Means to an End
Behind every big bad there’s an even bigger bad, except in cases when the big bad and the bigger bad turn out to be one and the same. In any case, they don’t invite you to tea when you walk into their lair.
Turns out that walking into an evil organisation and confessing you’re a beast is not such a good idea. Who knew? Well EVERYONE knew, except for Vincent. I mean… seriously… what was he expecting? That they would offer him a cup of tea? Well they didn’t. Instead they caged and tortured him, because that’s what they do to beasts. Vincent should know that by now.
So V ends up in beast prison, no shock there. What shocked me - or rather confused me - was how relaxed Cat was about the whole thing. I’m assuming she thought V was having tea with Braxton too. Cat only starts to worry when GIRL SUIT raids Graydale and finds… nothing. According to Cat, this means V is in danger. Technically, it could also mean Vincent left or was hiding, but who am I to bring logic into this discussion?
Speaking of logic, Braxton… not a big fan either. He electrocutes Vincent with some futuristic big boy tasers for a while, threatens him and then… lets him go with promises of the Beast Buyer getting in touch soon. Braxton tells Vincent that if he doesn’t play along, he will expose him. So looks like the beast hit/bounty turned into a beast blackmail.
As announced, Vincent starts getting instructions from the beast buyer asking him to do a series of questionable things. Vincat conclude that they don’t have a choice and start complying with the beast buyer’s requests. OK, 1) Last week they were all about telling the press about their beast life but now the threat of exposure is enough to make them sell their souls? And 2) When a psychopathic mystery terrorists invites you to the world’s most illegal treasure hunt… you DECLINE.
I used to think it was romantic when Cat broke the rules and even the law for Vincent because she loves and believes in him so much. However, “I’m stealing a gun from evidence because my boyfriend got a text from someone who is most likely trying to kill him or frame him” has got to be the worst excuse ever.
Naturally, the whole stealing evidence thing causes a lot of tension with Tess because - as she put it - she is not #TeamBeast anymore, she’s #Teamlawandorder (sign me up for #teamIdontcareaboutteamlabels). When Tess figures out that Cat stole a gun from evidence and put a perp back on the streets she has no choice but to arrest her.
While V and C are running around town being criminals for no good reason and getting arrested, JT is still trying to find his purpose. This week he seems to think his higher calling has something to do with bringing down Graydale. Unfortunately he is unable to hack Graydale, so he decides to go to the building undercover with Heather posing as his wife. I’m not even sure why this was necessary. I’m guessing JT needed to be close to the mainframe to hack the place from the inside or something… but I don’t think that was ever explained.
The UNNECESSARY UNDERCOVER PLOT OF THE WEEK doesn’t work. So JT and Heather’s are forced to spend their fake honeymoon inside the beast prison. In the meantime, Cat manages to convince Tess to not arrest her. Am I the only one who thought her arguments were a bit weak? Cat kept making it sound like she was looking out for the greater good…but I’m not convinced. They had been willing to do anything to find the identity of the beast buyer, but I am not sure how that will save the world. In other words, I’m not sure this particular end justifies the means.
Anyway, Cat also has a sudden epiphany. Maybe Vincent can’t get to the “Beast Buyer” pulling Braxton’s strings, because Braxton IS the beast buyer. So the big reveal about the big bad is that there isn’t a big bad? WHAT.THE.HELL? I am sure I joked about this at one point, but never thought it could happen.
So… the BIG BAD is Braxton… well sort of. After coming to this conclusion, Cat and Vincent come up with a plan to deal with Braxton and rescue JT and Heather in one go. In a nutshell, Vincent gets himself spotted at Grand Central and then runs (with the DHS in tow) to Graydale. Cat is also there, they rescue JT and Heather and put Braxton in the beast cage, but are kind enough to let him have his BADDIE OF THE WEEK 15 MINUTES OF FAME. He goes into a diatribe about not being evil but trying to fight a bigger evil, only V has the power to stop him blah blah. They leave, DHS arrives and arrest everyone at Graydale, because JT made a tape of Braxton confesing or something. I’m really not sure about the legality of that raid…
Later V and C contemplate going away since now they know that the beast buyer doesn’t even exist. However, they never get to discuss the details of their escape plan because Tess shows up at their doorstep with disturbing news. She brings them to the morgue to show them what’s left of Braxton. Turns out he was telling the truth, Vincent is not the last beast on Earth. And that other beast is so going to be Kyle (and I’m not happy about it).
DUN DUN DUN
END OF EPISODE AND SO CLOSE TO END OF THE SHOW
Random Thoughts
- Heather can’t believe they fired Cat… Really? Breaking the law, aiding a fugitive, covering up several murders, withholding information not enough reasons?
- I know budget is always a concern, so I think a good way to save money would be to just set ALL scenes in the shower room. If that were the case, they could include as much exposition as they wanted and I wouldn’t care…
- JT’s hacking methods look an awful lot like a game of asteroids
- Girl suit has been the most efficient suit of them all. Yay #Girlpower
- The scene between Cat and Tess lacked all the emotion, logic and valid reasons that their scene in Partners in Crime had. It simply didn’t have the impact.
