RECAP: BATB S4 E12

No Way Out

Bad beasts don’t go to federal prison, they go to underwater dungeons run by shady soldiers. We also learn that beasts can be an illusion and that men suspected of terrorism like to hang out at the 9/11 memorials.

As you might recall Vincent and Cat were arrested, leaving the rest of the gang to plan not one, but two prison breaks. Cat’s is easy enough. She doesn’t even get the chance to get used to the fact that orange is the new beast [because Beast is the New Black, duh], since JT and Heather pull all their money and post her bail. Vincent’s release, on the other hand, is not as simple. Mostly because no-one knows where they took him!

We know V is not in a federal prison, we learn that from Tess. And we know he is in a shady black ops interrogation site. We learn that from the cavernous setting and free-for-all-torture treatment they are giving him. And just as I was thinking that V’s ‘holding facility’ could totally be B613’s headquarters, the guy from Scandal walks in. So there you go, confirmation that Command is behind all things Beast. And you know what they say… “You can’t take command”

Anyway, B613 GUY is not playing around. He is well-versed in every torture technique in the book AND he knows V is a beast, so he knows exactly how to hurt him. In summary, V is accused of murdering Garrus, Ecklund and probably Jimmy Hoffa. Like seriously, it’s a full on game of “have a murder? Pin it on the beast!” And not only that, the sadist interrogators from hell are also convinced that Vincent has another target and are determined to find who it is [Where are they getting all their info?!]

At some point we find out that the “target” is some sort of Prince of Persia or something and he is the fourth member of the “Cabal.” First of all, I must have been distracted because I can’t remember since when the “Cabal” is the official denomination for the baddies. But none of this is important at the moment, so let’s move on [I am assuming it will be important next week because otherwise it was a terrible waste of time!]

While V gets waterboarded and electrocuted and God knows what else, Cat and the gang try to come up with a plan to find the other beast. Unfortunately, it becomes increasingly evident that there is not much they can do. Even if they find the beast, they don’t have Vincent to fight him [or her]. Completely broken, Cat goes to her mother’s grave. Heather follows her and, in a very poignant moment, Cat finally comes to terms with the truth. She should have let go of the fight long ago. She had noble reasons, but there would always be another fight and now, her pursuit of justice may cost her everything.

BACK AT THE CAVE OF BEAST TORTURE, B613 guy brings up “love” as part of his psychological attack on Vincent. It kind of backfires though. Talking about love makes Vincent think of Cat, who, in a way has always been his guiding light. Thinking [and hallucinating] about her clears his mind and gives him the determination to escape. So he kill-bill’s his way out of the… underwater [as it turns out] prison.

In the midst of the escape, V has an epiphany. And this is where I start feeling we need a BIG BAD flowchart or a handy board, like they did on The Wire. Anyway, V realises that they will never find the beast who took down Braxton because THERE IS NO BEAST. Oh, and Braxton is alive. So… basically there is no Big Bad behind Braxton and there is no killer Beast either.

BRAXTON = BIG BAD = IMAGINARY BEAST PUPPETEER = BEAST FRAMER

So… in summary, Braxton, Garrus and Ecklund created a new batch of beasts that malfunctioned [The why is still a bit unclear]. Braxton realised that Garrus and Ecklund were going to sell him out to the State Department so he orchestrated a supercomplicated plan to flush a beast out [Vincent] by sending bounty hunters after him. Then he tricked V into thinking there was another beast… no idea why, but the point is that Braxton killed everyone and V was conveniently placed in the middle of it, ready to be framed.

At least I think that’s what’s going on….

Anyway, after V escapes he reunites with Cat. He agrees with her conclusion that their obsession to right all the wrongs in their past has put them in a precarious situation and maybe they need to let go of it. But… they have a final fight. Find and defeat Braxton… I think. I mean… who knows what’s going on at this point.

It shouldn’t be that hard, assuming Braxton is the final objective [and there isn’t a surprise big bad, beast, vampire or zombie behind him]. After all, Braxton is only a man and V is a beast with magical tracking abilities. Right? Wrong. Vincat follow Braxton’s trail, but they fail to realize that he is closer than they think. So it is Heather who comes in contact with him first. Little Chandler spent the entire episode feeling guilty about the whole “My boyfriend sent my sister and the love of her life to prison” situation. So, she decides to play hero and go after Braxton herself. She gets shot. Why didn’t she use her pepper spray!?

But fret not, Heather is OK. Unfortunately, everything else is falling apart, but the episode was almost over, so things had to be quickly wrapped up. Cat accompanies her sister to the hospital, while Vincent runs away [because he is still a wanted man]. And, naturally, he runs away to… lower Manhattan and visits the 9/11 memorial fountain. As you do… when you are wanted for domestic terrorism.

I really enjoyed watching this episode, which made me sad because the show is ending! I feel all this plot could have come a lot earlier in the season [and stretched out over more than one episode]. We got so many filler episodes and then suddenly we have the twist and the countertwist of the twist and just way too many twists that weren’t properly set up. Oh well… Even with all the circular plotlines, there were a few highlights that made me like the episode overall. I loved the scene at the graveyard and Jay was remarkable in those torture scenes. I felt for him. [He is NOT a monster, damn it!] Plus I am all for flashbacks when shows are about to end [but not time jumps… please don’t have a time jump! There is so gonna be a time-jump...]

Random comments

• I was happy with the baddie of the week. One, because I think he is very good at playing evil and shady, but also because I always though he kinda looks like Mark Pellegrino and if I can’t have the real thing I’ll have to settle for a lookalike.
• At one point I started thinking that the other beast might actually be V in some sort of split personality situation. But this isn’t Mr. Robot, we definitely don’t need Mr. Beast!
• Who is giving Agent Dylan information? And how much information does she have? Is she in league with B613 guy? Is she OK with the Guantanamo setting he has going on? And… did V flood the prison when he escaped?
• There was so much talk about V’s bros this ep, I also considered the possibility that one of them was going to show up and turn out to be the biggest bad or something. That could have been a neat twist but NOT at this point so… glad it didn’t happen.
• Kyle is not a beast!

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TVEmpress

The TV Empress is a Media Management graduate, screenwriter in the making (and financial engineer in the meantime). She has serious plans to take over global television. You can follow the TVEmpress on twitter @TVRepublik