Beauty and the Beast – 2.14 – Redemption – Review: The scarcity of Catherine.

‘A good act does not wash out the bad, nor a bad act the good. Each should have its own reward.’
― George R.R. Martin, A Clash of Kings


Friendly Reminders

•Don’t forget to live tweet with the show (@cwbatb) every Monday night at 9 PM EST/8PM Central on The CW.

•Trend events begin at 6 PM EST and end around 1 AM EST.

•The official hashtag according to Nielsen and Trendrr is STILL #BATB.

•Also remember to only use two hashtags in your tweets, otherwise it is filtered out as spam.

The Recap and Review
Title: Redemption | Written by: John A. Norris | Directed by: Grant Harvey

Synopsis: VINCENT SEES WHAT HIS LIFE COULD HAVE BEEN — When some of Gabe’s (Sendhil Ramamurthy) acquaintances go missing, Cat (Kristin Kreuk) and Vincent (Jay Ryan) must come together to save them. Vincent ends up returning to the hospital where he was an intern, allowing him to see what his life could have been.
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My thought on this week’s writer…
I was underwhelmed with everything in the script for this episode. Whether it was the atrocious dialog, the numerous plot holes or the shirking of canon and continuity everything was lackluster and damn near unforgivable. Thank goodness the cast and Jay Ryan most all, rose above it or this episode would have been a complete an utter disaster.

My thoughts on this week’s director…
Not much to say about our new director Grant Harvey. This episode did not differentiate itself from any other and that is meant in the most neutral of ways. The lighting was better but if only because we were able to get quite a few scenes out in the open and during the day time.
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Cat – What the hell happened to Cat? I really don’t recognize her at all. There is zero passion in the kisses with Gabe. She is never truly there 100% in the scenes where it is just her and Gabe. What was the point of Cat and Gabe getting together? Was it to make Cat look, weak and desperate? How clingy and desperate? Or perhaps it was just to showcase how fickle she can be? The best things about Cat are her passion for job and how it allows her to help people, caring about those around her, her inner strength and her independent nature. None of that has been present for quite some time. With Vincent back on track and ripe for a truly meaningful and poignant turn to being worthy it is now Cat who doesn’t even seem fit to even be with Gabe. Cat has become that high maintenance friend that literally goes from hot mess in her life to the next and I’m exhausted. Can we please bring back Heather to smack some sense back into Cat and make her deal with everything that has happened to her?

Gabe – Did anyone else want Gabe to get injected and to become a beast again? This episode absolutely and unabashedly confirms that Gabe is NOT the bad guy and he is also still NOT a beast. I must say that is a shame. Gabe would make the most perfect and compelling long running villain for the series. Gabe finally showed his true colors and let go of the St. Gabe act. Yes, he is bothered by the constant presence of Vincent in his life as well as Vincent’s constant pull on Cat. He sees it, he knows he can’t stop it but yet he gave her an ultimatum that will undoubtedly not end well for him. I like that Gabe wanted to help and tried to help. I’m glad the writers were fortuitous enough to see that Gabe needed to be shown as vulnerable and human and not perfect. I also like how they highlighted the inverse of the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde conundrum in comparison to Vincent. I really feel like the writers have made the case to Gabe at face value and painfully underscored the fact that he’s a good guy. But no matter how you slice it Cat and Gabe have no business being together, it is squicky, messy and highly implausible and my logical side just can’t let that go.

JT – Enough with the pep talks! It feels like JT is over compensating and I for one feel like there is no need for that. I really would love for some more emotional depth to be discovered in JT’s character as well him getting a life and moving on. Austin Basis manages to get the best lines of the night and steals every scene he’s in and this episode was no exception but I just wish the bromance was depicted in a more realistic manner at times. If anything, can they have a bro’s night out and get away from the topic of beasts for just one night? Cat and Tess got to do it, it’s only fair. I’m just really tired of JT (and especially Tess) being cheerleaders for the wrong things. JT should be encouraging Vincent to embrace his humanity and find the things that make him happy outside of Cat.

JTnT – Literally, a three sentence conversation and nothing more. It was implicitly implied that they got a room and were going to get physically intimate. This is the funny thing, Vincent more than likely knows and Cat doesn’t. I hate that the boys on the show have a better relationship than the gals. Mainly because Cat’s life is one big dramatic misstep after the next that we can never get to know what’s going on with Tess. There better be a whole lot of JTnT development in the next two episodes.

