Beauty and the Beast (1987) S1 E12

## Plot

Lots of people of the World Below are all squeezed into one chamber, including Father, Vincent, Mary, Winslow, Pascal, and Jamie, to hear the trial of Mouse, played by David Greenlee. He's an erratic, odd, and not very articulate inventor. He steals things from the World Above, which puts everyone else at risk. They've warned him time and time again, but he keeps doing it. Jamie, played by Irina Irvine, asked him to fix a rusted out ladder to make a climb easier. Instead, he decided to make a self-moving water powered one. Not gonna lie, that is pretty brilliant. Everyone except Vincent and Jamie turn around, indicating that they think Mouse should be punished. He's basically given the silent treatment, and even Pascal, Jamie, and Vincent won't speak to him. That being said, everyone plans on not speaking to him for *an entire month*, and even introverted, shy, and socially anxious and awkward humans are still humans, and we are, for better and for worse, very social creatures, like dolphins. It wouldn't surprise me if Mouse has autism, ADHD, or something like that. Vincent found Mouse when he was little and brought him there. Catherine and Joe are trying to figure out a way to bring a man named Max Avery down. Everyone knows he's dirty, but they can't prove it. They've already talked to dozens of people who have paid him off to keep their buildings going. They finally have a break. There's one major developer that hasn't sold out to Avery: Elliot Burch. Catherine has to interview him, because with his lawyers, a subpoena isn't possible, and he'll only talk to her. Vincent visits Father, who is looking at a kaleidoscope that Mouse made for him when he was ten. He didn't steal it… but he stole the parts, which was admittedly pretty funny. Vincent says that the silence can be terrible. Father thinks they did the right thing, since it's better than Mouse being in prison, or having someone accidentally discover the World Below. Ellie tells them that Eric fell in the maze. It's a dangerous part of the tunnels. It's saturated with groundwater and unstable. No one is supposed to go there, especially the kids. Ellie, Eric, and Kipper were playing hide and seek. Catherine talks to Elliot Burch. He has enough evidence to put Avery away for twenty years, but before Catherine takes it, he tells her something. He's dealt with a dozen Avery's since he began. His choices are always grey. It was easier and cheaper to play ball with Avery than to fight him. Maybe Catherine was right to walk away from Elliot when she did, and while his employees are his responsibility, he insists that he didn't know. He has a lot of regrets, and losing her is one of them. He was advised to shred the file full of evidence, but he chose to give it to Catherine instead. Avery is in a position to cripple four of his current projects and cost him millions of dollars. Once he's put away though, Burch and the city will finally be rid of him. Elliot isn't one of the bad guys, no matter what Catherine thinks of him. Eric sprained his ankle while climbing on the rocks. Father decides to have the maze sealed off. The ceiling starts collapsing. Ellie and Kipper carry Eric out of the hole they came in. Vincent holds up a large column that would block it off. He roars at Kipper to go, and tells Father to leave, but he stays behind to help him lift the rock column, until the whole place collapses in a pile of rocks and dust. Vincent is okay, and digs Father out. He can vaguely see shapes and colors. A variety of *shades of grey*. I'm not sorry. Technically he says grays in a dozen different shades, but whatever, it's the same thing. Catherine talks with Joe about offering Elliot and his people immunity, since he's doing the right thing, and that should count for something. She says that if Moreno ever intrudes on her private life again though, she'll resign. Kipper told everyone about the cave-in. The crawlspace is twenty feet long. Once inside, there's no room to turn around or swing a pick-ax. Kipper brings Winslow the maps to the area, which shows that there's no other way in. Winslow used to be a blacksmith, and starts using his pick-ax to dig through the bedrock. Also, he's played by the late James Avery. Also also, Vincent and Catherine's bond works the other way around. Catherine hears the pounding even before Vincent does, as a headache before she realizes that Vincent is in trouble. Father might have a concussion. It can't be too bad, since he's conscious and lucid, but still. As someone who's gotten a few concussions before, both mild and severe, it hurts like hell. Way worse than breaking a bone, at least in my opinion. Easily the worst pain I've ever felt in my entire life. Jamie says that Winslow's plan won't work. She wants to break the silence and tell Mouse. If Winslow thought it would help, he gladly would, but he says that Mouse would just slow down and confuse everyone, and that there's no other way in. Besides, half of Mouse's machines don't work. Jamie says that the other half do. Catherine bangs on the pipes, and heads into the tunnels by herself when she doesn't get an answer. She finds a gate, and turns a sculpture of a creature to try and open it. Instead, she falls down into Mouse's part of the tunnels and meets him. He realizes that she's Vincent's Catherine, and agrees to help her find him. Mouse grew up in the tunnels, and knows them better than anyone, even Father. He says Vincent is his best friend. Jamie finds them and tells them about the cave-in. Catherine meets Winslow. Mouse says that they'll never get through in time. Vincent and Father will run out of air before they clear away all the rocks. Mouse says there's another tunnel to the other side, and he has a digging machine that can dig through it. Catherine, Jamie, and a few others believe in and go with Mouse. Vincent feels that Catherine is with them. Their bond is stronger and deeper than they thought. Father tells Vincent that nearly forty years ago, he saw the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. They made eye contact, but before he could say anything, she hopped in a cab and was gone. He walked that same route for a year, until she finally stepped out of another cab. Another year went by, and they got married. The woman was Margaret. Aw! It's so sweet, and yet so sad, because at this point everyone in-universe and out knows what