Photo Credit: The CW - Jay Ryan as Vincent Keller.
OVERALL GRADE = A (90%)
Hands down, a very action packed episode!! Yet, the value in this episode wasn’t so much on the action, but on the individual growth displayed by each character in their own, respective ways. Bob & Carol (now dead) proved a very useful story device to showcase the growth of Vincent and Catherine, who to begin with, aren’t even aware of how much they’ve grown. They don’t like the idea of being apart and once again, Catherine’s nagging instincts were right on the money. But overall, there was a lesson that needed to be learned by all of our characters and that was TRUST - to show how far each of their respective relationships had gone. There’s always trust in a relationship, but there also needs to be trust in one another’s strengths. The problem established last week in Vincent and Catherine’s counseling session was that they were co-dependent. Meaning that Vincent always had to rely on Catherine to save him and Catherine always had to rely on Vincent to save her. For Vincent, it’s really crucial because he could easily lose himself to his beast. For Catherine, it’s more about always depending on Vincent to be by her side on cases and kicking butt. Additionally, Vincent always calms Catherine down and is the voice of reason when Cat goes bonkers over Carol. Everyone knows Vincent and Catherine are stronger together as a team but they also needed to prove to each other that they could be just as strong individually. Once they realized that they could trust each other being on their own, their relationship just escalated another level on the epic-ness scale. Woot! Although the episode ended in a cute and heartwarming way, the happy ending is short-lived because although we got rid of the current threat (Bob & Carol), we now know that whoever is in charge of these experiments is after none other than . . . Vincent.
Although everything happened pretty quickly, this was a pretty dramatic episode because all of our character’s lives were threatened. Vincent, for one, was captured and could’ve lost himself to his beast side, thus killing JT, thus losing his humanity, thus complicating things with Catherine. Catherine put up a good fight against Carol, a seemingly impossible foe to beat. Cat definitely got a good number of scratches and bruises from that. JT, letting himself get run over by a truck and Cat’s new partner got shot. It could’ve gone either way, but thankfully all of our characters pulled through.
Now, on to Bob & Carol. Until now, we never really understood who they were and what they were after. It still remains a mystery who they are but this episode did reveal why they were trying to hunt down Vincent and kill Catherine. And it’s simply this: they were desperate victims who were trying to save themselves. I imagine it being something like this: Bob & Carol used to be a normal couple who worked for the FBI. They got injected with the superhuman experiments which gave them the ability to decelerate their heartbeat and accelerate their brain processing, causing them to see the world in slow-motion. It’s a pretty cool power to have, but like JT, realizes that soon it unravels them and causes them to become crazy, sick people. In order to inject themselves with the serum, Bob & Carol’s boss (head of experiments) makes a bargain with them: I’ll provide you with the serum, but you bring me Vincent – we want to see what he can do because he is very valuable to us. When Bob & Carol first met Vincent, they realized that he came along with a small package – Catherine. They took the time to understand Vincent and Catherine and the type of relationship they had. And they figured it out pretty quickly, relating to the early stages of engagement. They realized that Vincent and Catherine work well together and depend on each other a lot. So, the trick was to separate them, in effect making them weaker. Since Catherine was merely a distraction to their goal, the plan was to kill her – getting rid of her altogether. Then, they would be able to capture Vincent – the most dangerous beast. So, we can sympathize with Bob & Carol but at the same time, they’re approaching things the wrong way. Plus, they’re pretty evil and heartless. I mean, in just this episode, they killed two innocent people and injured others. Classic Bonnie and Clyde. Now, Bob & Carol work well together and work well separately as well. The problem for them was that they underestimated the love between Vincent and Catherine. It was kind of sad to see Carol find out that her husband was dead. And in a weird way, Bob & Carol always related to Vincent and Catherine – knowing the pain it would cause if one of them died. Yet, it seems that Vincent and Catherine also underestimated the love between Bob & Carol. Because Carol friggin’ killed herself! It was a tragic love story but one that Catherine related to. That moment when Catherine met Carol’s gaze, Catherine felt her pain and understood her loss. It was a Romeo and Juliet.
I like how the episode began and ended with the same scene, only this time, things are different. Catherine is no longer worried and actually got concert tickets. Vincent is now the one who is worried. And of course the cheesy line ”Would you stop your heart for me?” To which Vincent responds, “Every time I see you.” Although crummy, it still got me just because Kreuk and Ryan manage to make it so much better with their blazing chemistry. Just STAHP already!! Also, I think as actors, they take it seriously and that helps. You could really tell how much they had grown over the course of the episode. For example, in the opening scene, Catherine is worried about Vincent going away, beasting out, and losing control. Later on in the interrogation room with Carol, Catherine responds to Carol,”I’m not worried about Vincent. He can take care of himself.” Vincent had those same concerns about his beast in the beginning, but JT is the one who reassures him that all will be ok because of Catherine’s love. And it took JT to unleash the beast. Because until then, Vincent was holding back remarkably well. And of course, one of my favorite parts of the episode was when Vincent began to think of Catherine and he slowly began to morph to his human self. It was sweet and epic!! This was a major breakthrough because all this time, Catherine always had to talk him down. And I had mentioned previously how it had gotten repetitive and annoying. Vincent’s a big boy. He can do it himself. And he did! He just needed to think of her love and this proved how much Vincent had grown. I also liked how the memories Vincent thought of were all from Season 1. Awww. Is he getting his memory back??
