RECAP: Beauty and the Beast – S3E9 – Cat is out of the bag

Practice makes perfect, even where home invasions are concerned

The episode starts with Vincent and Catherine having the exact same conversation they had at the end of last week’s episode. Well, actually, the episode starts with Vincent contemplating the city skyline through the window [I don’t know about you, but I could have taken 5 solid minutes of that instead of the repeat convo]. But since we are recapitulating, here is what is going on: Vincent wants to deliver the world from evil, starting with the one guy who can win over him in a fight [something he has conveniently forgotten]. However, Cat  “is done” with the supernatural hunting [leave that to good-looking bros in other shows] and just wants to go back to being a regular cop. Following this resolution, Cat goes to the precinct and tells Wardy about Liam, the “Interpol terrorist who killed Julianna”. She believes that they should treat Liam like any other criminal and follow police procedure [I foresee a LOT of dead cops if they continue with that].


Cat gets to play cop soon enough because someone tries to steal Julianna’s body from the morgue. She instantly assumes it was Liam, but turns out that it was just V who was trying to pick up a trail to track Liam. Cat is REALLY determined [because that’s what she does] to do everything by the book and she even takes Vincent to the precinct for questioning. But before that, we learn that Julianna’s blood was completely drained from her body. WTH? Who is after her? A vampire? A zombie… Did someone check if she still had all of her brain? OK… the actual theory is that Liam took Julianna’s blood because she was also enhanced with THEE SERUM [she might or might not walk through walls and teleport based on the faulty logic of last week’s episode]. And why does Liam want the serum again? Does he need a constant supply/periodic booster shots? Or does he want an army of enhanced little minions [a la Klaus Mikaelson]?

After V is released from police custody he bands with JT & T to ambush Cat and take her to her apartment for a DESTINY INTERVENTION. Basically, the three of them gang up against Cat and – once again – have the conversation about all the pros and cons of going after super-enhanced antagonists. Is there some sort of unspoken rule on this show which states that everyone has to have the same argument a minimum of 5 times? Because it is starting to feel like it. In any case, Heather shows up in the middle of the argument and actually takes her sister’s side. Can’t say I blame her, Cat had much more compelling arguments like “staying alive and safe”. Cat finally leaves and Vincent takes it out on Heather. He basically tells her that she doesn’t understand that there are other people’s lives at stake and that she shouldn’t intervene with destiny or something like that. Pretty harsh coming from someone who was saying the exact thing not two episodes ago!

Since they know that Liam is after the serum-enhanced blood, Cat decides to visit TYLER ZANE [the wallstreet crawler] at the mental hospital. They arrive too late. Zane is gone and drained and the beast is out of the hat window. Literally. Cat brings her recently defenestrated boyfriend to the hospital where she concludes that the Liam case is too much for the regular cops to handle: It is a case for Homeland Security! [Mmm It’s actually a case for Fringe Division]. So Cat and Tess come up with an elaborate – shockingly logical – explanation of how the DHS contacted them and why this case belongs to them. Wardy is on board and so is the DHS. In fact… they seemed a little TOO COOPERATIVE, don’t you think?

Meanwhile, JT plays Dr. Jekyll and attempts to separate the good and evil in Julianna’s blood. He fails. But he also has another pet project: Make heather believe in “destiny”. He starts by lending her Rebecca’s diary. But Little Chandler is not impressed with that piece of 18^th century literature. So JT goes into another round of exposition galore about Destiny. And yes, I think the word “destiny” was used as many times as “flatlining” on S2! But Heather is not yet convinced… so JT decides to do something extreme and take Heather to see Daddy Bob… because he is the authority on Beast-destiny? I love daddy Bob, but seriously… what’s up with all the impromptu unnecessary visits. He is getting more jail-interaction than Hannibal Lecter!

Anyhow, Daddy Bob is also on board of the Oriental Destiny Express. Not only that… he is #TeamVincent now. Eh… when did that happen? This man jumps ships every other day. It wasn’t long ago that he was pro-Gabe. Daddy Bob’s contribution to the destiny argument is to mention that Rebecca died not long after Alistair was burned at the stake. So – naturally - that means that Cat is destined to work against evil with Vincent. Duh. Honestly, I fail to see the connection…. How does, dead relative translate to “must save the world or else”? Maybe Rebecca was just sad, maybe she got hit by a horse… I understand that Rebecca and Alistar seem to indicate that V & C are “destined” to be together. I am not convinced they are “destined” to fight the evil supernatural forces [not saying they shouldn’t or that it isn’t in fact destiny, just saying I am not convinced by the arguments presented].

But moving on… while JT & Heather bond over bio dads and destiny logic, Vincent tracks down the vampire LIAM’S BLOOD THIEF. He follows him all the way to Alton Finn’s [SPARKY] loft. Vincent arrives just in time to save Alton [yay I like him]. However, the fact that Alton got attacked has dire implications. Alton was cured, which means they are going after anyone who HAD the serum in them at some point. So JT is next! Dun dun dun Give JT a break!

Out of nowhere the “blood thief” turns into a BLOOD TACTICAL ATTACK TEAM that storms the GENTLEMEN’s GUILD. JT gets attacked so often he might soon receive an honorary PhD in “house invasion defence tactics”. This time around, he expertly shields Heather, creates a chemical mini-explosion and finds safety inside the panic room vault. But Liam’s henchmen came prepared with explosives. Fortunately, Vincent-beast arrives just in time to save the day [with some help from Tess and Cat]. I thought this scene was really cool. It had a good combination of humour, sci-fi and action [on a TV budget of course]. I wish this had been a longer sequence… drag out the suspense [Home invasions can work as nicely as hostage situations IMO].  

In the aftermath of the attack, our characters come to the conclusion that “violent break-in” means “destiny”. I’d argue that it means “imminent danger, must deal with problem”… but fine… let’s say it’s DESTINY. Heather is finally convinced and so is Cat. She goes home and finds V on the ROOFTOP OF SIGNIFICANT RELATIONSHIP MILESTONES. They have a nice conversation about accepting that their lives are part of a larger scheme but that they shouldn’t lose sight of their relationship. Vincent tells Cat that nothing is worth it without her and that he is ready to do whatever she chooses. Cat wants to stop Liam because that is who she is. So they agree to face the evil forces. Together. It was a sweet scene. I liked it. However, it would have had more of an impact if i had it been the first time they were discussing the matter at length instead of the 10^th!!

END OF EPISODE

As you can see, the big issue I had with this episode was: too much exposition. Oh and the title! What’s up with that title? [BTW I totally messed up and originally wrote "out of the hat" on the title which was a bit more clever I believe...] There were scenes and lines that I really liked, but at least two or three uber long scenes could have been cut. My main feeling at this point is that I am ready for Liam!

What did you guys think? I know a lot of people loved the episode, feel free to tell me why in the comments

QUOTES

"Don't make me arrest you, honey" - Cat

"I am getting good at getting attacked" - JT

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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