Beauty and the Beast (1987) S1 E4

## Plot

A cab driver drops Catherine off in a dangerous, sketchy part of the city. I hadn't been born yet, but apparently NYC in the 1980s was rough, with high crime rates, but apparently it was even worse in the 70s. Vincent feels Catherine's fear, and talks to her. She's supposed to meet a witness, and he said the time and place. It's worth the gamble. Vincent will be nearby in case anything happens. The witness seems to be a gang member, and saw a store owner get beaten to death. He can identify the man who did it. He says the suspect's name is Chris, and he's the number one gunner for a gang. They all wear suits, even the women. Suddenly, Chris and several other gang members shoot up the bar they're in. Vincent comes in and saves Catherine. They hear him roar. He stays behind to help the witness, who's been shot. And then Chris throws a bomb in, and the building explodes. Catherine and the other gang members are okay, but they know the witness is dead. They think Catherine set them up, and she fights them. Chris and the other gang members see what's left behind, and find Vincent, who they chain up. He was disoriented by the bomb, and can't see or hear very well. Meanwhile, the police secure the scene and question Catherine. She sees them bring out the body of the witness, but not Vincent. At home, Catherine bangs on the pipes, and a girl named Ellie talks to her. Vincent hasn't come back yet. She tells Father what happened, and that it was at the Lower East Side. Just let Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur handle it. Only two entrances to the tunnels exist there. Father wonders what he was doing in such a dangerous part of the city, and Catherine says he was with her. In case you haven't picked up on it yet, Father really doesn't like Catherine at first, especially her relationship with Vincent. It comes to a head here, and in Song of Orpheus. Also, he calls Vincent his son. Aw! He thinks their relationship is a tragic mistake, for both of them, and that they can never be together. One of the men approaches Vincent. He thinks he can talk, and promises he won't tell anyone. He's clearly mentally handicapped. Vincent tells him yes, he can talk. He asks the man, Howie, to set him free. The other gang members call him Pygmy, which is odd, because he's rather large, tall, and strong, not short. However, they probably mean he's insignificant, because of his handicap that stops him from functioning "normally". He wants to set Vincent free, but Chris would kill him. The other gang members spray him with beer, hit him with a crowbar, etc. Before he's hit again, Howie grabs the man's wrist. Vincent breaks his chains and escapes, killing at least one person in the process. However, his vision is still messed up, and he's almost hit by oncoming traffic. Chris's brother Tony is dead, and Chris is heartbroken and furious. The remaining gang members decide to get revenge and go after Vincent. Meanwhile, Catherine meets up with Isaac at the crime scene for help finding Vincent. They learn that a homeless man saw the gang members drag Vincent out and stuff him in the trunk. Isaac knows that gang's territory. He promises Catherine that if he's alive, they'll find him. A kind old guard finds Vincent, and offers him what is implied to be alcohol, which he refuses. He used to be a boxer, and went pro in 1951. The man helps him up, but he disappears. Man, he could give Batman a run for his money. After all, Vincent is huge, and his eyesight is still messed up. He hides from a taxi… which is where Isaac and Catherine are. Oh come on! The gang members also narrowly miss him. Are we sure he's not wearing an invisibility cloak? However, one of the members sees him trying to lift up a grate when he looks in the rear view mirror. They turn around and hit him head on, despite Howie trying to turn the wheel. Then they crash the car. They go after Vincent on foot. Um, there are about a dozen witnesses here. And no one was injured in the crash? Isaac, Catherine, and the police have found where Vincent was being held, and they find the body of Chris's brother. Catherine tells Isaac that her friend's name is Vincent, and that she owes him her life. A woman who is heavily implied to be a prostitute finds Vincent. He says he's hurt. She recognizes him as the guy who was hit by the car. He tells her not to call an ambulance. She brings him inside her apartment. She used to be a nurse, and says her mom wanted her to be one. It's also heavily implied that she uses illicit painkiller drugs, because she mentions having a seller, and says Vincent *needs* something for the pain. He asks her not to turn on the light. His appearance might frighten her. She says you have to trust somebody sometime, and turns on the light anyways. Naturally, she's scared. He apologizes and leaves. The woman goes after him. At least shut your door lady, that's just asking for something bad to happen. She says he can't stay outside, and helps him back in. He says he needs to get to his father, who is a doctor, but he can't see. Her name is Lucy. She offers to help him to one of the tunnel entrances, and he thanks her. The gang is at an old playground. The police are still at their hideout. Chris tells Howie to get some flashlights. He refuses to give up hunting for Vincent. He wants everyone to split up to look, and meet back at the playground in half an hour. Catherine, Isaac, and the police are investigating the car crash. Vincent was so close to freedom. He managed to open the grate before he was hit. Catherine says she would feel it if he were dead. Isaac says that according to the skid marks and witnesses, the car was going at least 50 miles an hour, but Vincent still got up and ran off. Lucy and Vincent stop to rest at the playground. One of the women spots them and runs to tell Chris. Lucy tells Vincent to go on alone. She's confronted by the other gang members. Chris has a gun. Howie shows her a snow globe he found. She says Vincent went inside. Chris tells Howie to bring her with them. Vincent throws a gate at Chris. He and the other gang members enter the building. Chris orders Howie to give up his gun to one of the women. They split up, and one of the men shoots at Vincent. Catherine and Isaac enter the building and find the women, who hold them at gunpoint. When they look away, Isaac disarms the woman holding the gun, and Catherine throws the other one into a wall. Then they leave to find Vincent. Seriously? Don't just leave Lucy there, the poor woman is crying and currently defenseless! In a moment that actually made me jump, Vincent suddenly attacks one of the men and violently kills him. He lets Howie help him pull open a secret door to reveal the entrance to the tunnels. Chris finds them. He orders Howie to get out of the way. Howie, in his naivety, says he'll trade the snow globe to him if he'll let Vincent go. Chris responds by shooting him at least twice. Howie uses his last moments to bear hug him, allowing Vincent to finally escape, and Isaac and Catherine finally find him. Catherine tells Isaac to not ask any questions, and thanks him for everything. She hugs Vincent. Father appears, and Isaac leaves. And we'll never see him again. Why?! If the actor was unavailable, then just recast him again. How cool would it have been for him to know the secret, and maybe become a Helper, which is a role that we'll learn more about later. They walk into the tunnel, and the camera pans down to Howie's body, where his hand finally drops the snow globe onto the ground, by his blood. So, is Chris dead? Howie didn't have a gun, and while he's strong, I doubt he's strong enough to kill a man by bear hugging him. Vincent didn't kill him, and Isaac and Catherine are unarmed. Also, they walked past that grisly scene like it was nothing, literally. Anyways, even if Chris isn't dead, the police will probably find him and arrest him for everything he did, and Lucy could even testify as a witness, as well as examining the bullets from the guns. Basically, he's either dead, or he's probably going to spend the rest of his life in jail. And that's not even counting all of the other stuff he did before this episode or during the beginning of it. He's Captain Ahab, and Vincent was his white whale. He wanted revenge so badly that he refused to see reason, and it ended up being his downfall.

