Beauty and the Beast (1987) S1 E8

## Plot

First of all, I love the title of this episode. It comes from Greek mythology. Orpheus was a bard, poet, and musician. He lived with Jason and the Argonauts during their quest for the Golden Fleece, and even descended into the Underworld, where he met Hades and Persephone and played a song for them about the origins of the world, gods, mankind, the joys of love, and what happens when love is lost. It ties into his motivation to go to the Underworld in the first place (to rescue his wife Eurydice), as well as the themes of this episode. A barber is reading the newspaper, and notices a strange ad called the wreck of my memories. He circles it, and marks it FTR, short for Father. He's a Helper, and delivers the message to the World Below, where it reaches Father. He tells Vincent that he's never lied to him. The things he's told him about the World Above was to protect him, and help him forget a world he once loved. He has to go above. He says they'll talk once he returns that evening. The ad was paid for by a woman named Margaret Chase. She's terminally ill, is currently in a hospital, and was in love with Father once. Her lawyer, Alan Taft, tells her that he dropped off the face of the Earth 35 years ago. He's worried about her judgment, the new provisions she's made to her will, and about Henry, a man who is clearly just trying to get her money. He comes in, and says he's taking her home first thing in the morning. Father puts on a suit and hat, and goes above for the first time in decades. Henry and Alan talk in his office. Six months ago, Margaret was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. She has no living relatives to give her large estate to. Alan hired someone to look into the "charity" that Henry says he's from. He called yesterday, from the Cayman Islands. He's willing to keep it quiet for Margaret's sake, but only if Henry disassociates himself from her. Father is clearly confused at how much the world has changed in thirty plus years. He goes to Alan's office, and finds the door open. When he enters, he trips a motion sensor that informs the police. He finds papers scattered everywhere… and Alan dead. Four police officers show up and immediately arrest him. That night, Vincent goes to Catherine and asks for her help in finding him. We're about a quarter of the way into the episode, and our main characters finally get some screen time! Vincent doesn't know anything about Father's past, except that he used to be a doctor. He doesn't even know his real name. With a heavy heart, he goes through his father's things. Damn, that's a lot of paper. Maybe not *Cloak and Dagger* a lot, but wow. Sure, shots like that are neat, but that doesn't make things easier to read or process, it makes it harder! He finds an ID badge in his closet from the Chittenden Research Institute, but there's no name, just a picture and his fingerprint. Vincent also finds a letter hidden behind a wedding photograph. In an interrogation room, Father refuses to give the police his name. They found a silver certificate in his pocket. They've been out of circulation since 1964. They also found ticket stubs from baseball games that occurred in 1952. One of the cops references *The Twilight Zone*, but the other one doesn't get it. Father maintains his innocence, but it's clear that no one believes him, which isn't helped by his refusal to say what he was doing there. They found Taft's address from the advertisement in his pocket. He refuses to tell them what the wreck of my memories means. Also, I know the show takes place in and was filmed in the late 1980s, but you shouldn't smoke! Father has a flashback to a court hearing, where he's asked if he's ever been a member of the Communist party. Oh boy, here we go. The Red Scare, commies, atomic weapons, the Cold War, Russia vs. the U.S., democracy vs. autocracy, McCarthyism, Un-American, unpatriotic, etc. Anyways, Father used to be a research physician. He was employed at the Chittenden Research Institute until a few months ago. The committee says his security clearance was denied for subversive activities. They think he's a spy, because America is a country of hypocrisy and paranoid idiots who can never learn from history. It's an age old story, if you can't learn from it, you're destined to repeat it. That's true of any mistake, much less life ruining, earth shattering, baseless accusations. They outright say the committee has an agenda. Granted, they mean the list of items kind of agenda, but come on! Catherine and Vincent are doing research in the library. In June 1951, the institute was given a grant by the defense department to study the effects of nuclear fallout. In November, one of the researchers claimed that the institute was misrepresenting his findings. It was Father. His name was Dr. Jacob Wells. He was stripped of his medical license and