Beauty and the Beast - Recap: Superman (It's Not Easy)
Recap and review of Beauty and the Beast - Season 2 Episode 15 - Catch Me If You Can:
A "Superman Complex" is, in popular psychology, described as "an unhealthy sense of responsibility, or the belief that everyone else lacks the capacity to successfully perform one or more tasks." It's a symptom characterized by "the constant need to 'save' others." In this second half of season 2, Beauty and the Beast has taken measures to build Vincent (Jay Ryan) back up into a character in whom we can feel a certain measure of confidence. His morality is more or less back to what it was before: he's a hero again, a guy who selflessly does what's necessary with little thought to his own health or safety. Sure, you could argue part of his motivation is to get Cat (Kristin Kreuk) to recognize the change he's undergone, but for the most part, we have a Superman of sorts with Vincent, as "Catch Me If You Can" illustrates that he's no longer doing this for Cat. In a very literal sense, he's doing this for goodness sake. But what's interesting about this is that it goes above and beyond simple goodness. Vincent has developed a bit of a Superman Complex himself. It isn't that he thinks Cat is incapable of stopping Sam (Tom Everett Scott) on her own, but rather that he sees this as his responsibility, as his debt to pay. Vincent is a man on a mission, and he intends to make things right, not just with the universe, but with Cat as well (luckily, Kristin Kreuk has experience dealing with Superman).
Credit: The CW
But even with this Superman Complex, there's a deeper emotional component underpinning all of this. Even if he's not entirely playing the hero for Cat's sake, she's still at the forefront of his mind. And with good reason. Circumstances continually throw them together in the search for Sam. Cat's relationship with Gabe (Sendhil Ramamurthy) is becoming more serious, just as he grows more suspicious of her friendship with Vincent, creating an uneasy three-way dynamic that threatens to create far more problems than it solves. This superhero complex Vincent is dealing with is contrasted with the very human problems he's facing, with regards to his feelings for Cat, and the internal conflict it's creating. He tells J.T. (Austin Basis) he plans on letting Cat go, so she can be happy with Gabe. And Gabe even gets his digs in, approaching Vincent at his boathouse and telling him that he can give Cat the kind of normalcy Vincent never could. But none of these instances calm his passion for Cat, nor does Gabe's jealousy temper her barely-contained desire for Vincent. It all comes to a boil in a terrific climax that takes us back a bit to the romance/adventure serial heights of Season 1.
Credit: The CW
If it sounds like I'm avoiding actually recapping the episode, it's mostly because taking this scene-by-scene in chronological order actually dilutes the effectiveness of what the episode is doing, since it's less about the plot than it is about the ways in which the story affects the characters. So I'll try and hit the major beats, and hopefully no one will begrudge me for that choice this week (fingers crossed!):
Credit: The CW
Much of the story this week centers on not only finding Sam, but building a case against him that will hold up in a court of law. That means using methods other than beast-tracking to find him. However, try as he might, Vincent can't help but track him the old fashioned way. Vincent imprisons Sam in the same underground cell he kept Tori, and this leads to a stand-off when Cat and Gabe walk in on him beasting out on Sam for insulting Tori's memory. Ultimately, they have to let Sam go because they've got nothing on him, and releasing him is the only way to find his latest victim, who is being held captive in an undisclosed location. The man, Xavier Wright, has been transformed into a beast as yet another component of Sam's far-reaching scheme for vengeance against the people he feels are responsible for the death of his son, although he doesn't name names, and continues to be obtuse about everything. As does Vincent, who does his best to avoid having to actually confront what Cat means to him directly. J.T. tries to give him encouragement, but Vincent feels it's best to simply allow Cat to live her life. For her part, Cat takes Gabe's concerns about Vincent to heart, acknowledging that the only way to finally move on from Vincent is to reduce his presence in her life, and the only way to do that is to settle this beast business once and for all.
Credit: The CW
Unfortunately for Cat, the demands of the investigation keep putting her and Vincent together in compromising situations. Vincent decides to use his beast skills to track Xavier, while Cat uses more traditional means to find Sam's victim. In the process, they run into each other when Cat nearly runs Vincent over with her car. Cat realizes that if they're both on the same trail, Sam must not be far away, so they decide to track him down together. While in the car, Cat talks about the lengths to which they must go in order to build a case against Sam so Gabe can prosecute, but Vincent is unsettled by all this talk, since it implies that she doesn't really care what happens to Xavier. They get into a bit of an argument, which culminates with Cat realizing that Sam is allowing them to track Xavier. It's basically a setup, which becomes clear when a semi-truck slams their car from out of nowhere. The truck is being driven by Xavier, who moves in to finish the job, as Vincent and Cat are trapped in the upside-down car. But the presence of civilians prompts Xavier to leave the scene. What follows is an amusing scene that centers on the awkwardness between Cat and Vincent that is the result of their barely-contained chemistry. Cramped in close quarters, with a suspicious Gabe on the other end of the phone, Cat and Vincent bicker back and forth like an old married couple. It's a wonderful bit of business that allows Jay Ryan and Kristin Kreuk to display some comedic chops, as Cat complains to Gabe about how she and Vincent are "too close," while Vincent awkwardly hangs up on Gabe on Cat's behalf.
