RECAP: Beauty and the Beast – Episode 2 – Proceed with Caution

Where we learn that, much like love, stalking is a two way street.

Welcome back Beasties! Good news is, there was a lot of enthusiasm for the pilot recap so I have decided to continue recapping the show throughout the summer… bad news is… writing recaps is a lot of work! Uff… but I love it, and I love reading all your reactions and comments on twitter, so thanks for all the feedback and let’s get down to business!

The episode starts with a shot of the GREAT city of NY accompanied by a GREAT song (Magic Wands – Kaleidoscope hearts), only problem is…the WORST VOICEOVER is back! [it will be gone by the next episode if I recall correctly]. At least in this episode the V.O. has an actual purpose, but we won’t find about that until the end of the episode.

Anyway, a good-looking young woman, completely unrelated to any storyline gets out of a cab and walks down a deserted alley alone… at night. Meanwhile Cat’s V.O. tells us about “lines”, drawing them, crossing them bla bla bla. Summary: detectives like lines, lines protect us, crossing lines = bad. Right on cue a BALLERINA BODY comes flying down almost crushing “I walk alone at night” woman because she must have crossed a line or something? Or I guess it was the ballerina who crossed the line railing? Well the metaphor was a little lost on me.

AND… we have a brand new OPENING SEQUENCE where Cat and Vincent summarize their backgrounds in one minute or less. And this is completely irrelevant, but every time I watch this sequence I think of the Alias opening “Seven years ago I was recruited by a secret branch of the CIA called SD-6…”[yes, I just quoted that from memory]. I have been drawing many parallels between BATB and Alias lately, I need to write an article about that… but I am rambling now.

Cat is going down memory lane and apparently she has her own “my mom was killed in front of me and I survived” scrapbook [or perhaps she took it from Vincent]. However she is interrupted by the arrival of her little sister HEATHER, who is now living with Cat. First thought: where the hell have I seen that girl? [Make it or Break it, yes I watched that, yes I am embarrassed about it]. Second thought: Where the hell did they find someone that actually looks like Kristin Kreuk? That must be hard to come by.

Cat goes all ‘investigative reporter’ on Heather and starts asking questions about the year before her mother died. Heather doesn’t seem in the mood to relive her mom’s murder and she tells Cat she was probably smoking too much pot in college since she thought she was saved by a ‘Beast’ and stuff… or something along those lines. That is when Cat comes across a paper her mother wrote about “Human Growth through DNA Sequence Alteration” ding ding ding.

After learning that Vincent has been basically stalking her for 9 years, Cat decides it is her turn now. It’s only polite to return the favor, right? So, Cat goes to the WAREHOUSE and lets herself in and…  JT comes at her with a bat! Cat quickly disarms him and knocks him down to the floor. And yes, it is hilarious and yes I love “JT man of action”. However he should stick to tranq guns because he sucks with a bat. Cat wants to see Vincent, but JT is acting like a guard dog and will not let her through. She tells him about her mother’s paper and that she wants to show it to Vincent because “he’s a Doctor” JT points out HE is a biochemist and probably more qualified to judge the paper. In reality, all he wants is for her to leave and take the paper with her. Cat leaves only because she gets called down to the FALLEN BALLERINA crime scene but leaves the paper behind at the warehouse.

AND IT IS TIME FOR: CSI: Pretty People Edition!

Crime of the week: Gemma Parker, dead ballerina who fell was pushed from the roof

Suspects: Victoria Hansen (her understudy), her mystery boyfriend, her stalker (the janitor)

Evidence retrieved: Cell phone… mmm seriously, if you are going to kill somebody, at least take the cell phone right? They also find her wallet, blood and a torn leotard… yeah, you don’t need to be Sherlock to conclude it WAS NOT a suicide.

At the CRIME SCENE Cat and Tess interview Victoria-the-understudy about Gemma’s murder. Evan is all over Cat because she is covered in dust after going to the warehouse. He wants to know if she was “rolling around in the dirt?” and Cat is all “I was hoping to, but JT got in the way”… OK she doesn’t really say that… but I am sure she was thinking it. After Cat flirts her way out of Evan’s inquisition Joe sends her and Tess to inspect the building. Cat goes up to the rooftop alone where she is surprised by Vincent when he grabs her from behind and covers her mouth with his hand to prevent her from yelling… and I really don’t get why he couldn’t just… I don’t know… talk to her?! Well I guess he is still in stalkerish mode or something.

This is the first time we see Vincent since the pilot and he looks very different (in a good way). First, he has real hair! Not the TERRIBLE WIG. He has also grown a stubble and looks like he has been working out. After we take in his new improved look [which will only keep improving], he tells Cat it is not OK for her to show up at his place. That sounds like a double standard for stalking to me. Also Mommy Chandler’s paper was about ‘dengue fever’ so nothing interesting there… however Cat is not letting go and she keeps pushing on the subject. Instead of offering answers Vincent points out that Victoria-the-understudy was lying and then Tess comes up so Vincent jumps off the roof because that’s the way he rolls… which will have unfortunate consequences eventually… but not in this episode.

