Hearts in freezers... always a bad omen
It’s time for the “Let’s have a therapy session where
we clarify our feelings, have a few epiphanies and recapitulate what’s been
happening on the show while we are at it” episode. Every show has one of these
at some point, from Grey’s Anatomy and Rookie Blue to Felicity and Alias [hell, The
Sopranos built an entire show around this format]. My playwriting teacher used
to say “therapy” scenes are cheating, but I think they do the trick [most of
the time]. In any case, Vincat are no ordinary couple, so they are not
about to have an ordinary couples’ therapy session as DR. GLENROY [that almost sounds
like a GoT house name] quickly finds out when they start babbling about “hearts
in freezers” and “deadly snipers trying to kill them”. Dr. Glenroy thinks they
are looking for excuses to avoid dealing with the real problem…
Issue #1: AVOIDANCE
But let’s rewind a bit…
EARLIER THAT DAY
Cat came upon an apparent suicide.
However, she concludes that drilling a whole through your own skull is not the
most effective suicide method, so… it’s gotta be murder. And not just ANY
murder: supernaturally enhanced murder.
The conspiracy theory goes like
this: APRIL (dead woman) was an organ donor with an extremely rare blood-type.
She happened to be the perfect match for dying millionaire MARSHALL ZALMAN. Cat
believes that Zalman had April killed so he could take her HEART [OK fine,
guess I can buy that]. But not just that… Cat also believes that ZALMAN is the
BIG BAD behind the serum experiments [now that’s a bit far-fetched].
Cat drags Vincent to a party to
confront the alleged criminal mastermind who turns out to be a “wheel-chair-bound
dying philanthropist in need of a heart”. Cat questions ZALMAN proving that she
can pull off a “bad cop/worse cop/even worse cop” routine all by herself. Vincent
tries to stop Catherine, they argue and Zalman ends up having a heart attack [I
am sure a lawyer could pass that for “police brutality”]. Vincent is not too
thrilled about Cat’s attitude because letting your girlfriend walk around
causing heart attacks is probably NOT part of the Hippocratic Oath.
Issue #2: Fights that cause heart attacks
Meanwhile, JT decides to test the
limits of his newfound self-regenerating abilities. His tests involve rolling
down one flight of stairs… Eh… Not to question JT’s scientific methods, but cheerleader Claire was much more daring.
Anyway, while JT is struggling with his serum-issue, Tess is busy running a
precinct and the last thing she wants is to be involved in “bizarro cases”. So
JT decides to find another ally: HEATHER, who is turning out to be the
wild-card of this show. Supporting little sister? That’s Heather… Need a
wedding planner? Heather is there! Emerging superhuman sidekick in need? Call
Heather! I wonder what she will be up to next week... Maybe Heather is behind
the experiments [or Matthew… seriously what’s up with Matthew].
But back to Vincat…
Cat is obsessed with proving that
Zalman serum-enhanced April and doesn’t want him to get the transplant. Vincent
has a “save his life first/ask questions later” attitude. At the end of the
day, Cat wants to discover who is behind the experiments so she can “save Vincent”.
At the same time, Vincent wants to “save” Cat from getting in trouble as a
consequence of his conspiracy theory [which he doesn’t believe].
Issue # 3: Obsession with “saving each
other”
In Cat’s defence, she had a few
arguments to support her crazy claims. April was very sick until a few weeks
ago. She started an “experimental treatment” which “supercharged her immune
system” and then made a sudden recovery. That definitely screams “serum
enhanced heart”. JT tests it and confirms it. He also lets the gang know that
he has been developing an antidote, which they don’t get to use because the
HEART gets stolen.
Since Cat and Vincent were fighting,
they decide to go their separate ways, which lasts for… like 5 seconds because
those two have a stronger pull than gravity. They track down the HEART THIEF,
only to realize that someone killed him. Even more confusing, they find the
heart inside a freezer, so looks like whoever stole it didn’t have any use for
it. The HEART THIEF’S KILLER locks Vincat inside a freezer. Vincent gets a bit “beast-stubborn”
for a while, but Cat convinces him that “freezing to death” is a good excuse to
“go full beast”.
So Vincat escape the freezer and
return to the hospital with the HEART. Zalman’s wife, BELINDA [who looks like
the epitome of a gold digger but spent the entire episode telling everyone how
devoted she was to her husband] is there to thank Vincent and threaten to sue
everyone for obstruction of heart transplant.
After hearing a recount of Vincent and
Catherine’s very normal day, DR GLENROY concludes that they are “unusually
intertwined”, well duh… they are epic and a “frigging fairy tale”. Vincent and
Catherine look lovingly at each other and agree that this is the case. Aw…
right? But the doctor is all “not so quick…”
Issue #4: CODEPENDENCY
The doctor points out that the fact
that they work so well together is preventing them from existing as individuals.
Guess it is sort of true… I am just so glad he didn’t tell them to go “find
themselves”, that is SO last season…
But BACK TO THE CASE. The
co-dependency talk makes Cat have a MIRACULOUS OUT OF NOWHERE BREAKTHROUGH in
the case. She realizes that ZALMAN’S WIFE resented him for
donating all his money to charity after she devoted her life to him. Turns out
WIFEY was behind the HEART HEIST from the beginning. Man… that is one elaborate
“kill your husband” plan… whatever happened to good ole poisoning or pillow asphyxiation?
