"Down for the Count"
In this episode, Catherine began working for DHS, and a case involving a dangerous gangster running an underground fight club led her to a perilous showdown. Of course, our Cat acquitted herself with her usual badassery! Meanwhile, Cat and Tess dealt with their changing roles, Vincent continued to grapple with concealing his beast side while keeping it strong, J.T. and Tess encountered some relationship troubles, while Heather embarked on a new romance.
Practice makes perfect? The episode had an unconventional opening that had me thinking the writers might have gone for an edgier approach with this one, maybe even one of those flashforward beginnings followed by a "48 hours earlier" title card that then shows us how the characters ended up at that point. A logical assumption, considering that we started out with J.T. inexplicably kidnapped by persons unknown and Vincent out on his trail. Yet we quickly learned that J.T. was just testing Vincent to see how fast he could save him and get back to work on time. Since juggling his dual roles as beastly hero and hunky doctor had become a little challenging, the goal here was to make sure Vincent actually can keep up with his crazy current lifestyle should new jeopardy arise. The answer: just barely, because who could? Vincent's run ragged, understandably. And the episode, while more engaging than the previous one, pretty much fell into a typical case-of-the-week rhythm from that point forward.
Tess became quite flustered and skittish since not only was she losing her best friend as a work colleague, but Cat's first case also just happened to be one she herself had been working on for quite some time. To make matters worse, Tess also found out that J.T. turned his tenure down without talking to her about it. In fact, J.T. does seem to be floundering a little bit, unable to definitively explain his decisions or what he really wants to do with his life. Tess needs him to make that choice first before they move in together, leaving them at a turning point in the relationship.
Far from being the originator of the bounty on Vincent, Medjani was pretty frightened by seeing Vincent beast out right before the gangster was apprehended, proving that our heroes were right back at square one. Like the last couple of episodes, they could feel good knowing that they caught a baddie, but paranoid knowing that the larger battle remains unresolved.
Elsewhere in the episode, Heather decided to take the plunge and begin dating Kyle, who didn't want to give up on their burgeoning romance even though she'd been trying to push him away. I'm glad she hasn't put her personal life on hold due to the VinCat drama that is simply never going to end, and therefore would serve as an everlasting impediment to her happiness if she kept putting off dating for that reason.
This was a much better episode. I always enjoy BatB greatly, but this hour stands out in a thus-far predictable bunch of installments as something a little more in-depth and intriguing. Catherine was worried that she might be pregnant, and amidst yet another quest for whoever is hunting Vincent, the pair's relationship drama came to the surface.
The thin blue line? Cat was "late" and increasingly concerned that a little one might be in her and Vincent's future, knowing that he might not be as ready for parenthood as she was beginning to feel. Ironically, or fatefully, this week's case brought them crashing into the same theme of kids, since they were meeting a potential informant at a school orientation event. The accountant supposedly had key information on the originator of the bounty, but as it later turned out, he wasn't an accountant at all, but an assassin gunning for Vincent, now identified by the baddies as the beast. I have to wonder, why has this gone from a capture order to a kill order and what is the villain's objective? The only thing that makes any sense is that this has to do with someone wanting to get rid of all beasts, either to remove competition or make the species extinct altogether. But we shall see -- soon, hopefully!
At the conclusion of this episode, we could truly see the fear and dread in Vincent's eyes, knowing that more and more killers are going to keep coming for him, and at some point, he may not survive. He's clinging tighter than ever to love with Catherine, resolved not to put their relationship on hold anymore, no matter how crazy life gets. That last scene between the two was another wonderful, lovely part of this episode.
We seem to be coming to a turning point where the writers are going to have to pull back that old curtain and show us the damn villain: who are they, and what do they want? Could the next episode, with its unique It's a Wonderful Life type of theme (good for the show for taking a risk in a different style of episode!), hold the answer?
Elsewhere in this episode, Secretary Hill's wife and daughter were held hostage with him while the assassin used him to find out about who the beast was. Vincent and Cat saved the potential victims in the nick of time, and after all of his complaints about his ass being on the line, I really felt for poor Hill at this point! Nice to see his resolve for finding the bad guy get even more serious, since VinCat will need the DHS' full resources and support on this.
Heather had more quirky-cute one-liners, and J.T. and Tess continued to dance around committing to the next stage of their relationship. I have no idea why Tess even bothered breaking up with J.T. when she clearly still wants to be with him, instead of just asking him to let her know his plans for the future pronto, which he should figure out. Yes, he was wrong for procrastinating on telling her about turning down tenure, but they can get past that. J.T. got kidnapped by The Bloggers, and after a few somewhat silly scenes, they agreed to shut their beast website down after being proved wrong that he was actually the beast. Seeing J.T. in danger just made Tess' affections more obvious, and it doesn't really feel like they broke up at all, unlike last season's split between them.
What did you think of these episodes? Share your thoughts in the comments, and be sure to catch an all-new Beauty and the Beast, Thursday at 9/8c on The CW.
