Beauty and the Beast (TV Series - 2012)

When I first started watching this, it had so much promise. As you might notice from other reviews, I like shows with strong, female characters. They don't have to be the main character (ex. Donna from Suits is a fantastic minor character), but weak female characters tend to annoy me. Weak male characters also tend to annoy me, but I just feel like weak female characters are more prevalent. And I don't mean weak in the physical sense. I mean, their character is underdeveloped or has no motivation aside from those relating to the male lead.

Catherine, the main female character, does not start off weak. She starts out a tough cop, with a dark and complicated past. Her boyfriend cheated, she didn't fall apart. She got even (got him arrested at a concert for having pot. He had it on him, she didn't plant it.) And then she moved on. That was a good start. Also, after she and Vince, 'the Beast', became romantic interests. She didn't become goo. She still took time for her friends and family.

Then, when she said she loved him and he walked away to be with an ex, only to realize he liked her, she didn't forgive him the second he came back. He had to work to earn back her trust.

That was all good. Then, suddenly, (I don't know if the writers changed or what) she is goo. She is going against her old values. She is stealing evidence. She is endangering her friends and family, or just ignoring them. She is willing to give up everything from her jobs, her friends, her family, and pretty much everything in her life to be with him, because "he is her life". She even says that IN THE FIRST SEASON.

He is being sensible and telling her she might lose everything and she basically says that he is the only that matters. Even though they haven't known each other that long. Even though he kills people, sure they are mostly bad guys, but still. Even though he left her to get back with an ex.

I think what annoyed me the most wasn't just the fact her character became one of those girls that centers their world around a guy. It was that she wasn't like that in the beginning. Her personality just shifted so much from what it started as. And so her "you are my world"-attitude just seemed unnatural and unexpected. She wasn't the same tough character she had started as. So, it was disappointing seeing this character shift.

Now, as for other characters, I loved Evan. I only kept watching after her shift, because of Evan. (SPOILER ALERT) Then, he died. He died to save her. HE DIED TO SAVE HER. That is how much he loved her and she was still going around acting like he was just a co-worker. I was so annoyed with her when she was listing off people she cared about (friends, family and the like) and she didn't include him.

He was willing to die just so she would have a chance to get away, Beast boy will kill for her but won't really go out of his way to help her. He does the whole, 'our being together is dangerous to you' thing. He brings it up every once and awhile, but it is all talk. If he was really concerned about that, he would just leave.

Anyway, her best friend is alright. I liked her a lot in the beginning. Then she started having an affair with a married man, and I wavered. Perhaps, I wavered more than I otherwise would have because after Catherine's character started to let a guy get her to make bad decisions, I was hopeful that her partner and best friend would stay strong. But, she ended up in the 'he is going to leave his wife, it is just a bad time' denial zone.

Other than that, there is JT and Gabe. I have not seen Gabe too much, as I stopped watching after the Spoiler Events happened. I only watched because Gabe was on Covert Affairs, and I was sad when his character was killed off on that show. But that didn't last long with Catherine's behavior.

JT is alright. Sometimes I think he is the only one on the show that is actually using his head. He tells Vince to stay away from Catherine, and is against it until he realizes that he can't stop them. Then he advocates safety. He also points out that what Vince did when his ex came back was not cool.

While I personally don't like the show. I would recommend it to Twilight (it has the same kind of feel as it goes on) fans, and fans of highly-dramatic (over the top) romance.

#beautyandthebeast #tvseries #recommended #2012