BEAUTY & THE BEAST: Our Father, Who Art Duplicitous
Episode 206: “Father Knows Best”
THERE ARE SPOILERS AHEAD!
[photos: Christos Kalohoridis/CW]
Episode five of Beauty & The Beast opened with lovely scenery, and episode six was not to be outdone: we see Vincent sleeping in bed, an artfully placed bed sheet showing off a good portion of what his mama gave him. You gotta give it to Jay Ryan; he hasn’t missed the gym. I, for one, am appreciative of a man who takes his craft seriously. In any case, the bed scene actually proves to be more than simple eye candy. The Sandman has arranged for Vincent to have his memories of Cat and him restored to their full glory, and we see the deluge of memories as Vincent experiences them.
Excited to share his restored memory with Cat, he rushes to her place, where she is taking her frustrations out on a kickboxing dummy. Seems she’s in a tizz about her Daddy Dearest, even though she hasn’t yet told Agent Reynolds that she knows, and she delivers a blow to Vincent’s head as they discuss it and practice her kicks. Was the kick accidental? Seems like a classic Freudian slip to me. Lingering resentment over Vincent being such a jerk at the beginning of the season? Wouldn’t judge her, if that were the case. Vincent reminds her that he’s only got two missions left of killing beasts dead, and then, he plans a romantic get-away to Cedar Woods for some QT under the stars.
At the precinct, Gabe and Tess discuss those same two lingering missions of Vincent’s. Gabe asks Tess to cross reference JT’s Muirfield research with the research that Gabe did while he was hunting beasts. Of primary concern is that the last mission could be Vincent, and despite Gabe’s growing personal interest in Cat, or perhaps because of it, he feels he owes it to her to protect Vincent as much as possible.
Vincent receives orders from Daddy Dearest/Agent Reynolds/Condor about a beast target named Curt Windsor, who had lived with the beast strain dormant in his system for years until about three years ago. Because he’s always surrounded by bodyguards, Vincent’s only in will be when the target’s daughter sneaks out onto her balcony for her nightly glass of vino. Just as Condor is wrapping up details with Vincent, Cat appears in his office to confront him. She says she wants to meet for coffee to discuss the truth, but then leaves without cementing where and when. I hate it when they do that on TV shows. The Virgo in me needs to know that the details have been addressed!
Vincent gets into Windsor’s place as planned, but before he makes much progress, the target busts into the room with Vincent, beasts out, and attacks. Vincent returns the favor. The daughter Tori sees both of them, and her father attacks her. No Father of the Year awards for this one. Vincent grabs Tori and does that new zippy exit with which the special effects crew has been toying.
Cat meets with her bio dad the next morning, and honestly, if I didn’t as an omniscient viewer know the guy was pulling Vincent’s strings, I would think him a sympathetic character. His claim that he was honoring Cat’s mom’s wishes that he stay in the background was believable, and his expressed desire to play a more active role in her life from now on seemed genuine. If only he didn’t slip in subliminal messages about not falling for a lost cause. Their meeting is cut short when the news reports the kidnapping of Tori Windsor; back to work for the both of them.
At the station, Cat finds that Gabe had already identified Windsor as a potential beast, and the team is concerned that Vincent may have been Tori’s kidnapper. Cat goes to Vincent’s boathouse to see if he’s on a mission. Soon after, Windsor and his goons find their way to the boathouse; Cat hides in the water of the Hudson as Team Windsor tears the place apart. Unsuccessful in finding Vincent, they take a few of his belongings so they can better track him down.
Afterwards, Gabe, Tess and Cat try to make sense of it. Why did Vincent kidnap Tori? Cat thinks he’s in trouble, whereas Tess thinks he wants leverage over his target. Why does Windsor, a beast, need an armed guard? How did Windsor find his way to Vincent’s? How are they going to solve the problem now? Gabe wants to pursue the flatlining possibility. Tess fails to see how that would work, but Cat thinks that Windsor might agree to it with his daughter’s life at stake.
Cat and Reynolds show up at Windsor’s place at the same time for interrogation, so they go up together. Windsor isn’t open to law enforcement’s involvement, but the visit pays off for Cat. She sees one of Windsor’s goons going through some of Vincent’s stuff, including a wine bottle, and it makes her remember his wistful description of Cedar Woods.
Out in the woods, Vincent and semi-captive Tori Windsor discuss her father’s dirtbagginess. Although at first, Tori seems protective of her father, she eventually acknowledges his anger issues and her mother’s warnings about her father. Vincent uses a knife to dig out a tracking device from Tori’s arm. I get that they bonded there in the woods, and he’s undeniably attractive, but I think that I would have a really hard time sitting still if a kidnapper took a knife to my arm. Call me crazy.
At some point during their discussion, Vincent puts her arm around her to comfort her, and Vincent begins to transition into beast. What triggered that? Desire? Not good. Cat stumbles onto the scene, tripping a booby trap, and Vincent narrowly saves her from death by wooden stake.
Vincent, Tori and Cat leave the woods for JT’s place. Tori and Cat discuss the overhead involved with loving a man who is a beast, and Vincent just acts inappropriately agitated. He is reluctant to use Gabe’s flatlining idea, but eventually all agree to it as a plan. Cat goes to Windsor’s to make the pitch. Since she threatens to ruin his reputation and keep him from ever seeing his daughter again, Windsor agrees to the plan, too. For a guy who was eager to assault his daughter at the beginning of the episode, he does seem to be very invested in her.
At JT’s, Windsor and his daughter have an emotional exchange, then Gabe preps him for the procedure. Things pan out differently than planned; instead of flatlining, Windsor beasts out, rips his way out of the wrist restraints, and attacks Vincent. I guess someone peed in Vincent’s Cheerios that morning. Instead of doing the usual “you throw a punch, I throw a punch” routine that most of the beasts have observed, Vincent reaches right in and yanks Wndsor’s heart out of his chest. Are we sure we’re watching the same show? Wooden stakes, pulling hearts out? That’s vampire stuff, not Beauty-Beast stuff!
Although she’s initially shocked that Vincent would rip Windsor’s heart out of his chest in violation of the agreed-to plan, she visits him the next day. Vincent can’t really explain his behavior, and he acknowledges that it makes it seem like he’s getting worse instead of better. Cat tries to put a little lipstick on the pig, and says his progress can be expected to be two steps forward, one step back. Um, Cat? He ripped the guy’s heart out. That’s just a step back?
The final scene depicts Ms. Windsor arriving at the apartment where she now resides alone. A peek in the hall mirror reveals that her eyes have gone CGI-golden, just like Vincent’s do when he beasts out. She appears genuinely surprised, so perhaps we can assume this is the first time this has happened to the young heiress?
Questions for next week: We’re still waiting to see when Gabe will reveal his true feelings for Cat. Since it looks as though Vincent’s about to hit a down phase, can we expect Cat and Vincent to spend some time apart, and for Gabe to step up? Why did Vincent start to turn when we had his arm around Tori? Will JT be back in this episode? I missed that rosy-faced master of the one-liner. And what role will Ms. Windsor play in upcoming episodes? (Please don’t say new love interest for Vincent!)
See you guys after episode seven!
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[Official Show on CW] [Previous Recap: “Reunited”]
