RECAP: Beauty and the Beast – Episode 12 – Cold Turkey

When "people are after you" and you don't ask enough questions, your attempted "romantic" weekend might turn into a mass murder...

The last “unfortunate” episode! There was a lot of controversy surrounding these last few eps, as evident from all the fan debate on forums, twitter and the latest recaps on this site. I’ll share my final thoughts on the subject at the end of this recap: Who was wrong? Who acted badly? Who had good intentions? And how did the arc affect the “epicness” of the couple? But for now, let’s go back to the episode.

After we get a mash up of “Alex’s least favorite moments”, the episode opens at a KARAOKE BAR where Cat is having some girl time with Tess and Heather. They are mid conversation about Vincent A.K.A. “The ass”. Tess thinks Cat should just kick him to the curve for choosing “the other woman”, but Cat replies that he didn’t choose her, he chose “the things that come along with her” and I agree with her assessment. However, Cat probably isn’t considering that one of the “things” that come along with Alex is getting away and giving them [Cat and JT] a chance at normal. Anyway, Cat starts getting a little chatty [I blame the fruity margaritas] and tells the girls Vincent has issues and, although not her intention, she does make him sound like he beats women or something. Heather reminds Cat she should be done with “bad boys” to which Cat immediately replies “He is NOT a bad boy, he is sweet and heroic and… we just had this really deep connection and he understands me like no one else”. Looks like Cat is a little confused about the rules of “girl talk”. You are supposed to bitch about the guys [one specific guy or the whole gender], not list all their qualities. Well, I guess that’s what happens when you are in love. I actually liked this conversation; it shows that even though Cat was feeling rejected and heart-broken, she still cares about him and deep down she understands his misguided motivations… which is an important thing to consider by the time she decides to forgive him. Tess and Heather point out she is still “hanging on” and it is decided that she should go “Cold Turkey”… yeah, that NEVER works.

Back at her apartment, Cat is doing what any normal girl would do after a [sort of] breakup: eating a pint of ice-cream and watching crime shows in her sweats. By the way, I loved how they styled her on this scene. She looks so natural but still so beautiful [well I don’t think KK can not look pretty under any circumstances]. Heather is freaked out by the show about the killer neighbor and asks Cat to turn it off. At that precise moment there is a knock on the door but it is not Cat’s killer neighbor, it’s actually worse. It is the maybe-psychotic-ex-girlfriend-of-her-beast-almost-boyfriend. So, Alex is there to ask Cat’s permission to take Vincent out of the city (to her parents’ cabin), yeah… seriously. Even though the general opinion of Alex was negative, I know there were a few that liked her and saw her simply as an “innocent girl”. I wouldn’t say I hated her, but I disliked her; not because she was the “ex”, but because she was overly gullible and naïve. However, that is just a matter of personal preference I guess. I can understand that some people find those qualities endearing instead of annoying [as I did].

After hearing Alex’s indecently-naïve proposal, Cat tries to figure out exactly how much Vincent told her, which is basically NOTHING. Of course, Alex believes she is completely in the know… And even if that were the case, why on earth would she go to his “handler” and tell her she knows “everything” before consulting him? Somehow, Cat manages to fake smile and refrain herself from slapping Alex while she keeps babbling about the “completely isolated cabin” which was their “favorite place” and that they have “a lot to catch up on”. Lacking anything better to say, Cat mentions their plans to move to Africa [which will turn into Mexico in about 2 minutes]. Alex is not so thrilled to discover Vincent confides in Cat about those things, and I really can’t tell what is going through her mind… Maybe she is starting to realize there is something between Cat and Vincent, or maybe she is just thinking of unicorns, who knows? Cat finally tells Alex that she doesn't need her permission and to have fun at the cabin [Seriously, major class-act], but as soon as Alex leaves Cat drops the fake smile and looks devastated.

