I Saw That!

One woman's opinions about popular entertainment.

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Amateur boxing coach, Christian (but not so heavenly-minded that I'm no earthly good) singer, writer, self-defense advocate, childfree. feminist www.smartwomenboxingtraining.org

Sunday, April 09, 2006

"Beauty and the Beast" (1987-1990)

CBS unveiled this mix of romance, fantasy and crime drama in 1987. For a few seasons, it was the lead-in to the soap opera "Dallas". Catherine Chandler (Linda Hamilton) was an attorney who had been attacked and left to die in New York's Central Park. She was found by Vincent (Ron Perlman), a half-man, half-beast who was part of a somewhat utopian society run by Father (Roy Dotrice), the man who found Vincent and raised him. The society lived below the subway system of the city. After getting over her initial shock of Vincent's appearance, they became friends and platonic lovers. Vincent also became her protector, helping her out when she got into trouble while solving cases.

Catherine had an admirer named Joe Maxwell (Jay Acavone), another attorney in the DA's office who would have been more than happy to have a relationship with her. He did not know her heart was already taken by Vincent. Joe worked with her on cases, and acted as a protector as well. Catherine walked a fine line between her promise to keep Vincent's world secret, and her life "above ground".

Vincent had a meltdown late in the series, becoming dangerous to himself and those around him. It wasn't clear what the problem was, but Father isolated him from the rest of the underground society. Catherine felt she could reach him, and against Father's advice, she went to Vincent. The last thing heard in that episode was Vincent's menancing growl and Catherine screams coming from a dark cave. When the show returned in 1989, Vincent seemed to have conquered his problem, but then Catherine was kidnapped by Gabriel (Stephen McHattie), the head of a huge criminal organization she had been investigating. Vincent searched for Catherine for weeks. When he found her, she was in bad shape. Before she died, she told Vincent that she had given birth to a child--their child. So that's what happened in that dark cave! Catherine and Vincent's relationship was one of the most romantic ever seen on TV.

The rest of the series had Vincent searching for Gabriel. Diana Bennett (Jo Anderson), a top investigator, had been hired by Joe to pick up the trail to Gabriel that Catherine had started. Vincent ended up being captured by Gabriel, but he escaped, taking his infant son with him. Gabriel was eventually cornered and shot and killed by Diana with a gun that had belonged to Catherine. Vincent, happy to have found his son, took the boy and retreated to the peace of his underground world.

Ms. Hamilton later appeared in the wildly popular Terminator movies.

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