Beauty and the Beast – It’s A Wonderful Beast

By: Stacy Miller

Is our lives better or worse because of the people in it? Such was the question pondered by Vincent Keller (Jay Ryan) in the “Beauty and The Beast” episode It’s a Wonderful Beast. Would Catherine’s (Kristin Kreuk) life have been better if she never met him?

The episode opens with Vincent having the worst night of sleep ever. Still suffering from the gunshot wound he sustained from the hit man in the previous episode, he is in pain. Vincent hears a noise and gets out of bed to find someone in the apartment. Vincent’s altercation with the uninvited guest wakes Catherine who joins her husband in the fight and they subdue the man, knocking him unconscious. When Vincent receives a text message that JT (Austin Basis) and Tess (Nina Lisandrello) are waiting for them at the coffee shop, Catherine realizes that their cell phones have been hacked.

Meanwhile, JT and Tess are waiting for their friends’ arrival when Catherine calls and tells Tess to get out because their phones have been hacked and it is a trap. Suddenly, all hell breaks loose and the place becomes the scene of a shoot-out. JT and Tess take cover and are soon joined by Catherine and Vincent. Catherine tells the group that Heather is away so she’s safe. In the melee, Vincent‘s wound re-opens and he begins to lose consciousness.

He wakes up to find himself in a cage and JT telling him that they have to get out of there fast. JT and Vincent go to some tunnels, where it looks like they have been holding up. When JT mentions Muirfield, it obvious to Vincent that something isn’t right. Apparently, JT is working on a way for Vincent to control his beast state while they are hiding from Muirfield. What’s going on here? Vincent realized that he was trapped in a world where he still faced the threat of Muirfield, but if he could get to Catherine maybe things would make sense. “Who’s Catherine?” JT asked.

He and JT take off searching for Catherine, who Vincent spots at an eating establishment. But when Vincent approaches her, Catherine looks startled “Who are you?” she asks. The moment is interrupted when Catherine is pulled away for what appears to be a party celebrating her anniversary to a very much alive Evan (Max Brown). Vincent is frantic for Catherine to know the truth and JT has to pull him away from the party, which they are obviously uninvited guests. Their antics catch the eye of Catherine’s friend Tess. JT tells the officer that they are leaving, not wanting to get into any trouble with the cops. When Vincent makes his way to the roof (their special place) of Catherine’s apartment to try to get her to remember him and their life together, she thinks he’s crazy and dangerous so she drop kicks him!

In this alternate universe, in addition to Catherine not knowing who Vincent is her marriage to Evan seems strained. No one believes her story that she was saved from the people who killed her mother by some sort of beast creature and Vincent doesn’t know how to control is fugue states in which he becomes a beast at a moment’s notice.

In the real world, Catherine, JT and Tess are struggling to keep Vincent alive, which is difficult with the snipers continuing to take shots at them. They are pinned in their covered location and unable to get Vincent medical attention.

In the alternate world, Vincent decides to go to the one person he knows that can help convince Catherine of his identity: her real father, Reynolds (Ted Whittall). Reynolds is confused to say the least that Vincent even knows that he is Catherine’s father as this isn’t information that he’s shared publically.

Meanwhile, Catherine is scouring the internet for information about the man who interrupted her anniversary party. Tess is worried about her friend’s obsession with this man and questions whether Catherine is planning an affair.

When Vincent has a vision of Catherine being grabbed by some men, he, JT and Reynolds go to her apartment and find it has been trashed. This causes Vincent to beast out. “You’re one of them,” Reynolds realizes before shooting Vincent! JT comes to his friend’s aid, who despite his injuries, Catherine’s safety is his only thought. In the real world, Vincent’s condition is getting worse as bullets are raining down on them.

In the alternate world, it is revealed that Evan works with Muirfield in an attempt to save his wife from the dangerous beasts out there. Evan had overheard Catherine and Tess’ earlier conversation in which she speculated that this Vincent Keller could be one of those beast so Evan decided to use his Muirfield ties by having them kidnap Catherine to lure Vincent out into the open. Regardless of what universe, Evan was always basically a good guy who made bad choices.

He and Vincent reluctantly team up to save the woman they both love. Evan ends up getting killed, but Vincent manages to rescue Catherine. They take off running with Muirfield agents in hot pursuit. When it looks like they have no way out, Vincent snaps back to reality in time to hear Catherine urging him to come back to her. The police storm the place which causes the shooters to make a hasty retreat. And, fortunately, Deputy Secretary Hill (Andrew Stewart-Jones) was able to keep the cop from asking too many question by stating it was a DHS matter.

Now all Vincent needs to do is get rest so he can get better. But if nothing else, Vincent’s journey into the ‘what if’ helped to convince him that Catherine’s life was better for her knowing him. And that regardless of the dangers, they will always be there for each other and that nothing can tear them apart.