CUT TO Cat jogging through the park.  Vincent approaches her and I have to admit, I hated him a little at the beginning of this scene. For some reason he looked a little cocky [which is unlike him]. I guess the fact that he has “two smoking hot women fighting over him” got to his head. We also learn that all that was needed for guys to "sense you are mad" is to turn them into super-soldiers with enhanced senses. The issues we could solve! Anyway, Vincent drops the attitude pretty quickly and his intentions were good, so… He is there to apologize for what Alex did, but that is NOT what he should be apologizing for. I think what he was trying [badly] to say is that he wanted to go to the cabin, not for a romantic weekend, but to figure things out with Alex. He even tells Cat “it is not about her over you” and explains it is about him having a future where he can practice medicine; which, as I said before, I can understand. What I also understand is that Catherine is upset. The real reason she is upset is that she is jealous and she doesn't want to lose Vincent to Alex. However, like any proud woman would do, she doesn't tell him that. She tells Vincent she is worried because he could “lose control” which is exactly the wrong thing to say to him [because of all his insecurities]. Vincent is hurt and assumes that Cat believes he might hurt Alex or something, which is SO NOT the issue. When Cat says: “Just the idea of you going anywhere with someone who doesn't know who you are…”; what  she really meant  was: “just the idea of you going anywhere with someone who ISN'T ME!”, but I am guessing Vincent didn't quite get that. Finally, Cat gets very confrontational and tells him that he can do whatever he wants and that she doesn't care. And, he probably believed her! I COMPLETELY understand Cat’s reaction [I would have done exactly the same], she has more than enough reasons to be mad at him; but if you look at it from Vincent’s P.O.V., he went there because he cared enough to ask for her opinion and all he got was a comment about his “control issues” and a rejection for any future conversations on the subject.

Cat sees the error of her ways pretty soon and tells Tess she might have made a mistake. She realized [too late] that Vincent was wavering and that she made him run in the other direction. I completely agree. He wasn't sure about what he was doing and once again he went to see Cat to “clarify” stuff BEFORE going to Alex. Anyway, it’s time for Cat and Tess to play cops for a while. Narcotics were raiding the apartments of NY General Staff looking for the ILLEGAL UNDERGROUND CLINIC’s stolen drugs. Alex’s name was on the list and as therapeutic as raiding “the other woman’s” apartment sounds there are dangers involved, like Vincent’s DNA and pictures all over the place! Before going to “the raid of the ex”, Cat tries calling Vincent but he isn't picking up so she tries JT instead. She tells him about the raid, JT tells her about Evan’s “The Beast and I” presentation. Not a good day for team Beast. JT volunteers to clean up Alex’s place, but Cat tells him she doesn't want him to leave his fingerprints there, which is a stupid argument, he could just wear gloves! Anyway, Cat also points out she knows where all the pictures and mementos are… now that makes. Poor Cat goes to Alex’s place to get rid of the OBSESSIVE AMOUNT of pictures of Vincent and finds a bag of new lingerie in Alex’s bedroom. So, Vincent had “figuring out” weekend on his mind, Alex thought “romance” and little did anyone know they would end up getting “mauling and multiple murders”.

Meanwhile Vincent and Alex drive towards the DOOMED REVELATIONS CABIN. For some reason, Alex believes that supposed-to-be-dead-soldiers can’t have strawberry milkshakes and that looking at the road is not a necessity when driving. At one point during this scene I thought Alex might be on drugs. Am I the only one who thought that? Anyway, Vincent tries [really badly] to explain some his limitations, like not being able to get on a plane, for example. So Alex quickly changes her Nigeria plan for Mexico, because who cares about drug cartels, right? Or maybe she really IS trying to get in the drug trafficking business. Maybe she is a real criminal mastermind capable of creating a drug empire and we are just not giving her enough credit… or maybe she just really likes margaritas. In any case, Vincent doesn’t look very convinced about anything at all, but he doesn’t dare to contradict her either because he still has the hard task of telling her the truth about his grittier self.

