Beauty and the Beast (1987) S1 E10

## Plot

A kid from the World Below, Kipper, is riding his skateboard, when he sees a boy around his age hide under a car. Two men are looking for him. They hide together in what I assume is some sort of mail shoot. He says he's from the foster home Ridley Hall. The men are trying to take him back there. He says that kids there are beaten, and even disappear. He comes out when he thinks the men are gone, but they're not, and Kipper sees them take him away. Later on, he visits Vincent and Father for his chess lesson, and tells them what happened. He wanted to bring the kid down there, and thinks he was telling the truth. Catherine gets a note from Vincent, asking her to meet him at eleven o'clock in the tunnels. He also included a rose. Aw! She hasn't heard from him in awhile. When they look at each other, they feel happy, but at the same time, they're reminded of the life together that they can never have, and they feel sad. Vincent says they'll endure the pain, and savor every moment of the joy. He tells her about Ridley, and she promises to look into it. Joe reluctantly agrees to let her investigate the place. An undercover friend of his saw her walking in the park late last night, and she claims she just wanted some fresh air. She heads to Ridley, and receives a tour from the administrator, Richard Barnes. A boy with glasses thinks about saying something to her, but doesn't. She says hi to him, but he doesn't respond. She decides to talk to some of the kids, and Mr. Barnes tells a janitor to follow her. The boy from before, Eric, tells her that Peter didn't run away, they took him. Suddenly, a girl scolds him for talking to Catherine, and tells him to shut up. She's his sister, Ellie. Cathy tells Joe that she has a date. She goes to an opera concert with her friends and a guy named Greg. The next day, Mr. Barnes tells Catherine that Eric and Ellie ran away last night. In reality, they're being split up. Ellie is put in an abusive household with other foster kids, including an older girl named Deb. Eric is locked in detention. Catherine wants a search warrant, but Joe tells her that she has no evidence. She refuses to give up. Edie has nothing on Mr. Barnes. She tries to get a list of the kids at Ridley, but all those Child Social Services files are sealed. Catherine knows that Eric and Ellie didn't run away, and Edie says she'll try to break into the files. Cathy sees lots of kids on the street, asking for money or being searched by the police. Vincent visits her when he feels her sadness. She worries that she did more harm than good, and Vincent tells her not to give up. During their lunch break, she and Edie look through the files. She finds out that Eric's last name is Peterson, and the file says he was transferred to BYH. It's a foster facility. The adult is teaching Ellie how to pickpocket people. He gives money to Mr. Barnes for the kids he gives him, which Vincent sees. Catherine sneaks into the foster place, and finds Eric locked in detention. She gets the key from an old woman who spots her. She tells Eric to get in her car, and she locks the woman in the room. When an old man tries to stop her, she shoves him down some stairs. Kipper tells Vincent that Catherine is waiting for him in the park. Eric is going to stay in the World Below. He sees Vincent, but isn't scared of him. He agrees to stay there until the Helpers find a safe place for him and his sister. He also agrees to keep it a secret. Ellie is bad at pick pocketing, and is hit by the adult, but it's offscreen. The woman Catherine locked in the room agrees to tell the D.A. everything. They can bring in Barnes on child abuse and illegally transferring kids. Vincent shows the children of the World Below a sketch of the man who took Ellie. He tells them to find him and find out where he lives. Catherine heads into the tunnels, and Vincent shows her the sketch of the thief. She wants him to take her there, but he says it's too dangerous. He can't testify, so the only way she can get an arrest warrant is to see it with her own eyes. He takes her there through the tunnels. Ellie tried to run away, and the man tied her up. Catherine frees her, but they're spotted by an older foster child named Deb, who tells the man. Vincent attacks him. All of the adults at Ridley are arrested, and Ellie and Eric are reunited in the World Below.

## Review

I liked this episode, but I think it could've benefited from being a two parter, with more character development for all of the kids, especially that kid, Peter, that Kipper met at the beginning, and Deb, since her relationship with the thief screams either underage crush, sexual harassment or assault, or Stockholm Syndrome. Also, given what happens in a season two episode, this is practically the dictionary definition of bittersweet, or short-term happiness. Shows and movies don't need to kill off beloved characters to let us know how dark things are now, or how high the stakes are. It just makes things deeply personal for the heroes, and that only works if there's a good villain for them to fight. Sure, things like that are all subjective, but I really hate the main villain of season 3. But that's for another time.