Recap: BATB S4E11

Meet the new Beast

Vincent and Catherine finally get to the bottom of Graydale’s Beast Hunting conspiracy only to discover the new bad guys are the old bad guys. Speaking of bad guys, they are dropping like flies, courtesy of the new beast whom we actually don’t meet… or have we?

The new evil organization - Graydale - has fallen. So, naturally, it’s time for “M” to make a comeback. The Beast team discover that one of Braxton’s main contacts was LARS ECKLUND, the man who bought M. [We know this because people who buy evil organisation never forget to file the appropriate paperwork?] In any case, the new plan [or rather the same rehashed plan], is to find Ecklund, find the new beast, bring it to DHS in exchange of immunity.

Sounds easy enough. But of course, the new elusive beast kills Ecklund before Vincat can get to him. This brings us to:

DR. ALBERT GARRUS: Contact of Ecklund, creator of beasts, cool gadget hoarder, boat owner, new bad guy.

Cat lures Garrus to a pier [why not an abandoned warehouse?] by sending a text from dead Ecklund’s phone. However, turns out Garrus is a smart cookie. He knows he is being hunted by a beast so he took precautions in the form of a portable ‘Beast detector,’ which also emits an ultrasonic sound only beasts can hear [why didn’t anyone think of that before?]. The Beast whistle momentarily incapacitates Vincent, giving Garrus the chance to escape.

JT figures that they don’t actually need Garrus. They could just break into his lab and look for information about the other beast. He volunteers himself for the mission because he wants some quality bro time with V, who may or may not have to go into hiding for good.

So JT and V break into the lab, but they are interrupted by Garrus himself, who attacks them with his cool stunt gun [that looks like something an Observer would use on Fringe]. However, V still manages to overpower Garrus and brings him to THE GUILD.

After sort of convincing Garrus that V is a beast but he is not the big bad beast, we are treated to some BAD GUY EXPOSITION. It goes something like this:

BRAXTON knew about M from his NSA days. So when he got a CLIENT who wanted to procure a Beast, he knew where to turn. He contacted GARRUS, who improved the Beast formula [with some useful add ons like beast camouflage]. The CLIENT wanted a Beast to take care of some terrible threat. He made a deal with the State Department in exchange for classified information, but somewhere in that complicated negotiation something went wrong and deal was off. Garrus and Client let Braxton take the blame which eventually lead to the whole beast bounty and HILL kerfuffle with the DHS… [I think…. I feel like I needed a diagram to understand all this].

Let’s simplify. Braxton had a client who wanted a Beast. Garrus made the beast who now is running wild killing people. V wants to use Garrus as bait to attract the beast and then take it down. Unfortunately, Garrus decides he can’t trust them [after getting a warning text from a mystery sender] and decides to leave. He doesn’t go far because the beast kills him. Of course. Aw… just when I was starting to like Garrus.

To make it even worse, Tess finds out that immunity is off the table for Vincent, so there is nothing more to do. The only option is running. Thanks to Heather - who stole the files of a recently deceased couple from the hospital - and JT - who has a passport forging press somewhere in his lab - Vincent and Cat have new identities.

Unfortunately, Kyle has been rating to AGENT DYLAN so they intercept Vincat at the airport and arrest them.

END OF EPISODE

Although this episode was unnecessarily complicated [no reason to have two bad guys instead of one e.g.] I enjoyed it significantly more than the last few eps of this season. Here are some of the things I appreciated.

• Sci-fi detail. This almost NEVER happens on this show, which is a terrible flaw since it is technically sci-fi in genre. So I REALLY appreciated that they gave some thought to the sci-fi aspect with the Beast whistle gadget and Garrus’s gun, plus other throwaway comments like the “cellular printer” at the lab. I know these details are not fundamental to the plot, but they are important for world building and if they had not neglected them for so long we would have a tighter mythology.
• Character motivations I can understand. They didn’t over-complicate things or introduced a new conflict that would go away in the next episode. They went with a very simple question, if Vincat run, how would the other characters feel? For me it makes sense that Heather would be devastated to lose the only family she has and that JT would be lost without Vincent because keeping him safe has been his reality for the last decade and a half. I even appreciated that scene with Tess where Vincent points out she doesn’t even like him, but Tess explains she has no issues with him as a man, rather the things they have been forced to do because of the beast.
• As usual there was a lot of exposition, including the mandatory opening scene where they explain EVERYTHING. However, some other scenes that provided info were more deftly handled [some not so much]. And for some reason I loved the scene with Garrus and JT at the Guild when he introduces him as the “new bad guy” and he just waves to Heather. I felt it almost acknowledged the ridiculousness of the neverending succession of baddies.

Random Thoughts

• Who keeps rebuilding il Cantuccio? Seriously, you guys, who owns this place? Maybe that’s the true conspiracy of the show. The coffee shop owner is behind all evil.
• I am tired of finding out there is an even bigger bad behind the big bad. Enough already!
• So far Kyle turned out to be just a traitor but not a beast. At this point, I’d be satisfied if the Beast is ANYONE other than Kyle. Just don’t let it be Kyle… it would be so expected. Wouldn’t it be shocking if the Beast is Agent Dylan for instance? Are we even sure the Beast is male? Did Garrus used the pronoun “he”? I don’t think he did.