Still at the RAID OF THE EX, and thanks to the lingerie bag, Tess concludes Alex might have a boyfriend who could be holding the stolen drugs for her. Cat can’t hide her disappointment when Tess brings up the “boyfriend”. Tess tells her that “maybe he is an ass too”, the same ass, as a matter of fact. That’s when Cat notices yet ANOTHER picture of Vincent. Seriously, is there a place where Alex doesn't have pictures of Vincent? I wouldn't have been surprised if they found a life size cut-out taped to her bedroom’s ceiling! I get wanting to look at him all day, but come on! To make matters even worse, Cat finds a LISTENING DEVICE! She immediately goes to the WAREHOUSE to talk to JT and I love all the Cat/JT scenes in this episode. Yeah, Austin Basis being funny… shocker. Anyway, Cat figures M is on to them because Vincent killed Alex’s stalker (PSYCHO CONNOR) and his DNA was probably on the body. So… getting rid of bodies of people Vincent kills isn't a priority anymore? WTH? In summary, someone needs to go to the DOOMED REVELATIONS CABIN to warn Vincent and Alex about M. JT is unavailable because he is on scientific-interference-duty with Evan. Reluctantly Cat agrees to go. Kristin Kreuk mentioned on an interview that this was the episode that defined her character in the sense that Cat was willing to do what needed to be done to protect Vincent even if it wasn't what she wanted… and that is exactly what unconditional love is after all… so I liked that aspect of the episode.

Alex and Vincent arrive at the DOOMED REVELATIONS CABIN. Vincent tries to bring up the subject of the experiments and Muirfield but Alex is just so oblivious! She is all “I won’t tell anyone, except for my REPORTER friend in the next episode!” He tries to explain he is concerned about her “safety”, she merely says she understands “people are after him”. What kind of woman moves to a foreign country [a dangerous one on top of that] with a man that has to pretend to be dead because he has “people after him”, not even knowing who this people are or why they are after him?! Apparently Alex thinks being an E.R. nurse qualifies her to fight against the “people who are after Vincent”. So, in summary, she tells him she “is in”, you know… until she isn’t. She decides to make dinner and Vincent doesn’t continue his AWFUL EXPLANATION. To a degree, I think Vincent feels sorry for her and feels a huge sense of responsibility towards her. The fact that she hasn’t moved on and she acts like a love-sick teen doesn’t help.

And this is where I thought a particular scene was going to happen. A scene that, in my opinion, could have fixed every single issue fans had with the “Alex arc”. I was so convinced this scene was going to happen I was shocked when it didn't. So here is my fantasy scene: At the cabin, Vincent braces himself to tell Alex the truth about Muirfield’s experiments. He starts by saying something like: “I need to tell you something” but instead of the “how I became a beast” story he ends up blurting: “I have feelings for Catherine”. Everything else in the episode could have stayed the same, but this way the “second choice” issue would have been resolved with the added bonus of implying Vincent wasn't comfortable sharing his true self with Alex. However, that’s not what happened, and I truly believe a scene like that would have made everything better.

This is what actually happened: Vincent finally tells Alex he was part of an “experiment” in the military and… no that’s it. That’s ALL he tells her. He is being one big-vague-beast so, this time around, I can’t completely blame Alex for assuming he just has PTSD. She starts to wonder if he is truly on board with the illegal clinic turned Nigeria turned Mexico [will probably turn Bolivia by tomorrow] plan. She asks if this is about his “handler” and looks like Alex is FINALLY figuring things out. Vincent tells her he is on board with the EVERCHANGING PLAN but that there are complications [which surprisingly don’t relate to its ever-changing nature!]. From this scene I get two things: 1) Vincent is hesitant about telling Alex the truth. I think, deep down, he knows her and knows it is something she won’t be able to handle. So, in this context, I believe he knows that once he tells her the truth, the whole Doctors-without-borders-fantasy will be over. He probably always knew the plan was going to fall apart and he just wanted to enjoy the “idea” of it while it lasted. 2) I get the feeling that he is trying very hard to convince himself that this is what he wants because, in his mind, it is the “right thing to do” not just for him but for Cat and JT [protecting them by leaving] as well as Alex [making up for deserting her].

