Beauty and the Beast - Ever After - Review

This episode was a super-fun burst of fresh air that showed how Beauty and the Beast can take a little time off for an amusing caper while still weaving the events back into the ongoing story arc and advancing the main plotline - a fairly difficult balance to achieve!  While Vincent and Cat's journey into suburbia showed that they are both just as incapable of living a normal, humdrum existence as J.T. assumed they would be, Tess and J.T. shouldered the brunt of Gabe's lunacy this week as the show's resident creepoid continued down a very dark path.

I'm going to include some lyrics from Amanda Mair's song "Said and Done" to supplement this review, as this episode connects with that song's sense of hope to find a place for oneself in the world while remaining true to oneself, too.  That's really what Cat and Vincent's journey entailed in "Ever After," with the episode title indicating that the happy ending does await them even if it's not going to be a quick and easy fix.  

"Can I be where I want to be 
In a town by the sea where time has ceased to be
Is there love waiting here for me?
Familiar faces waiting to be unveiled

Gonna take you in
Gonna feel this love
Gonna keep you by my side
Gonna stand up straight,
Go out and take what's mine"*

Agent Knox was grateful enough about VinCat's assistance in the recovery of Agent Mallory to offer them the chance at witness protection - an opportunity to evade the police hunt for Vincent that has had our heroes living on the run in a constant state of peril for weeks now.  But said chance for escape from trouble was a respite in a big, comfy house where anyone else's dream trip just made Cat long for the action back in NYC.  Although Vincent gave the simple life more of a real try, even arguing with Cat that they should settle in without trying to make or find trouble, even he couldn't help surrendering to the undertow of Catherine's cop instincts.  

Possibly the best moment of the episode was Vincent carrying Catherine over the threshold and saying "let's get used to it."  He is just so effortlessly, perfectly romantic, and scenes like this make me envision a wedding down the road for these two!

"I don't wanna turn back time and change me
I just want to live through it again and then
I wanted then to see where I would be,
When all is said and done"*

In what seemed like a winky little homage to Castle, Cat's new identity of "mystery writer" "Veronica" (a name which also brings to mind the delightful detective Veronica Mars) at least gave her a bit of an excuse for her "nosy neighbor" behavior.  However, when a suspicious situation across the street exploded into an actual murder scene, there was no way Catherine was going to leave well enough alone (especially with a slow-moving officer on the case who ended up being the murder weapon himself.  Someone had to do the real detective work).  I enjoyed the laughs this episode afforded, especially Vincent complaining to a fish about his problems (Jay Ryan was beyond adorable and hilarious there) and Cat being unable to let go of her tough NYC girl persona enough to see that a neighbor was waving, not flipping her off.  Also, Vincent showing up at the door of the murderous neighbor and asking just out of curiosity if she killed her husband was priceless.  "I hate it when she's right," Vincent quipped with regard to Cat, reflecting that she was perhaps also simply right that a quiet existence would never suit the two of them.

Vincent and Catherine's arguments had some level of deeper meaning, since they had to face the fact that living this idyllic type of life would never really work for them, and that to some extent adventure will always be on the menu due to their personalities and drives.  But it was clear enough that their squabbles would be resolved with little problem.  That was soothing and let us enjoy this lighter part of the episode for what it was.

"Can I see what I want to see?
These old streets used to mean the world to me
Here is something more
Give me all I never knew before."*

The only elephant in the room with the whole suburbia getaway was why VinCat didn't take more advantage of the chance to just relax and enjoy each other's company (if you know what I mean, teehee) for a while instead of becoming slowly but surely riddled by anxieties about how to disappear into their new identities and be reasonable about the changes from their accustomed life that come with them.  I can certainly buy that these issues would ultimately put an end to the whole relocation thing, but Vincent and Cat definitely spent a lot more time being antsy and worried than embracing the first time they've been alone and relatively safe together for a while.  But then, if they weren't complicated and quirky, they wouldn't be our VinCat.

In any case, the understanding they came to by the end of the episode was perfectly sweet, with Vincent acknowledging that he would never want to change Cat because that keen, brave detective is the woman he fell in love with.  After being unable to start over in a new place even for a short time, and after returning to a city that's still gunning for Vincent, he and Cat managed to find the silver lining and keep fighting.  After all, knowing what one doesn't want is just as important as knowing what one does.  I suspect that when VinCat get their happy life together, it will be far from quiet and peaceful, and it will be squarely in the big city.  As J.T. mentioned, they're city people through and through.  And by their very natures, as a cop and a soldier/doctor, both Vincent and Catherine have instincts that will always lead them to help others even when it's highly inconvenient to them.

Speaking of J.T., after his week off, he returned in high form, spouting awesome wisdom like this to Catherine and Vincent:  "We'll get Gabe.  Mostly because if we don't, you can't come back.  And that's not gonna work for any of us."

So J.T. promised to "pick up where Vincent left off" in the search for Gabe.  After killing the witness who'd fingered him for Sheckman's murder, Gabe tried to fend off the consequences by maintaining his innocence with Tess and the Captain even though he just kept seeming more and more manic with every pasted-on smile or high-pitched proclamation of being in the right.  Plus, Gabe's stopped shaving, and it looks good, but we all know that on t.v., that equals crazy in a previously well-kempt character.  

Admirably determined to resolve the Gabe drama so that Vincent and Cat could return to the city where he so aptly noted that they belong, (the emphasis on J.T.'s New York attitude this week was awesome, too - "I'm walking here!") J.T. found it hard to track the culprit without beast skills.  But geek skills can be awfully handy too, and J.T. found a way to follow Gabe's cell signal back to where he'd been hanging out, burning bodies (ugh!) - in that eerie repository of secrets, the dungeon.

Once Tess and J.T. made their way to the dungeon and discovered the remains of Gabe's unfortunate victim, they were quickly swept into a standoff with Gabe himself.  Then J.T. lobbed accusations and threats at Gabe as Tess ran interference, determined to protect her man when he fails to protect himself (which is always). By the way, the J.T.'nT. moments were fabulous this week, including his calling her his girl earlier in the episode.  Gabe eventually won out in this face-off  after repeating his bizarre spiel about capturing Vincent in order to protect Catherine.  He reminded Tess and J.T. that the dungeon cannot fall under police scrutiny, as the evidence archived there could come back to get Vincent as well.  Meh!  Honestly, to use the bones to get Gabe behind bars, I might be willing to run that risk and deal with the possibility of those other issues later.

With Gabe growing more and more out of control and VinCat recommitted to staying in the city and in the fight, events are ramping up to an inevitable confrontation by the end of the season that will determine the characters' fates.  Things can't continue this way much longer, and eventually, Gabe must be taken down, though here's hoping our "fab four" remain as unscathed as possible during that process.  

What did you think of this episode?  Share your thoughts in the comments!

*lyrics taken from the song "Said and Done" by Amanda Mair.

About the Author - Virginia Mae Fontana

Virginia is happy to be reviewing The Vampire Diaries, Hart of Dixie, Nashville, Beauty and the Beast, Witches of East End, Covert Affairs, and Continuum for Spoiler TV. She is a college English instructor and enjoys obsessing over films and pop music - in addition to tv shows, of course! You can find her blog, SugarRushed, at http://virginiamaeblog.blogspot.com/ and her Twitter handle is @SugarRushedBlog

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