Beauty and the Beast – 2.15 – Catch Me If You Can – Review: Eat, drink and be merry.

"Eat, drink and be merry."
The only thing worse than a boy who hates you: a boy that loves you.
— Markus Zusak, The Book Thief

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The Recap & Review
Title: Catch Me If You Can | Written by: Eric Tuchman | Directed by: Norma Bailey
Synopsis: CAT AND VINCENT FIND THEMSELVES IN A COMPROMISING SITUATION — Feeling pulled between her current boyfriend and her ex, Cat has to decide between Gabe and Vincent. While Cat and Vincent work together to save Sam’s latest victim, Cat’s decision gets complicated when she and Vincent find themselves in a compromising situation.
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My thought on this week’s writer…

Well, we haven’t seen Mr. Tuchman since episode 2x05: Reunion, you know that episode that began our crazy descent into VinCat falling apart and Gabe’s foothold of being front and center and near Catherine in every episode for all her emotional turmoil and what not. How fitting that his latest episode be the one to launch a cannon ball into the raft of a ship that was Gatherine. But at least he managed to get Tess into more of the action and balanced the gal pals and the bromance unlike the last few episodes so a few brownie points on that front. I also did not envy his draw for having to write this episode which was the crucial step of beginning to put VinCat back together.

Vincent’s stock has soared and I’m more in love him right now than at any time this season (with the exception of Hothead). Meanwhile, Cat’s stock has plummeted and basically hit rock bottom and nothing short of her becoming police commissioner, kicking Gabe to the curb and telling Vincent that they shouldn’t rush back into a relationship but they should start building toward a healthy “FRIENDSHIP” before getting back together would I have made me happy so, I gave him a serious pass. I will say the dialog wasn’t as repetitive and sophomoric as it has been for a few episodes so even more brownie points on that front.
Let’s just move on, shall we...

My thoughts on this week’s director…

I absolutely loved the visual aesthetics this week. It was a perfect blend of light and darkness and Ms. Bailey really captured all the subtle nuances of all the facial expressions that went down this week. It’s nice to have a very accomplished female director on set every now and again and if we get a season 3 I hope to see her back. I could gush for days about all the cool little things she did that I noticed but I won’t. I just want to say she blended in but she also stood out and it made screencapping and gif making a joy and a lot less arduous this week.

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Cat – Brace yourselves, people, this is yet another rant about what the hell happen to the character of Cat. I always knew Cat was going to get the short end of the stick when it came to getting back with Vincent. But man this is a low blow. Now Cat is a cheater too?! As a writer my preferred method of character development especially in preparation of putting a character in a new romantic entanglement is too build them up while also leaving a few believable flaws intact. The Cat that I have known this whole time would never cheat on the person she was in a relationship with.
Also even though Kick Butt!Cat did show up, she wasn’t as awesome as she has previously been. She missed her shot at Sam, she had a huge tussle with Sam that she almost didn’t win (when previously, she has gotten the upper hand on beasts) and she lost her voice in how to proceed on case (usually the means justify the ends, especially when an innocent life is at stake) because it made Gabe uncomfortable. But most disturbing of all she let Gabe give her an ultimatum not, once but TWICE and was seemingly ready to comply both times. Are you serious? Where is my strong, kick butt, independent Cat at? The love triangle between her, Gabe and Vincent has left Vincent smelling like a rose and mud on her face and Gabe gets to be self-righteous if Cat tells him what happened and even gets a little sympathy in theory if Cat hides it from him. Oh, and I almost forgot the icing on the cake, she was more worried about her car than she was Sam’s victim. Also she came across as meek and mild while Gabe scolded her about her ties to Vincent. It has just gotten gross and pathetic at how Beauty and Beast has begun to fail the Bechdel miserably and unapologetically. Even the men can barely go a scene without talking a woman.

