Beauty and the Beast is back at last! After the show clawed its way to a triumphant renewal for Season 3 and returned Monday night to its strongest ratings in a year, fans are being rewarded for that long wait since the last time we saw Vincent and Catherine. "Beast is the New Black" picked up where we left off with Vincent's super inconvenient arrest the morning after he and Cat finally got back together (sigh). And with a mixture of crazy-sexy romance, funny and touching moments of friendship, and "WTF" moments galore that was purely BATB, the show came back in high form indeed.
Cat flew into action with a series of typically brave and hilarious hijinks that were made harder by the simple fact that she lost her badge early in the episode and had to try and gain access to Vincent without it. She eventually donned a blue uniform and convinced the rather gullible prison guards that she was a "visualization" officer (what? LOL) who could talk Vincent down from his, ahem, fear of needles. By the way, after that extremely disturbing cavity search from the creepy as hell officer who brought Vincent into jail, I was also glad that when J.T. showed up in disguise as a doctor to strap the beast-inhibiting gem to Vincent's arm, he mentioned pending charges against the abusive-seeming guard. Poor Vincent - from the discomforts of being imprisoned to the indignities of his treatment and trying to convince all of his friends to stop lying about who they were to help him out, he had quite a time of it. He still had his wry humor intact though, as evidenced by this charming exchange:
Cat: "They'll still keep you in here for 20 to 25 years."
Vincent: "I like older women."
Another theme canvassed this week was the warm and relatable issue that Tess and J.T. were dealing with in their "non-relationship," which we all understand is really becoming an actual relationship. J.T. seemed to think that Tess was embarrassed for others to find out about them hooking up, while Tess was offended by his self-defensive claim that their latest romp was a one-time thing. This miscommunication led to some verbal scuffles, with J.T. blurting out the news that they'd slept together right in front of all the other scoobies. Cat was way too worried about Vincent to particularly care about this secret love connection, but Tess had actually been keeping it on the D.L. so not to rub in her lovelorn friend's face that she has found a viable relationship. A bit overprotective there, Tess, but that seems to be the instinct everyone feels about Catherine. I did really enjoy seeing Tess get a bit more play in this episode than she has in a while, with her showing some kind and wise approaches to difficult situations. Tess also had sage words to say, such as
"And yeah, you just got back together, but you're not some fragile newbie couple. You're epic." - Tess, referring to Cat and Vincent
I'm just glad that by the end of the hour, she and J.T. were able to confess that they really do want to be together and stop being so insecure about it. They're adorable together.
"Hey. We just had our first fight, which in my book makes this a real relationship. Which I could really use right now." - J.T. to Tess
While on the lam, Vincent showed up at Cat's apartment to "say goodbye," so noble, hot, and a little bit ridiculous. That last adjective has to be applied to his decision to hang out for so long at the exact place where the authorities know him to be likely to go. Couldn't he have summoned Catherine to a more low-key place for their night of love? And secondly, if Vincent believes that after all the hell they went through to find their way back to each other, Cat's really going to let him slip away now just to protect her, he's nuts. That's what I love about Catherine. Plus, her realization that her recent fixation on the concept of "moving forward" is clearly just about moving forward with Vincent, no matter where that takes her, was extremely satisfying.
Vincent was excellent in this episode, from his badass ambulance breakout to his swoon-worthy declarations to Catherine, calling her his "gem" that he wants to take everywhere with him, and saying,
"I'm sorry, but I've got to say goodbye. I'm asking for one last night where we can love each other as much as we do right now." - Vincent
Seriously, Vincent? I can't even. VinCat really is epic, to say the very least.
The bathroom scene was utterly adorable, funny, and gorgeous. Vincent's go-with-the-flow attitude as they holed up in the one window-less room in Cat's apartment and he somehow managed to make even this scenario breathtakingly romantic was fantastic. Naturally, he was able to find their song on Cat's phone so that they could dance...in the bathtub...with the shower going. Hotness. Unfortunately, their not-last evening together was interrupted by that notorious moment destroyer, Gabe. While Cat's ex was able to find someone to apparently absolve Vincent from his charges, this new opportunity quickly fizzled, leaving our favorite beast back in hot water and not the sexy shower kind this time. Back at Cat's place, helicopters circled and the cops landed to grab Vincent and take him back into custody. Delightfully, the only way to make Cat seem innocent in this scenario was for Vincent to handcuff her to a chair. Again. I like the continual theme of Vincent having to do this to Cat, with her quipping that this was the third time and his correcting her that it was actually the fourth. It's yet another example of the quirky, funny, steamy relationship these two share.
A lot of viewers, myself included, considered Gabe a highly likely suspect once Vincent was accused of the murder of Windsor out of the blue. However, the jury's still out on that one. Gabe had his moments in this episode of seeming to actually chill the eff out for a minute and stop trying to pressure Cat into a relationship with him by constantly putting Vincent down. A few times, Gabe actually seemed like part of the gang, such as when he "recused" himself from J.T.'s rantings about the problems of Vincent's arrest and Cat's reactions to it. And that quip about how Gabe wasn't keeping organs on reserve in case Cat got back with Vincent was hilarious. At one point, though, Gabe did relapse into his old "vulture" ways, claiming that he would never leave Cat to worry about him like Vincent does. At least Gabe admitted that he was being a jerk right then by harping on this tired line of thinking. And as for that last scene of Gabe having a drink and smirking while watching tv coverage about Vincent's escape, it was somewhat inscrutable. Was he smiling because Vincent's still in very big trouble? Or because Cat had succeeded in protecting Vincent a little longer and he wants her to be happy? That second theory seems unfortunately unlikely. Based on Gabe's conversation with Reynolds, it's clear the two men share a common agenda: "protecting" Cat from Vincent. Did they team up to pin this murder charge on Vincent? I have to suspect it, after all, by the end of the episode. Gabe is looking very sketchy right now...back in his comfort zone.
What did you think of this episode? Share your thoughts in the comments!