I couldn’t help how controlling and bossy Catherine was this episode. She kept nagging Tess and ordering her partner around to do things. She ordered people around in the first crime scene and treated her partner like she was babysitting him. On a side note, Kreuk does an amazing job acting worried. I think it’s the big eyes. Anyways, Catherine and Tess’s working relationship was a bit rocky this episode because Tess needed to pull out her “I’m captain!” card. I understand Tess’s point of view because Catherine was being pushy and if she granted Cat permission to run after beasts, the responsibility would fall on her being captain. However, it was JT again, who got Tess to understand the threat Vincent and Catherine were under. Somehow, solving all these beast cases have helped Tess’s reputation and Tess is reminded of how valuable Catherine is as a detective. Not only that, but Catherine is valuable as a friend. When Tess lost it on Carol, Cat was there to calm her down and remind her that she needed to act like a captain. But most of all, that they both needed to trust Vincent and JT. All in all, Vincent and Catherine have very good friends.
JT really stood up for himself this episode and I would call him the MVP of this episode. He saved his friends lives and figured out his own problems. We saw JT being the hero this time, instead of being the geek that stays home. And of course, he admits his feelings towards Tess. And I love how Tess reciprocates those feelings in her own Tess-like fashion. Also, apparently, JT seems to be cured of his healing powers? From what I understood, by JT being hit by a truck, he had overloaded his healing system and now it’s just fried? So, he’s back to being normal JT because he has glasses again. The comedic banter between caring and jokingly teasingly each other is played magnificently by Basis and Lisandrello. They do things that we would describe as being “so Tess” or “so JT.”
In conclusion, it turns out the most dangerous beast has a heart and a love. It seems like next week will be another light-hearted episode and we’ll probably be introduced to another villain. I can’t wait to meet Catherine’s aunts, get more Heather comedy, and bring daddy back in the game!! The only thing I don’t look forward to seeing is Vincent getting a lap dance from a stripper. Nooo!!! Also, they haven’t planned a date yet for their wedding, so why are they having bridal showers and bachelor parties?? Anyways, we’ll find out next week!!
Hands down, a very action packed episode!! Yet, the value in this episode wasn’t so much on the action, but on the individual growth displayed by each character in their own, respective ways. Bob & Carol (now dead) proved a very useful story device to showcase the growth of Vincent and Catherine, who to begin with, aren’t even aware of how much they’ve grown. They don’t like the idea of being apart and once again, Catherine’s nagging instincts were right on the money. But overall, there was a lesson that needed to be learned by all of our characters and that was TRUST - to show how far each of their respective relationships had gone. There’s always trust in a relationship, but there also needs to be trust in one another’s strengths. The problem established last week in Vincent and Catherine’s counseling session was that they were co-dependent. Meaning that Vincent always had to rely on Catherine to save him and Catherine always had to rely on Vincent to save her. For Vincent, it’s really crucial because he could easily lose himself to his beast. For Catherine, it’s more about always depending on Vincent to be by her side on cases and kicking butt. Additionally, Vincent always calms Catherine down and is the voice of reason when Cat goes bonkers over Carol. Everyone knows Vincent and Catherine are stronger together as a team but they also needed to prove to each other that they could be just as strong individually. Once they realized that they could trust each other being on their own, their relationship just escalated another level on the epic-ness scale. Woot! Although the episode ended in a cute and heartwarming way, the happy ending is short-lived because although we got rid of the current threat (Bob & Carol), we now know that whoever is in charge of these experiments is after none other than . . . Vincent.
Although everything happened pretty quickly, this was a pretty dramatic episode because all of our character’s lives were threatened. Vincent, for one, was captured and could’ve lost himself to his beast side, thus killing JT, thus losing his humanity, thus complicating things with Catherine. Catherine put up a good fight against Carol, a seemingly impossible foe to beat. Cat definitely got a good number of scratches and bruises from that. JT, letting himself get run over by a truck and Cat’s new partner got shot. It could’ve gone either way, but thankfully all of our characters pulled through.