Evan informs Cat that Gemma (the fallen ballerina) didn’t smoke and Cat can’t figure out what good is a rooftop if not for smoking [or kissing beasts]. Then Cat starts suspecting Victoria-the-understudy, because whenever a ballerina dies it is usually the understudy right? So Cat and Tess go to the BALLET COMPANY to talk to the choreographer played by Scotty from Brothers and Sisters, and yeah… I am not going to bother to learn the character’s name so I am just going to call him Scotty. So, Scotty explains to Cat and Tess that Victoria-the-understudy was not really the understudy and that Gemma was just filling out for her while she recuperated from an injury illegitimate pregnancy. So there goes the Black Swan theory.

Evan’s new discovery is that Gemma took the morning after pill and somehow he manages to use this information to flirt with Cat… I gotta give it to him, he is smooth. Cat is clinging to the “cat fight” theory and thinks it is a “love triangle gone wrong” to which Evan answers “Those never seem to work out, do they?” Oh, Evan… And speaking of triangles, after the flirting session with Evan Cat decides to go see Vincent again.  And I thought it was a very sexy scene. A swanky tune starts playing as Cat walks out of her car [with some cute boots courtesy of Catherine Ashton] stepping on the gravel outside the warehouse. Vincent is inside doing some reading and he instantly picks up her presence with his super senses. Still outside the fence, Cat seductively leans on her car and waits for Vincent to show up. Suddenly he is there standing motionless with clenched fists … looking right into her eyes… AND it is raining… getting the mental picture yet? I’ll give you a moment to enjoy…

OK, moment is over. Vincent invites Cat in and she starts babbling about the case. Vincent is almost as bored as we are and he figures she is just using the case as an excuse to get information about her mom. Cat doesn’t deny it and then she starts pouring out her soul about how she used to be a normal person, but ever since her mother’s murder her life has been defined by it. Vincent gets in a sharing mood as well and he shows her a picture of his platoon. The whole thing plays out almost like a first date with all the nerves, tension and sweetness. It is cute until JT barges in on them and basically tells Vincent to throw her out. Vincent explains they are just talking about a case [yeah, right] but JT points out he looks about ready to make her a playlist and that last time he was busy making playlists it didn’t end well [this is so coming back to haunt us]. In the end JT gives up and Vincent goes back to his date…er I mean ‘talking about the case’ with Cat. Cat starts asking about the picture which leads to her asking about Muirfield, which leads to her talking about her mom which pisses off Vincent. Suddenly he is all “I thought you liked for real but you are just using me to get information about your mom”. Cat leaves the warehouse but she takes Vincent’s picture… and seriously? Cat has some issues with stealing pictures of Vincent… which is understandable, but not OK.

Back at the PRECINCT Cat has the brilliant idea to scan the picture and run it through facial recognition… I mean come on! At least get some shady techie to do it for you, right? She doesn’t get to finish her search though because Tess shows up to remind her they have a case to investigate. Turns out Gemma had a stalker (the janitor), and not everyone is as lucky as Cat with their stalkers so they go to their house to question him; however as soon as he sees the cops he flees. And what follows is a pretty neat police-chase scene that looks like something you would see on The Shield, you know, if Michael Chiklis was a petite cute half Asian girl. Tess and Cat split up and Cat is intercepted by Vincent, who clearly is trying to make a point about ‘boundaries’. He is really upset that she took the picture because … say it with me: MUIRFIELD TRACKS EVERYTHING! Vincent is so upset, he beasts out and bangs on a wall [if that didn’t get his point across...] There is a moment of sweetness in the middle of that as Catherine doesn’t even flinch when he goes all hulk-like on her, but you can tell he totally hates himself for losing control, which is sad.

In the meantime Tess, who actually is aware of the fact she is a cop, apprehends the janitor/stalker and this is the point in the episodes where I get bored with the case of the week and I just want it to be over. The janitor was not the killer, so I guess he was the nice kind of stalker after all. He does, however, provide them a tip that leads them to the real killer. Turns out Gemma was sexually assaulted and that’s why she took the morning after pill and went to a police station where she was confronted by Victoria-the-understudy and they went into an argument about someone named “Joshua”.

And right when they are on the brink of breaking the case Cat leaves Tess to it [Best Partner Evah!] and goes back to the warehouse where she is greeted by a VERY perky JT. He invites her in with all the hospitality in the world; he even offers her left-over turkey! Cat is obviously confused until she realizes Vincent is gone! JT drops the nice act and he is all “You drove my BFF away you b…! Now go!”.

