We’re still playing catch-up! Here’s Ian Gildersleeve’s recap/review of the Beauty and the Beast episode “Patient X.”
The hunt is on! While Vincent goes on a one beast mission to track down Liam, Catherine searches for another victim in Liam’s sights, the elusive Patient X. Tess and J.T. are forced to pack up their stripes and move from place to place to stay off of Liam’s radar, rekindling their love along the way.
Predator and Prey
This episode was all about the hunt. The hunt for Liam and his hunt for the final serum infected. But it isn’t all just about the chase. It’s about the effect the chase has on the different players and the differences between the lions and the zebras.
For Vincent, he very much went into beast mode, neglecting all other avenues of investigation and focusing solely on the hunt. Quite reminiscent of his attitude during the early second season and, as he says, who he was before Catherine. While confusing at first, the reason for his actions became clear with the revelation of Liam being a beast himself. As we’ve seen before, like with Tori, beasts have quite the effect on one another. Their minds become clouded, their emotions unstable, and they revert to base instincts. It’s like when my dog comes into contact with the neighbor dog, she just loses all ability to focus and won’t listen to me. Vincent’s sudden one-eighty on the subject of Liam makes much more sense. The moment Liam showed up, the beast within Vincent was triggered and set into predator mode. Now the question is, will Vincent revert to his old ways? Or is Catherine right? Vincent has grown so much since this all began and has Catherine to help him. But will it be enough? To stop Liam, will he have to let the beast take over?
In the role of the Prey, we have J.T. and Russel Keaton, AKA “Patient X” and Julianna’s brother. The differences between our two zebras is very distinct. One is alone and desperate, which leads to foolish actions that get you killed. J.T., on the other hand, has Tess. It’s during this episode that the two characters rekindle their relationship by using the old stand-by for character growth by locking the two characters in a room together. Or an abandoned warehouse, as the case may be. When it all comes down to it, neither of them could handle losing the other. They are in it together, just like Vincent and Catherine.
How it All Came Together
Not the best episode, but it certainly played its part. Scribes Benjamin Raab and Deric Hughes had a much better outing with “The Most Dangerous Beast”, but they, along with director Norma Bailey, still brought a lot of good to the table. Everything with Liam, supported by the subtle and calm portrayal of Jason Gedrick, was top notch. I felt that it was too obvious too soon that he was a beast by showing his tracking abilities, thereby making the reveal fall a bit flat. However, the fact that he is a beast, as he said himself, changes everything. Looks like instead of the serum being a mix of the super powers of the other genetic experiments, it instead simply enhances his own beast abilities. Still, because of that, he is no less a threat to Vincent. Especially since being a beast has a psychological/instinctual effect on Vincent that could hinder his capability to fight Liam and may end up sending him over the edge. I’m excited to see how that plays out and to learn of Liam’s origins and what his endgame may be.
The weak point of the episode turned out to be the title character, Mr. Patient X himself. Other than being a part of the thematic element of predator and prey, I don’t feel he really added anything to the plot. Other than learning of how exactly Liam tricked Julianna into injecting him with the serum, I don’t think Russel added any new information. It did lend a bit more sympathy to Julianna, though, as she initially thought she was saving Liam’s life. Still, the latter was unnecessary and the former could have been explained with a simple passing line, leaving the need for Russel’s character a bit unwarranted.
To Sum Up
The stakes have been raised and the reveal of Liam’s beastly qualities helps to connect the season with the show’s over-arcing mythology.