BEAUTY & THE BEAST: A Dark Man Waits with a Dark Purpose

Episode 118: “Heart of Darkness”

THERE ARE SPOILERS AHEAD!

[Photos: Ben Mark Holzberg/The CW]

Evan, NOOOOOO! Evan was smart, funny, sophisticated, and handsome, and how he carried himself? Meow. Yes, how a man carries himself can seriously add or subtract from the total package; am I crazy? Now, if Cat hadn’t met Vincent, would she have ever found it in herself to love Evan? Adoration is pretty intoxicating. Maybe it makes more sense that Cat, having sustained loss and damage herself, would ultimately relate more to Vincent than to Evan, who kept his own troubled past private. But all these questions ultimately are moot, because if Cat had chosen Evan or Vincent, the show would have been called “Beauty and the M.E.” instead of Beauty and the Beast.

Evan starts out the episode, guzzling scotch as he informs Muirfield agent Kyle where to find Vincent. After Kyle leaves, Evan realizes he’s being watched by Muirfield agents (apparently, Muirfield doesn’t teach the value of “discreet” surveillance). Evan needs an escape plan, and hapless extra #2 sitting at the bar will do; Evan decks him, and the police cooperatively escort him to lockup.

Meanwhile, Cat and Vincent enjoy domesticity. For a moment, it appears we’ll enjoy it with them as things progress from playful to pseudo-serious pretty quickly, but Tess shows up for some girl time. Vincent fumblingly attempts to smooth things over, the attempt made all the more amusing given that his pants are unzipped. Tess and Cat leave Vincent to his laundry so they can chat and drink beer up on the roof; in my opinion, this is a domestic arrangement of the highest degree of civility. Tess and Cat discuss the deadly seriousness of Vincent’s secret, before Cat gets the call that Evan’s in the clink.

Cat’s visit to Evan in jail begins with her mild amusement, but when Evan confronts her about her “new boyfriend”, Cat is stunned. Evan admits his involvement with Muirfield and that his motivation all along has been to protect her. Cat realizes his long confession has really just served to delay her so she’d be safe as Vincent is besieged by Muirfield. Luckily, Vincent escapes the tunnels with relative ease.

Later, Cat finds ADA Lowan going through records in Evan’s morgue, and Cat mentions that her desk had been rifled through. Lowan says he’s written his own search warrant. Now, I’m no attorney, but last I checked, you had to be a judge to issue a search warrant. Cat, who should be relatively well-versed in the law around warrants, lets him get away with it, no questions asked. Lowan claims to have a good excuse: he thinks there’s a mole in the department, and he’s narrowed his choices down to Evan and Cat. Maybe playing nice is the right approach here; good thinking, Cat.

While Cat is tied up with Lowan, Evan languishes on the subway. Honestly, more mopey, he’d have to wear black and convert to EMO (or whatever today’s angst-y youth do). Vincent confronts Evan. Each argues the other has put Cat in danger; each argues he’s the better man. They both have points, of course, but the reality is there’s no rational explanation of affairs of the heart. Vincent’s the one who makes her weak in the knees. Doesn’t matter whom she’s chosen, Evan has contacted Muirfield via a panic button, and both Vincent and Evan are ensnared.

J.T. shows up at the station to warn Cat and Tess that the tracking signal on Vincent’s burner phone has been jammed. Given Muirfield’s recent increased presence, all three head to the last location transmitted, where Evan also happens to be. With Tess’ and J.T.’s help, Cat manages to sneak past NSA-level security, even foiling voice recognition security.  You can’t break voice authentication like that, but you guys already know that.

Inside the agency, three simultaneous storylines emerge: Evan ditches his Muirfield babysitter and rifles around in Records and the med lab; Vincent is visited by the increasingly intriguing Agent Kyle; and Cat zeroes in. After Kyle visits Vincent to taunt him, Evan stumbles upon Vincent. Evan shares his new knowledge about Muirfield: they’ve continued their experiments, based on the creepy stuff he saw in the lab. Duh. This dramatically changes things for Evan, and when Kyle returns, Evan attempts to fight him off. Muirfield apparently trains its agents better at hand-to-hand combat than they do surveillance, and Kyle beats the poo out of Evan. Agent Kyle, however, skipped training the day they covered “kill zones” on the human body, and he shoots Evan in the gut.

With Kyle occupied, Cat frees Vincent, then finds injured Evan. Despite Evan’s unclear medical condition, Cat’s firm. They’re not leaving without him, not letting him die, and not letting Gabe Lowan continue with the notion that Evan’s the mole. Cat runs ahead to verify the underground electrical tunnel is a viable way out. Evan uses the time to ask Vincent if he knows about Cat’s parents. What it is they both seem to know is unclear, but it sounds juicy, and Vincent insists Cat can’t know.

On their way out, a door not in the building schematics traps the trio. Vincent beastifies, Evan apologizes to Cat for his misguided notions and gives himself up to the pursuing Muirfield posse just as Vincent finally opens the stubborn door. Oh, the humanity!

Later, Cat checks in with Lowan at the precinct. His hand trembles uncontrollably and he monkeys with a drawerful of meds before selecting a handful to inhale. Apparently, Monsieur Lowan is unwell. Cat professes no knowledge of Evan’s whereabouts, but Lowan is satisfied with the email that Evan managed shortly before his death, in which Evan accepted the blame for being the mole. Not only did Evan allow Cat to escape with the man she loved, but he also cleared her name at work.

Later, Cat does her own EMO subway cruising; Vincent finds her. Cat blames herself for Evan’s death, Vincent’s capture, Evan’s feelings for her, Vincent falling in love with her, etc. He reminds her they’ll always be vulnerable, but he can’t live without her. Her brain finally takes that next planful, vengeful step: Muirfield would no longer be an issue if they were out of the picture. Now, that’s my girl!

So what do we think, guys? I didn’t love this episode: Evan croaked and not much going on between Cat and Vincent. The final scene between them on the train provided a nice retrospective, and there was a lot of action in this episode, but mostly I feel like this was a bridge intended to carry us to the next storyline. Anyone else feel that way?

Just four episodes left, and the foremost question that I hope gets answered is what is the deal with Cat’s parents? Oh, and let’s get a little more action between Vincent and Cat before it’s all said and done, can we? See you guys next time!

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