Lacking anything better to do, Cat goes back to the precinct to finish solving the case. And let’s get it over already! Turns out Joshua was the son of Victoria-the-understudy. Joshua’s father was Scotty the choreographer who also sexually assaulted Gemma! [Shocking to me because I was under the assumption Scotty was gay]. Gemma was going to report the assault to the police, but Victoria stopped her because she didn’t want her son to grow up without a father. Victoria told Scotty and Scotty killed Gemma. End of case. [FINALLY!]

After wrapping up the case Cat realizes her computer has been wiped clean… because [say it with me] MUIRFIELD TRACKS EVERYTHING! Finally that fact dawns on Cat. She goes back to the precinct but she is intercepted by a bike messenger who fakes and accident and then tries to kill her. It is a pretty cool fight scene and I realized the early episodes had a very “comic-book” look. That style went away in later episodes; I guess it didn’t really fit with the tone of the show. The messenger eventually overpowers Cat, but of course Vincent is there in a second to save her and kill the attacker but he runs away before Cat has a change to talk to him. Cat goes back to the precinct where Evan is thinking what we all think every time we see Cat in a fight “But you are SO tiny”. It is obvious that she did not have the force necessary to kill the bike messenger, but Evan is still hoping to get in her pants so he rules it as “self defense” without any further observation… that seems a little unethical, doesn’t it?

Unable to stalk Vincent anymore, Catherine moves to the next best thing and stalks JT until she finds him getting his skinny caramel macchiato. Cat gives JT the picture and a letter for Vincent. Then she apologizes for screwing things up for them and it is very heartfelt, which JT obviously sees because he lets her go without any snarky remarks.

Back at Cat’s place Heather is about to move out because she is feeling neglected by Cat.  I really don’t get why Cat wants to live with her sister that much, but OK. Let’s not be mean, they are sisters, they love each other and whatnot. But more than that I think it is about Cat trying to hold on to what is left of her “normal self” [yeah, like that’s gonna work]. So in order to dissuade Heather from moving she gives her a sisterly loving speech to which Heather replies: “Do you have a hickey?”  And Cat replies “No, it is a work injury, but if it’s ever anything that exciting, I promise I’ll tell you” no she won’t. Anyway, Heather is easily convinced and she goes unpack. That’s when Cat gets a note from Vincent, telling her to meet him at the “ballet roof”. And SPOILER ALERT if you have seen the remaining episodes of the season you know rooftops are the most romantic spot! –

Cat meets Vincent on the rooftop and she apologizes for “crossing the line”, and that is when we realize the entire AWFUL VOICEOVER was actually what Cat wrote in the letter to Vincent… which makes me hate the V.O. a little less, because it had a purpose. Cat acknowledges that she approaches everyone like they are a case and that she has been selfish. However she is willing to let her need for answers go, for Vincent’s sake. And that is the moment when she stops caring about herself and she starts caring about him, and you can actually see it happen as she speaks. She promises to never contact him again and to keep his secret forever; you can tell that prospect is terribly painful for her, but she means it. Fortunately, he is not into the idea of her disappearing either. In his words: “You’ve seen me when I don’t want anyone to see me, and you still haven’t run”. They agree to start over and they don’t actually say anything else but you can tell whatever lines Cat had previously drawn have completely disappeared into oblivion.

The first time I watched this episode I liked it well enough. I thought it was an improvement over the pilot, but I found the case a little boring and I wasn’t convinced about the show yet. However it was because of moments like that last scene that I decided to keep watching and thank god I did! Because there are many more moments like that one to come!

Finally, I have been mocking the AWFUL VOICE-OVER non-stop, but as much as I don’t like it (as a device) I actually loved what it said in this episode. So I leave you with a full transcription about the “lines”:

“Being a detective is about drawing lines: the lines between us and them, good guys and bad guys, perp and victim. Then there are the lines we draw to protect ourselves: rules, protocol. It’s about not crossing those lines, because when you do… bad things can happen. The thing is, it’s hard to always stay inside the lines. So we do the best we can. But somewhere along the way, I forgot that if you care about someone, you need to pay attention to their lines, too. Like I said, being a detective is about drawing lines, but being human. I think it’s about knowing how and when to cross them… together”

QUOTES

JT: You brought a cell phone here? Why not a flashing neon sign? “Vincent Keller lives here”

Evan: Who are you making yourself pretty for/ Cat: And if I said you?/ Evan: That would be nice, especially since the other woman I am here to see doesn’t have a pulse

JT: Don’t tell me to relax, I don’t tell you to relax

Tess: She dating a platoon?

Cat: Guess that is why bikers should wear helmets, even if they are muggers

Vincent: As much as I keep saying stay away, I keep showing up, too.

Vincent: You’ve seen me when I don’t want anyone to see me, and you still haven’t run

MORE RECAPS HERE