Beauty and the Beast Review: Once A Beast

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There were some really good things about Beauty and the Beast Season 2 Episode 19 - and some really bad things.

The good involves Cat and Vincent still fighting the good fight, Heather returning and learning the truth and Gabe being arrested for a murder he tried to frame Vincent for committing.

The bad involves the writing team taking our intelligence for granted and suspecting that as long as Cat and Vincent are together all is right with the world. We're better than that, right Beasties?

In my work as a manager, I was taught to lead with a good, toss in a bad and finish up with a good. Let's see how that works out here.

It was really good to have Heather back and finally in the loop. Of course, seeing is believing and Heather needed to see Vincent beast out to understand what her sister had been going through for the past decade. Truly, Cat was on her own with her beast story for a very long time, just needing someone to believe her.

Luckily for Cat, the beast who saved her on the night of her mother's death was handsome and loving and she quickly got over her fear of him. However, introducing him and all that he is to the family was never going to be easy. When Cat finally told Heather the truth she craved, she thought Cat was treating her like an idiot with a fairytale-like story to shut her up.

Vincent saved her when bad guy Sheckman locked them up to explode (who would have imagined he wouldn't keep his word to Gabe not to hurt her?) and she learned he also saved her when she was with Joe's brother so long ago. She finally gets it. The truth ain't easy to tell all the time, but when it comes out, good results occur.

Now for the bad. The story has issues. Didn't everybody know Gabe had the hots for Cat? Did they keep it a secret? Why was Captain Ward just learning (or asking, anyway) if it was personal between Gabe and Cat? Maybe Cat and Tess are superstars in the precinct because everyone else is incapable of doing any detective work whatsoever.

Their surveillance in the hopes of finding Vincent is horrible. Gabe knows Vincent -- personally. He knows that even if JT is in Boston the odds are good Vincent will use his place to crash or do some sleuthing. Did he not share this important intel while trying to "protect the city" because it might show his personal connection to Cat? Because pulling teams from someplace a violent criminal will likely go doesn't happen on, say, Chicago P.D. Honestly, Gabe probably knows all of Vincent's hot spots, so not finding him seems highly unlikely.

Vincent has always been a good tracker, but when did he get supernatural powers? Why does he "see" the crimes as they happen now? We can't just say they're showing us scenes so we're familiar with what happened, because Vincent "saw" Gabe claw off the witness' shoe -- a shoe that was still conveniently in the same spot a year later. That really IS a museum!

Those types of questions really detract from the storytelling. A beast may be implausible, but we're suspending our disbelief because we know what the show is about. Poorly configured plot devices that make you laugh and scratch your head muddle with that suspension and that's not good. It will turn off new viewers, and that is not the desire here.

Back for some more good. The witness did come through and Gabe was arrested. He wasn't allowed to get out of the lineup due to his status or some other silly thing. He made bail, however, and killed the witness. It turns out that it can be true that once a beast, always a beast.

Gabe was ugly on the inside and when he looks in the mirror, he still confuses his image with that of his beast, but this murder was man on man. He made a conscious decision to take the life of another man and he can't blame it on the beast. It will be his fingerprints on the man's skin and his hand marks that fit the strangle pattern. He will either go down for the murder or disappear to come back and annoy us at a later time.

I'm really happy they're trying to move away from Gabe, but I also understand that until they find another challenge to put in the path of Vincent and Catherine and their lives together, it will be difficult to do. This will  never be a show about them being happy and living a normal life. When it is, the show will end.

We'll take our stolen VinCat moments, our passionate -- yet secret -- rendezvous; but we've had enough of Gabe. With him being a murderer and seeing the beast inside himself, he's gone as far as he can go. Keeping him around and making him into a physical beast again holds zero appeal.

So have at it Beasties. What are your thoughts on how things are playing out? What do you think will bring Heather back to the city full time? Her job and fiance are in Florida. Thoughts please! If you need a refresher, you can always watch Beauty and the Beast online to get you through.

Do you think we'll be rid of Gabe by the end of Beauty and the Beast Season 2?

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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 2 Episode 19 Quotes

Cat: I'm already in trouble. I'm in trouble with a fugitive.
Vincent: I didn't do it.
Cat: That's what they always say.

Vincent: You know, everyone thinks the guy is some paragon of good, but in truth, if they only knew who he used to be...
Cat: Well, maybe it's time they found out. Maybe it's time we dig up something from Gabe's past and put him on the defensive for once.
Vincent: Something like what?
Cat: I don't know. But he's done plenty of awful things as a beast, things he's conveniently forgotten. Maybe it's time to remind him.