Beauty and the Beast - Unbreakable - Review

Well, as has become the norm for this season of Beauty and the Beast, I loved watching this episode despite the number of glaring inconsistencies or omissions in logic (or romance!) that were all too obvious.  The pros of this episode were plenty of fast-paced story and interesting development for Liam and his strange anti-bromance with Vincent; some lovely emotional interactions for J.T. and Tess; and some major strides forward in the mythology of the show.  The cons?  Well, said mythology is a head-scratcher that may make little sense in the scheme of what was established in previous seasons.  I would have liked to have seen a little more of Catherine in general, and some more VinCat scenes that focused less on repeating the same lines we have heard in the last few episodes.  However, the ending was super-cute, and there is a certain delicate charm to the gently reflective sorts of VinCat moments we have been getting lately.  A return to a smattering of the more unpredictable and passionate side of their relationship would be nice, and hopefully something we will see soon.

As this episode had plenty of those reminders about the importance of Vincent and Catherine's bond to their survival and happiness, and how resilient their love can truly be, I am using some lyrics from Madonna's song "Ghosttown" that epitomize this theme.

"Maybe it was all too much
Too much for a man to take
Everything's bound to break
Sooner or later, sooner or later
You're all that I can trust
Facing the darkest days
Everyone ran away
We're gonna stay here, we're gonna stay here"*

There's nothing Vincent can't accomplish when his collar is popped.  We all know this, right?  So, from listening to the nonstop stream of negativity, egotism, and cynicism flowing from Liam's lips, to leaping an impossible distance from one rooftop to another building, Vincent was successful on all fronts.  Even though Liam did his best to sabotage Vincent's belief in his ability to avoid becoming more beast than man, and his faith in the love he shares with Catherine, the baddie was not able to recruit our hero into his weird belief system.  I loved Vincent's unshakable hold on what is right and true, which seems to relate to the title of the episode, "Unbreakable."  It was fun, however, to see Vincent indulging his beast side a little more, and the interaction between him and Liam is highly entertaining.  Even within Jason Gedrick's voice and mannerisms, there is a slight similarity to Vincent that suggests Liam is a dark version of what Vincent could become if he let go of his goodness.  It's creepy and effective.

New revelations about beasts.  Heather's research in London say what?!  Yup, ladies and gentleman.  Apparently Heather has time and money on her hands to go jaunting off to London and dig into Rebecca and Alistair's backstory.  Anyway, her research and Catherine's sharp detective skills unearthed some shocking reveals about Liam.  Apparently, this villain has been around since Rebecca's time and was her jilted former beau before she took up with Alistair!  What.  Not only have we never heard word one about beasts being immortal or having extended lifespans before (please do correct me if I am wrong), but Liam being Rebecca's ex was a jaw-dropper for me.  I have to say that even though this new information seems a little hard to match up with what we have heard before about beasts (again, those of you with detailed memories of seasons 1 and 2, I would love to hear about how feasible you find this twist to be), I like it.

The reason why Liam is sour on love is all because of Rebecca?  That's a cool twist, and one that makes his deep, arrogant resentment for Cat and Vincent's bond extremely easy to understand.  Does he despise them for resembling his previous love and rival, and for continuing their legacy?  There seems to be an interesting mixture of amusement and condescension in his attitude towards them that doesn't seem quite as hateful as he probably should feel.  Yet in his persistent barrage of anti-love, anti-Cat vitriol to Vincent, he showed his true inclination to break them apart.  

"I know you're scared tonight
I'll never leave your side
When it all falls, when it all falls down
I'll be your fire when the lights go out
When there's no one else, no one else around
We'll be two souls in a ghost town...."*

Now it seems that Liam's endgame may simply be ending his own life.  I theorize this from his statement to Vincent about ending his suffering.  With only two episodes left (I can't believe it!), the definitive answers and showdown between Liam, Vincent, and Catherine must be coming.  I am surprised that the writers chose to drag these important parts of the story out quite this long before bringing them to fruition, but now it's ramping up to what should be a very exciting final two episodes of Season 3.

J.T.'s condition is a secret no longer.  While searching for the gem due to its possible use in subduing Liam, J.T. continued to try and keep his serum poisoning under wraps.  But Liam had no problem spilling the details of J.T.'s ordeal to Vincent, and Tess was onto J.T.'s poorly constructed lies.  I'm glad everyone knows so that they can support J.T. and help him find a solution.  It was also neat to see that J.T. still believes he can find the cure himself - a self-confidence he earned after very nearly succeeding in conquering the serum once before.  And the scene with Tess confronting him about why he lied, and telling him how much she loves him just for who he is was beautiful.  It made up a bit for some of Tess' lesser moments...

....elsewhere in the episode: Although she was sweet and loving with J.T., Tess' annoying habit of acting pushy and snide also reared its head in this episode.  I didn't care for her attitude towards Cat when the latter had perfectly reasonable plans that needed executing pronto despite their potential inconvenience by the letter of the law.  Moreover, Tess' little imitation of Heather's innocent ditzy voice was kind of a low blow, and entirely unnecessary.

While Heather still serves no purpose but to brighten up the fab four with her bubbly personality and provide support for Catherine, I really enjoy having her on the show.  Nicole Gale Anderson brings an irrepressible zest to her scenes that makes Heather a joy to watch.  It will be truly awesome to see what she may do with the character if she is given more substantial storylines (or any!) next season.


What did you think of this episode?  Share your thoughts and theories in the comments!  And be sure to catch an all-new Beauty and the Beast, Thursday at 8/7c on the CW.

*Lyrics taken from the song "Ghosttown" by Madonna

About the Author - Virginia Mae Fontana

Virginia is happy to be reviewing The Vampire Diaries and Beauty and the Beast for Spoiler TV. She enjoys obsessing over films and pop music - in addition to tv shows, of course! You can find her blog, SugarRushed, at http://virginiamaeblog.blogspot.com/ and her Twitter handle is @VMaeFontana

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