My fellow Beasties, the time has come at last to discuss the final episode of Season 3. It has been quite an adventure over these thirteen episodes, as the show swerved from flawed filler hours to ever-improving, mythology and action-driven installments, finally finishing up on a high right when it seemed like the season was finally getting started.
I'm sure most of us noticed that Brad Kern wrote "Destined," and it seems like the season might have run more smoothly if he had taken more of a lead role in the writer's room (although he also wrote the confusing season premiere). The revolving door of writers definitely seemed to invite the lack of continuity and the number of glaring logic holes we all observed. While the season finale still didn't feature some grand, sweeping return to the VinCat passion of yore, at least we got most of what we needed: a fast-paced final showdown with Liam and the happy ending we were hoping for.
I'll be using some lyrics from Carly Rae Jepsen's song "Run Away with Me" that reflect the sense of romance, triumph, and liberation that Vincent and Catherine experienced in this episode.
"You're stuck in my head, stuck on my heart, stuck on my body, body
I wanna go, get out of here, I'm sick of the party, party
I'd run away
I'd run away with you
This is the part, you've got to say all that you're feeling, feeling
Packing a bag, we're leaving tonight when everyone's sleeping, sleeping
Let's run away
I'll run away with you..."*
Liam's last hurrah: I don't even think I'm going out on a limb in stating my belief that Liam was one of the most fascinating parts of Season 3. They didn't even trot the poor guy - the big bad of the season, mind you - out until the latter half of the episode batch. Yet still, with an overly rushed storyline and precious little explanation of pretty much anything he does, Liam managed to intrigue and be truly threatening to our heroes.
"Destined" was no exception. Here, we saw Liam pulling out all the stops to sabotage Vincent and Catherine in every respect. Their careers, Vincent's secret, VinCat's future together, and even J.T.'s freedom, were all on the line. Finally, pushed to the edge, Catherine and Vincent went to Homeland Security and told them everything, even the secret of beasts. I thought this was a cool twist, since after all, why not cut Liam off at the pass and embrace any advantage they might cultivate? How long could the existence of beasts and superhumans be kept under wraps anyway, given their ever-increasing prevalence?
Of course, the question remained (still!), why was Liam so hell-bent on Catherine and Vincent's destruction? After all, Heather explained away the Liam-thinking-VinCat-were-Rebecca-and-Alistair situation with a quick line of dialogue which dismissed an interesting idea that could have actually furnished a couple of cool episodes. If we had time! However, as Catherine later discovered, held prisoner by Liam in a mysterious underground lair (which reminded me of the underground world of the original Beauty and the Beast series from the '80s) Liam's soul is filled with hatred. And VinCat's resemblance to their forebears, as well as their adorable love and its redemptive power, inspired Liam's bloodlust all too easily.
I'd been pondering this theory, based on what happened in "Unbreakable," that Liam was seeking to end his own life, and that was the main reason for his actions (killing the other superhumans, killing the Ellingsworths, and other possible bucket list entries). Of course, the passing line of dialogue about Liam ending his suffering might have just referred to the satisfaction he would derive from eliminating his enemies.
Anyway, I really enjoyed the last conversation between Catherine and Liam. Finally, we got the development of a relationship between the heroine and villain that was long overdue. Liam had plenty of confrontations with Vincent, but none with Catherine that had this type of depth to them. As Catherine peeled away the layers of Liam's twisted nature, we could see her resentment morphing into curiosity and even a little bit of sympathy. Just as she started to wonder if there was a glimmer of possibility for redemption in this man, Vincent took Liam down. I actually admire the writing there, leaving that last question mark lingering about the abandoned child who became a bitter sociopath wandering alone for so many years. It's most likely that of course, Liam would never be anything but a murdering psycho, yet the scene brought more complexity to his character than we had previously seen.
Similarly to the situation with Reynolds, I feel that Liam should have been kept alive for longer. These were complicated, multi-faceted characters with the propensity for bringing surprising twists and even a little humor along the way. They drove the story forward instead of slowing it down.
