Beauty and the Beast 2.04: "Hothead" Review!

 Catherine (Kristin Kreuk) and Vincent (Jay Ryan) just can’t seem to escape each one another’s lives no matter how hard they try. Last Monday's episode,"Hothead", was no exception. Just when a few of us Beasties thought all hope was lost for our beloved VinCat, things shifted for the better.

In this episode, Cat finally stopped long enough to put her life in order. She began by reconnecting with her best friend, Tess (Nina Lisandrello), which was a good start. Also, Cat began to pay attention to Vincent's feelings and quit pushing him so hard to remember their past. This allowed their connection to grow stronger, which is important to all of us that like these two together, whether as a couple or just as friends. 

No J.T. (Austin Basis), although he was mentioned once, by Gabe (Sendhil Ramamurthy). I found Tess a bit annoying in this episode with all her teasing of Gabe about his feelings for Cat. I think she needs to let that go and find something else to keep her busy, maybe like a new man for her.

Vincent had his first meeting with his nephew, Aaron (guest star, Bryan Dechart), who he hasn't seen since he was declared dead. I was very pleased with the chance to see more of Vincent's family and to learn more about his past. The moment he heard Aaron was a Keller, Vincent recovered memories of a family BBQ with both Aaron and William. He also remembered he and his brother Will being firefighters before he became a doctor. Until now, the only thing we knew about Will and his other brother was that they were killed in the towers on 9/11. I think it's great that in the future we may see more of Vincent's nephew and how their relationship develops. 

We also learned that all the Keller men are the same, that is, by being stubborn yet heroic. For example in this episode, Aaron tried to stop the beast of the week without anyone's help. He is a fireman but he should realize there is strength in numbers and it is sometimes necessary to also rely on others. Hopefully, in future episodes he'll learn some things from his Uncle Vincent. I think he has the potential to be a great character. If Heather (Nicole Gale Anderson) didn't leave for the job in Miami, they could have been a perfect match for a romantic connection. 

Gabe was on a mission to save Vincent in this episode, like Catherine did for him at the end of last season's finale by having him die, then bringing him back to life. By doing so, she killed Gabe's beast-side and made him human. Gabe knew it was risky, so he wanted to test it out on the beast of the week first. Long story short, they tried it out on the beast but it failed to worked. Obviously, you can't have a show called Beauty and the Beast without a beast, so maybe they're just hinting at the fact that someday when the show ends they will cure Vincent and he and Cat can live happily ever after..

The ending of the episode was perfect. I thought it was very touching for Vincent when he and Cat stood in front of the 9/11 Memorial. Vincent said "My brothers are here." Catherine's reply was, "they're heroes." It's nice that Vincent's memories are finally coming back little by little. He remembers he had brothers and seeing him visit the memorial was a sweet nod to his growing memories.

Overall, this was an excellent episode of Beauty and the Beast. I really enjoyed every minute of it and the writing on this show just keeps getting better with time. I'm so looking forward to next week's episode when Cat goes to her high school reunion. It should be good for some laughs and we will meet some new characters as well.

Beauty and the Beast season 2 airs Monday nights at 9/8c on The CW.

"Hothead" was written by Roger Grant and directed by Michael Robison. 

Photo Credit: The CW