User Reviews

I was very patient and watched three episodes of this. I think I gave it a fair chance, but it just got worse and worse, and the pilot wasn't exactly intriguing.

Story: Girl and mom are attacked in a parking lot. Mom is killed, but girl escapes, gets chased, and ends up being saved by mysterious stranger. Nine years later (I think) the girl is an NYPD cop, still obsessed with mom's murder. She happens upon mysterious stranger again, and he turns out to be a fully licensed doctor, a soldier and, according to all records, dead. In truth, he's in hiding. He was part of a military experiment gone wrong, and the only survivor of the ensuing clean-up. The experiment was meant to create the perfect soldier, but whenever the subjects had a rush of adrenalin, they became "monsters".

This was my first problem with the show: The "beast" isn't a beast at all, nor is he a monster. He is in fact a boy-band cute, surfer dazed nice-guy. When he becomes an adrenalin-monster, this just means his voice gets a bit deeper, some veins in his face a bit more distinguishable, and he just might punch some guy who really deserves it. The police girl finds at least six cases in which she can prove that he helped or tried to help the victims, so for the life of me, I can't find any reason to see this guy as a beast. Neither can the police girl, as she rushes over at the end of episode 1, to make a teary-eyed proclamation of what a monster he absolutely is not.

Episode 1 ends with an overly cheesy voice-over by beauty, telling us that they'll have to "save each other". It was at this point I realized exactly what demographic this show is intended for, and how far I am from being a part of it.

The three episodes I've seen all involve some sort of cases for beauty and her cop partner to solve, but it's all too clear that these cases – even to the writers – are just unimportant and tedious time-fillers until the next time beauty can run to beast to nag him about solving her mom's murder, so that he can tell her to let it go and then follow her around, wait for her to get into trouble and then save her. It's hinted that the military experiment and mom's murder are somehow related, but even the hints are sloppy and poorly executed, in a "yeah, yeah, yeah, let's just get it over with" kind of way.

All in all, the show feels forced and uninspired. Maybe it's made by people who couldn't care less, or maybe it's just written by someone who doesn't understand pacing at all. I don't know, but I do know that the end result reminds me of a school play of the awkward, embarrassing kind. The "beauty and the beast" concept usually centers around seeing past someone's looks to find his inner qualities, but I doubt that they'll manage to squeeze something even remotely as deep as that into this. I can't imagine how they'd incorporate such an idea either, since the writers are so far expecting us to accept the beastliness of beast on the basis of "cause we say he is!".

So… "How brave is your love?" Good question. How much bravery does it really take to get a crush on a boy-band cute doctor and all around nice guy, who goes around helping people in need? Tough one...

Back in the eighties a TV series took viewers by surprise, the story of a young woman, an assistant DA, who by chance met a part man, part beast member of an underground network of people named Vincent. This paring was known as BEAUTY AND THE BEAST and introduced the world to Linda Hamilton and Ron Perlman who had both been in other films but found themselves more well-known after this series. The way things are today it was only a matter of time before that series was recreated.

This time around Kristin Kreuk stars as Catherine Chandler, a determined police detective who encounters an ex-GI and doctor named Vincent who has a secret to hide. When a child Catherine's mother was killed in front of her by a group of men who were never identified. She was saved that night by a mysterious stranger, a manically violent man-beast who she never really quite saw.

Of course that mysterious stranger was Vincent and he's made it his job to watch over and protect Catherine from the shadows. The reason he does so is that he knows who was behind the death of her mother. Vincent was part of a secret government project that turned its volunteers into what he has become and her mother was involved in that project. Now he's on the run from this secret government organization, in hiding with the help of one friend. That friend base increases when he finally meets Catherine face to face.

Now in on what was going on, Catherine continues her day job while still looking into the death of her mother. She and Vincent become closer as he helps her when he can, even after telling her to stay away. This inevitably results in that organization finding Vincent and the ensuing problems that follow. And that's just in the first season! The series ran for 4 years to popular acclaim, winning more than its share of awards. Not an easy feat since it appeared on the fledgling CW Network. That worked in its favor and also added a needed boost to CW as well. The changing story found the couple meeting and eventually the romance soon followed which only added to the popularity of the show. It was the same formula used in the initial series but this time felt a bit more normal as Vincent no longer had the constant appearance of the beast.

The series works on a number of levels, as a police procedural first off. Shows like this need their own twist to separate them from the pack and the aid of a super powered ally was handy. It also works as a conspiracy styled thriller with a hidden organization with its own agenda at play. And it worked as a romance. If not the show wouldn't have lasted as long as it did nor would it have drawn in the female viewers that helped push it over the top.

While each season has been released in the past the entire season has now been collected into an easy box set that takes up less shelf space and allows fans to watch it from start to finish. Those like me who didn't catch it while it was on TV can check it out and enjoy the story. Fans can watch with glee. It's a nice way to own the series and the packaging looks better than those multiple boxes. If you never saw the series here's your chance. It's definitely worth watching.

I watched all of the episodes of the original series and truthfully by its end I had grown bored. So the dialog of this show may seem silly to some or maybe the plot unbelievable to others, but for a fan like me of sci-fi and supernatural based shows, this is more refreshing than watch yet another drab crime drama, medical drama, court room drama, etc type show that parades the airwaves every night. Regardless of how long this show lasts, I'll continue to watch it and enjoy it like I did The Secret Circle. Like that show, it has good special effects, a nice looking cast, and something that seems more exciting than seeing two people try to figure out every single show the murder of the week or the crime of the week.

I don't know why I still watch this show. Vincent is the most interesting character on the show. Other than Jay Ryan as Vincent, the show is really not that great.

The Kat character is not believable as a cop to me at all. She is also too whiny. Her friend that used to be her partner is not believable as a cop to me either. To me, they are just two skinny cop broads that are boring to watch.

So far this season(2)they have already left too many gaps in the story of the show. I found it disappointing that Kat had already found Vincent within the first episode of season 2. When we last saw Vincent in season one, he was kidnapped. They should have went into some detail as to what was done to him before he was automatically back in the city. Kat also acts like Vincent is more important than her family as she is always running out on her sister.

I hope the show gets better as the season continues because I am not impressed with the first episode of season 2.