t help them stay under the radar. Cat says it is their responsibility to get involved and she is all “I may have a self-righteous hero complex… but you totally do too!” And yes, it was a little bit annoying that Cat was endangering their cover like that to solve a crime but… she was ABSOLUTELY RIGHT. Vincent likes to get involved and do the right thing too. After the war, he was supposed to be hiding, in the shadows… yet he kept exposing himself to save innocent people around Manhattan. He did that for decades and I think eventually he would have started doing it again. He was trying to stay off the radar harder this time because of Cat, but turns out, Cat has the same chronic need to help people he has, that is part of why they are great together.

Using a “cell tower road map”, JT figures out that Gabe brought Watson’s body to the dungeon, which has a convenient crematorium. I don’t know why they don’t start ALL their investigations by going to the dungeon. JT gets kidnapped? DUNGEON Vincent disappears? Cat locked him up in the DUNGEON. Heather is abducted? DUNGEON Bodies need to be disposed? DUNGEON. Seems like the logical step without having to go through tracking of any kind.

So JT & T arrive at BEAGONSTONE. They find Watson’s remains, but also find Gabe. Well, technically Gabe finds  them [and points a gun at them]. Tess takes out her gun as well. Gabe demands to know where Vincent is and then goes into a rant about how he is the good guy protecting Cat and man… he has completely lost it. He sounds absolutely crazy. He also threatens to blow the whistle on the entire beast conspiracy exposing EVER YONE (including JT and Tess) in the process. Finally, Tess lowers her gun and Gabe leaves. I am surprised he didn’t kill them… I assume he took all of Watson’s remains?

Unable to stop Cat’s law-woman instincts, Vincent stays home. He decides to eat some cereal and have a relationship talk with… his fish. Yep… Vincent should never ever move away from where JT lives, he can’t function without him. Finally, Vincent concludes that he should pay attention to Catherine’s concerns. OK, maybe the fish was good surrogate-best-friend material after all.

Vincent walks across the street and knocks on April’s door. She is talking on the phone and as soon as she sees Vincent she is all “I’ll call you back, my super hunky new neighbor is here and I should see if we can have an affair”. Unfortunately for April, Vincent is there to find out if she had her husband killed with a simple YES or NO question. April obviously denies it, but lie detector Keller knows better and realizes his girlfriend is ALWAYS right.

In the meantime, Veronica Vaughn finds DEPUTY LEWIS to tell him her conspiracy theory. He is about to go on patrol so he asks her to join him. While on patrol, Cat realizes a few things are off about Deputy Lewis. He notices she is on to him and they start a fight inside the car [“It’s never safe in the car”]. They struggle and crash the car. Cat runs, the deputy finds her and shoots at her, Cat finds a shotgun in the trunk AND… Vincent comes and knocks the deputy out. Hmm… that was kind of a bummer… After Cat had to fight him off it would have been cooler if she was the one to take him out. Last minute beast rescues feel anticlimactic sometimes…

Cat wonders how Vincent found her. See? Even Cat doesn’t buy the “tracking B.S.” Vincent explains that he scared April into a confession. He acknowledges Cat did the right think, even if she blew their covers. They hug and Cat begs to go home to a place where the air smells and people don’t waive.

In NEW YORK, Vincent mentions that wherever they are Cat will always have the need to “kick ass”. But he doesn’t mind because it is part of what he loves about her. I thought Vincent’s speech was sweet. This side of Cat can be frustrating sometimes. The fact that can accept that and even admire her for it just shows how perfect they are for each other. END OF EPISODE.

-- So… I thought this was an average episode, not awesome, not awful. Nevertheless, after it aired, I realized it generated a VERY negative reaction. I admit, some scenes were completely unnecessary, but there were also quite a few good lines/moments. Even though it is not my favorite, I still don’t think there was anything terribly wrong with this episode. I’ll explain why:

Reused CBS character having a Disney moment
Writing-wise: Technically speaking, I don’t think this was the worst episode. The structure was adequate [it followed a three ac structure] and no basic screenwriting rules were butchered. Most scenes were well-written and short, but others didn’t move the plot forward [that’s my main criticism]. The storyline wasn’t stellar but I think it is unfair to blame the writer of the episode. She was probably tasked [by the EPs] with writing a filler episode where ”X happens” and I think she did an OK job. The idea to send Vincent and Catherine to suburbia was good, but I believe the mistake was trying to cram a “mystery of the week” in less than half an episode. The “mystery” was VERY weak. There were too many other things going on. We had JT & T chasing Gabe, the set up for the suburbia story plus Vincat’s relationship drama. I am not a fan of cop shows, but they are certainly great at creating complex mysteries with lots of twists. They do that by focusing 90% of the episode on the mystery and probably have 2 scenes that deal with the personal lives of the continuing characters. The idea of a standalone episode at this point in the season was never going to work on BATB. Maybe… If this had been a two parter, they could have pulled of the suburbia storyline while tackling all the other beast stuff.

