BEAUTY & THE BEAST: You Can’t Handle the Truth!
Episode 203: “Liar, Liar”
THERE ARE SPOILERS AHEAD!
[Photos: Ben Mark Holzberg/The CW]
In the third episode of Beauty & the Beast, season two, Cat attempts to cover up the bruise on her neck from last week’s encounter with jerk Vincent. As many of you probably know from personal experience, there is just no way to effectively cover up neck damage. I say this, mind you, from years of watching my friends’ struggles, not from any personal experience.
Anyway, Heather comes by to share the news about her job offer at a PR firm in Miami and to solicit big sister advice. All wide-eyed naiveté, Heather suggests Cat do a better job of covering up her “deep tissue massage” injury a bit better, lest people think Cat has an abusive boyfriend. Pretty funny moment for an otherwise serious issue.
Vincent feels guilty about his manhandling of Cat, and swings by to ask JT to convey his regret to her. During the conversation, JT shares some of the highlights of the Cat-Vincent relationship, including Cat’s dad’s wedding and the one carefree evening in the hotel pool when Vincent was de-beastified. At the time, it seemed like a strange conversation to me; why just these two incidents, and why wouldn’t Vincent share his regret personally rather than through JT?
In the meantime, Condor’s minion Tucker calls Vincent about the new target for Vincent to pursue. Unfortunately for Tucker, the target kills him while Vincent listens in. Well, that’s the usual fate for minions and red-shirts. Those of you considering a career in minion-ment might want to reconsider. Tess takes the case of the latest beast attack on Tucker. When JT calls and mentions that Vincent had been at his place at the time of the murder, the team knows that another beast is the bad guy.
Cat meets Gabe to strategize their next move. Cat wants to check Vincent’s computer and sat-phone. If busted in his house-boat, she plans to simply pretend as though she were there to discuss their relationship. In reality, their focus will be to find out who is pulling the strings. To make sure Cat keeps her cool with Vincent, Tess gives her some tips on how to keep her vitals stable while lying.
Vincent visits the same crime scene later to get clues about which beast killed Tucker. While there, this new beast calls Vincent to throw him off balance, and challenges Vincent to consider whether his own name is on the list of targets that Condor, Tucker and Vincent have been working off of.
Cat visits Vincent’s place as planned, and manages to get an email attachment off his computer before Vincent walks in. She agrees to give him another chance, so they can get more information about the elusive puppet master. Vincent believes her motives are more sincere, and is relieved to get another shot at the relationship.
Gabe and Tess pull JT in to decode the email attachment that Cat ganked. They realize that a couple of names mentioned in the email are art galleries. Somehow, this knowledge makes its way from the NYPD to the feds. When Condor and Vincent talk again, not only do they pinpoint the beast in question as the son of the aforementioned art galleries, Condor reveals that the NYPD knows about the art galleries and suggests that the leak of information is on Vincent’s side. Vincent realizes Cat’s visit may have been a ruse.
Cat meets up with Heather for the Miami discussion, and Heather finally confesses the secret that has been bothering her for months: Cat’s dad wasn’t her biological dad. Surprisingly, Cat handles the information poorly. Our usually stalwart protagonist flips out on her baby sister, hurling “Heather, go to Miami” before storming out. Ouch, Cat, that’s harsh.
Cat takes a walk to clear her head, and arrives at her apartment just as Vincent does. Cat doesn’t initially realize that Vincent is onto her about her intel-gathering at his place, so when he probes about the case she’s currently working, her vitals give away her anxiety about the line of questioning. With Cat’s deception confirmed, it’s Vincent’s turn to storm off to check for her fingerprints on his keyboard…just by eyeballing it. Riiiiiggggghhhhhttt.
Vincent calls Cat a bit later to reveal he had a memory about them at a hotel swimming pool, and suggests they meet there in about an hour to relive the moment. Cat realized she’d been made when Vincent stormed off earlier, so she’s rightly suspicious of the invitation, and calls JT to determine whether he had told Vincent about that incident. Ah, that’s why the writers had Vincent go by and visit JT!
Cat knows that Vincent is trying to throw her off the trail of what she’s working on, so she reasons that Vincent will be at the art galleries looking for Sebastian. When she shows up at the art gallery where he is, her confrontation of him is actually a little funny: “Sorry I’m late, but I had to change out of my bathing suit.” On the dance floor, Vincent confesses that he lied but justifies it with Cat’s lie. Cat adamantly refuses to see the lies as equal, stating that she lied so she could find out who was controlling Vincent and cut those strings, so they we could be together again, and thus, she lied because she cares about him; Vincent, on the other hand, lied for a case.
The case wraps in normal BATB fashion: Vincent beasts out, he and Cat work together, they get the bad guy, and Vincent has to do a little rescuing of Cat before it’s all said and done. This time, however, during said rescue, Vincent has flashbacks to all the other times he’s rescued her. Finally, those memories that Cat has been waiting for have arrived.
As for the rest of the loose ends, 1) Heather and Cat mend fences, and Heather appears to decide to go for Miami. Now, those of you who followed me last season know I’ve a love-hate relationship with Heather. She’s a bit fluffy and extremely nosy, but she’s sweet and she means well. I’ll miss that crazy kid. 2) Gabe covers up the beast mess at the art gallery with his usual aplomb. 3) Tess accuses Gabe of having a crush on Cat. How did I not see this coming? Guess I just assumed that Gabe was still missing his blond lady friend who was bent on Vincent’s demise last season.
The final scene of the episode has Vincent groveling and Cat shutting him down. Personally, I can’t say I blame her. He’s been a jerk, and she can’t be expected to share her life with someone who can’t be open about who he is. Way to take a stand, Cat!
Questions for next week: What magic will Vincent have to work to melt Cat’s heart? Will their reunion be more satisfying next time than it was this time? Is there more karaoke in our future as Cat goes cold turkey? When will the Vincent-Cat-Gabe love triangle reach critical mass? See you cats next week!
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