It’s a bar, Heather is singing karaoke (badly) while
Catherine and Tess drink. Since Tess is talking, the subject is, of course, men
(Tess has no concept of the Bechdel test). Catherine is venting over Vincent
choosing the other woman – or, rather, the stuff she brings with her based on
her ignorance of what he is. Of course she can’t say this and instead says
Vincent has issues – PTSD that gives him a temper (ugh, no, do not drag
mentally ill people into this and certainly not like this – as if PSTD means he
is dangerous and violent and shouldn’t be in a relationship). Heather and Tess
become concerned when Catherine talks warningly about his “temper.” Tess hits
on the idea that he’s abusive, which Catherine denies and then has a second
plan of telling Alex all about his issues. Catherine rejects this as well. The
conclusion is Catherine is still hanging on and we finish with “I am woman hear
me drink!”
This whole scene
was to recap last week and remind us that Heather and Tess exist.
Homeward, to Catherine eating ice cream and watching a
scary movie when Alex drops by! It’s the middle of the night and she looked up
Catherine’s address from her medical file – and this is totally not creepy
guys! She’s here to ask if she can take Vincent to her family’s cabin for the
weekend – since she thinks Catherine is Vincent’s handler she wants to check it
with her first. And she knows about Vincent – or thinks she does; she knows he
worked for special ops, people are trying to kill him and pretends to be dead.
So… she doesn’t really. The conversation is the most awkward thing ever with
both sides trying to be polite while Alex is tense about “sharing” Vincent with
Catherine since he tells her so much and Catherine just wants Alex to take this
whole thing to Vincent rather than dragging her into this.
Jogging the next day, Catherine is joined by Vincent
apologising for Alex coming round and sensing she’s mad (awesome super hero
powers). He assures her it’s not about choosing Alex other Catherine (reaaaaly?
Because it looks a lot like it), it’s about choosing a future (one where he
faces reality or one where he dances in la-la land). He also gets huffy when
Catherine points out that Alex doesn’t know who he is (Catherine backs down,
why, it’s the truth?) and he just wants to make sure she’s all ok with it.
Catherine announces she’s cold turkey and doesn’t want to be involved in any of
it. He huffs off, apparently not realising how tacky it is to try and drag your
recently dumped ex into your current relationship issues.
To work – with Tess where Catherine worries she has been
too harsh and driven Vincent away (aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh). Tess, who may be
getting as sick of Catherine’s relationship woes as I am, insists they focus on
work (Tess’s second topic of conversation). But work gives her chance to investigate
a narcotics ring at New York general. They have warrants for several nurses,
including Alex – the raids go at noon and Catherine wants to raid Alex. Hold
it! NOT for petty revenge reasons – but so she can rush out and warn JT that
Alex is going to get raided. But they’re already at the cabin where there’s no
signal. Catherine worries that the raid may find Vincent’s finger prints – and decides
to go over and remove the memorabilia and wipe everything down.
Catherine, you need to get off the floor and wipe off that
“Welcome” written across your back.
Tess calls Catherine while she’s busy destroying evidence
(interrupting her distraction over a romantic gift) but it’s only because she
suspects Catherine went to see her guy. They raid Alex’s and find nothing –
except the sexy lingerie. Tess realises that that means Alex has a boyfriend
(going by the receipt, apparently) and she could be stashing drugs at his place
– deflecting Catherine’s attempted deflections. And Catherine finds something –
a bug.
She takes the bug to JT (has she just ran out on work? Again?) and they conclude that Muirfield is onto Alex, possibly due to the DNA found on Alex’s stalker. JT realises he has to stop Evan presenting his evidence – which he is doing today – about Vincent. So that leaves Catherine to go to the cabin and talk to Vincent and Alex. Catherine really doesn’t love this idea, especially with her plan to move on and JT is at least a little sympathetic.
Vincent and Alex are driving away and she’s making big
big plans about leaving the country and being doctors in a poverty struck
nation (she’s not mad fussed on which one – any poor country will do) while
Vincent realises he’ll need a passport, get through airport security – the whole
deal.
They arrive at the cabin and Alex has fixated on them
moving to Mexico (how long has he been back? And she’s constantly talking about
moving to a foreign country and living the rest of their life together after,
at most, a couple of weeks’ re-acquaintance? Y’know, Alex really is kinda
creepy). He starts to tell the big secret and dismally fails to do so.
When a man knocks at the door – he’s broken down and
there’s no phone service. Or so he says – Vincent sees him sweating but agrees
to go with him. Which leaves Alex alone when Catherine arrives. Catherine has
no time for Alex’s worry about any relationship between her and Vincent, nor
does she more than ruefully laugh at Vincent implying he had PTSD – she tells
Alex about the bug and that the man Vincent left with could be a trap. Shelve
the issues, she has to find him.
Vincent isn’t a fool and pulls off the road and starts
menacing the lying guy. He keeps lying but Vincent points out he has a garage
t-shirt and grease under his nails – he can fix his own truck without Vincent.
