RECAPLETTE: Beauty and the Beast – S3E2 – Primal Fear

Beasts Will Be Boys...

In case you forgot, Vincent and Catherine got engaged in the last episode [I am SURE you did not rewind and rewatch that scene 10+ times or anything like that]. Now it is time for the next big step: Moving in together. Turns out, V and C are just like any other couple. Vincent wants to fill Cat’s carefully decorated apartment with garage sale chrome items and giant flatscreens. Cat wants to live in a world where video games are only for children. This causes Vincent to have a typical dude freak out… except he is not a typical dude, so his freak out involves claws and shining irises.

Also having relationship issues is Heaher, who is back in town creating awkward shower encounters. Apparently, Heather’s fiancé Matthew, called off the wedding due to “commitment issues”. OK Seriously, WHAT IS THE DEAL WITH MATTHEW?

In any case, while we ponder about the potential storylines for Heather’s unseen beau and Vincent struggles with his “primal issues”, Cat finds a new supernatural lead and requests “beast backup” [because apparently Vincent only works as a doctor every other week]. Long story short, Cat broke into Agent Thomas’s office and found a guy suspected of transporting the “The serum”.

THEE SERUM: A solution resulting from experiments on nanoplasma to trigger molecule regeneration. [yes, it is very ominous]

However, by the time they find DOUGLASS THE SERUM COURIER, he is dead. Killed by brain electrical overload, courtesy of the freak of the week.

SUPERNATURAL BEING OF THE WEEK: ALTON FINN: Mini celebrity in the tech world

Powers: Overload anything that uses electricity (including human brains); or, as he scientifically puts it: “crazy ass things”

Code name: SPARKY

Vincent and Cat discover that his sparkling nature is the consequence of a deadly tumour which is “reaching uncharted brain territory”. The mysterious BIG BAD *cough* massive dynamic *cough* has been giving Alton THEE SERUM, stopping him from dying [and possibly supercharging him]. Unfortunately, he never received his latest fix, because Agent Thomas intercepted the serum and gave it to JT.

But JT has other things to worry about: Impressing the Vargas clan at a b-day party taking place at… a shooting range. OK… at least they didn’t descend into a myriad of latino stereotypes [like they do on other shows]. So… shooting range, better than piñatas and Mariachis at a Margarita bar, I guess.

Tess warns JT that her brothers are dicks and… turns out they are! First, VARGAS BOY #1 [Am I the only one who would have loved Esposito from Castle playing this role?] mocks JT for not being able to shoot the target [which makes absolutely no sense considering how many times JT has shot a moving Beast], then he dismisses Tess when she mentions she may apply for the Captain position at the 125^th. He goes as far as saying “Sleeping with your old boss doesn’t qualify you to be one” This pisses JT off and his way of showing it is shooting bullseye three times in a row. Vargas Bros are taken aback, Tess is impressed and we are all going “hell yeah, geeks rule”; but JT decides to get all paranoid and assume his sudden shooting prowess are a consequence of THEE SERUM.

Speaking of THEE SERUM, Alton finds out that JT has been reverse-engineering it; so he calls JT and tricks him into coming to the hospital. Are you seriously telling me JT hasn’t learned his lesson about being lured into places with the promise of science? You’d think getting kidnapped and taken to a dungeon would do the trick. But no… JT falls into Alton’s electric trap. Alton wants the serum, JT wants to give the serum to Agent Thomas. Sparks fly, civilians run. Vincat and Tess arrive at the hospital. Vincent wants to beast out and save his friend. Cat is all “Don’t go over the primal edge”, Vincent is all “but my primal brain is dumber so I won’t be susceptible to sparky” and Tess is all “Cat shut up and let beast boy save my boyfriend!”

Finally, Vincent goes after Sparky and they get into an electric fight. In the end, Vincent STOPS sparky, but he DOESN’T KILL HIM, because Cat is there to bombard him with the SANCTIMONIOUS SPEECH OF THE WEEK: “Humanity blah blah blah” [a simple “Vincent” would have been more than enough] So, Sparky lives to spark another day and Vincent hooks him up with a good brain surgeon [unfortunately I heard Derek Shepard is no longer an option].

BACK AT VINCAT’S APARTMENT, the unlikely couple finally talk about their issues and decide that they are going to have to deal with some “normal” struggles for a change, but that’s life. Life sucks… But what sucks even more, is NOT being alive… like Agent Thomas, because someone shot him dead. Dun dun dun

END OF EPISODE

I thought this was an OK episode [It grew on me after the second viewing]. I was a bit underwhelmed after last week’s premiere [which I loved]. This one felt a bit uneventful [the fact that I watched it right after the GoT finale might explain this feeling]. Having said that, I could tell this episode planted the seeds for a coherent narrative that could last the rest of the season. So that’s good. Not every episode can be a major episode, but as long as they are part of the puzzle it is OK. I quite liked the story of Alton, it is the kind of sci-fi that fits well within the BATB universe; as opposed to last season’s “beasts of the week” which felt more like fantasy [and nonsense].

On the other hand, I wasn’t that happy with the relationship aspect of the episode. The normal couple struggles are cute in small doses, but they have to be connected to the larger picture [and be tackled with a little more depth]. It is not enough to pick a “couple’s issue of the week” and throw it in the episode [this is not just a relationship drama]. 

Now theories! Who shot Agent Thomas? Is this going to be a mystery à la “Who shot J.R.?” Could it be possible that they turned JT into a sleeper assassin [like on that Christian Slater show nobody watched] and he killed Agent Thomas without even knowing it? Think about it… there was quite a bit of foreshadowing. The shooting range, Agent Thomas telling V to “be careful of his friend”. I am throwing it out there. 

What is your theory?

QUOTES

"You guys are like the freaking fairy tale" - Tess
"Be the man she loves, not the beast she fears" - JT to Vincent
"I am on primal red alert" - Vincent
"Moving in with you, is causing me to have a few... primal issues" -  Vincent
"You might present yourself as this cliche nerdy professor... but you are much more" - Tess to JT
"Compared to what Vincent and you have, Matthew and I didn't even come close" - Heather

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