Beauty and The Beast: S01E03 - All In.

I'd give you a shitty reason why this is only just out...but excuses, excuses, let's just finish the now end of the week not really that much of a clusterfuck. Enjoy!


Opening with someone getting surprisingly brutally murdered in a hit and run...lovely, it is seemingly connected to immigration and a sister getting a little payback after her brother was deported. However, obviously, things get quickly more complicated - ultimately ending up with Chandler getting suspended and needing Keller's help to redeem herself.

This week Vincent Keller goes even more Edward Cullen/Twilight on our asses as it turns out he's been stalking Chandler and no one really seems all that bothered... Hey, at least they found a way to actually fit him in the story this week and by that I mean genuinely, he doesn't just saunter in, throw a strop and leave this time - he even gets to actively get involved with the case this time too, like a superhero all leading to quite a powerful and intense scene where he gets trapped, surrounded by police and Chandler has to come to his rescue this time.

Today on 'themes for woman, as written by someone who knows nothing about them' Chandler and her partner Vargas must deal with two machismo detectives who won't take them seriously because they are women. And the way Chandler treats Keller...I didn't think there could be a bigger bitch than Bella Swan, girl powah!

There is some really dodgy cinematography and sound recording in All In, I mean I know sometimes it's used for effect in like chase sequences, it still looks rubbish but I'll let it off, but a wide majority of this looked like it was shot on a handycam and the sound was recorded on the built-in mic. That seems to be a thing with CW shows.

The main problems with the series still remain, however, firstly in the fact that I just can't stand the central character, Catherine Chandler. Kristin Kreuk does nothing to convince us in her performance anyway but in her defence, the writing doesn't help. How can a detective be both incredibly stupid and lack any kind of common sense? I get the implication of like puppy love or whatever but until they say that in the show itself, Chandler is just an idiot. And they try so hard to make her likeable and like a female role model, it just ends up having the exact opposite effect.

And secondly is just how messed up the romance in this show is. I mean Ryan and Kreuk seem to have a lot of chemistry, when you see them sharing the two minutes of romance at the end, the way they look at each other, their body language, the micro expressions - it's hard not to smile, these two are lovely. But whenever they share longer scenes in the episode it's all them being assholes and drama and has about as much emotional resonance as washing up some plates. I guess I just appreciate them liking one another much more than I do them hissing at each other, I mean maybe I could appreciate their spats if they bothered to write in convincing reasons, but they just fly off the handle at the smallest of things and no matter what they learn at the end of each episode, they just seem to go back on it in the next all for the sake of completely empty, meaningless drama. As I'm now an adult, I have no need for unnecessary drama in my life. I left that shit behind me years ago.

All In is easily the strongest episode of the series so far and seems to promise good things for the future of the show-namely that the conspiracy people look they are finally getting involved. Both weeks previous, all the different plot elements felt messy, fragmented but here they find a way to make both the case and Keller important in their own story, honestly it's still pretty superficial, both exist to make one another work and nothing more than that...but it still works better than any episode has previous. However, I don't think that really says very much. I mean sure Beauty and The Beast is entertaining on a pretty superficial level and it's refreshing to watch a show that doesn't anger me nearly as much as Arrow and Supernatural do, but this show still isn't particularly good...yet but it still holds promise.

Pros;

• A case that doesn't just ultimately amount to filler.
• Actually giving Keller something to do.
• Ryan and Kreuk show moments of real chemistry.

Cons;

• It looks and sounds terrible.
• Kristin Kreuk is a terrible actress and she is playing a terrible character.
• They still can't get the romance right, the puppy love thing was a joke but the way these two act around each other, they seem like teenagers and not in a good way.

Think About It!

-Locke