Vincat’s attitude-wise: Unlike a lot of people I did not have a problem with this at all. Yes, both characters [especially Cat] were frustrating at points, but I thought it was realistic. They can’t be pretty and perfect all the time [OK maybe pretty]. Real characters are supposed to be difficult and irrational [it says so in the books]. That’s what gives them dimensions. In this context I didn’t mind the bickering, I simply thought it showed they had moved past the honeymoon stage. Whatever your feelings about that, I believe the episode had some important takeaways: Vincent and Catherine had been suffering because they could never have the white picket fence. It was their ideal. Suddenly they got a taste of it and realized that it is not who they are [the grass maybe be greener but not better in suburbia]. Vincent and Catherine have something in common. They are people who need to do the right thing and can’t avoid getting involved. Their life may be full of trials, but “being a hero” is deeply embedded in who they are. I quite like that message and… as a city girl I completely understand why Cat was so restless! The nice house in the suburbs is not for everyone! [So no… I didn’t feel Cat was OOC] Also… small towns aren’t really safe… not if Veronica Mars, Twin Peaks, Bates Motel, Broadchurch and Fargo have taught me anything.

Had to be done
Lack of fluff-wise: I think the lack of sexy time in this episode was the main complaint among viewers. Hey… I wouldn’t have minded a steamy scene at all! But that’s easier said than done. Yes, the setting was conducive to such a scene… but think about all they had to do in this episode! You had Vincat tracking the Cinderella witness and getting shipped to suburbia. In addition, they had to solve a lame mystery of the week. Plus you had JT tracking Gabe while having a confidence crisis then Gabe going all psycho on JT&T. Whether or not it was a good idea to include ALL that in one ep, the decision was made at some point and it had to be done. So… I understand why there wasn’t enough time to write in a sexy scene. Regardless, I don’t think that type of scene was absolutely necessary in this instance. On the other hand, there is no reason we should assume they weren’t having sex off-screen. For all we know a scene like that may have been written but cut. When writing you are forced to cut a lot of lovely scenes because they are not absolutely necessary or mess up the pacing or many other reasons [the term “kill your babies” is often used]. As a general rule scenes should 1) Provide background info 2) Reveal something about the character and 3) Move the plot forward [ideally all three]. Scenes that don’t do that… however great, have to go. So... I guess what I am saying is that we should cut the writers some slack… I don’t think any unforgivable crimes against screenwriting were committed in this episode.

Till next week. By the way, I am considering [no promises yet] recapping other shows and taking suggestions. I would rather start with something that is airing at the moment, although I am willing to consider a rewatch of an old show. So far suggestions include Revenge, Outlader, GoT, Orphan Black and Banshee.

And finally… TV Republik is on tumblr now! I am still learning the ropes so… bear with me. But I will be posting all sorts of TV news, original articles and micro-blogs. So CHEK IT OUT.

QUOTES


JT: We are all city people; you can’t just leave Manhattan you’ll get bored!
Tess: Less Robin, more Batman
Cat: If I am gonna be Barbie, you can at least be Ken
Vincent: This is completely out of curiosity but, did you have your husband killed?
Vincent: I hate is when she is right.
Tess: You can take the girl out of the city, but you can’t take the city out of the girl.
Tess: Now give me a gummy

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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. Alex, hope you had a lovely and well deserved holiday! So glad to have you back! As usual, your review is spot on and very funny. This episode wasn't my favorite but your breakdown helped me to understand its purpose...and why there weren't any steamy scenes. I did do my share of imagining behind the scenes, lol. And...loved how V's tush rocked that robe. And how sexy he looked with a wedding band on! Great news about tumblir! Also hope you will recap other shows! My choice is Outlander, but I'll read anything you write. Have a grreat weekend & week!

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  2. I know that i'm almost the only person on the planet who really likes this episode. I watched it at breakfast and slowly, unnoticed, a stupid big grin came onto my face. It never went away, not even at work (and my job is very stressful). Sometimes it's that easy. There is a surprising ease, there is light and warmth, all of the good things in life that both have missed for a long time. There is a lot of well acting, that reminds me more on theatre than TV. But the most important thing is the awareness that you can't deny yourself. That's the core of the episode to me and this is the core of life.
    Greetings from Germany
    Iris

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  3. Hello and welcome back, Alex. Enjoyed your review as always. Glad that you addressed some of the negative reaction it received and we understand that sometimes, it is not only the writer but TPTB who dictate the pace, the storyline etc.