After Alex has that brief moment of clarity, where she gets a little upset about his lack of clarity and starts questioning his relationship with his “handler”, she goes back to accepting the SHORTEST MOST INCOMPLETE EXPLANATION ever and gets all lovey dovey again! For someone who just found out her boyfriend faked his death, she sure is very trusting. Since she won’t be doing any more questioning, she moves on to kiss him and he was totally going to let her, but dare I say he looked more resigned than happy? Almost like, “maybe if I kiss her it can all come true”… I don’t know, perhaps he was just going to kiss her because he is a guy and how often do guys reject the chance to kiss an attractive woman? There was also a lot of debate on whether he was going to sleep with her or not (if they weren't interrupted). I personally believe it was so NOT going to happen for several reasons. One, he still had to tell her the truth and I don’t think he would have slept with her without doing that first. And second, we know he had some serious traumas in relation to sex. SPOILER ALERT He was extremely hesitant even with Catherine and she knew about all the risks involved. END OF SPOILER But that’s a “what if” question we can’t really answer.

Anyway the almost kiss is interrupted by M’S TIMELY ROADSIDE PAWN. And I have one more thing to add here. The kiss was interrupted because Vincent heard the roadside pawn coming before he even knocked on the door. Now SPOILER ALERT let’s jump to the next episode where Vincent was so enthralled by his almost kiss with Cat, he never heard Heather coming into the room. So I am going to go ahead and assume he wasn’t that into the kiss with Alex END OF SPOILER. The ROADSIDE PAWN gives them a story about a broken truck blah blah blah and the whole thing screams SET UP! Even if it wasn’t about M, he looked like he was trying to mug them or something. So, of course, Vincent goes with him because if trouble doesn’t come to you, you should go looking for trouble? He is probably spending too much time with Alex.

In the meantime, JT is taking care of the “Evan problem”.  He lures Evan out of his lab by comparing himself to Justin Timberlake, planning cross-training work-outs and offering to “buy him a soda”. Once they are out, Evan asks if “buying a soda” is a euphemism for anything. I asked this question on twitter before: What on earth can “buy a soda” be a euphemism for? I can usually “dirtify” anything when prompted to do so, but for the life of me I can’t come up with anything funny on this. So if you have an idea PLEASE tell me! According to JT, “buying a soda” is a euphemism for “your morgue is probably bugged”. JT tries to explain the dangers of M and Evan doesn't really buy the “secret organization” explanation. In all fairness, JT sort of looks like the type of guy who would be into conspiracy theories. JT can’t really say “M is real and I know it because I share a warehouse with their failed experiment”, so Evan starts putting two and two together and accuses JT of sabotaging his research. This seemed like the perfect time to ID JT as the guy who broke into his lab and give the PLOT WITH NO PAYOFF some freaking pay-off! But no…

After a long drive and an awkward conversation with Tess, Cat finally arrives to the DOOMED REVELATIONS CABIN and finds Alex wearing a silk rob… what the hell? Couldn’t she at least wait for Vincent? Talk about offering stuff in a silver platter… [too mean?] Since Alex has FINALLY figured some things out she asks Catherine if there is something going on between her and Vincent. Cat is all “if by something you mean an unparallel connection marked by destiny, I guess so… but that’s really not why I am here”. Alex tells Cat about the ROADSIDE PAWN and Cat instantly gets into panic mode demanding to know when, why and where he went. Cat explains about the M-bug and tells Alex that “he has a handler for a reason” STOP SAYING HANDLER! Once again, Alex brags about her COMPREHENSIVE KNOWLEDGE OF VINCENT’S SITUATION, meaning fake PTSD. Cat’s all “I don’t have time for this shit, I need to go find him” and Alex immediately volunteers to go with her to help, why? I don’t know. I mean, Cat is a cop with a gun… what is Alex planning to do? Dazzle the attackers with her red hair? Use her super-nurse powers? Cat puts her in her place and orders her to stay, she also gives her a gun [how many guns was she carrying?] just in case. But I DO NOT recall Cat saying “use the damn gun on Vincent”! but I am getting ahead of myself.