happened to their relationship. They never stopped loving each other, but couldn't be together again until the end. Father says that he understands more of Vincent and Catherine's relationship and bond than he might think. It's clear that he's telling Vincent this because he thinks he's going to die. Vincent promises that they'll walk out together. Oh my god, their relationship is second only to Catherine and Vincent's, and during moments like this, it's an outright tie for which one is sweeter. Vincent and Father really are and behave like they have a healthy and strong father-son connection. Father gives Vincent sage advice and has taught him just about everything he knows and has taken care of him his whole life, and Vincent takes care of and is clearly concerned about Father in dangerous situations like this one, where he shields him with his own body when it seems like another cave-in might happen, and even before that, he was concerned about him crawling through the hole, but didn't push it when he said he could handle it. Even before their situation and early on, they laugh about it and Mouse, and it all sounds so natural. I don't see two actors onscreen, I see a father and son who don't always agree, but who will always love and support each other and want nothing more than for the other person to be safe and happy, sometimes choosing safety at the expense of said happiness, particularly in Vincent's case. Mouse builds the machine, but for every inch of rock they get through, they also get a ruined drill bit. Catherine needs to get him better ones, and some explosives, so she decides to go to Elliot for help. Vincent and Father are losing air, and Vincent has to keep Father awake. I know that things are bleak, but I love Elliot's instant change of tune whenever Catherine wants to see him. It will never not be funny to me. She gives him the list of things she needs, and apologizes for not being able to give him an explanation. Despite their earlier argument, he agrees, no questions asked. I love his character development, even if it's ultimately fulfilled and wasted in the same scene in season 3. Catherine tells him that the next time he calls, she'll be in, because he didn't put a price tag on it. Oh right, she left work as soon as she realized that Vincent was in trouble, and I can't remember if cell phones were a common and readily available thing in 1987. Even if they were, I doubt they'd work underground. They were, but they look clunky. Father tells Vincent that if he doesn't make it, their world must continue, and Vincent's voice must be heard, because it's the truest and strongest one there is. Also, throughout their ordeal, while Father loses hope and thinks he'll die, he accepts it and chooses to pass on as much knowledge as he can to Vincent in his current state, and has no doubt that he'll survive. Vincent never once loses faith that they'll both make it out okay, and does his best to take care of Father with a head injury, which we can now see has visible blood. He promises to keep their dream of peace alive. Father says he misses the colors most of all, and wishes he could've shown Vincent the blue of the Pacific, a summer's sun, the green grass of St. David's field (I think that's fictional, but who cares, it's a sweet moment), the fall leaves in Vermont, etc. However, Vincent says he did show him, through books and words. No other guide could've painted a better picture for a child. He took him around the world: Twain's Mississippi, Kipling's India, Jack London's Klondike, and Vincent says there are many more places left to go, and he and Father hug. He feels Catherine's return. They're drilling again. However, even with the new drill bits, they can't get through. It's stuck. Catherine and Jamie go back to get the others. Winslow finally agrees to help. Mouse admits that he's never used plastic explosives before, but he's read all about it. Still, he's using a lot, and he could blow any of them or Father and Vincent to kingdom come. Now that I think about it, where does that expression come from? Vincent can feel Catherine's fear. Mouse tells everyone else to leave while he sets off the explosives. He can't detonate it remotely, since the signal won't go through solid rock. Winslow and Catherine volunteer to do it instead, but Mouse says it's his gizmo, and if Catherine dies, then Vincent will kill him anyways. Do the writers of season 3 hate me? I don't see how that's possible, since this show was over well before I was even born. My parents were teenagers and great athletes when it started airing, which is still a weird thought to wrap my head around. Mouse says that if he dies, someone should take care of his pet raccoon, Arthur. Winslow tells him that he better not die then, because no one else will take care of him. Everyone gets to cover, and the explosives are set off. Vincent and Catherine are reunited and hug. Mouse is alright, notes that he used a bit too much explosive, and Winslow gives him a fierce hug. Aw! Father says he has no words to thank Catherine and Mouse. Later on, Vincent says Catherine's courage saved them, but she says it was love, and they hug again. This show was secretly a live action *Gargoyles* series, and literally nothing can convince me otherwise. Vincent is Goliath, Father is a nicer Hudson, Catherine is either a sane Demona or a less badass Elisa Maza, Mouse or Pascal is Lexington, and Elliot Burch is Xanatos to a T. If Pascal is Lexington, then Mouse is Broadway with Lexington's level of intellect.

## Review

For a show that generally revolves around the romance between the two main leads, this was a really good episode, and said leads weren't even onscreen together until the very end. This is how you make an episode with heart, stakes, and character development where no one dies. Granted, some of the characters *think* they're going to die, which influences the things that they say and do, but still, you get the idea. It was sad, it was funny, and it was heartwarming. In fact, I consider it better than the case of the week episode format. It's not my favorite episode though, nor do I think it's the best in the first season. I just like that they played around with the formula a bit. Also, Mary, the mother figure of the World Below, is mentioned and appears here, but instead of being played by Ellen Geer, who would play her in later episodes, she's played by Rutanya Alda.