BEAUTY & THE BEAST: Out of Control

Episode 107: “Out of Control”

THERE ARE SPOILERS AHEAD!

[Photos: Ben Mark Holzberg/The CW]

After missing a week of B&TB, I was ready to get on with things again. After all, the last time we saw Vincent, he had just woken up from one of his fugues. He was confused, disoriented, and slicked up in a layer of somebody else’s blood. So let’s get this party started!

Speaking of, the scene opens with the kind of banging frat party that one always sees in TV shows but never quite materializes in real life. A frisky couple leaving the party stumbles onto the frat’s very dead pledge master, lying about al fresco on the campus.

Cat, who’s been packing for a weekend get-away with Vincent, shows up at the crime scene with a Cat-that-ate-the-canary grin, and Tess reminds her that one should try not to look giddy when approaching a murder scene. Tess and J.T. always get the best lines. Because Cat can’t tell Tess about her real weekend plans, Tess strong-arms Cat into agreeing to attend the a beefcake calendar launch party.

About the same time that Cat is relishing her upcoming weekend, Vincent has left an artistically arranged trail of bloody clothes from his room to his shower. Vincent emerges from the shower, and ahem, I must confess: although I have opined in week’s past that Mr. Ryan wasn’t all that, were it not for the fact that I am an incredibly happily married woman, I might otherwise have had some momentary impure thoughts about the man. (That should cover me if my husband ever gets around to reading this.)

J.T. confronts Vincent, and both agree that Vincent is dangerous. Where they disagree is whether Cat should be told about the latest development. Vincent champions full disclosure. J.T., however, warns Vincent that if Cat thinks Vincent is out of control, she may have to turn him in. In closing argument, J.T. also points out, “…that wasn’t your blood. Whose was it?”  Reminded that there is more than Cat’s welfare at stake, they double their efforts to get to the bottom of things. They wire Vincent up to monitor him. Vincent tale involves a midnight walk across the same university we saw in the beginning scene. Hmmm…

This time during physical monitoring, Vincent actually disassociates and turns into his charming alter ego.  Have I ever mentioned how awful I think the Beast makeup is?  Just terrible. Ugh. After throwing J.T. and a chair violently across the room, Vincent advances on J.T with about the same speed and energy that my five year old musters on weekday mornings. J.T. feels threatened anyway and nails Vincent with a tranq gun, right as Cat arrives to delay her camping trip until the next day, owing to her night out with Tess.

Through a barely opened door, J.T. makes his excuses for Vincent in what’s actually a fairly well executed scene between Kristin Kreuk and Austin Basis. Cat is convincingly unconvinced, and J.T. is convincingly unconvincing. Cat mentions she has to head to the university due to the murder that happened around midnight, and J.T. connects the dots.

At the station, Evan introduces his new intern to Tess and Cat, and points out a strange checkmark-shaped laceration on the victim’s leg. Evan recalls having seen a similar wound somewhere before, and suspects it’s a serial’s calling card, but we know Evan. He is a medical examiner, CSI, and lab technician; there’s really nothing he can’t do, so he’ll be able to track it down!

Tess and Cat have been interviewing frat brothers, which has led them to a young man who quit pledgeship. This depledge turns them onto the probable primary crime scene, and then Cat and Tess discuss the case in front of this young man without having first done any kind of elimination of him as a suspect. Am I the only one has watched every episode of CSI!?

Vincent visits Cat at the primary crime scene to tell her that he can’t go camping at all, since he might actually be the killer. Back at Vincent’s place, Cat shares her confidence that  Vincent isn’t the killer, and J.T. determines that the blood between the crime scene and the artistic clothing display aren’t a match. But the question remains: whose blood was it?

Evan’s ongoing investigation into the funky checkmark calling card recalls an incident a year prior in which a medical cadaver from the anatomy lab had been checked and left out in the open. Evan plays CSI again, and goes back to the crime scene. The bad guy conks Evan on the head and kidnaps him, but fortunately for our first runner-up for Cat’s heart, Evan is on the phone with Cat at the time so she is aware of the danger.

Tess and Cat are able to determine the killer’s probable next steps will take them to the old subway tunnels under the school, which go for miles. Cat needs an edge if she’s to rescue Evan in time.  Cat enlists Vincent’s help, but alas, Vincent transmogrifies en route, then takes out the bad guy before running off. Evan is safe, but Cat is shaken from the experience.

The next day, Evan’s convinced the bad guy’s killer was not entirely human, because he heard “…flesh ripping, not severed, ripping.”  Ok, I haven’t heard flesh either ripping or severing. Does it make a lot of noise when it’s severed?  I mean, I’ve sliced myself a few times accidentally in a couple of horrific kitchen accidents.  I don’t remember anything too loud.  And how is ripping different?  I’ve really only got horror movie sound effects to go on. If any of you have any input, would you let me…hmm, on second thought, never mind. Maybe I’d rather not know.

In any case, Cat tries to convince Evan that being alive is the important thing, but evidently, Evan’s not ready to put it to bed. His ensuing research into crimes related to this episode’s case turn up a newspaper article on the subway mauling with Cat and Vincent at the beginning of the series. Is Cat mentioned in the article?  Why else would Evan appear both knowing and subtly freaked after reading it?

The episode concludes back at Vincent’s place. Cat wants to see Vincent, who is now safely ensconced within what appears to be about a 6’ x 6’ cell. With no toilet. Seriously, what’s a poor guy to do?  Vincent then shares what is probably supposed to be a bomb shell on Cat: that they’ve retraced all of Vincent’s steps related to his fugues, and they’ve determined that Cat is the trigger. Yeah, and my last name is Walker. Oh, wait. Was Vincent’s news really a surprise to anyone?

Overall, not a terrible episode, but it was a little lackluster. I felt the writers could have done a better job tying up loose ends of the storyline this time around. For example, what the heck was up with the check mark calling card of the killer?  In Europe, you can get away with mysteries that don’t explain the mystery. This ain’t Europe. American audiences want to know why. Also, the characters ask twice whose blood was on Vincent’s clothes at the beginning of the episode, but they never reach a conclusion. Will this question ever be answered?  I think it’s germane.

I also knew who the killer was during the first scene in which he was introduced. As soon as I’m smart enough to articulate how I know when I know, I’m going to write a handbook for TV writers about how to put the mystery back into one-hour procedurals. And then I’ll promptly retire a very wealthy woman in the Caribbean. All three of you who read my blogs should come visit!

Previews for next week show Vincent threatening to take himself out. Since the show’s title would have to change if Vincent succeeds, I’m going out on a limb and saying Cat puts a stop to the attempt. You know us women, always standing in the way of men and their goals. See you next week, where I make more trouble, and we see how it all shakes out with our heroine and anti-hero.

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