A rooftop wedding: Vincent and Cat, you just stopped Liam! What are you gonna do now? A jaunt out for drinks with J.T., Tess, and Heather seemed the perfect ending to a long night; that is, until the friends hit upon the idea of Catherine and Vincent actually getting married...immediately! Tess got internet-ordained, while the gang tricked out the rooftop with what I am generously assuming to be leftover decorations from the first, thwarted VinCat wedding. All caveats of the realism of the idea aside, the wedding was absolutely beautiful. I loved Cat's first dress, and her second one too (when did she have time to get a new dress?). Vincent was dashing, of course. The rooftop setting and intimate guest list could not have been more tear-jerkingly appropriate to the truth of their relationship and what their love has always been all about.
"Cause you make me feel like
I could be driving you all night
And I found your lips in the street lights
I wanna be there with you
Oh baby, take me to the feeling
I'll be your sinner, in secret
When the lights go out
Run away with me
Oh baby, every single minute
I'll be your hero, I'm winning
When the lights go out
Run away with me..."*
I'll be your hero, I'm winning
When the lights go out
Run away with me..."*
On the other hand, you know I'll be watching Beauty and the Beast until the wheels fall off no matter how amazingly fantastic or painfully flawed next season is. And I bet most of you will, too!
As a last note in this review, let's have a look back at the overall highs and lows of Season 3:
The highs:
1. We had VinCat together from start to finish. No ridiculous break-ups and "new love interests" to drive us nuts. No artificial, superficial arguments injected to cause tumult between our two leads. Just nice, romantic solidarity throughout the season. And of course, Kristin Kreuk and Jay Ryan were utterly superb in their performances.
2. J.T. was excellent throughout the whole season. He was clever, funny, brilliant, and endlessly supportive of his friends. This character is a joy to watch.
3. While we certainly had to wait long enough for him, Liam ended up being a strong and memorable villain.
4. Heather's addition to the main cast ended up being more about her being there to support Catherine and inject a little outsider's common sense or questioning into the Fab Four's adventures. Still, while it would be interesting to see Heather have more of a stake in the ongoing storylines, she was a lot of fun to have around.
5. Gone too soon, but Reynolds was awesome in Season 3. I loved how his awkward frenemy relationship with Cat and Vincent developed into something more potentially trusting.
6. We got our VinCat Wedding!
And the lows:
1. Nothing actually happened in the first few episodes.
2. Repetitive dialogue. Who could forget these beloved chestnuts: "Co-dependent." "Someone is out there experimenting on innocents." Gah! Any other ad nauseum quotes I'm forgetting (or repressing, heehee)?
3. Lack of continuity, and some air-headed writing in general: Liam's slow character development and its accompanying procrastination; Vincent and Cat being dubbed co-dependent; sketchy explanations of mythology elements that seemed made up as the writers went along; inconsistent handling of the basic settings in some scenes (as some of you brilliant commenters pointed out, the empty coffee cups and forgetting what the weather was a moment ago were particularly glaring examples).
4. Tess had some charming moments in Season 3, but she was too often flinty, selfish, whining, and downright mean. Especially given what a wonderful season J.T. had, the writers gave Tess a hard time. They gave her the captain's chair only to use it as an excuse for her to abandon all common sense and put her own needs above everyone else's. Bleh.
5. The one that drives almost every Beastie absolutely insane: the weird lack of passion and physical affection between VinCat. What. Considering how the writers often seemed to scramble for anything just to fill a scene, they probably could have just included one twenty-minute love scene between the two leads per episode and kept every viewer happily glued to the set (just kidding...sort of). Unfortunately, they bizarrely chose to cast aside the sense of romantic urgency that fueled so much of the fabulousness of Seasons 1 and 2.
I'm exceedingly curious to see what Season 4 will hold. Did the writers and show-runner have a chance to watch Season 3 from beginning to end and read fan comments, in order to understand what went right and wrong in these 13 episodes? Will we see evidence next year that they analyzed and learned from the lows of Season 3? And even more intriguingly, what kinds of adventures lie ahead of our adorable band of heroes? I can't wait to find out.
What did you think of the season finale? What do you want to see in Season 4? Share your ideas in the comments, and thank you for reading and discussing the show here this season.
*lyrics taken from the song "Run Away with Me" by Carly Rae Jepsen.
