On this week’s mid-season finale of Beauty and the Beast, the gang put a plan in motion to end both Reynolds’ vendetta against beasts and Vincent’s mission once and for all. But in the process, some characters have to make some pretty difficult decisions.
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This episode of Beauty and the Beast, “Man or Beast?” begins where we left off in the previous episode; Vincent and Tori are about to be blown to bits by a bomb, and Gabe and Cat have figured out that Reynolds has been behind the beast killings all along.
Vincent tells Tori that together they can get out of the predicament they find themselves in, and thanks to whatever mojo they have going on that increases their power when they’re together, Tori is able to break out of her bonds. He has convinced her that together they can hunt down and kill whoever’s behind everything that’s happened to them, but just when they meet in the middle of the room, it explodes.
The Aftermath
Gabe and Cat both find out about the explosion, and Cat rushes to the scene the next day. Tess meets her there, and Gabe arrives soon after, and Cat is told that J.T. and the houseboat were already checked: no Vincent. Cat of course refuses to believe the news, but Gabe manages to get her to go home and take a breather before they do anything else.
And in a crazy random happenstance, Vincent happens to be at Cat’s apartment when she gets there! But he isn’t alone; Tori is wounded on her couch, as they both were able to escape the explosion, but not unharmed. Cat is of course relieved to see Vincent, but probably not totally on board with the woman who kissed her … boyfriend? — yeah, boyfriend, I guess — resting on her couch.
Vincent explains that due to the amplification of their powers, they were able to get out before the explosion, and he brought Tori to Cat’s because he had nowhere else to go. Poor guy just doesn’t have that many friends. He was unsure if going to Cat’s would go over well, considering the sort-of break-up they had at her father’s Thanksgiving dinner, but Cat claims the blow-up had more to do with her father than with their relationship. Which is not totally true, but okay.
Reynolds’ Warning
Speaking of Reynolds, not long after the explosion, he gets a call from the guy he hired to rig the bomb that should’ve killed Vincent and Tori. He reports that the two were “eliminated,” but Reynolds is not convinced since the guy has failed in the past. Understandable.
But then the guy threatens that if he doesn’t get paid, the next place he rigs will be Reynolds’. I’d take him seriously if I were Reynolds; probably best not to piss off a guy who knows how to set up a bomb in your house.
Next Steps
Meanwhile, Cat and Vincent argue about what should be done next. Vincent wants Reynolds dead and buried, but Cat says that that would be wrong, and if Vincent crosses that line he’ll lose his humanity. On top of that, she tells him if he crosses it, there will be no turning back for their relationship, either. She reassures him that Reynolds will be imprisoned, one way or another.
After Cat leaves, Tori wakes up, and Vincent tells her Cat is all over going after Reynolds. Tori is skeptical, which will turn out to be a wrench in the plans later in the episode.
The Plan
When Tess and Cat go to Gabe’s, he and J.T. explain that they have a plan; they want to make Reynolds incriminate himself by making him believe Vincent and Tori are dead, and that they have evidence linking him to their deaths.
In the process of their investigation, some of the gang realize that some of the beast bodies never went through an autopsy process and went straight on to be cremated instead. This could be incriminating for Reynolds, especially because one of the bodies, Zach’s, is still intact since the crematorium has a backlog.
This, along with the possibility of Vincent tracking down the bomb rigger, could give them solid evidence to blackmail Reynolds with. But they are working in a time crunch; Reynolds has booked a flight to Geneva, and they have to set the plan in motion before he departs. No pressure or anything, of course.
Vincent is not a fan of the plan, and Gabe explains that they don’t have evidence for a court case against Reynolds, just enough to scare him into incriminating himself. Part of this new plan, by the way, involves J.T. stealing the body they need, which he understandably balks at. He’s told if he just says that as a professor he needs a cadaver, it should be totally fine! Not morally, maybe, but legally and stuff. Or something.
Vincent’s role in the new plan, on the other hand, is to track down the guy who kidnapped Tori and rigged the bomb, and he plans to help teach her to track, since she actually saw the guy when he tied her up. He is warned that they need the guy alive and breathing, which doesn’t seem like a tall order, but then we are dealing with beasts, after all.
Fooling Reynolds
Cat and Gabe meet with Reynolds at an FBI office, where they convince him that they have received a tip about who Vincent’s handler is. They tell him that if they can figure out who the accomplice is, they can get the handler to turn him in.
What follows is a series of statements between Cat and Gabe meant to convince Reynolds of the authenticity of the BS they’re feeding him, and Cat gets all weepy with Reynolds at the end of the visit, stating that she doesn’t know what she would do without him. He falls for it, hook, line and sinker.
Trouble in the Ranks
Elsewhere, Vincent shows up where the bomb guy is, but the guy has a bomb, weirdly enough, and Vincent can’t just attack blindly. This doesn’t stop Tori, though, who attacks the guy from behind and kills him. They had one job. One job. To bring back the guy alive, and that’s not about to happen thanks to Tori.