    Whoever it was that came up with this episode may not have committed a total blunder – as you pointed out – and I agree with that, but they could have done so much better with the material at hand and with Jay and Kristin at a setting like that. They were alone together in a huge house, fairly safe from interruption and with no particular job to do. I do not need to SEE them christening every room in the house, but could they not at least have shown us them waking up together? Would that have been so hard? I do not have to have a steamy scene in every episode – I have AMP on DVD thank you – but this was certainly a missed opportunity.

    Also, I am a great fan of Kristin/Catherine (no surprise there) and I get really upset when they portray her as being stupid and gauche. When they arrive at the HUGE house, she is all awed and big-eyed and asks Vincent what they do now. And he says: we get out of the car. Seriously, was this meant to be funny, because it missed its mark with me. What did she think she was going to do once they arrived? Have a picnic in the car, wait until the butler opens the door and welcomes them? Catherine grew up in a big house! Remember, her father was a rich lawyer and they had a big house, so why is she supposedly in awe? So not realistic.

    And later, after only one night in suburbia, she hankers for the city. I get that the theme of the day was that Catherine cannot do country, even though in season one she was ready to move to a small town outside of Denver. I also get that sometimes you THINK you want something and then you cannot handle it. But it is totally unrealistic that she could not handle even ONE single day/night in suburbia. They could have put in a little comment in the bottom saying: Two Weeks Later.

    During this episode Catherine acted gauche and jumpy and ill at ease and that made no sense to me. She is used to undercover work and she is used to slipping into a role with total ease (remember Ancestors?), so why is she so jumpy here? She almost does not remember Vincent's undercover name, she is nervous about meeting the neighbors, she shrinks back when Vincent puts his arm around her in front of Frank. Who is this Catherine? I can only guess that the director wanted to hammer it into our heads that she is nervous in the country and only can act 'normal' again once she was investigating the crime next door.

    No, this was not the worst episode, but it was a missed opportunity and since we had so many missed opportunities is season two already, it made a lot of fans angry – and I totally understand that,.and I agree.

    Luckily, Jay and Kristin rock no matter what! Loved that they drove up in a BMW – German engineering, yeah, and such an elegant car.

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    1. Barbara, I couldn't have said it any better myself. I had the same gripes about this episode as you did. I actually think they did a disservice to Catherine's character. I get that this was a new writer and all, but did she even watch any previous episodes..let alone Season 2? I was just as upset with the character assassination of Catherine as the lack of "alone time" for VinCat. Like you said, could they have not shown at least one romantic moment between the two? In the previous episode they talked about not having any time for themselves..and when the opportunity finally comes around, Cat is too busy playing detective? It's another instance of another missed opportunity and the inconsistent and sometimes terrible writing of Season 2. And again, I have to bemoan the fact that there were no real romantic scenes between VinCat throughout S2. The one sexy thing we got was Vincent and random chick Gabriella. VinCat are finally back together and no bedroom scenes for them or interrupted scenes at best. Color me disappointed.

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  4. Thank you for your recap and for helping us ride out the long winter without BATB.

    This is one episode that I ranted about to the powers that be. I felt that this writer loathed the character of Catherine. She made Catherine look like an adrenaline addicted junkie who needed a fix badly.

    I couldn't understand why she was acting so strangely. As Barbara said, she grew up in a big house in the country. She was perfectly comfortable talking to her stepdad and rummaging through the basement, but suddenly she is all prickly nerves. She can't even remember their undercover names. What about "Ancestors?" She was pretty much undercover for the entire episode and didn't flinch or forget her undercover name.

    Since when do they send the cop who just killed someone out on patrol? I believe it is called "administrative leave pending an investigation"

    Because this writer seemed to dislike the character so much, the plot could have been more substantial. Instead I was left with nothing except their smiles at the end of the episode. I was exhausted watching most of the episode waiting for Catherine to be taken away in a straight jacket for rehab or at least some downtime.

    And yes, after the promos showed the viewers a romantic getaway, we were disappointed. To echo Barbara again, they could have shown us a little "morning after" it isn't like they don't reuse scenes over and over again. So what if it may have imitated "About Last Night" opening scene.

    If they don't mind reusing crashing through windows, blowing up buildings, car wrecks, why not a little romance, even a suggestion would have helped.








