Beauty and the Beast Review: It's J.T.'s Fault!

at .

"Partners in Crime" was a very personal episode that explored the relationships between many of the prime characters, especially Cat and Tess, but also Evan and his feelings for Cat.

I'm left reeling from what happened during the hour and especially from discovering there won't be another new episode until April 18!

"Look, your boyfriend asked me not to ruin your life, and I won't. But only if you turn him in."

We've been volleying for weeks on whether Tess was a true friend to Cat, even after they had severed their partnership ties, and that line said it all. Cat called Tess black and white, but until her life was threatened she was all grey. The only black and white she saw was outside the bubble of her own life. Once you stepped inside her world? It was all grey.

Cat's Secrets

If Joe had been the man in Afghanistan, and he was pleading to Cat about governmental experiments that were then followed up by Tess sharing information about her mother's death and the monster-like man she remembered from a decade previous, would Cat have acted differently? I think so. The reason is that Cat chose not to judge Tess on her affair with Joe and didn't threaten a tit for tat arrangement when Tess said she would turn them in and ruin Cat's life. Because I would have raced her to the phone.

Ever since the procedural element of Beauty and the Beast started to drift away, so did the friendship between Cat and Tess. Somewhere along the way, Tess engaged in an affair with their boss and Cat got ever closer to Vincent. The farther they were from each other physically, the further they became from each other emotionally, and it finally took its toll tonight. They had to have an exchange of words about everything eventually, but whether it happened before or after Tess learned about Vincent was up for debate.

It happened after.

J.T. tranquilized Tess in an attempt to temper things in the sewers to give Cat time to cover the situation up above and to come up with a plan on how to handle Tess once she awakened. The unexpected factor in the equation was Vincent, unwilling to believe Tess was only black and white, placing more faith in her friendship than Cat (or I) was willing to do. The way he talked about her and tried to reassure Cat her friend would do what was in her best interests was so sweet, but he didn't know Tess.

Tess didn't know Vincent, either. I don't think she expected him to let her go, which is why I was surprised she didn't put much thought into things before phoning Joe to say they got the wrong guy. She had heard the evidence from Vincent, learned about the connection between Cat's mom's death and the monster and Vincent - but still she made the call. Until she was drowning and he saved her life, she was unwilling to believe he didn't do things with malice aforethought.

All the cute girly conversations on the couch about when Cat kisses Vincent (if he's fully turned or half the way there - see the Beauty and the Beast quotes for the full line) didn't give me the warm fuzzies about their friendship. Cat still deserved to have her friend listen to her, process what she was told and formulate an opinion on all the facts before rushing to judgement. They got their friendship back, but Cat is still the better friend.

While I LOVED all of the Austin Basis as J.T. action tonight (this had to be his biggest episode, right?), what on earth did he do??? J.T.'s nerves get the best of him and he rambles. His rambling got Evan thinking about Cat and before he knew it, J.T. had somehow talked Evan into revealing his feelings about Cat. J.T. tried denying a beer to get him to change his mind, but once that train left the station, there was no going back.

J.T. had done so well up until then. He planted evidence that made the precinct think they caught the killer, he tranqed (I have no idea how to make that a word, but if they can do it on TV, it must work here, right?) Tess and figured out Evan was on Muirfield's payroll. Plainly, he was on fire. Except for giving Evan confidence he just did not need.

As soon as Evan was walking down the street, my mind started to scream. First, this is turning into Arrow for crap's sake. Will anyone NOT know Vincent is the vigilante (see a pattern here?) within the next two episodes? Second, would it it have been that hard for Vincent to listen as intently to the to the street for nearby heartbeats as it was for him to hear Tess' stomach gurgle in the sewer? Sheesh man! People can see you when you jump off a third story balcony!

Now Gabe Lowen knows he's alive, Evan is probably ready to tell the world, Tess is going to be hiding the secret from Joe and Cat, Vincent and J.T. are going to be on the major defensive. You know what that means? Absolutely no time for lovemaking. We all know that's unacceptable.

Seriously, it's going to hit the fan in the April 18 episode, and I cannot believe we have to wait that long. What are we going to do in the meantime? Theorize. Share your thoughts.

Partners in Crime Review

Editor Rating: 4.8 / 5.0
  • 4.8 / 5.0
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
User Rating:

Rating: 4.7 / 5.0 (216 Votes)

Carissa Pavlica is the managing editor and a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic. She's a member of the Critic's Choice Association, enjoys mentoring writers, conversing with cats, and passionately discussing the nuances of television and film with anyone who will listen. Follow her on X and email her here at TV Fanatic.

Show Comments
Tags: ,

Beauty and the Beast Season 1 Episode 16 Quotes

J.T.: Okay. Before we put all of our faith in this charcoal partnership, I should probably mnetion out that her other BFF Evan is now on Muirfield's payroll.
Cat: What?
J.T.: You really know how to pick 'em.

Cat: J.T.?
J.T.: What? I didn't kill her. It was a tranq gun.