Beauty and the Beast Review: In a Blaze of Glory

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This was one of those episodes of a show that brings together everything you've wanted to see with character development, but truly leaves you at the end with a "Heart of Darkness." I'm just crushed.

It was a bittersweet episode, as all of the goodness I had expressed throughout earlier Beauty and the Beast reviews of characters that left readers truly scratching their heads paid off. But some people can be too valiant once they reach for the gold. Evan Marks, for example.

Help from Vincent

Before we discuss what was the swan song of Marks, I'm going to touch upon the other parts of the hour, because Evan's story, once started, will deserve being told to completion. So let's start with the reemergence of Tess as Cat's best friend.

As much as I questioned her return to that position in "Partners in Crime," Tess was really all in when trouble came calling. At one time, Tess, J.T., and Evan were my favorite characters due to their wit and great ability to deliver one-liners. We had the pleasure of J.T. and Evan working together and tonight we got to see what happened when J.T. partnered up with Tess.

Magic is what happened. They played so well off of each other. I loved how Tess nonchalantly called him TJ and suggested he probably couldn't fit down a 7-inch air vent. So there were some bright moments and laughter to an otherwise deep and dark episode.

As it turned out, Evan and Catherine were the top two suspects of being the office mole for ADA Lowen and Cat caught him rifling through Evan's office. It was that action of Gabe's that tipped her off to Evan's actions with Muirfield. That, and that he got tossed into the drunk tank. His one phone call was to Cat, and he used it for two reasons - to talk to Cat where Muirfield couldn't hear overhear them and to keep her out of harms way when Muirfield captured Vincent.

At first, Evan was still buying everything that Muirfield was selling. Until he was alone inside their lab and saw what they were doing. Not only did he come across some truly horrific experiments, he read some files and discovered they were still trying to create new cross-species generational mutations. He really had no idea up until that point just how bad of a decision he had made getting involved with Muirfield. I knew that would be his reaction. Evan would eventually come to his senses.

If only my belief in Evan had been enough to save him. Once he realized his mistake, he immediately went to Vincent, locked in a cell, and told them they planned to slice and dice him. He was shocked to learn that Vincent was once just like Evan, a regular man, only later infused with the cross-species DNA as an experiment. The good, medical side of the man inside of Evan was repelled by what Muirfield could do and would continue to do. Their talk about Cat and protecting her was touching and I was actually excited he would finally be on board and help the team effort.

But things didn't turn out so well for Evan. As Cat was making her way into the facility to free Vincent, Evan was doing hand to hand combat and said "you might as well kill me." In response he was shot in the lab. Cat freed Vincent and refused to leave without Evan. Even with all his monster strength, Vincent couldn't break out of a door in time to free them. While he was trying, Evan was explaining everything to Cat. How he thought he was protecting her. Instead, he sacrificed himself for her.

Evan: If I can help you and him get out of here alive, I'll be really protecting you. It'd be the best thing I've ever done in my life. The point of it really. | permalink

And so Evan went down in a hail of bullets and Vincent and Cat were able to escape. For now.

But that's not the end of Evan's story. While he and Vincent were talking, he told Vincent they needed to tell Cat about her parents, information he found in her mother's file. Vincent said they can never tell her. What the hell? Upon a second viewing, it became more clear. Vanessa Chandler's file was not just finished after her death. There were transfer papers. I believe Vanessa Chandler is one of the later generations of cross-species mutations. That's why Evan was so shocked upon reading her file. That's also how I think Gabe is connected to Cat.

With all the pills in Gabe's desk, he's obviously trying damned hard to keep something from coming out. The shaking and his need to capture Vincent alive point to the fact that he's one of the later versions of Vincent's kind. I have a feeling he knows where Cat's mother is and what happened to her. That facility was frightening. How many people are in there? How many have escaped? Are they out with permission or on their own? So many questions were raised during this episode and since we don't get to have a funeral for Evan, if we get our season 2, I think we'll see him show up chasing the people he just pledged to love and want to protect.

Evan also took the blame for being the mole, protecting Cat even while he was preparing to throw himself in front of the Muirfield bullets. He must have been writing the email to Gabe when Cat told him that sending an SOS probably wouldn't do them any good. She was trying to make him smile through his pain, and he was protecting her, knowing it would be one of the last things he'd ever do for her.

I am so saddened at the loss of Evan Marks. I'm happy he finally became the man I knew he would be, and partnered with our group even if only for the shortest span of time. I can only imagine how great the scenes would have been with him running a lab, J.T., at his side, Vincent, Cat and Tess running down leads and bringing in evidence to try to cure Vincent, bring down Muirfield and help whoever else is out there in similar circumstances needing their own little Justice League.

The final scene of Vincent telling Cat how he had longed for her to someday figure out who he was so that he could meet her should have been so beautiful. It was lovely, and filmed with all of the care that goes into Beauty and the Beast, but it was after we lost one of our own. We know how easily another could be lost and that's a scary feeling.

Heart of Darkness Review

Editor Rating: 4.8 / 5.0
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User Rating:

Rating: 4.7 / 5.0 (200 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.

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Beauty and the Beast Season 1 Episode 17 Quotes

Tess: Sorry to sock-block big guy. I'm sorry. I'm really just trying to get used to all this. First he was a serial killer we were chasing and now he's Hulk with a heart of gold.
Cat: You should see him with his shirt off. I did not just say that.

Yeah, I'm not gonna lie. The whole manimal thing is a lot to wrap my head around.

Tess

Beauty and the Beast Season 1 Episode 17 Music

  Song Artist
Bigger Than Love Benjamin Gibbard iTunes
Safe With Me The CO iTunes