FINAL RECAP: BATB S4E13

Au Revoir

All things must come to an end. On the last episode ever of BATB Vincent and Catherine save a man we don’t care about, have a last supper on the rooftop and try to con all their friends. But they will always have Paris...

The episode starts with V and C taking care of their affairs. Catherine is sorting out her will while Vincent makes a shady deal to sell a car [his car? Cat’s car? Stolen car? Where did this car come from?] It makes sense, considering they have been planning to escape since… I don’t know two seasons ago. Yet, everyone is acting like this is news for some reason.

But then it is time to focus on the “Save the Prince” storyline, A.K.A. THE CASE OF THE WEEK. Yes, I know it is supposed to be part of the serialized story, but it feels so disconnected I have trouble getting invested. Remember the Prince? He’s the fourth member of the “Cabal” we don’t care about. Oh, and we are not calling it the “Cabal” anymore [that is so last episode]. Why do we care about the Prince? Well, because he is Braxton’s final target. So he is going to kill him and then frame V for it. Vincat being who they are, can’t leave town without saving the Prince first.

Their brilliant plan is to kidnap the Prince’s assistant and drill him for information.The assistant doesn’t need much convincing and starts sharing all the juicy details. Basically, the Prince hired Braxton to make him super-bodyguards [beasts]. He even provided volunteers, not really knowing they were going to turn them into Beasts. When all the subjects died, the Prince felt guilty about it, but… what you gonna do? Right?

Vincent and Cat convince the assistant that the Prince is in danger and that he should work with them. He quickly agrees, [because that’s what you do when two strangers kidnap you]. This leaves Vincat temporarily with “nothing to do” [because that’s what you want your characters to be saying on your last episode ever].

Vincent suggests a last dinner on the rooftop. And… it was just too short and too uneventful. I wanted it all! That was the scene. That was the scene where all the emotion and memories were supposed to come flooding. There needed to be a huge emotional buildup towards a release. But… it was just short and sweet. Vincent and Cat just drink some wine, mention how sad it is that they are not coming back and sweetly hug. No “I would do it all over again because that’s how much I love you” or “It seems like I’m giving up everything, but I’m not because you’re the one thing I can’t live without” or some line to take away with us. Nope… just some red wine and a hug. Oh well…

There are also the mandatory goodbyes between Heather/Cat, Cat/Tess and [my favourite] Vincent and JT. They were also sweet [the guy’s was the most emotional], but again they felt a bit repetitive [they’ve been saying goodbye for three episodes now]. And I think it was a mistake to have all this “emotional” scenes in the middle of the “calm” part of the episode. They were lacking a hyped situation that would make them land more effectively.

Anyway…

While everyone was saying their goodbyes, Braxton was coming up with a  plan to kill the Prince. And not to spoil it, but it involves MAGNETS [bitch].

In summary, Braxton plans to attack the Prince when he is in transit with this diplomatic caravan. Vincent and Catherine intercept them by zipping into the limo [because V mysteriously turned into The Flash a while back in case you didn’t notice]. Unfortunately, they didn’t know the details of Braxton’s clever plan so they fail to stop the magnetic bomb from sticking to the car but they manage to get the Prince out of the car. Yay, he is alive! Eh… I DON’T CARE! You know who I do care about? Vincent and Catherine, who naturally decide to STAY in the car and drive it off the bridge as it explodes.

JT witnesses the explosion and instantly breaks down at the realization that his bestie beast is dead. But… come on, they were clearly just faking their death. All that preparation, plus the talk about “being ready” right before they drove off the cliff. Also, it’s the exact same way Sydney Bristow and Irina Derevko faked their own deaths. [Final Alias reference on a BATB recap!]

Later, Tess, JT, Heather and Kyle mourn the death of their friends. Actually JT and Tess kill Braxton first. It was so fast and uneventful, I almost forgot. [Sidenote: I am happy Kyle didn’t turn out to be a mole or a beast, but what was the point of his character? It would have been interesting if he had discovered Vincent’s secret throughout the season instead of just accepting it all.] At the funeral, JT gives a heartfelt eulogy, but it didn’t resonate with me that much. Perhaps because it all happened so quickly and I knew there was no chance in hell they were actually dead [not ‘dead dead’ at least.]

And soon enough, JT gets a visit from someone to offer him a job… at the funeral. How appropriate. But this, coupled with the fact that some wigs are missing makes everyone realize that Vincent and Catherine are alive! How incredibly NOT shocking!

Turns out, Vincent and Catherine fled to Paris and started living a simple life under the names of “Belle and Adam” [yes, like the Disney movie]. They look happy, act lovingly and take carriage rides. A part of me was trying to get on board the whole “happily ever after” Disney angle they were going for [even though the show never really had that tone]. However a louder part of me kept wondering: How did they get to Paris? When did they get fake IDs? How was Cat accepted in French law-school?

Some questions will never have answers. It’s Vincat’s anniversary and as a gift Vincent reunites her with her sister, Tess and JT [well I guess that was more for V than Cat]. They have a nice dinner talk about everyone living happily ever after in sin. All laughs and smiles until a woman gets conveniently mugged outside the restaurant. Vincent and Catherine rush out to help her, because that’s who they are.

END OF SHOW

*sighs* There are many things I didn’t love about this episode/season/last couple of seasons. But I don’t want to get into it. I want to end things on a high-note. I want to say goodbye to the show thinking of secret rendez-vous, rooftops, first kisses and fire-escapes. And that’s what I will take with me. I don’t need doors or walls…

Note to Beasties

It’s been a ride beasties! BATB premiered right around the time I started blogging about TV and I didn’t find as much enthusiasm anywhere as I did in this fandom. The show might be over now, but it is not gone. It will be remembered fondly. Let’s reminisce about it for years to come [if you haven’t noticed I still totally talk about Alias] and talk about new TV.

And this is farewell, so I'd love it if you could leave a comment! Also do let me know what else are you watching and what you want to see on this site.