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This episode almost defies analysis due to its just plain wacky nature, but I'm going to do my best anyway. I do enjoy when BATB pours on the crazy sauce, and boy did "Operation Fake Date" have some of that to spare! So I'm going to go with a slightly different approach to this review to break down the aspects of the episode that I liked and those I felt were a bit off-key. I can't wait to hear what you guys thought of this episode...!
The Good:
-The fact that this episode title sounds like a Sweet Valley High book from the early '90s.
-Vincent and Catherine's "disguises" and fake baby carriage at the beginning of the episode: This was probably the perfect way to start a bizarre episode, and I have to hand it to Kristin Kreuk and Jay Ryan for making the comically quirky aspects of VinCat totally adorable and hilarious.
-J.T.'nT. - Basically, J.T. and Tess were so cute and funny in this episode that they almost stole the whole hour. Poor J.T.'s attempt to prove that he could be "edgy," after thinking that's what Tess wanted, was priceless. And Tess' confession at the end that she felt a little nervous about sex shops and strippers, and would rather just be with J.T. sans theatrics, was so sweet. Love these two!
-Heather is going to make it onto both the "good" and "ehhhh" lists in my review. I really enjoy the frenzied charm that Nicole Anderson brings to the character of Cat's sister, and despite the weird way the writers had her behave in "Operation Fake Date," I was still happy to have her around. She brings a fun energy to the ensemble that makes me look forward to seeing what she gets up to next season as a regular. I liked her chirpy PR coaching of Vincent, too.
-Vincent's reading material in solitary lockdown: Beyond Anger. Ha! He's such a great combination of hot and hilarious.
-References to the actual mythology of the show: We actually heard about Rebecca Reynolds again and saw her journal reemerge, with Cat studying it to learn more about her ancestor and "her beast" Alistair. This whole undercurrent to the mythology was brought up and dropped back in ye olde days of "Torible" earlier in Season 2, and I'd really like to hear more about the history of beasts and the Reynolds family. Fantasy shows do benefit from having a rich backstory and structure to the mythology, and I think that BATB's writers would do well to continue building up their world in this respect.
-Adorable and sexy VinCat moments: For those who were regretful we didn't get it last week, this episode had a nice prelude to sexytimes scene of Cat and Vincent in the youth hostel, with him asking her to wear the blonde wig one more time and both of them giggling. Gotta appreciate them making the best of life on the run! There's so much chemistry and sparkling humor between the two characters that they really light up the screen.
-J.T. gets one more shout-out - for functioning as The Voice of the Audience after VinCat resuscitated Gabe: "now we're hugging because he's alive?!" Amen, brother.
The Ehhh....
One of the deepest moments of the episode came when Vincent told Catherine it's understandable that she has a lot of anger (specifically seen this week towards Gabe) which she habitually represses. This is very true, and Cat does spend a great deal of time and energy soothing everyone else's frayed nerves while her own frustrations boil within. It was nice to have Vincent tell Cat that he was kind of glad to be able to clean up her mess for once. Even if that mess was Gabe's possibly dying, which wouldn't have been such a bad thing!
More good moments:
-J.T. providing pink furry handcuffs for Gabe: Because LOL.-J.T. gets one more shout-out - for functioning as The Voice of the Audience after VinCat resuscitated Gabe: "now we're hugging because he's alive?!" Amen, brother.
-Vincent being exonerated: We don't get much of an explanation on how this is even possible, but at least he's been freed from fugitive status. That's a pretty huge deal that our fab four fought long and hard for over the last batch of episodes...though it's unclear if their efforts really had anything to do with this turnaround.
-Awesome cliffhanger: After all the utter plotting lunacy it took to get him there, we had a psycho-scary Gabe beasting back out, leaping through windows past a shocked J.T. and Tess, and ripping poor Beth's heart out. This harrowing conclusion was potently successful in setting the scene for an exciting and high-stakes season finale.
-Obvious best scene in the whole episode: Cat kicking Gabe's ass! Seriously, I could watch a whole episode just of that. Damn, he really had it coming, and Catherine served it up so excellently.
The Ehhh....
-The actual premise of the episode: the idea of Catherine going on a "romantic date" with Gabe after everything that has transpired was more than a little out there, and I think she might have been playing too easily into his manipulative schemes. There's using Gabe's obsession with Cat to the fab four's advantage, and then there's giving Gabe the opportunity to get even madder and crazier. Unfortunately, going out with Gabe succeeded much more in the latter way than in the former. Also, the whole "date" segment made my skin crawl, though at least that means the show succeeded in being frightening, which was probably a big part of the goal of the premise.
-Cake decorating? Limo? Really? Not to mention the ridiculousness of having Gabe come back after realizing that he has Catherine's cake instead of his own. I don't know, this part seemed a bit contrived and silly to me, though again I have to hand it to Sendhil Ramamurthy for carrying off every flourish of nuttiness the scripts give him with such enthusiasm. Gabe's sob story and explanation of his reasons for doing horrible things was pathetic, and his disappointment at realizing Cat's obvious true agenda was laughable.
-Mysterious FBI-looking dudes taking Vincent's blood and apparently exonerating him: This might click plotwise if we get some more explanation, but right now it's a little too murky and flimsily presented to seem plausible. Who are these men? What's their connection to Gabe, whom they are surveilling? Did they give Gabe Vincent's blood, since he injects something to make him a beast again at the end of the episode? I wonder if this has anything to do with Reynolds.
-Heather's procrastination on pressing charges against Gabe: I sympathize with the fact that she's been traumatized, but when Heather kept putting this off in favor of organizing her bachelorette party (for her upcoming, not-at-all-rushed wedding to the invisible fiancé), it was a little hard to take. Her bossiness and scolding of Tess was also fairly annoying, though I am trying to cut her slack since she was snatched and held in a dungeon last week. We'd all be a little out of sorts.
-VinCat procrastinating on taking Gabe out for good: I know Cat can't just kill someone in cold blood because that's just not who she is. I can even go along with her desperate attempts to save Gabe, since she's not a killer and couldn't deal with having accidentally taken someone's life. Alright, okay. But we don't have to be quite so relieved and happy about saving Gabe, who's an out of control and destructive murderer, one who will clearly keep killing since there's no way for him to ever get what he wants and that's what fuels his violence. Furthermore, I hardly think that giving Gabe a stern talking to and then un-handcuffing him and leaving him with only J.T. and Tess for protection while he wandered around free after acting like a maniac throughout the whole episode was a wise move. And J.T. and Tess wondering, "is he still in the bathroom?" Really? I wouldn't let that psycho out of my sight for a millisecond.
Even though "Operation Fake Date" had its questionable points, I still liked it for its stronger aspects. And I'm super-psyched for the season finale, which looks sure to be a major event, not least of all because the producers had every reason to fear it might be a series finale at the time of filming. That means, I hope, that we will get real closure (I think Gabe, at this point, has to die) and a happy ending for Vincent, Cat, J.T., and Tess - with Season 3's continuing adventures to look forward to as the best possible bonus. I wonder if there will even be a cliffhanger next week, and what it might entail.
What did you think of this episode? Share your thoughts in the comments!