Vincent tries to tell the others that Tori didn’t have a choice, and she apologizes, but the others are obviously upset. Again, one job, guys. And you blew it. But very soon, Tori’s true feelings come out: she thought the plan was stupid all along, and she just wants to see Reynolds dead.
Gabe argues that they can’t just kill people, they have to arrest them and let the law figure it out, but Tori doesn’t want to go the just route. According to Cat, she wants to decide who’s innocent or guilty, and Cat questions whether Vincent agrees. She repeats that he can’t cross the line by killing Reynolds, and starts to say something about not killing being what separates people from … and Tori butts in to say, beasts? The girl really knows how to fan the flames.
Tori later tells Vincent privately that he needs to stop fighting his inner nature, and tries to convince him that they should take out Reynolds together. Because he should totally be listening to her and not the lover and friends who want to help him, sure.
Love is Blind
Cat tells Tess that she feels like she is really losing Vincent this time, and that maybe it’s time to let go after all. Just then, J.T. and Gabe tell the ladies they have come up with an alternate plan: since Vincent got the bomb maker’s phone, they can use it to blackmail Reynolds, who doesn’t know the guy is dead. Gabe will go to him and get him to confess and all will be hunky dory.
Cat doesn’t like that the plan puts Gabe so at risk, but he is adamant that he wants to save Vincent. Not only for Vincent, who saved him, but for Cat, too. Is Cat really this blind? My roommate has never seen an episode of Beauty and the Beast before this week and she immediately asked if Gabe has feelings for Cat. Ugh.
Anyway, they send Reynolds a photo and a message threatening him, which he is of course freaked out by. Cat doesn’t know how to thank Gabe (insert raunchy comment made by aforementioned roommate here), and he tells her not to until her father is in jail. And speak of the devil, Reynolds calls her just then, inviting her to talk somewhere. Interesting.
Reynolds makes up something about his section chief moving his assignment up, and says he wanted to say goodbye to Cat. They make some half-hearted comments to each other about wishing things turned out differently, and wish each other luck.
The Plan in Motion
But, of course, Reynolds isn’t catching a flight just then, he’s meeting with Gabe in a dark parking lot! Not that he knows that until he shows up, and being the cautious, paranoid guy he is, Reynolds immediately pulls a gun on Gabe when they both step out of their cars.
Reynolds demands to know where the other guy is, but of course Gabe can’t give him the location of the dead guy they’re pretending is alive. He asks where the money is, and Reynolds demands to see Zach’s body. And there it is, in Gabe’s truck, all dead and bloated and stuff. Lovely.
Gabe makes up a story about wanting to disappear, and claims that the bomb guy will certainly throw Reynolds under the bus without a second thought. Cat watches anxiously nearby, and Reynolds states that he thinks Gabe is bluffing. He then says the magic words, that he should’ve had Gabe killed, too, and they have what they need to charge him.
The two switch cars, and Reynolds drives off into the night. Gabe doesn’t get into Reynolds’ car, but he does tell Cat to go get the jerk, which she promptly does after standing in front of his car and pointing a gun at Reynolds. Go, bad-ass Cat! How I’ve missed you.
The Twist
Just as they’re having a nice little angry father/daughter chat in the car, Vincent jumps on the freaking windshield, causing it to crash. While Cat is passed out, Vincent rips Reynolds from the car and beats him, screaming various things like, “You did this to me!” and generally being very beastly.
When Reynolds says he would do it all again to protect Cat from a beast like Vincent, Vincent grabs his throat to choke him to death. Cat, of course, steps up right then, telling him it’s over and not to kill Reynolds. He is unmoved by her words, and she begs him, telling him he can choose to walk away. And at first, he looks like he might heed her words.
When it’s clear Vincent has made up his mind to kill Reynolds, Cat shoots him, and he runs away. She then points the gun at Reynolds, telling him he’s under arrest, and again, hello bad-ass Cat! I did not expect you to show up twice in one episode, with the way this season has been going.
All For You
In a jail cell, Reynolds tells Cat and Gabe that he will confess to everything, but leaves out details about beasts. He wants the whole thing to end for Cat, and he expresses that everything he did, he did for her. Cat, emotionally wrecked after the events of the day, walks away before breaking down in Gabe’s arms.
Elsewhere, Vincent bandages his wounds, and Tori shows up. I made a bad jokes here with my roommate about them making the beast with two backs that probably no one who doesn’t know Shakespeare would get, but all you need to know is, I’m thinking this incident will bring them even closer together. Bad news for Vincent/Cat shippers if I’m right.
The episode ends with Cat back on the familiar rooftop, gazing at the stars. And we are left to wonder what will become of everyone on Beauty and the Beast when it returns in January.
Beauty and the Beast airs Mondays at 9pm on The CW.
(Image courtesy of The CW)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