On top of coming up with convoluted
murder plots, Belinda turns out to be a very determined woman. So she cuts the
power of the building to stop the transplant. Cat goes after her and Vincent volunteers
to complete Zalman’s surgery [because he can see in the dark and can obtain an
entire medical specialty in a minute]. In the end… Vincat save the day.
Separately.
Elsewhere, JT and T have a heart to
heart and Tess makes sure he knows how important he is to her. Heather is
somewhere off-screen, probably getting back with Matthew or plotting to take
over the world… I am telling you, Heather is going places. Or maybe she was
shopping…
END OF EPISODE
I wouldn’t say this was my favorite
episode of the season, but I thought it was good. I kept feeling that something
was missing, but I can’t quite put my finger on it. In any case, there was
something I really liked about the Vincat dynamic on Heart of the Matter. Even when they are fighting, they don’t
question for a minute that they love each other and WILL spend the rest of
their lives together. It would be SO frustrating if they did! Most couples on
most shows come to a problem like this and get into a silly fight that ends the
relationship… all for the sake of conflict. But not Vincent and Catherine, and
that’s one of the things that made S1 so great.
What did you think of Heart of the Matter?
QUOTES
"At least I am not avoiding straws!" - Cat
"Your fight caused a heart attack?" - Dr. Glenroy
"You seem to be drawn back together whether you like it or not" - Dr. Glenroy
"I love you too Vincent, now blast the freaking door down, will you?" - Cat
Thx for your review, Alex! I am so glad you are recapping after each episode. I loved this episode and am loving S3!
ReplyDeleteGlad you are enjoying the season (and the recaps) :)
DeleteI'd like to point out that it is Vincent that saves the transplant operation, Cath's little action scene in the cellars is not strictly necessary, since Vincent can operate in the dark anyway. Vincent finds the whereabouts of the heart too. Nevertheless he gives the credit of "saving your husband's heart " to Cath. Always the gentleman.
ReplyDeleteAnd that babble about co-dependency. The doc says Vincat have a "sort of co-dependency". From there on it seems a given fact and everybody is running with it. Living with your husband for 20 years and wanting to inherit his money isn't co-dependence. Good old greed is what it is.
Anyone with half a brain can see that it isn't their working together or living together that is the problem. What's up with that idea? Are marriages now labeled as co-dependency? Someone of TPTB has a marriage complex.Of course it is the simple fact that a) Vincent is a beast and b) Cath doesn't listen to his worries that are the problems in this relationship. If it isn't something that he says it is something that she thinks he thinks. Which is glaringly obvious even in this painfully clumsy therapy session. It would have been a relief to have a therapist that addressed the real problems. They could simply have said Vincent was prone to violence and gone on from there. . Lying to your therapist? Better not waste your money there, you won't get any results and everyone knows it.
Besides they could tell the therapist everything because of the secrecy thing. The fact that people are involuntary violent (because of medication e.g.)isn't an unknown problem.
DeleteAnd how Cath gets it together I don't understand. 1) she wants to save Vincent from his primal beast. 2) she wants to find the baddies and for that she needs Vincent and his primal beast talents. These are conflicting objectives and that would tear anyone apart.
Thank you for your review and for allowing comments. The therapy session where the doctor gives out his analysis in one session felt a little like speed dating.
ReplyDeleteThis episode was troubling because it glamorized Cat's lying to Vincent about a date. She set him up to go on a case. Then she proceeded to have a psychotic episode where she bullied and badgered the victim to get a confession. She almost caused his death. I wonder why Vincent wasn't able to "talk her down" and save her humanity. Instead everyone stood helplessly by until the old man fell over with a heart attack.
Tess is now the boss. Instead of taking command, she "begs" Catherine. Yet tries to insist that their relationship has changed. You can't have it both ways, especially when your subordinate not only refuses to listen but then goes off on some sort of quest to prove what isn't true. There is no rhyme or reason to Cat's conclusions.
And yes, Yvonne, you are right. Vincent finds the heart, gets them out of the locked freezer (at her command to go full beast) and then saves the surgery too. Yet Cat gets the credit for being the hero. That rather implies that bullying is not only acceptable but deserves our accolades. That unhinged and out of control is okay for an official with a badge and a gun. It was a very scary message.
For me, the bullying message over rode the co-dependency message they seemed to bludgeon us with. If we didn't get it from the episode itself, they would drill it into our heads by repeating the words over and over. But I couldn't get over the absolute out of control way Cat was acting. It was worse than "Ever After" where she risked life and limb to capture the bad guy. This time she showed no humanity at all, she was totally unhinged.
The episode scared me that they would have to "find who they are apart" like last season. Since lessons were not learned in season 2, they are trying a different type of tired trope. Now it is co-dependency.
But Cat can't let Vincent slip back into beast mode so they can't be apart. He is now only allowed to beast out on her command for a duration and extent she dictates. So it will be interesting to see if Vincent has to save himself like last season, with no help from anyone, or will he just be on a leash heeling at her side. On the other hand, maybe he has to save her from losing control and having meltdowns week after week. Maybe he has to save her humanity.
Marsha