In the meantime, Vincent was driving ROADSIDE PAWN to his truck but he stops in the middle of the road and that’s when we realize he was completely on to him [so I guess he hasn't spent that much time with Alex yet]. This is a side of Vincent we don’t get to see that often: “threatening, menacing Vincent” which is totally sexy. Vincent gets the information he needs from the roadside pawn and sends him on his way. Apparently there are 3 M-goons after him and they paid the roadside pawn 1000 USD to get him to the truck. So that’s the going rate for luring out a Beast? Seems a little low to me...

Back at the Lab, JT is forced to use less than noble techniques to get Evan to back off and by that I mean the PLOT WITH A LOT OF BUILDUP AND NOT ENOUGH PAYOFF: Lila Burrows, the woman who died on Evan’s table and made him abandon being a doctor to become a Medical Examiner. JT threatens Evan with exposure of his secret past and he is forced to stop his presentation about “cross-species” DNA. So there was SOME payoff. However I thought there could be more to the story… Maybe Evan was in love with Lila, maybe she was his one true love and that’s why he became a player… you see, there was potential there. But I guess it won’t go anywhere and it just showed us that true friends will blackmail others for you.

Cat pulls over at the FOREST OF BEASTIE REUNIONS, SHOCKERS AND REJECTIONS. She gets out of her car [I LOVE those boots!], someone [Vincent] approaches her from behind and she punches him in the gut. Is it me, or she might have noticed it was him before punching him? Oh well… he sort of had it coming. Vincent and Catherine hide behind a tree and start talking because this two LOVE having MEANINGFUL CONVERSATIONS AT THE MOST INAPPROPRIATE TIMES. He tells her “she shouldn't be there” because it is dangerous. Cat questions his motives for leaving Alex alone at the cabin, is it about keeping the M-crew away or hiding the beast? After she says that, Vincent gets the wrong idea AGAIN and starts getting all worked up implying that Cat sees him as a “monster” which couldn't be further from the truth. He mentions her dad’s wedding and suddenly it all becomes a little clearer. He is not over that, he is not over that moment when Cat found out about his mutations and didn't stop him from leaving the wedding. Whatever Cat did after that wasn't enough to convince him that she loved ALL of him. And now I am going to save you some time and I am going to argue this point with myself:

Argument 1: But Cat told him that she accepted ALL of who he wasYes, she absolutely did! But then, in the same episode, she tells Vincent their relationship might be real but “it doesn’t mean that it is good” and then sends him to go figure things out with Alex [Remember how I said it all comes back to that scene?]At the very least, she was sending mixed signals. It is even possible that Vincent thought she was looking for an out instead of just being gracious by giving him the opportunity to sort out his feelings for Alex without the added pressure of figuring out their almost-relationship.

Argument 2: But Cat went to his place and told him that she “wanted to BE with him” and he rejected her! What a jerk!

Once again YES! His reaction was awful, IF we see it from Cat’s POV. However there are more things here at play. One, we need to go back once again to the Seeing Red scene that gives meaning to it all. Cat actually said the words that were always Vincent’s biggest fears “it doesn't mean their relationship is good”. So, even if Vincent realizes [which I don’t think he does] that Cat has deep feelings for him, he may still believe that she would be better off without him. Sometimes we can’t help falling in love with the wrong person, but we might be aware that they are wrong.  And Vincent is convinced that he is “wrong”. I think part of the reason for him deciding to explore the “Alex option” was Cat’s two previous apparent rejections [at the end of Seeing Red and the beginning of On Thin Ice]. And also, he was probably taking into account selfish reasons like wanting to practice medicine again and living in the outside world… and come on! Let’s cut him some slack, we are all a little selfish at one point or another in our lives.

Argument 3: But Cat kept rescuing him and putting her life and career at risk to protect him and he didn’t even appreciate it!Yes, Cat was risking a lot. But when you love somebody you do whatever it takes without expecting anything in return. And I DO believe he appreciated everything she did. Not only he appreciated it, it was part of the issue. We know Cat did everything out of love, but I think he believed she did it due to a sense of responsibility which intensified his idea that he is a “burden”, an “imposed secret that needs protection”. Again, part of the reason he considered leaving.

