Down for the Count
The first rule about fight club is that… you don’t hire a beast bounty hunter
Cat gets a promotion, not precisely based on merit. Tess has to suffer the consequences of being in the beast-inner circle and Heather comes to the conclusion that when it comes to dating clueless paramedics, dishonesty is key.
Not much is new in the lives of Vincent and Catherine… No, seriously. NOTHING is new. People are after the last beast on earth [allegedly], Cat wants to investigate solo, Vincent wants to prove that he can do it all (be a doctor, catch bounty hunters, pay bills, romance his lady). Turns out he can’t, but I am getting ahead of myself.
JT is also in a difficult position. He still can’t find the nerve to tell Tess that he turned down tenure to answer to his “beast-calling”. And, as much as I love JT, I don’t get this. Is there a reason you can’t deliver the world from beasts hunters while getting a steady paycheck? Even Vincent has a job [not sure how, but he does]. Heather has also been a champion of avoidance, as a problem solving technique. Turns out Kyle really likes Heather [and apparently cannot take a hint] and he has been pursuing her relentlessly since their one night stand. Heather does her best to keep him away but there is only so many times a girl can reject a cute guy because of her beast brother in law…
In the meantime, Tess is suffering from “field-work withdrawal” and she comes up with the idea of getting Cat to help her break the FIGHT CLUB case she has been working on for years. It’s Tess’s version of “girl time”, but Deputy Secretary Hill [A.K.A the SUIT OF THE WEEK] puts a hinder on that plan. Don’t you feel like these ‘cooperative law-enforcement’ types just keep coming one after the other? First Knox, then Russo and now Hill. I’ve learned to not get attached. Anyway, the SUIT OF THE WEEK makes Cat a DHS agent and puts her in charge of the fight club case because he thinks it is somehow related to Beast Bounty Hunters [Why? No clue]. And not only that… Cat has to take the case away from Tess!
So on to the CASE OF THE WEEK. A guy they find dead in an alley leads them to an underground fight club. Cat decides to investigate and brings Vincent with her. I think it’s worth mentioning that they find the infamous fight club [and the people behind it] way too easily. This doesn’t seem right. Now, I don’t know much about fight clubs but I as sure as hell know that the first rule about fight club is that you DON’T TALK ABOUT FIGHT CLUB!! No-one gave the memo to this week’s criminals because Vincat quickly discover that the man in charge is someone called MEDJANI. Unfortunately for them, Medjani doesn’t attend the qualifying fights.So the only way to find him is to actually fight and make it to the final. Vincent volunteers to do it but… surprise surprise, it is a girl fight! OK, I thought that was kind of a funny twist, but I was already picturing Vincent fighting [shirtless] in a cage. So yeah, I was a bit disappointed.
But anyway, Cat signs up for a three way fight and she wins, relatively unscathed. However, one of the other urban gladiator ladies is not so lucky. After winning, Cat is immediately escorted to the big fight. Vincent wants to go with her, but Cat convinces him to give the fallen fighter medical attention instead. So Vincent takes Million Dollar Baby to the hospital where she tells him her Sob story about Medjani owning her and pimping her to fight blah blah blah. Sad, I suppose, but incredibly irrelevant. And I still don’t know what about this story had everyone convinced that Medjani was trying to kill [or rent?] a beast.
Meanwhile, Cat ends up at an undisclosed location, about to fight for her life and no backup. So Vincent asks JT for help, but it is Tess who figures out where Cat is. Thank God Tess was there to save the day… because it is not like Vincent has MAGICAL TRACKING skills or anything like that. Oh wait…
In any case, Vincent and Tess storm into the fancy fight and arrest everyone. Medjani runs away and Vincent goes after him, in full beast mode. Cat is also there ready to be all “This will teach you to not put a bounty on my beast. How do you like that?” Medjani doesn’t like it. Like at all. He is in fact so terrified of the big bad monster he starts screaming like a little girl, which finally makes Vincent and Catherine realize what should have been obvious from the get go. Medjani had nothing to do with beasts! So Vincent just exposed himself for nothing. LESSON: When in doubt… DO NOT BEAST OUT. At this point it almost seems like Cat, Vincent and JT are suffering from a shared “Beast bounty” paranoia. Maybe that will be the big joke of this season. There is no big bad… it is all in their head. Let’s hope not.
But yeah, moving on. The fight club is dismantled, so I assume poor slave fighter girl is released, not like we actually care. Vincent and Cat have some cute interactions that don’t do anything for the plot, Heather decides to give Kyle a shot and Tess confronts JT about his beast addiction. Basically, Tess found out about JT’s latest [stupid] career move from their landlord and she is not happy. She comes to the conclusion that they are in different places. She has figured out what she wants, while he is still looking for a beast-purpose. They end the episode on a sad relationship limbo.
Random Thoughts
- Kyle and Heather might be the most interesting thing about the show right now, which is not a good thing since they are minor characters. But I appreciate that they introduced a “clueless” character. I love clueless people.
- How does V still have a job? Seriously. He misses his shifts, he shows up with beaten up women he “found” on the streets.
- Deputy Secretary Hill puts Cat in charge of the fight club case so she can investigate it without drawing attention from the rest of the DHS… but wouldn’t the fact that he unilaterally turned an NYPD detective into an agent and put her in charge of a big profile case also draw attention?