Gabe – Yep, he’s still sucking up screen time and kissing Cat with those pathetic, passionless pecks on the lips. What was Gabe thinking about offering Cat a key to his place so soon? You’ve got pace yourself buddy. Gabe might not be the big bad villain wise but Gabe is not the man for Cat. Possessiveness indicates jealousy and jealousy is an awful trait. Yes, Gabe’s worries are valid but that’s what you get when you go after a woman who has so much emotional baggage and a close tie to her ex. Gabe will never measure up Vincent in Catherine’s eyes. He knows and she knows it. Deep down Cat doesn’t want a normal life which is all Gabe can offer her. A good life sure but a life where she is settling nonetheless. I don’t feel bad for Gabe because surely he didn’t honestly see himself winning Cat, did he? I honestly feel like Gabe had another agenda when wooing Cat. I just can’t put my finger on what it is. I’m dying for them to make Gabe interesting again because right now, he seems neutered and flat. Make Gabe the bad guy again, it was fun. I love having Sendhil Ramamurthy around just not when he’s taking time away from the other characters in a meaningless subplot that no one cares about and no one is rooting to succeed. Gabe has his so-called redemption, if the writers aren’t going to make him evil and not let him have the girl and he’s no longer running the precinct what is left for him? Looks like it’s time for Gabe to ride off into the sunset alone, I guess.

JT – Austin Basis maybe King Beastie but JT Forbes is King of the Pep Talks. They finally gave me what I’d been asking for – a real pep talk that I actually believed that didn’t feel forced or had hints of over compensation in it. I was tired of JT being the mouth piece for the audience, enough was enough. I’d been missing that pragmatic JT. That JT that looked out for Vincent’s best interest and encouraged Vincent to not be so entangled with his emotions and with Cat. I got that JT back and the only that could make me happier was if JT got to be his own person outside of Vincent and actually started having good things happen to him on a permanent basis.

JTnT – No comment because we still don’t know what exactly happened in that hotel room in upstate New York a few weeks ago. Instead of even more of Sam’s surly behind how about a text message or a phone call between then in the background? Too much to ask for apparently and that’s a shame. But anyway…

Sam Landon – What an arrogant, cocky, heartless, smug and smarmy bugger he is. Can we just kill him already, pretty please? I don’t care about Sam. I don’t believe he is that smart. I don’t believe anything about this character. Everything that has been written for the character has come across as flat and one dimensional. No one likes a know it all. Everyone has an Achilles’s heel. If you’re not going to make the villain sympathetic (which technically due to Sam’s sob story we should be) then at least make them menacing (which I also don’t get from Sam). Every time Sam comes around and manages to escape the gang’s clutches, it’s just a poor reflection on them. The excuses for having Sam still around and a so-called viable threat are flimsy at best and an intelligence insulting plot device at worse. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that both Gabe and Vincent told Sam to shut up, it’s almost as if the writers know this character doesn’t deserve the screen time. So the question becomes why not write him better? Tom Scott Everett is a big get and they should have written or adjusted the material to respect that. I just don’t feel like the best is being pulled out of the man and with material like this I totally understand and find it unfortunate. Sorry, if that was too similar to the things I said about Sam in the last review, it still stands and now make that doubly so.

Tess – Well, at least Tess was in more than just the first 10 minutes this week. She’s still pretty, tough, sassy wallpaper. Poor Nina. I feel so bad for her. Where is her character development? Why did she get stuck with the arc of being Gabe’s cheerleader? Why the low key estrangement between her and Cat? Tess couldn’t even get a much deserved birthday party for crying out loud. I just don’t get why they put the character of Tess on the back burner for so long and then they throw this big inorganic leap of so-called character progression at us, only to leave it dangling in the wind. Just ugh! Tess should be more than a cheerleader for Cat and Gabe’s relationship. She should actually be doing for Cat what JT was doing for Vincent, telling her to follow her heart and do what makes her happy.

Vincent – Finally, JT gives a pep talk that I can get behind that isn’t just fluff. I’ve been saying this for quite some time; Vincent will never be the Vincent of old until he realizes that he needs to fight for his own soul and pursue things that will make him his own person and satisfy his idea of what happy looks like. Vincent is a hero and that trait literally runs through his blood. Not only is he a war veteran, he was a doctor AND a firefighter. At the beginning of the season he wanted nothing more than to rid the world of bad beasts. We never really got the chance to see what he would do with a created beast that wasn’t out harming anyone. He took Tori in and started to teach her about being a beast and tried to get her involved in learning about her beastly heritage. He even wanted to save Zavier from Sam. I feel like Zavier was a missed opportunity to rectify the shortcomings of the Tori situation. Give Vincent someone to mentor and train and care about outside of Cat and JT as well as someone he can relate to on level that no one else on the show can.