forced to retire when he called for the abolishment of atomic weapons. He was blacklisted and named a Communist by the House of Un-American Activities Committee. Vincent shows Catherine the letter, and tells her where he found it. He couldn't bring himself to read it, but they need to learn everything they can about Father's past in order to find him. The letter is from Margaret. She wrote to Jacob from Paris, where her father sent her. He didn't approve of their marriage, and she admits that she didn't oppose him, or even blame him. She asks for forgiveness, because she knows Jacob is innocent, but she doesn't have the strength to stand by him. She's certain that he'll rebound, and only asks that he not hate her. She still clings to the wreck of her memories, for they sink forever. Fine, that was actually an okay voice over. The next day, Catherine talks to Henry. Margaret's father was a robber baron. He financed both sides of the Spanish-American War. Didn't that "war" only last a few months? How would someone even make money off of that? The U.S., jumping to conclusions because of yellow journalism and greedy imperialism, and butting our heads into stuff that doesn't concern us! At this rate, *I'll* be blacklisted by the end of this review. Anyways, Henry claims that Margaret isn't well enough for visitors. Does she even know about Alan yet? Catherine doesn't tell Henry anything, saying that it's private. She leaves, and Henry tells another man named Connor to find out what she wants. Margaret wonders why Alan hasn't called yet, because it's not like him. At work, Joe tells Catherine that she's late for a deposition. While on her way, she sees Father in a cell. After she's done with the deposition, she talks to him. He wants her to stay out of it. It's not that he doesn't trust her specifically. He's not a stranger to the betrayals of her judicial system. He's right. This is one of the many reasons why I decided not to become a lawyer. She tells him that she and Vincent know about his past, and they understand why he wanted to forget it. He learns that Margaret is ill. He figured that the message meant she wanted to see him again. Alan Taft defended him during the witch hunts, and put his own reputation on the line. He was a family lawyer. He doesn't know Henry Dutton. Vincent learns that Catherine found him, and is relieved. Edie looks into Dutton, but there's nothing shady about him. Just the opposite in fact. Catherine heads to Taft's office, and Connor is following her. She finds a file on Dutton, but there's nothing in it. What about his investigator? She finds something called the Dutton audit, labelled confidential. Someone opens the door, but luckily, it's a guard. On her way out though, she's cornered by Connor and brought to Henry. He's funneled all the money he's received into his private account. Vincent feels her fear, and is on top of the elevator they're in. She fights off Connor and Henry, and Vincent pulls her up. Later on, Father tells Catherine that she's been a good friend, and thanks her for all that she's done. She tells him that she would never hurt Vincent, because she loves him. He knows that, but he also knows that it can only bring him unhappiness, because part of him is a man. Margaret is in the World Below, and he reunites with her at last, as well as Vincent. Aw! Even her acting is slightly better, aside from when she repeats things. She tells him that she's dying. She feels like she's being punished for what she did to him. He tells her that he forgives her. There was a time when he was angry, bitter, and full of self-pity, but then he met someone who had every reason to feel that way, like he was being punished, but instead enjoyed all that life had to offer, with gratitude and love: Vincent. Aw! Things soon turn tragic though, because she passes away seven days later. Vincent tells Catherine what happened. Jacob and Margaret were happy though, and grateful for the time they did have together, no matter how small it might seem to the rest of us.

## Review

I don't want to sound mean, especially because, let's be honest here, she's dead, but I don't like Margaret's actress. I just don't think she can act. It becomes slightly better, or at least more bearable towards the end, but her dialogue is still terrible. Who wrote this? Whoever it was, they know this isn't a soap opera, right? Don't get me wrong, I love *the idea* of this episode, learning more about Father's past, but the execution behind it is just okay. I preferred seeing Vincent and Catherine investigate instead of hearing Margaret or Henry's voice. In contrast to Margaret's actress, I *loved* Ron Perlman's acting in this episode. He conveys a lot of Vincent's feelings through body language and facial expressions, and I love stuff like that, even when the character is animated, like on Code Lyoko, Sofia the First, Elena of Avalor, etc.