And there you go, I tried to cover all points while I argued with myself, if I missed anything hit the comments! Was Cat doing A LOT of things that indicated she loved him? YES! Did he get it? I don’t think he did. I think he rationalized everything she said to fit his notion that he is an unlovable beast. In the end, the true issue here was that he didn't believe anyone could ever love him when he couldn't love himself; which also implies, he never believed Alex would continue loving him after he told her the truth and that’s why he was so set on living the fantasy for a while. In the end, Catherine reminds him that she has always seen him as a person and that if he thinks otherwise it is HIS issue not hers, which is EXACTLY true. She also tells him “it’s not a bad thing when someone knows the darkest parts of you”. He takes it in, perhaps understanding it for the first time and starting to re-evaluate EVERYTHING. However his sudden epiphany is interrupted by the arrival of the M-Crew.

The M-Crew shoot at our heroes, they throw a grenade at them, Vincent beasts out, Cat gets into kickass- mode, Bad Guys die, Vincent and Catherine live to fight and suffer through their relationship another day. After they are done with the fighting Vincent tells Cat “I retract what I said before, I am glad you were here” and although this isn’t as direct or clear as my “cabin fantasy scene”, I think THIS is the point in the episode where Vincent PICKS Catherine. I know I know, it is not the clearest thing in the world and they could have made it better, but as subtle as it was, that’s the way I see it. He JUST took everything Cat told him in, which made him retroactively understand everything she said and did before. Combine that with the fact that she is there risking her life and her heart to keep him safe. He finally gets it, he gets that she loves him, that she does accept him and that he isn’t just a burden for her. He gets all of that, which in turn allows him to be honest with his true feelings and shatters the fantasy he had been living. I think when he says “I am glad you were here” he is saying much more than that, he is saying he is glad to have her in his life, to have someone who understands and loves him and that his eyes are finally open to that fact. Sadly, they don’t have the chance for a longer conversation because Vincent hears someone hiding behind the trees. It’s Alex.

Alex just saw Vincent maul the M-Crew and she FREAKS OUT. Well, guess what Alex? THAT is what happens when your ex-fiancé has “people after him”! So, basically, Alex rejects Vincent after finding his true self, she even points the gun at him! That is NOT what you do when you see your supposed-to-be-dead-fiancé kill three people with the help of his fake “handler”! [OK, in all fairness I am not quite sure what I would do in that situation, not that it will ever happen to me so…] Catherine intervenes and convinces Alex to lower the gun. Vincent FINALLY tells Alex the truth, but she is too distracted by all the “mauling”. Vincent apologizes and tells her he just wanted to escape to some place “peaceful” where they could “help people” [he is STILL not saying he wanted to be with her]. He finishes by saying he got “caught up in a fantasy” [Amen].

A part of me wished Alex had accepted Vincent so he could truly pick Cat over her. However, I think they did it this way to show how strong and especial Cat’s love for him is (she is willing to accept things no-one else would). So I am OK with it. Now, the issue of Vincent is picking Cat because Alex rejected him… I obviously understand why it looked that way, there were issues of clarity with these last couple of episodes, but I still don’t see it that way. As I said, I think he subtly made his choice before Alex rejected him. In any case, the writers could have avoided a lot of issues if they had just written a scene or a couple of lines that made this clear.

Cat goes back to her apartment looking very sad and conflicted. Let’s also consider she probably had to drive back from the DOOMED REVELATIONS CABIN with Vincent … awkward. Heather accuses her of being with “ass”. Cat acknowledges that she was with him, because he needed her. And rather than confessing this to her sister I think she was coming to terms with the fact that she will always do what needed to be done to protect him, because that’s what you do for the people you love. You can’t “cold turkey” them when they need you. I thought Heather was very sweet in this scene. She comforts Cat, makes some pretty good points about following your heart and then suggests a girls’ night. That is the sisterly thing to do.

