RECAP: Beauty and the Beast - S3E7 - Both Sides Now

Behind every big bad, there is an even bigger bad

We should know by now that Vincent and Catherine CANNOT catch a break. So naturally, they are on the run for their lives AGAIN. This week they are being chased by the nameless, ambiguously-powered superassassin that needlessly destroyed the stained glass windows from the church [seriously, the front door would have worked just fine].

SUPERNATURAL BEING OF THE WEEK: Not Jason Gedrick [I don’t think he has a name]

Powers: “A little more enhanced” whatever that means…

Code name: Faux-big-bad lap dog

After hiding in the woods for a while, endlessly explaining the plot of the episode/season/show, pretending to be crash victims to get into the hospital and nearly getting killed a couple of times; Cat comes up with a plan to “keep everyone safe”. Her brilliant plan is to fake-elope. That way they can lure the superassassin out of town and away from their friends [OK… let’s say I follow so far]

Meanwhile, Captain Vargas is having a hard time explaining why two [not so] random civilians (JT & Heather) need 24 hr. protective custody. Instead of being grateful, JT is annoyed with his copper baby-sitters because they are getting in the way of him finding the BIG BAD behind THEE SERUM. Tess is a little hurt because JT is too busy worrying about his best-bro to notice she is struggling to balance her new job and the secret supernatural hunting.

Heather is NOT happy with her police detail either, because they are getting in the way of her job hunt. Since when does Heather have difficulty finding jobs? Last time I checked she got an inexplicable offer for a top PR firm inMiami or something. But guess she quit and moved back to NY which is making her seem unreliable, according to job interviewer JULIANNA. Fortunately for Heather, Julianna overhears her speaking on the phone after she left the interview and she is so impressed by her undelivered pinup pitch that she offers her a job! It’s almost too good to be true…

BACK TO VINCAT. The perpetually endangered couple elope to NIAGARA FALLS leaving a trail of VERY-OBVIOUS-CLEARLY-A-SETUP breadcrumbs for superassassin to find. Once they get to the romantic [and wedding efficient] location we learn 3 things:

1.      Cat has not been dreaming about her wedding day since she was 5

2.      Witnesses can be literally bought in Niagara falls (for the sum of $35)

3.     Cat’s new brilliant idea is to “get caught” so they can be taken to the EVIL HQ… which I assume is in NY! So… couldn’t they just STAY in NY and get caught there? Seems a lot more efficient [and eco-friendly!]

I still don’t know why the fake wedding part was necessary. Vincent doesn’t get it either. Cat insists that the wedding is NOT real; but, in the end, Vincent refuses to go through with it. He drags Cat away and explains that he wants their wedding to be perfect and magical. Something they remember for years [like his parents did]. Aw. I am not even into weddings myself, but come on… that was very sweet! Cat is touched by his words as well, but she doesn’t get a chance to reply because she is abducted by superassassin. So… [least efficient] mission accomplished, I guess…

Unfortunately, Cat’s “get grabbed & attack” plan is contingent on the BIG BAD not knowing that V is a Beast. That plan is effectively ruined when Heather discovers that her new job is less about marketing and more about “torture for information”. Heather gets rid of her bodyguards and follows Julianna to a secluded building. You’d think someone who has been kidnapped before would have learned a lesson. Abduct me once, shame on you. Abduct me twice… In any case, by the time Vincent and Catherine arrive at Big Bad HQ to face JULIANNA, they know Vincent is a beast and tranq him accordingly.

Julianna identifies herself as the BIG BAD behind THEE SERUM. But she also reveals the existence of a BIGGER BAD who is apparently after her. She claims Thee Serum and all the experiments were merely her way of protecting herself from “HIM”. She believes Vincent and Catherine work for this elusive unnamed villain [I am going to call him “The Man”] and when they refuse to admit it, she threatens to inject Vincent with a defective serum that will basically kill him.

As all of these multiple abductions and reveals take place, JT has narrowed down his search for the serum makers to a handful of labs. He lucks out [REALLY lucks out] and just happens to walk in the lab where Heather is being kept. Hmmm… so the evil masterminds they’ve been fearing all season can’t even afford surveillance cameras or… you know LOCK A FREAKING DOOR?! Guess they can’t. Man, this show has the dumbest criminals ever.

So… JT walks into the room and frees Heather. Then he decides to concoct a Beast-expresso shot [adrenaline, steroids or something of the sort I guess] and shoot Vincent with a handy tranq gun Heather finds lying around. Vincent snaps out of his beast slumber and pretty quickly kills the extra-enhanced dude. Guess he wasn’t that “enhanced enough” after all. Meanwhile, Cat goes after Julianna and totally beasts out on her. I really wanted Vincent to stop Cat and give her a SANCTIMONIOUS SPEECH for a change… But that didn’t happen and Julianna ends up in a coma. You should never decommission the big bad before getting some answers…  

In the end, a criminal is stopped and everyone survives. It is sort of a win. At least according to JT, who thinks Tess is going to be impressed by his heroic beast-saving actions. She is not. Tess doesn’t care about JT solving yet another mythological mystery. She is tired of JT putting Vincent in front of everything else and she decides to break up with him. It might be slightly selfish [as she points out] but I think she is entitled to want to be the main concern for her boyfriend.

Vincent and Catherine end on a happier note. They love each other and Vincent almost dying made Cat realized she does want a wedding.

END OF EPISODE

I’d say I am pretty neutral with this episode. I didn’t particularly dislike it [I thought most of it was OK], I didn’t love it either.

There are two things I didn’t like:

1) People kept reciting plot points “X is after us because of Y and this and that happened and now we need this to happen” OK… we know

2) Yet another faux-antagonist. There was so much build-up to the man [or woman] behind the serum and when we find out, she goes down in one short fist fight! I know there is still build-up to the REAL big bad, but Julianna felt VERY anti-climatic. Give us a good baddie already!!

On the other hand, I like the conflict between JT&T. It feels real and I sympathize with both sides, which is always good. I am confident they are going to get back eventually, but I think there is potential in that storyline.

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Alejandra

Alejandra spends her days watching TV, writing for TV, writing about TV. Hopefully, one day, she will get substantially paid for all three. Follow her on twitter @azannier