From the moment we met on October 11, 2012, to the day we tearfully said au revoir on September 15, 2016, The CW series Beauty and the Beast captured the hearts of a dedicated fanbase (nicknamed “beasties”). Based on the 1987 series of the same name, this modern retelling of the classic fairytale brought together a New York City detective, Catherine Chandler (Kristin Kreuk), and Vincent Keller (Jay Ryan), a man officially dead and in hiding after being part of a failed super solider experiment that left him with quite a beastly alter-ego. This week marks the release of The Complete Series on DVD and we here at KSiteTV want to thank the fans and commemorate the event with a series retrospective. (Do note the current price on Amazon is very close to $30 for EVERY EPISODE of the series.)
The show began as part police procedural, part romance, with the over-arcing plot of the threat of Muirfield, the secret organization that created Vincent’s beast-half, always in the background. This initial structure of “case of the week” stories that thematically fit with what our lead characters were going through allowed us to get to know Catherine and Vincent as they fell in love (and we with them). He saved her life time and again, and she saved him by calming the beast and making him feel human for the first time in years. It was a love that had to be kept secret, but this just added to the intensity and passion that became the core of the show. Even as the threats converged and chaos swirled around them, Catherine and Vincent’s love burned bright. From the mere way they looked at one another, to the face touching, to their heart melting kisses, the first season began an epic tale that fans fell in love with.
Every relationship has its obstacles, and in the second season Vincent and Catherine faced their greatest when circumstances led to a breakup punctuated with a bullet. As Vincent’s memories of his past were stripped from him, leaving him more beast than man, Catherine discovered elements of her past that revealed a connection to Vincent that reached back over a hundred years. Gone was the police procedural aspect of the show, replaced by a much more serialized plot with beasts, current and former, at the forefront. It was a season of loss, love, and redemption, as Vincent and Catherine had to rediscover who they were before they could make the journey back to one another.
After reuniting in their love, and with Vincent officially alive again, he and Catherine attempted to live a “normal life”. With this came a change in the show’s tone, as it evolved into a supernatural romantic comedy. Between fighting off threats the likes of which they had never faced before, Vincent and Catherine juggled the trials and tribulations of a normal couple (with a beastly twist) as they moved in together and planned a wedding. Their two best friends, J.T. (Austin Basis) and Tess (Nina Lisandrello), also took more of a leading role in the story with their burgeoning relationship, adding to the comedy of the season. The action and drama was still at an all-time high, however, as the show introduced a villain with a surprising connection to our heroes. But nothing could stop VinCat from saying “I do.”
The final season attempted to recapture the magic of the show’s first season, by reminding the characters that they are anything but normal. Bit by bit, the fragile life they had built together was taken away until once again they could only be together in secret. The comedic tone of the previous season was quickly replaced by a much darker storyline and there seemed to be no happy end in sight. As the series came to an end, Vincent and Catherine rediscovered that all they need to survive is each other.
