Recap: BEAUTY AND THE BEAST: The End Marches Nearer

[All photos by Michael Gibson/CW]

Episode 410: “Means to an End”
Written by Melissa Glenn
Directed by David McLeod

Catch up on our prior recaps of Beauty and the Beast here.

Last week’s Beauty and the Beast episode “The Getaway” seemed to move in the right direction in terms of quality, but I’ve been wondering how the heck they could possibly get all plotlines resolved to anyone’s satisfaction with just a handful of episodes left. Cat says it herself in this episode: “It has to be something big.” But then, Cat figures out that the one really complicated storyline is quite simple really [SPOILER, SPOILER]: there is no beast buyer. Wow, problem solved, maybe they can do it in just four more episodes.

But then wait again, hold up! [SPOILER!!!] There’s another beast!? So now, we gotta meet the new beast, figure out how he ticks, beat him, make sure he really, for real and truly, is the last beast of all time, make sure DHS doesn’t have/use the videos of Vincent, get Vincent and Cat reinstated back in their jobs, and return them to a quiet, normal life in NYC (or as quiet and normal as one can in NYC). Oh, and Heather needs to potentially ditch Kyle, Tess and Cat need to patch up their friendship, and Tess and J.T. will probably need to at least flirt with reconciliation what with the whole beast situation being resolved for all time. It’s a lot to manage. You guys thinks it can be managed?

Of course, we’ll all watch with bated breath. In the meantime, how did last week’s episode fare? We shake out the good and bad, as always; see if you agree.

The Good

• Catherine is suspended, and this is a good thing. I mean, I’m not glad she’s been suspended; but so many times in television, characters don’t experience realistic consequences to their actions, which just render shows largely unbelievable. The fact that Catherine was suspended is very logical, because goshdarnit, don’t we all need a little reality thrown in with our fantasy?
• The Tess-Cat-Heather scene in the coffee shop. Surprisingly not over-acted, yet still palpably awkward. Well done, ladies!
• Braxton’s super-cool secret room. Mama needs one of those! I could keep a toilet in there so I could potty without being interrupted by my kids, hide my clothes and makeup from my teenage daughter, and sneak away to read a book. More and more tempting by the minute.
• Honestly, the former Beastmaster (Marc Singer) torturing the Beast is such an obvious genre wink-wink-nudge-nudge, but I just can’t help but be tickled by it.
• Did Vincent do a sashay in front of the bathroom mirror, and was he checking out his man parts as he did it? That’s the kind of thing you really only see a man do if you’re, well, intimate with him. Not expected AT ALL, very funny, and definitely makes us feel like we are literally peering into the most private parts of these characters’ lives.
• “You should have married Evan in the first place.” Awww, a little throwback to the early days of the series. Sniff, sniff.
• Cat: “I love you, J.T.” Wow, these two characters have come a long way since season 1. And really, who can help but love the loyal brainiac who has stood by and supported Vincent all these years. I applaud the writers for remembering that this isn’t just a show about romance, it’s also a show about friendship.
• J.T.: “Forget your boyfriend, you’re a married woman now.”
• Tess arrests Cat, and it’s as difficult as we all anticipated it would be. Neither character wants to be in that situation, but neither sees a way out, and it’s real and relatable. Good job to all concerned in this scene.
• Heather asks J.T., “Am I your trophy wife?” It was a rude and thoughtless comment, classic Heather, but a little funny, nonetheless.
• The scene in which the cops and DHS poured into Graydal after Vincent was comical.
• BATB has never been a show that’s done special effects particularly well. As a production crew, you really need to evaluate whether special effects are actually going to add anything to a particular scene. When Tess asks Vincent and Cat down to the station to look at Braxton’s body, Vincent’s question as he peeks beneath the sheet (and we don’t get to see), “Are you sure that’s Braxton?” I love good gore as much as (okay, more than) the next girl, but this show isn’t about blood, guts, and carnage. The producers showed restraint here and told us everything we needed to know without showing us anything. TV is a medium where “show, don’t tell” is normally advised, but the opposite in this case worked far better.

The Bad/Ugly

• Now Heather is seriously considering moving in with Kyle. Even if you are too oblivious to realize that he’s got an agenda, Heather, why oh why can you not learn from your myriad past love life failures? I get that this is helping drive the plot forward, and that Heather’s character is a little ditzy. I also know there are a lot of women out there in their 20s and 30s who continue to make poor decisions regarding their relationships with men. But honestly, how refreshing would it be to see female character who learns and grows from her past romance disasters? Knock, knock, CW? You listening!?
• You remember that line from Jurassic Park (OG) where the kid Timmy says, “Well … we’re back … in the car”? Well … we have … another beast again. Sigh. A dinosaur would be better at this point. In fact, as long as we’re dreaming, how about a whole entire pack of marauding dinosaurs all over NYC? Oh, oh, let’s throw in some flying sharks! And some body-snatching aliens!? That would be a lot, lot better than another beast, because we have been there and done that ad nauseam.

Despite the new beast, and the very low probability of marauding dinosaurs, I’m actually really looking forward to this weeks’s episode. Who’s this new beast? How will Cat and Vincent get into trouble but emerge victorious and more strongly bonded than ever? Will any lingering mysteries that we’ve forgotten about be solved? Any surprises that we’re not counting on? Any special guest appearances/blasts from the past? Can’t wait to find out with you guys! ‘Til next time.

Beauty and the Beast airs on the CW on Thursdays at 9/9 Central. For more information, visit the official site.

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