VinCat – You guys know I’m not a shipper but totally understand that Cat and Vincent’s relationship is the crux of the show. I think I’m always fair when I assess their standing from basically an outsider’s point of view (let me know in the comments if you agree or disagree). I enjoy their relationship and what it brings to the narrative of the show as well as their individual character development. I also love the onscreen chemistry between Jay and Kristin and am absolutely without a doubt sure that if it wasn’t these two together BATB would probably not have the fan base that it does. With all that said, I wanted them to put Vincent back together and for him to want things out life for himself. I wanted him to be his own person and have something outside of Cat and even JT before he got back with Cat. I wanted him to reconnect with his nephew, actually grieved the loss of Tori (she should have meant SOMETHING to him on some level if he choose her over Cat) and most of all begin making steps toward becoming a healer once more, since that is where his bliss lies. But no both Cat and Vincent’s character development gets shortchanged once more because they’re destined to be together and can’t be apart to grow and be better for themselves and each other. If their core relationship issues don’t get fixed we are destined to have another contrived split if we are lucky enough to get a season 3. This coming together while inevitable is also a cheap shortcut and very inorganic in my eyes. What I wanted when VinCat got back together was too very strong people in their own right who wanted to come together to and start a new relationship on the up and up. That’s just my two cent, though.

Grade: B-

Awards

Character of the Night

• Vincent, without a doubt. Three weeks in a row, I think that’s a record or some sort.

Best Character Interactions

• Vincent and JT

Line of the Night

• JT: Hey, don’t look at me. I’m just making this crap up.

Scene of the Night

• Vincent doesn’t give up on Zavier and manages to revive him.

Highlights
Favorite Moments
• Cat’s facial expressions every time Gabe talks down to Vincent while she is in the room.
• The big fluffy robe made an appearance.
• The return of the leather jackets (especially Cat’s black and burnt orange one and JT’s jacket)
• Gabe in yet another tight V-neck sweater (Sendhil’s pectoral definition does things to me)
• Tess subtle facial expressions when she talks to Cat (she just wants to yell at Cat to stop being a hot mess and you can’t tell me otherwise)

Favorite Lines
• Vincent (referring to Sam): Can you believe this guy?
• JT: and you let him live?
• JT: So you’re not perfect, what’s more human than that?
• JT: You know maybe should stop thinking about what Cat wants and start doing what you want. (That’s a real bro moment) and see where that leads. What do you want?
• Tess: You’re not going to tell me that’s what separates man from beast next are ya?

Favorite Scenes
• The VinCat kiss
• The VinCat hug
• Vincent saves Zavier
• JT’s pep talk to Vincent about deciding and pursuing his desires.
• Cat and Tess talk about Gabe giving Cat a key to his place.


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

Theme
• the heart wants what the heart wants, consequences be damned.

Biggest Surprise of the Episode
• VinCat is seemingly back together by the end of this episode.
• Xavier isn’t stuck being a beast.

Grievances List
•.Still no word on what went down with JTnT at the hotel.
• I don’t like the way this love triangle ultimately makes Cat look, which is fickle, needy and not very independent.
• Another car accident, really?
• There was no security at the CIA bunker?
• There was not a huge swarm of government officials after the CIA bunker blew up?
• Sam would have been swooped up immediately and taken off US soil for rendition.
• Again, there were a whole lot more but I'm choosing to my battles from here on out. If you want to hear the whole conversation be sure to check out the podcast this week.

Burning Questions
1. Is that capsule full of beast blood? Is Sam going to make himself a beast?
2. Sam is way too cocky. But why?
3. Why won’t Sam let Team Beastie help them?
4. What happened to Cat and Tess’s boss?

WTF Moments
• Gabe gives Cat a key to his apartment.
• Gabe waltzes into Vincent’s place unannounced to tell him Cat is his.
• Tess still appears to be on Team Gabe.
• They didn’t just let Vincent kill Sam.

Side Note: If you don’t get this review’s title reference this week, boy will you ever next week.

Polls

Last Week’s Poll Results –BATB Great Debate #14 – Do think VinCat will actually be on the right track by episode 2x16? Well, 73% of pegged it right by saying that they would be.

This Week’s Poll – BATB Great Debate #15 - How will you feel if VinCat is not back together at the end of 2x16?

Make sure you vote and comment on this week’s Best Scene Poll as well.

Shameless Self–Promotion

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Fun Fact: If you like the show Reign and are a Royal like am I, I'm happy to announce that I am now one of the reviewers over on Spoiler TV for Reign. Be sure to check out my review for the show this week!
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