Credit: The CW
Credit: The CW
Credit: The CW
The tip Gabe tries to relay to them is news of a CIA blacksite that Sam intends to access for some unknown reason. By using Xavier (and his newfound beast powers, which apparently allow him to exist in a compressed, oxygen-lacking environment), Sam basically commits an act of domestic terrorism by having Xavier use a flash drive on the network while Sam downloads from a remote location. To what end, I'm not entirely sure, but Sam's entire scheme is something that hasn't really made sense. Then again, I'm not sure I even care all that much about what his endgame is, since the story is less about Sam's plan than how the characters react to and counteract it. Vincent decides to go after Xavier while Cat busts Sam, and it's a tense climax. Before they part, Vincent vows that he's not doing this for Cat, and that she doesn't need to worry about him anymore. But Cat can't turn off her feelings any more than Vincent can, and it becomes all the more apparent when Sam and Cat come face-to-face. Sam reveals that he's strapped Xavier with enough remote C4 to incinerate anyone in his radius, meaning that Vincent is staring death in the face far more so than usual.
Credit: The CW
Credit: The CW
Credit: The CW
We intercut between Cat staring down Sam, and Vincent struggling to save the oxygen-deprived, unconscious Xavier. The sequence works because it's framed as a race against time, with Sam's finger hovering over the button, and Vincent doing his damndest to get all the C4 off of Xavier and get him out of the area before it's too late. When Sam pushes the trigger, Cat has no way of knowing that Vincent hasn't been killed, and her tearful, enraged reaction tells us all we need to know about just how much Vincent still means to her. "If Vincent is dead, you're dead," she tells Sam, handcuffing him to a radiator while she goes to check out the explosion. Once there, Cat feels relieved to see that Vincent is alive, but she's also deeply moved to see him tirelessly working to revive Xavier. It's a fantastic piece of acting from Jay Ryan, as he portrays a man slowly falling to pieces, as though the fate of the entire universe, and his mortal soul, rests on whether he can save Xavier Wright or not. (It also helps that the scene is tracked to "Winter" by Mree, pretty much the perfect song for the moment. I've embedded it at the end of the review if you want to give it another listen)
Credit: The CW
Credit: The CW
Credit: The CW
Credit: The CW
The scene illustrates the depths to which Vincent has internalized his Superman Complex, feeling that the entire world is resting on his shoulders. When Vincent succeeds in bringing him back, it's like an affirmation of his redemption, not only to Vincent himself, but also to Cat, who gives Vincent a telling embrace witnessed by Gabe and Tess (Nina Lisandrello). While Cat insists to Gabe, later, that the hug was just a hug, and that she's committed to Gabe, his ultimatums have been subtly working to undermine her dedication to the relationship. Nobody likes an either/or situation. Gabe is a good man, but his possessiveness ultimately drives her into the arms of another man in an episode closer that's been a long, long time in coming.
Credit: The CW
Credit: The CW
Cat goes to the boathouse to break her friendship with Vincent, and in a telling bit of production design, Vincent's boathouse is unlocked. This is contrasted with how Gabe's apartment is always locked, such that he has to give Cat her own key in order to get in (a move that freaks her out, quite frankly). Gabe's locked apartment could be a comment on his more guarded, inherently suspicious nature, as he can control who he lets into his life, just the way he tries to control who others allow into theirs. Vincent, meanwhile, doesn't have such qualms. He has no trouble letting people come and go as they please. Hell, he doesn't even lock after he discovers Gabe in his boathouse the day before. It could very well be this openness that draws Cat in, as she ultimately fails to break things off, succumbing to her passion for Vincent. They lock lips, and it's every bit as resonant as their first kiss a year ago, owing to just how long they've been separated. Neither tries to resist their draw to one another, and it feels like an organic development for their respective characters. The pairing is trumped as something akin to destiny, and the episode builds upon that mythic, almost fairy tale-like framework. I dig it, and I'm interested to see how it affects things with Gabe. Could be all-out war.
Credit: The CW
"Catch Me If You Can" is a solid episode that illustrates the ways in which Vincent's character has grown. Sure, there's a certain solitude to his position, as he wants to seemingly get everything done on his own. But that solitude is offset by the return of his inherent goodness. And hey, if you're going to be Superman, solitude is sort of your thing.