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    1. Good for you to send a letter to the network. Feedback from the fans should be welcome, but I am having doubts that it is welcome. Season 2 seems to be the absolute opposite of what most fans could have wished for and expected. I always thought - apparently mistakenly - that passionate fans were important and what the networks want in order to sell their sponsors' products.

      For example, in season one, many fans wrote to KIA that they noticed the many different car models Catherine was driving and there were many other campaigns to support the sponsors.

      So, it beats me and baffles me to no end why they went out of their way to frustrate and antagonize their fanbase just to push THEIR agenda through, even though they must have been aware by then that it was not working and they were losing fans left and right.

      Throwing us a bone could have been so easily done: leave out the stupid mystery and show more VinCat interaction. The setting and the expectactions they raised with the title could have - with just minor changes - gone a long way to make the fans very happy.

      I often wish that it would be possible to have some kind of honest interaction with TPTB in order to ASK them WHY exactly they do things the way they do them, because so many of their actions are not logical and not received well by the audience. Okay, end of rant.

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  5. Thanks for the great review, always a time for reflection on the show.

    Very different from the other episodes, for once it isn't Vincent who gets the blame for things going wrong for them, it is Cath who is the culprit this time. This is a humorous twist and works well except for one thing. You can't make the heroine say that she will do anything to be together with her man and then blithely write a script where she gives up after one day of trying. It makes her come across as fickle. Maybe I should say thoughtless. Then telling Vincent that she can't help it because Justice Must Come First and she is Miss Justice personified? I am sure everyone watching cringed a little. I did.

    The premise that no New Yorker can live in Suburbia (always said with a faint sneer) becomes a little naïve after a while. After all they presumably have newspapers and TV there too. (Except no one in this Suburbia seems to be able to read the papers or watch the news about the dangerous fugitive. It is supposed to be a strictly NY affair?) And Suburbia has crime too as it turns out. One wonders why she doesn't want to stay and fight crime there since she obviously is the only one that can put two and two together. (BTW a tip here; if you want to keep yourself and your loved one safe in your witness protection scheme, use your phone for giving information to the investigators. Please!)

    Gabe innocently saying "why would I do that" at the accusation is what every TV-villain puts up as the standard (and invalid) argument. One wonders why the writers keep up the pretense of being interested in Gabe, even as a villain he is more inept than devilish. He tracks down Vincent and Cath kind of halfway (pompously interviewing this person and that, searching for clues, etc) and then his efforts just peter out. The same with Gabe suddenly giving up his standoff with Tess and JT in the useful dungeon, disappearing almost in a puff of smoke. Never mind, no one cares about Gabe anymore.

    BTW nothing is more revealing of I Have Gone Into Witness Protection than leaving your wallet and phone behind (is she trying to give the impression that she is dead?) and then telling your neighbor to water your plants for an indefinite time.

    The scene with Vincent communicating with the fish at the breakfast table is priceless. Suddenly here is a scene that is funny, intelligent and inventive. This scene is in a nutshell why Jay Ryan keeps us coming back for more.

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  6. Yes, I think people expected a sex scene in this episode from what I've read on Twitter after the episode aired. When Vincent carried Cat into the house in his arms like newlyweds, it was expected they would be seen in the bedroom making out or at least cuddled in each other's arms the next day. What was not expected was seeing Cat fully dressed and arguing with Vincent about Cat having trouble letting go of city life. This ep was mediocre, so a sex scene would've made it good for fans. Sometimes I think fans could do a better job writing shows than some writers. This not only goes for BatB but for other shows as well. All in all, I enjoyed the JT & T caper and loved some of the humorous scenes with Vincent.

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    1. Ah, Chloe, mediocre was the word that was eluding me. You are so right and it could have been fixed so easily if they had just used at least the breakfast scene for a tender 'after-a-great-night' moment. But no, they bicker.

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  7. I was so looking forward to this review especially since we always agree and I knew you did not hate this episode and when I first watched it I really did not like it. Since then I have rewatched and I did enjoy watching, the flow was good but still I think ...it could have been much better. My issue was not the lack of sex though I know this was an issue for some fans. My issues were:
    A) to me vincat felt out of character. yes i completely agree you need to see different sides to the characters and bickering is fine and yes of course they are not in the honeymoon phase anymore, but..... we are talking about two people who have just got together again and since they got together they have been hunted by all and cannot get a minute together. so I expect them to be like this a month in, or maybe even a week in - not Straightaway! hence this did not feel realistic to me.
    B) this was clearly a filler episode. did we need a filler episode two episodes before what was possibly a series finale? not so sure about that. also i think we already knew that vincat are not our conventional couple and they cannot do "normal". i dont think we needed an episode to see that. i think the theme was just too blatantly obvious and forced and on our face lol..am I being too harsh? same about the symbolism - "birds" etc...
    C) case of the week was weak as u also say...and too much is going on...
    D) missed the vincat magic - that is the strongest element of the show, use it. it felt like the new writer was very disconnected from the characters