When Vincent grabs him by the neck he confesses that 3 guys paid him $1,000 to
lure Vincent out. He tells the man to run
Catherine goes into the woods and finds Vincent (her
random direction picking worked!) And they bicker. No, really, they bicker. 3
people out there trying to kill or kidnap them and they have a tiff. In the
middle of the woods, with her gun drawn. Thankfully the bad guys are as embarrassed
by this as I am and start making noise, distracting their attention. Vincent
uses he new nifty night vision to see them, confirming 3. They have a firefight
in the dark (none of them have night vision goggles of any kind so that’s fun
and effective) until 1 throws a grenade (or possibly a flashbang). Catherine falls
over all woozy and fuzzy, but Vincent goes all bestial. Catherine’s only out
for a second and quickly joins the fight, shooting one guy to save Vincent and
knocking another down. When he manages to trip her, Vincent grabs him and
something cracks, probably a neck. They have a little make up moment, Catherine
understanding why Vincent wants a new life, but he doesn’t want her to have to
hide from Murifield and her.
And he doesn’t have to – because Alex has followed
Catherine and seen it all. She doesn’t take it well. Catherine manages to talk
her out of shooting Vincent and Vincent explains the whole secret. Alex leaves
and it looks like their relationship is dead. Yay.
Vincent returns to JT who is surprised he just let Alex go
(what was the alterative), warned him the police have noticed her stealing
drugs and tells him what Catherine did for him with the raid.
Catherine goes back to Heather to discuss relationship
woes and her guy needing her – and it seems Tess has been stood up by her guy
as well. Vincent goes to see Catherine but she isn’t just going back to a
relationship – she’s not happy being second choice, if Alex accepted him he’d
be with her now. He returns with it not being about her – it was about a better
future and he knows now (when he has no other options) that this is with
Catherine, not Alex and he intends to make it right. Catherine makes it clear
she will help Vincent but not a relationship – she needs to protect herself.
And she also has to be there for Tessa (who, she says, has always been there
for her.)
To the karaoke bar, where Catherine and Heather comfort
Tess and drag her on stage to sing. Ok, that scene is awesome, yes it is.
Meanwhile through all this, JT tries to convince Evan to
back off on his grant proposal, but talk of mysterious shadowy organisations
don’t do a lot to convince him. He tries a second track of blackmail, bringing
up Evan’s past when he was a surgeon in England and a patient died on the
operating table. Though cleared, he couldn’t take the guilt and moved to the US
and changed specialty. Evan won’t be blackmailed either and just ratchets up
more contempt for JT.
At the end Evan calls JT – because he found a bug in his
office, a bug with prints on it that were classified (what, someone with
sufficient security expertise and oomph to have their prints classified, but
not the expertise not to leave prints?) We also learn that Evan sends a cheque
to the family of the woman who died on his operating table every month – he wasn’t
found guilty but he feels it.
I’m actually in the rare position of being totally team
Catherine here, bad enough Vincent chooses to dump her for Alex because Alex
isn’t embroiled in his big bad secrets that he already said would ruin or at
least risk her life – but then his lies and cover story to Alex mean that
Catherine gets dragged into Alex and Vincent’s relationship – without Alex even
knowing they were an item? Vinnie, if I were Catherine a swift kick to the manimal
yin-yangs would be forthcoming.
And this whole “it’s not about Alex over Catherine, it’s
about the future I get” is such reductive bullshit. So it’s all about whether
Vincent gets a future where he practices medicine and pretends he’s not
manimal, or whether he lives in the real world. The woman doesn’t matter? She’s
interchangeable, irrelevant, it’s just about the future? One of which is bought
by lying to Alex?
Also – this Vincent being offended when Catherine says “who
you are.” Screw that. Alex DOESN’T know who he is, she’s basing her emotions on
a man who has changed rapidly in a few short years. She doesn’t know who he is
and he’s deliberately keeping it that way while pursuing a long term
relationship. And Catherine has every right to be concerned – Vincent is a
killer. A serial killer in fact – how many people has he killed? Evan mentioned
his DNA being found in 6 cases which seemed to have been murders – is that
including the guy he killed who was attacking Evan? Or the person he
killed/injured while he was having blackouts? And what about when he wasn’t
just having blackouts but going into violent rages in which he attacked JT and
Catherine and had to be sedated and caged? Oh and his DNA is evolving in new
and unknown, random ways that are completely unpredictable and could cause any kind
of side effects (like the previously seen animalistic violent rage?) Yet he’s
touchy about her worrying about him being alone in the middle of nowhere with
Alex? Not Impressed
I am overwhelmingly glad that Catherine didn’t settle
back into a relationship with Vincent after Alex left the picture – that would
have annoyed me immensely. I am glad to see Catherine fighting her corner at
least to some degree.
Is Joe ever going to come back or develop that story with
Tess or is he going to stand in the background and be irregularly occurring
token? And can Tess PLEASE develop a character – or a topic of conversation or
a life that isn’t about men or work. In fact, even the work seems to be a
grudging aside for her. And Heather isn’t much better. I do like that Catherine
realised Tess needed her and had always been there for her. Too many programmes
have friends who are little more than servants to the protagonist, I love to
see the reciprocation.
And Alex is creepy.
