Beauty and the Beast (1987) S1 E13

## Plot

Apparently there a lot of actors from the film *Big Trouble in Little China* in this episode, but I've never seen that movie. I probably should. I'd like to preemptively apologize for the butchering of so many names, both fictional and real. In Chinatown, everyone is celebrating the Chinese New Year. They're celebrating the Year of the Dragon, which did occur in 1988. However, Catherine and Carol's assaults happened in April 1986 according to their files, and while the eight month time skip in the pilot would make this take place in either 1987 or '88, episode 15 takes place around the one year anniversary of when Catherine and Vincent met, meaning it's still 1987 in that later episode. Then again, just about every single episode is standalone, so they could air in any order. I have no idea what the production codes were for each episode, and even if I did, Elena of Avalor taught me that episodes can also be produced out of order as well. Anyway, a wealthy family is celebrating their grandson's engagement to a woman, but she seems uncomfortable. Her name is Lin Wong. She's played by Rosalind Chao. Meanwhile, two men are beating a guy named Henry Pei up. He's played by Dennis Dun. They tell him to find another girlfriend, or they'll have to come back again. A Chinese herbalist, who is also a Helper, packs a prescription of herbs for Vincent to bring to Father. He's Lin's grandfather. He's played by Victor Wong. Well, that's fitting. Vincent and Lin are friends. Her fiancée, played by Peter Kwong, is angry at her for how she acted at dinner, and says that in the future, she'll smile when she's expected to smile, and show them gratitude. Sexist prick. He grabs her face and makes her look at him. He knows she's still seeing Henry, and it has to stop. His family leads the Triad, which is also called the Tong. The wedding is in three weeks, and her grandfather's agreed to it. Henry wants to run away with her, but they have nowhere to go, and she's worried about what the Triad will do to her grandfather if she leaves. He tells Vincent that Lin is supposed to marry Peter Chiang, grandson of one of the most powerful men in Chinatown, but she doesn't love him. Again, the name is fitting. Dr. Wong is hoping that she'll learn to love him. He helped bring Lin over from Taipei in China, but now Dr. Wong thinks she's in love with a poor boy. Vincent says this poor boy can give her his heart. He tells Catherine about it, and she wonders how there can still be arranged marriages in the 20th century. Or the 21st century. There's human trafficking for sex and labor, female genital mutilation and circumcision, honor killings, and so many other injustices that disproportionally affect women. Cathy agrees to talk to Lin about it. After her parents died, Mr. Chiang paid for her to come to the States, and even got her a visa. Her grandfather feels like he owes him a great debt. Catherine isn't Chinese, so she doesn't understand their ways. Dr. Wong is her only living relative. Everything she's been taught tells her it's her duty to obey him. Catherine says she doesn't need to be Chinese to understand that. For her, it was her father. He had very specific ideas about who she should be, until they became her ideas. It took Vincent for her to realize that the truth is in their hearts, and they should follow it. These people need to play *Persona 5* already, or watch *Power Rangers: Time Force*. Lin tells Catherine about Henry being beaten up by Triad members that broke into his restaurant. Cathy offers to help them, but Lin doesn't think Henry would like that, and she claims that they'll be alright. Eddie, Henry's childhood friend and honorary brother, played by Jerry Tondo, is helping him clean up the restaurant, which has been in Henry's family for years. Lin visits him, and says they're leaving tomorrow night. He agrees to meet her at nine at her grandfather's store and not tell anyone. Unfortunately, Eddie overheard them. Catherine asks Joe what he knows about Chinatown. He tells her that a guy he went to law school with disappeared and ended up dead after he started investigating union busting going on in a sweatshop there. Joe was assigned the murder, which he worked on for over a year. It took him six months just to find a witness: A nice old man who wasn't afraid of anything. Two days later, he was hit by a car in broad daylight, in front of dozens of people, but no one said they saw anything. Lin asks Vincent if she and Henry can stay in the tunnels for a little while. She loves her grandfather and respects his wishes, but she doesn't know what else to do. Vincent asks Father, but he refuses. They don't know if they can trust Henry, and Dr. Wong has forbidden it. Vincent argues that Lin isn't his possession or anyone else's. Only she knows what's best for her. Father agrees to present her case to the council, but there's no