Now, on to Bob & Carol. Until now, we never really understood who they were and what they were after. It still remains a mystery who they are but this episode did reveal why they were trying to hunt down Vincent and kill Catherine. And it’s simply this: they were desperate victims who were trying to save themselves. I imagine it being something like this: Bob & Carol used to be a normal couple who worked for the FBI. They got injected with the superhuman experiments which gave them the ability to decelerate their heartbeat and accelerate their brain processing, causing them to see the world in slow-motion. It’s a pretty cool power to have, but like JT, realizes that soon it unravels them and causes them to become crazy, sick people. In order to inject themselves with the serum, Bob & Carol’s boss (head of experiments) makes a bargain with them: I’ll provide you with the serum, but you bring me Vincent – we want to see what he can do because he is very valuable to us. When Bob & Carol first met Vincent, they realized that he came along with a small package – Catherine. They took the time to understand Vincent and Catherine and the type of relationship they had. And they figured it out pretty quickly, relating to the early stages of engagement. They realized that Vincent and Catherine work well together and depend on each other a lot. So, the trick was to separate them, in effect making them weaker. Since Catherine was merely a distraction to their goal, the plan was to kill her – getting rid of her altogether. Then, they would be able to capture Vincent – the most dangerous beast. So, we can sympathize with Bob & Carol but at the same time, they’re approaching things the wrong way. Plus, they’re pretty evil and heartless. I mean, in just this episode, they killed two innocent people and injured others. Classic Bonnie and Clyde. Now, Bob & Carol work well together and work well separately as well. The problem for them was that they underestimated the love between Vincent and Catherine. It was kind of sad to see Carol find out that her husband was dead. And in a weird way, Bob & Carol always related to Vincent and Catherine – knowing the pain it would cause if one of them died. Yet, it seems that Vincent and Catherine also underestimated the love between Bob & Carol. Because Carol friggin’ killed herself! It was a tragic love story but one that Catherine related to. That moment when Catherine met Carol’s gaze, Catherine felt her pain and understood her loss. It was a Romeo and Juliet.
I like how the episode began and ended with the same scene, only this time, things are different. Catherine is no longer worried and actually got concert tickets. Vincent is now the one who is worried. And of course the cheesy line ”Would you stop your heart for me?” To which Vincent responds, “Every time I see you.” Although crummy, it still got me just because Kreuk and Ryan manage to make it so much better with their blazing chemistry. Just STAHP already!! Also, I think as actors, they take it seriously and that helps. You could really tell how much they had grown over the course of the episode. For example, in the opening scene, Catherine is worried about Vincent going away, beasting out, and losing control. Later on in the interrogation room with Carol, Catherine responds to Carol,”I’m not worried about Vincent. He can take care of himself.” Vincent had those same concerns about his beast in the beginning, but JT is the one who reassures him that all will be ok because of Catherine’s love. And it took JT to unleash the beast. Because until then, Vincent was holding back remarkably well. And of course, one of my favorite parts of the episode was when Vincent began to think of Catherine and he slowly began to morph to his human self. It was sweet and epic!! This was a major breakthrough because all this time, Catherine always had to talk him down. And I had mentioned previously how it had gotten repetitive and annoying. Vincent’s a big boy. He can do it himself. And he did! He just needed to think of her love and this proved how much Vincent had grown. I also liked how the memories Vincent thought of were all from Season 1. Awww. Is he getting his memory back??
I couldn’t help how controlling and bossy Catherine was this episode. She kept nagging Tess and ordering her partner around to do things. She ordered people around in the first crime scene and treated her partner like she was babysitting him. On a side note, Kreuk does an amazing job acting worried. I think it’s the big eyes. Anyways, Catherine and Tess’s working relationship was a bit rocky this episode because Tess needed to pull out her “I’m captain!” card. I understand Tess’s point of view because Catherine was being pushy and if she granted Cat permission to run after beasts, the responsibility would fall on her being captain. However, it was JT again, who got Tess to understand the threat Vincent and Catherine were under. Somehow, solving all these beast cases have helped Tess’s reputation and Tess is reminded of how valuable Catherine is as a detective. Not only that, but Catherine is valuable as a friend. When Tess lost it on Carol, Cat was there to calm her down and remind her that she needed to act like a captain. But most of all, that they both needed to trust Vincent and JT. All in all, Vincent and Catherine have very good friends.
JT really stood up for himself this episode and I would call him the MVP of this episode. He saved his friends lives and figured out his own problems. We saw JT being the hero this time, instead of being the geek that stays home. And of course, he admits his feelings towards Tess. And I love how Tess reciprocates those feelings in her own Tess-like fashion. Also, apparently, JT seems to be cured of his healing powers? From what I understood, by JT being hit by a truck, he had overloaded his healing system and now it’s just fried? So, he’s back to being normal JT because he has glasses again. The comedic banter between caring and jokingly teasingly each other is played magnificently by Basis and Lisandrello. They do things that we would describe as being “so Tess” or “so JT.”
In conclusion, it turns out the most dangerous beast has a heart and a love. It seems like next week will be another light-hearted episode and we’ll probably be introduced to another villain. I can’t wait to meet Catherine’s aunts, get more Heather comedy, and bring daddy back in the game!! The only thing I don’t look forward to seeing is Vincent getting a lap dance from a stripper. Nooo!!! Also, they haven’t planned a date yet for their wedding, so why are they having bridal showers and bachelor parties?? Anyways, we’ll find out next week!!