Sam Landon – Yep, he really is the big bad. There is no Barnes. He’s an evil genius out for revenge. Is anyone really buying Sam as an evil master mind? This whole thing with Sam has caused so many messy mistakes; I literally just can’t talk about it. I love Tom Scott Everett but his acting choices are dreadful and ridiculous. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, an epic story needs an epic villain. I don’t feel threatened or intimidated by him and the fact that he keeps slipping away only makes Cat and company look like freaking idiots. I can’t wait for this storyline to be over with.

Tess – Once again the character of Tess was not given much to do. But at least she looked pretty, so there’s that. I take that back she was the voice of reason in the coffee shop. I agree it’s odd that Gabe just smiled politely and kept the weekend going. [Insert my prerequisite ‘Poor, Nina’ comment here.] Man, we were promised to have this character fleshed out this season and I feel cheated.

Vincent – There’s my hero. Color me smitten as kitten and drunk in love with Vincent once more. He was so perfect this episode. Jay Ryan smashed the emotional range and rose above the abysmal dialog that was in the script at times. He’s begun to give Vincent some much needed lightness that has been missing. It so odd that Vincent is the more relatable one and not Cat but it works. *I see the writers have heard the fan girl complaints about not enough shirtless!Vincent and corrected it. Either that or Stephen Amell’s abs contract is up and all the other males on the CW can start baring their chests as well. Either way I’m happy.

VinCat – Hmmm, the fundamental flaw of VinCat’s relationship got a bright spotlight put on it in this episode. Cat sees and treats Vincent as a means to an end whether it is professionally or personally. Usually we don’t notice because it’s done in such a nice loving way that it gets glossed over and we have some epic VinCat moment to soften the blow and often forget about it. Vincent, well, he thinks that the fundamental problem of their relationship is that he is a beast, especially now this season, what with the mindless killing, ditching Cat for Tori because of some primal, excuse me, “beastly” needs, etc.

Grade: C-

Awards

Character of the Night
• Vincent, wow, two weeks in a row. Good on you writers but now is the time to start fixing Cat. Can anyone remember the last time I said she was my character of the night? What was it six episodes ago?

Best Character Interactions
• JT and Vincent
• Vincent and his mentor, Dr. Marcus

Line of the Night
JT: It’s hard to be Dr. Jekyll when everyone wants Mr. Hyde


Favorite Moments
1. A shirtless Vincent on the rowing machine.
2. Vincent falling right back into being a doctor with such ease.
3. Vincent comforting Jacob Sutter’s wife.
4. Gabe in casual attire (c’mon don’t hate, Sendhil is beautiful and the suits cover up too much).
5. This is like the third time we’ve got JT in suit.


Favorite Scenes
1. Vincent’s dream about Cat wanting to get back together.
2. Vincent and JT talk about the old Vincent and what could have been.
3. Vincent saving Jacob Sutter’s life
4. Cat visits Bob
5. Cat tells Tess she called Gabe by Vincent’s name


Repeated Elements
• The orphanage
• JT pep talks
• Beasts don’t get better they only get worse
• the theme of ‘Man or Beast?’

Biggest Surprise of the Episode
• Cat’s dream sequence about killing Vincent.
• Bookend dream sequences.

Theme
• When it comes to getting what you want the means always justifies the ends.

Grievances List
•There are just truly too many to list. I’ve opted to focus on the good from here on out (for the most part). All I can say is all I see are plot holes for miles and my intelligent is under attack.

Burning Questions
1. So are we supposed to forget about the gem?
2. Is it just me or has the myth arc as well as continuity gone completely out the window.

WTF Moments
• Cat and Gabe’s lackluster on screen kisses.
• Cat’s cold and callous demeanor when it came to Vincent this week.
• No follow through on the huge leap forward with the JT and Tess that occurred last week.
• They phoned in the fight/action scenes.

Side Note: In case anyone is wondering, the title for this review is a play on the title of John Green’s novel ‘An Abundance of Katherines’. It is an awesome book that you should totally read while BATB is on hiatus. Actually, all of his books are awesome and The Fault in Our Stars is now a movie, so I’ll just leave that there for you to mull over.

Polls

Last Poll Results – BATB Great Debate #13 – Did you secretly want Gabe to actually be the bad guy? 85% of you wanted Gabe to be the bad guy.

This Week’s Poll – BATB Great Debate #14 – Do think VinCat will actually be on the right track by episode 2x16? http://poll.fm/4nels

Make sure you vote and comment on this week’s Best Scene Poll as well. http://www.spoilertv.com/2014/02/beauty-and-beast-214-redemption-best.html

Shameless Plugs & Self–Promotion
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