time for that. He and Vincent must share the responsibility of their decision. Catherine is trying to convince Henry to identify the men who assaulted him. He refuses, and she leaves him her card just in case. He tells Eddie that he's giving him the restaurant. Before he and Lin can enter the tunnel, they're ambushed by Triad members, including Peter. Lin is able to escape, and Henry runs away after fighting with and accidentally killing Peter. And I can't tell you what happened after that, because only the first half of the episode is online and in English… Until someone uploaded the episodes onto YouTube in late 2021, but they were ripped from a VHS tape, so the quality isn't the best. And then the sound just disappeared during the last few minutes, so I was forced to go back to my old source. The leader of the Triad, Chiang Lo Yi, played by the one and only James Hong, finds out about his grandson's death. He orders his men to find Henry Pei today. Speaking of which, he sees Eddie being paid by the Triad, and realizes that he sold him and Lin out, which is how the Tong ambushed them the previous night. This is never addressed again. Joe and Catherine have heard about the Chiang murder, and Cathy tells Joe that he was right about the people of Chinatown being unwilling to talk to them out of fear of the Triad. It's even worse than the mob and the men on the docks. Henry calls her from a payphone, because he didn't know who else to turn to, and tells her what happened, what Lin told him, and that half of Chinatown is looking for him. He has to find Lin. Catherine tells him go uptown and meet her on the corner of 51st and Lexington. However, two Triad guys are following him. Before Catherine can tell him about the tunnels, he notices that they're being followed, and they run into the tunnels. Vincent lets them in, and the Triad guys leave. Lin and Henry reunite, but then Dr. Wong shows up and tells them that because of Peter Chiang's death, his grandfather won't rest until they're both dead. He tells everyone that the Triad know about the tunnels and have been using them to smuggle drugs for over one hundred years. Chiang tells his men about the tunnels and everyone gets ready to do battle. Based on a line of his, it's possible that Chiang's ancestors made the tunnels, or at least he believes they did. The reason they're using ancestral weapons like swords, daggers, throwing stars, and so on, is because guns are useless in dark and narrow spaces. If there is anyone else down there, they'll kill them too. Father has decided to post their fastest adult runners as sentries. All of the children are accounted for. Mary, Winslow, and Michael will stay with them, in case the worst happens. There will be no communication on the pipes, Mouse will turn off the lights, and they'll raise several false walls. The Triad might give up if they wander around in the dark for a few hours, but Dr. Wong tells them that Chiang is relentless. He and his men split up into two groups. Vincent tells Henry that they'll do everything they can to avoid bloodshed, but when he says they might not be able to, Vincent says they'll do what they must to defend their home. Father tells Catherine that both groups have found their hidden doors and secret passageways, and have made their way into the lower levels. Jamie saw them pass. Vincent tells Father that they've given them no choice. If he's not back within one hour, they have to escape. Catherine tells him to come back to her. He kills all of the Triad members in the first group, horror movie style. He tries to scare the one with Chiang off by growling, but he orders them to spread out and kill whoever it is. They're in a chamber that creates loud echoes. It turns out that one of the Triad members has a gun. He ends up accidentally shooting and killing one of the other members. Vincent kills him as well and confronts Chiang, who calls him a demon, and puts his sword away. Vincent tells him that all men are demons when their homes and loved ones are at risk. He asks Chiang what he'd do if he let him leave here alive. He says he'd keep coming back, and asks Vincent what he'll do, since only a monster would kill an unarmed man. Dude, I kind of doubt that your opinion matters to Vincent. Chiang tells him that it's unfortunate he's an honorable man. One of the Triad guys was only injured, and over the past several minutes, we've been cutting back to him slowly and painfully crawling towards them. He throws a throwing star to try and kill Vincent, who ducks, and it kills Chiang instead. The other man succumbs to his injuries. Later on, everyone witnesses Lin and Henry getting married in the tunnels. Catherine is wearing formal wear fit for a wedding. Lin and Henry have a lifetime together. Back on Catherine's balcony, she and Vincent talk about how limited their time with each other is, and decide to measure their lifetime in another way.