- Vincat’s storyline is seriously lacking conflict. No, I am not suggesting another redhead and I actually like where they are with their relationship, but they need to convey all the issues of insecurity and sacrifice through the story rather than by having the same conversation every single week.
- One of the major issues of this show has been not having a big bad. M had all the necessary elements, but then they got rid of it [instead of giving it a face]. Then they had Liam, but he came in too late, left too soon. And the rest of the time has been a big-bad-less mess.
You had to mention V shirtless in the cage fight instead! @_________@ Derailed my train of thought ~ maybe that's a good thing hahaa!!
ReplyDeleteWhen I read "V shirtless" I believe I had a momentary intake of breath. And that reminds me of S2e17 Beast is the New Black. Just one more mug shot....that's all I want. Arrest that man.
DeleteYes, no big-bad has been a mistake. I have not felt a sense of danger through these eps. No apprehension. In fact, I haven't felt much of anything, and that flies in the face of what BatB has been all about for me. It no longer leaves me counting the days until the next ep. It leaves me....empty. Sad.
ReplyDeleteYup yup yup yup ditto ditto ditto ...
ReplyDeleteThanks for a fun and insightful review. This episode seems to be very little about Vincent. In fact he has nothing whatever to do except standing on the lines encouraging his Cath. A sad misuse of his acting skills and I am not talking about his abs, impressive though they may be.
ReplyDeleteMostly the episode is about Cath and if you find fake fights with a given outcome fascinating you get your fill. And if you say it's all about "choreography" I prefer Let's Dance. One good thing is that in fight scenes there are no scripts or plots to be annoyed about.
I am personally convinced they are doing a "Gabe" on us, having us guessing if Kyle is good or bad. Or perhaps making Kyle a good guy that goes over to the dark side and then perhaps relents it and comes back to the good? With Gabe I think it was 4 conversions in total so you'd think the arc had run its course.
I simply can't get interested in JT and Tess having it on or off now for a couple of seasons. They are having the same old discussion once again. And someone is always having commitment issues - though it seems now in hindsight that the instigator is almost always JT.
Your recap is way more fun & much better than the actual episode. Thank you for yet another great, enjoyable review :)
ReplyDeleteAs for the episode, hmm, should I even bother? There was one scene in the entire episode I really liked (Vincent giving Cat his jacket), and yeah that's about it. I mean there were some good scenes, but not memorable at all, and not rewatch-worthy.
I agree with you on all your points. I also think VinCat is pretty much nonexistent; Vincent has turned into a guy that says lines like "more money!" (what was that?); JTnT are still getting all the good, emotional scenes and conversations; and don't get me started on the plot! Oh and re the "big bad", I bet you it's just a caricature of a baddie (oh how I miss Muirfield, and Sarah!).
As always, looking forward to your next recap xx
Re VinCat: Ale you basically summed it up perfectly with THIS >"they need to convey all the issues of insecurity and sacrifice through the story rather than by having the same conversation every single week." That's what went wrong with S3 and now they are doing it again. It's like they don't have a clue what to do with VinCat after getting them back together at the end of S2 ~ they RUINED their engagement in S3 and that miserable excuse of a quickie wedding was only saved by VinCat's beautiful chemistry in their vows exchange. (I will never forgive BK for that!) SO relieved to see those pics of VinCat in the carriage for the season finale and no bleeping sign of the rest of them!
ReplyDeleteI hope they are NOT following the same old format as S3 ~ dangling red herrings and keeping us guessing about the Big Bad till the 2nd half ~ I really disliked the Liam arc because he was ye olde beast and he came on so late that his arc just took over the last few eps and compounded with the unnecessarily inflated JtnT relationship drama (and here they go again with detesstable moaning about not being JT's priority blah puke blah ~ betcha they'll be back together in less than 2 eps!) so all that just squeezed out 99.9% of any meaningful VinCat alonetime in the 2nd half of S3 other than perpetual beast talk.
Back to this ep...
I really expected more from Mr Bollywood. Him crying was a giggle. And V beasting out redundantly was so anticlimactic and as Yvonne above mentioned ~ such a waste of Jay's talent to be sidelined AGAIN although this time I enjoyed Cat-fu so I don't mind as much.
Hmm Kyle... not that I care... OK I don't.... since he and Heather had such a friggin loooong talk at the bar yessss eating into precious VinCat time AGAIN (argh bad deja vu ~ as if Big Hair and the Geek wasn't bad enough) but I think he's just there for Heather. I don't think I'd appreciate MORE from him.
I was actually the most excited I've been for the last 3 eps after I watched the 1st 3min of this one ~ but then it all went downhill from there thanks to the unspeakable screenhogs ~ thankfully I love most of the VinCat crumbs here (beggars and all that) except that tacked on ending gah!) Fave bits 1) that SQUEEEEEworthy hug at the start ♥ 2) as Cat was dragged off ~ aahh that exchange of looks when she tries to reassure V and 3)the pretty little post-fight fraction of a convo at the club ~ the cuteness and faceporn was to die for ~ so I'll end on that beauty-ful impression ♥
ahahaha please stop, laughing too much!
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