## Review

I guess this episode was okay. I didn't like all of the gang members. They're really hammy, and in my opinion, almost none of them could act, and they all look the same except for Howie. The writers could've at least written out the women, since they weren't even at the shooting. Other than that, I feel like this episode showed Vincent the best and worst of humanity, at least in New York City in the 1980s. Yes, people can be cynical and have wildly different life experiences, but that doesn't mean that they're incapable of compassion and helping others. I love Lucy. Yes, part of me just wanted to make that joke, but I really do like her character. She's like a cynical, less fortunate version of Catherine, like how Howie is similar to Vincent: Shunned, mistreated, and abused for being different. Even the old guard reminds me of Father a little. Lucy could be shamed and looked down upon by mainstream society for being a prostitute or a drug addict. It's the same thing with Howie being mentally challenged, and the guard for simply being old, and maybe a possible alcoholic. These people aren't the rejects of our society though, or at least they shouldn't be. Yes, that includes criminals, because rehabilitation, forgiveness, and rebuilding one's life should be a viable possibility, especially in the U.S., and for those who have been falsely convicted, and simply did whatever they could to get out of prison, even if it meant admitting to something they didn't do, because they didn't want to risk going to trial and possibly spending the rest of their life in prison. Oh my god, Father was totally right about our backstabbing judicial system.