- Braxton is like a poor man’s Arvin Sloane.
Shower scenes are cheap....in more ways than one!
ReplyDeleteAnother great recap.
Am I crazy for being shocked that no one is mentioning that Cat was probably being shown as pregnant? People hate the repetition like they're beating us over the head with things (I agree a lot of times), but then when the writers are subtle people miss it. I mean I could be wrong, but the camera pans on a young kid right to start the episode and they make a huge point of showing Cat getting tea and Heather says you never get tea and Cat ignores it and Heather references the tea several times in their conversation. Plus, it's brought up again when JT is like you never drink tea and she ignores his comment as well. Pregnant women are typically supposed to avoid coffee and she got a caffeine free herbal tea...and that's why she seemed IMO uncharacteristically chill about V being taken. She's happy and she even says in the convo she's realized you can't control everything and she is just embracing her path (perhaps because while she wants a baby she wouldn't have chosen this time if she could have controlled things) and she doesn't want to stress because of it being bad for the baby and she sees the baby as a good sign and she's just calm and at peace bc she's happy her and Vincent are having a baby. She hasn't told Vincent yet because he was gone in the cage and then when he's out he's on the run and distracted again and she wants to tell him when he can be happy when he isn't worried. That's my take and I could be wrong. I mean episode 4 foreshadowed her definitely wanting to get and eventually getting pregnant and we all assumed she would be by the finale or in the finale. I bet she will say she is pregnant in episode 12 or something, maybe 11. I'm happy if this is true because I want a baby, a non beast-baby preferably, but I wanted to see them have that. Sadly we don't get to enjoy seeing them experience that because the show is ending.
ReplyDeleteThese recaps seem so sad hahah not too much positivity. I still think Vincent and Cat are cute although def not season 1 status and the writing has definitely gone down in quality, but I watch it for Vincent and Cat. Heather is just great this season, in terms of comedic acting and support for the 2 leads. And love JT. Tess makes the show seem more repetitive bc she complains about normalcy after Vincent and Cat do that so I don't know why they didn't do something else with her. I can take Vincent and Cat doing it, but not her, too. Anyway, 2 parts I see differently from the recap above. Vincent and Cat were never going to expose that V was a beast to the world. The reporter was just going to tell the world that V was involved in a government operation and that he had to kill Hill in self-defense. Vincent and Cat are protecting the beast secret tightly and always want to because then her and V would be treated differently if it was discovered; and Vincent would be hunted and experimented on. They just wanted Grace to know he was a beast because she wouldn't publish the story about him otherwise because she needed to understand why more, what V was involved in to give his story credibility since he had no proof and she wanted proof to say he killed in self-defense. Grace was going public with the Vincent killed Hill thing, not the beast thing. Also, while not well-written, the big bad thing makes sense since cops often let lower level criminals go to catch high level criminals. Cat kept saying the beast buyer wants a beast for no good reason, likely to kill tons of people, hence the bigger evil and bad for the whole world that they could stop. He needs a beast to carry out these acts and so protecting V and stopping him from ebing used as a weapon and getting the Graydal guy to be caught would help save innocents. That's my take on what Cat was saying and I bought it. Cat was justified in thinking he had plans to kill lots of people because that's what people typically want beasts for (it's why super-soldiers were created...to kill more people than average humans) and they found lots of explosives. cat is a small fish since she stole evidence and she could bring down a big fish who wants to kill tons of people so letting her go to get the bigger bad will save tons of people, not just Vincent. So it did have logic and valid reasons IMO. Cops cut deals all the time. Random, the shower scene was provocative in a subtle way like the other bedroom scene in a past episode. I was pretty shocked they went there bc it seemed so uncharacteristic and HBO like. These scenes don't have the emotional resonance of past intimate scenes, but they were less tame than season 3 scenes for sure like with the camera angles and body shots and the writers are trying to show them as a physical couple as almost every episode shows them about to or alludes to them being intimate. I think it's trying to show them as into each other physically, in love, and set up a Cat being pregnant plot. The show isn't showing them being intimate or even kissing like they did in season 1, but it's alluding to them being intimate a lot more and having them talk about it a lot more compared to past seasons. The actors must be over doing love scenes so the writers write kiss and fade to black or just have lines in the script alluding to intimate acts. And just what was that V bathroom scene about when he was all alone after Cat left?! I mean I don't even...