At the WAREHOUSE, JT is less interested in relationship drama and more concerned with secret organizations trying to kill them. Someone give him some tums! He is worried about Alex telling anyone about Vincent’s secret and the fact that her apartment was bugged. So somehow, their conversation goes from “Alex was investigated by the police” to Vincent saying [about Catherine] “I am such an ass”, and I know guys have less lengthy conversations than girls, but come on! That was ridiculous… As we try to figure out where all the missing lines of dialogue went, JT gets a call from Evan to let him know he found a BUG in his office. So he definitely abandons the DNA presentation and starts warming up to the secret organization idea. JT apologizes for the whole blackmail thing and says he wasn’t going to go through with it anyway. Evan gets all emotional and tells him he sends Lila’s family a check every month because even though he wasn’t found guilty for her death, he still feels like he is. Aw, that was sad… and it also reminds us that, underneath his beast chasing obsession, Evan is a good guy. Oh Evan…

Cat gets ready for her night out and she looks amazing! I wonder how much money I would need to convince Catherine Ashton to come live with me and just pick out my clothes every day… seriously, I love everything Cat wears! Anyway, back to the episode… Vincent climbs on the fire escape and finds Cat’s window CLOSED for the first time ever so he has to knock on it, which I thought was kind of funny. Hey, even if I understand Vincent’s motives, that doesn't mean I don’t think he has some serious making up to do with Cat. So I am all for her making him work for it. Cat tells him she keeps trying to move on but it is kind of difficult with him [Not blaming her, I mean… just look at him]. He tells her he doesn't want her to move on and that he can’t be with someone who doesn't know everything about him. I don’t think he means he can’t be with Alex because he didn't accept him; I think he is trying to say that he knew he could never be with Alex once she found out the truth and that she was just a momentary fantasy. Of course Catherine doesn't see it that way and she tells him she “can’t be his second choice”. He tells her she is not… and I know that WAS NOT NEARLY ENOUGH in any way, but hey at least he said it… Then he says it was never about Alex, he just wanted some sort of life, but now he realizes a better life is not possible without her. All good points but NOT ENOUGH at the moment [also, this scene felt like it wasn't as long as it should be]. Cat tells him that she will always protect him, but right now she has to protect herself. Notice that she doesn't tell him they are done or anything that final. He tells her he is not going anywhere and for the first time ever, Vincent seems to be clear on what he wants, thinks and feels. It took him a while but I think he finally got there. The episode ends with the girls going to the karaoke bar and there is something beautiful about female friends bonding over bad singing and crappy 90s songs.

So that was it for Cold Turkey. This was a hard episode to recap, it had more reflection and less funny moments than my other recaps, but I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless. I wanted to thank everyone who took the time to comment and review, it helps me understand all points of view and you provide some very interesting insights. I believe with my last three recaps (Episode 10, 11, 12), I was able to explain my views on the “Alex arc”, why I never took a side and why the arc didn't ruin the show for me. There is still a lot of fan debate concerning these episodes. Like any form of art, interpretation varies from one person to another. Personally, what I always try to do is to figure out the “writers’ intentions” because I think that’s what truly gives sense and meaning to the characters and their actions. Sometimes those intentions get lost in the execution (rewrites, shooting, editing, etc), but they are still there and I tried my hardest to figure them out.

Were the characters flawed? Yes. Did they do stupid things? Hell yes. But I still don’t believe that takes away from their connection. You know the expression “That only happens in the movies”? One of the things I like about this show is that, even with all the crazy stuff going on, they write the characters like normal human beings. They act like real people who do less than perfect things all the time, but being able to work through the imperfections is what makes everything worth it.

And before finishing this recap I wanted to mention a campaign some very hard working Beasties put together. The objective is basically to get BATB on the Ellen Show. Now, I have absolutely no clue on how the process of booking talk shows works, so I can’t provide any insights there. But I do like to believe fans can make things happen and, at the very least, make some noise; because any noise is good noise on this day and age. You can find all the details here:  http://batbonellen.weebly.com/

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QUOTES

Tess: I am woman, hear me drink.

Vincent: You are mad/ Cat: You can sense that?

JT: Justin Timberlake, huh? I get that all the time!

Evan: Or what? Some science nerd is gonna beat me up. Make sure I don’t get the grant first?

Cat: That’s the cover story I tell my girlfriends over karaoke!

Heather: Maybe being strong is following your heart no matter what