    having said that there were some really funny moments and sweet moments too and when i rewatched I enjoyed my rewatch. oh adn the alias references made me smile :)but yeah....definitely a disappointing episode for me, especially as i was expecting more

    oh and recaps - can u recap them all? lol
    ok banshee for sure. outlander is quite enjoyable so yeah that would be good. I am currently watching SOA but will at some point watch Orphan Black - will I like it? oh and can you please please please recap Jane the Virgin??????? mwhahahaha joke!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! though actually thinking aobut it maybe you should! i am sure your recaps of the virgin would make me laugh to death! hehe

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    1. Hi Anna, thanks for your comments. I love it that even if we are not 100% in agreement you make perfect sense and I understand your POV. You are right about the "timing" of it. I hadn't thought about it. For some reason I had it in my mind that some time had passed btw this ep and the one before... but it is not really the case, is it? So, in that context... you are completely right, it doesn't make sense for them to be so... suburbanish... I still felt they were cute though, didn't feel chemistry was gone... just transformed into smth that wasn't quite right at the moment I guess...

      I was actually thinking of writing smth about JTV hehe but I fear I might be to biased.... we'll see. I could create an alter-ego and just go for ironic recaps... hehe

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    2. lol as long as u tell me it is you so i can go read them!! getting the pop corn ready from now, i know it will be brilliant!

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  8. Welcome back and thank you! When I am depressed about the mess season 2 was ( sorry just my opinion) I read your reviews and I laugh and feel so much better!

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  9. I'm just not sure about JT&T. I think it was too fast. And now there are too many happy couples on the show. I don't mind them though and think they are cute. I just think JT and T's separate dating adventures could have been better drama/comedy for the show than them together. They're sweet, but IMO they're no Vincat.I didn't catch the Alias reference and I loved that show. Thanks for pointing that out! I liked the end scene with Vincat where V says you'll always need a place where you can kick ass and her reaction to his line. It's like aw he really gets me. It was sweet. And I think that's why they work bc they do get each other. "I thought Vincent’s speech was sweet. This side of Cat can be frustrating sometimes. The fact that can accept that and even admire her for it just shows how perfect they are for each other. END OF EPISODE." YES!! I'm surprised reactions were so negative afterward. I guess bc they made Vincat more of an old married couple instead of yay! let's use this as a hot vacation couple? I too wish there had been more fluff, but I thought it was a fine episode. I guess in some ways I don't want them out of the honeymoon stage bc they just got back together and it was dark times right before that. I like your thoughts on their attitudes a lot. Thanks for the perspective. I liked the episode! I'm surprised so many reacted negatively to it. I wish there had been an Alias suburban shower scene (did I make that up or is my memory right?) and that would have made it more BATB and less sitcom to me. I don't want Vincat to be Chandler and Monica even though I love them. I want intense romantic love, please from this show. Thanks. I'll watch sitcoms for the other stuff. Iris, love what you said about not denying your self. Has anyone ever thought that maybe it's the actors not writers having more of a say in there not being steamy scenes? I mean on Scandal there always are and Kerry Washington, for ex, must be okay with it as part of her job. Maybe the BATB actors are more modest or find those scenes more awkward and have put in their request for minimal scenes like that-not that they said no, but just that they'd like less and the writers were like sure they aren't necessary. I don't want to presume anything about the actors, but I think some writers take into account what the actors are comfortable with. That being said, some shows never have epic kisses or love scenes like we got in Tough Love and Any Means Possible. JRKK went for it (way more "graphic"/detailed (not that anything was shown but you know) than I thought it would be) and blew me away with their acting so I am just thankful we even got that when so many fans never do after many seasons. I do believe after season 2 we deserved a good love scene though to be honest, I don't think anything they do will come close to Any Means Possible, which was shockingly good. I didn't think her character came off badly or was weakened in this ep, but she was kind of frustrating as TVRepublik said. I'm actually surprised so many felt that. I thought she'd be more excited and was disappointed she wasn't and felt like it was weird she wasn't, but it didn't phase me that much. Funny we can all have such different takes! I agree that there are lots of times when viewers throughout season 2 could have been thrown a bone easily and never were, and it still doesn't make sense to me.

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