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteThe episode editor tweeted that that last bit of the bathroom scene was an unscripted moment that they decided to keep in, and added the 'sound effect'! ;)
DeleteThe episode editor tweeted that that last bit of the bathroom scene was an unscripted moment that they decided to keep in, and added the 'sound effect'! ;)
DeleteI KNEW that was the case
DeletePlease do provide details from filming before the show ends. I've never gotten to experience that so would like to know. Also, was there a difference between season 1 and season 4 filming? I'm glad to hear the actors were engaged and caring about the show at the end of s4 because I care about the show still and feared they didn't anymore and had checked out. The chemistry is different between the 2 leads and even the Tess/Cat actors so I thought maybe they were checked out or maybe they're just ready for new co-stars/projects. Also, thanks so much for sharing that bts tidbit about Jay and the shower scene. I thought it was him just being himself after filming since he purportedly is super silly and that seemed like a him thing to do even though I obvi don't know him. I also thought the sound effect had to be added after or I mean that'd be crazy. Thanks!
DeleteI didn't see the chemistry between the actors being any different from the start to the end, off screen or on. I feel that you're talking about seeing a difference in the interactions between the characters (since that's who you see on screen) and yes that is different, I would expect it to be different each season, as their circumstances and storylines change.
DeleteThis isn't directed at you personally Anonymous, but it drives me nuts when people complain that the characters aren't the same as they were in S1... well of course they aren't, they are in different situations.
But I understand what you're asking, and no, I never felt the actors stepped back from doing the best job possible right through until the end... even if the actors may have been looking forward to moving onto other things (that, of course is just pure speculation on my part).
They were all complete professionals, and looked like they were having fun and trying to make the most of it.
I didn't see the chemistry between the actors being any different from the start to the end, off screen or on. I feel that you're talking about seeing a difference in the interactions between the characters (since that's who you see on screen) and yes that is different, I would expect it to be different each season, as their circumstances and storylines change.
DeleteThis isn't directed at you personally Anonymous, but it drives me nuts when people complain that the characters aren't the same as they were in S1... well of course they aren't, they are in different situations.
But I understand what you're asking, and no, I never felt the actors stepped back from doing the best job possible right through until the end... even if the actors may have been looking forward to moving onto other things (that, of course is just pure speculation on my part).
They were all complete professionals, and looked like they were having fun and trying to make the most of it.
Glad to hear it. Thanks for your candor and insight. I do see your point (I think generally the interactions fans of all shows tend to like best are the beginnings of relationships bc of the excitement/unpredictability/intensity and less of the settled down couple), but I still see mine. ahaha And you've gotten to see behind the scenes of one of my favorite shows/ how in the heck did you get to do that?! That's awesome that they were so accommodating. And I guess there's the hope that the actors in the show you like like the show/making the show, too, not that that should matter I guess, but when you fight so hard to save a show...you want the actors involved to care that you saved it and to want it to be saved, too, and not want to move on to other projects/shows, but it's a job to them I presume and not their favorite show.
DeleteI'm going to refrain from commenting on/agreeing with you abt the various plot points and inconsistencies because I have trouble viewing this episode objectively. This one is kind of special to me, as I saw quite lot of it filmed - from much closer I have others. With some other Beasties we spent ALL night (with permission!) inside the location set where they filmed all the Graydal lobby and hallway scenes (Baxter with FBI lady, V escaping, JT & Heather, Rio police, Tess & FBI lady)
ReplyDeleteThe night before, we were also behind the director as they filmed that scene of V running across the street.
Anyway, my point is the attention to detail by crew and cast is just amazing, and it's unfortunate that a lot of that doesn't really make it to the screen, or is overshadowed by plot inconsistencies. Hours are spent on rehearsals and stunt work and repeated takes to get something exactly right.. something that ends up as a few seconds onscreen. When V ran out into traffic (and yes it was really Jay and it was timed to perfection!), there was a heartstopping stunt with another person crossing the other way, barely missing being run over (made even more precarious as it was pouring with rain) .
Anyway, so much time and care was spent on this, we were positive it was going to be really relevant... and yet it turned out to be just a few seconds in the ep, and the incredible stuntman is barely noticeable.
Whether it was initially more important to the plot and got edited down, or whether it was just another example of the crew constantly going the extra mile to have all the detail, I don't know.
Similar situation with V's escape from Graydal, and the riot police etc. Everyone from the actors on down were SO engaged in getting it right.
Perhaps I need to write a thing about all that! Maybe after final ep...
For what is worth I actually thought that while Graydale sequence was great. I should have probably includes that on the recap. You are right and I am not giving credit where credit is due. I actually think the show is generally well produced. It is the writing where they are having major issues. Just to show how important the script is for the end product.
DeleteAgreed. That's exactly what I think too Ale. Such a pity that the scripts/plot inconsistencies have let down all the excellent work being done elsewhere.
DeleteI agree - the issue is essentially with the writing and the overall plot lines - no issues generally with production or acting - but the script and lack of vision and consistency mess it up majorly unfortunately
DeleteI commented on the forum a while back that the showrunner/writers are the 'least' talented people working on BATB. It's well on display with this episode.
DeleteThe folks in Toronto seem to have their acts together very well in S4 but the writing is a major letdown which minimizes everyone else's hard work. Very disappointing.
Dave.