Trailer of the Month

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Beauty and the Beast


Starring: Kristin Kreuk, Brian White, Max Brown, Austin Basis, Nina Lisandrello and Jay Ryan


When I first saw the previews for the new BEAUTY AND THE BEAST on SHOWCASE TV in Canada, I thought "here we go again. Another stupid, teenie bopper tv show about some lame vampires who glow in the sunlight" then "here we go again. Another over muscular teenie bopper tv show about an over muscular wolf."  

At first I thought I would never watch it. I mean I don't do vamps that glow in the sunlight or love sick wolves so why watch? But my curiosity got the better of me and I watched the first episode.
I was elated to see the BEAST (played by Jay Ryan) is NOT a vampire or a wolf. But was disappointed to see he's the equally cliche soldier who the military tested some DNA things on while he served in Iraq and now he has super powers. I mean come on--universal soldier anyone? But that's bad and not too bad. The first episode I watched I wasn't completely sold on the series so I decided to give it another try before I made up my mind.

 But the second episode didn't help any.

First let me start out with what I think works in this show.

Jay Park works. He is sexy--Which I know they were going for. He works for deep, dark and brooding. His anguish can be felt and the uncertainties he's feeling is real.

Nina Lisandrello works--kinda of. She works as the partner but you rarely ever see her. When she's on the screen I try my best to sit and watch her the way she carries herself that kind of thing. I wish she had more screen time.

Now what doesn't work. Okay where do I start?

Kristin Kreuk doesn't work. I think she's the biggest disappointment for me in this series. Sure she was good in Smallville but as a cop? I don't believe it. I cannot buy her waving a gun around and fighting bad guys. She's like, a chihuahua in a pound of pitbulls barking at them to show just how bad she can be but none of the pitbulls care because she's a chihuahua!  Her scowl is so epic-ly wrong I keep trying to fight to keep watching whenever she pulls her gun and gives an order. She's whiny and pushy and just--she isn't a good cop. Her character goes barging into places, screaming "POLICE!" as she enters. She keeps demanding that Beast help her find her mother's killer and over and over. She keeps saying "I need you to help me find out about my mother" over and over! I think I'm just going to re-watch the second episode and count how many times she says that. It's like getting whacked over the head with it. I mean, I know these characters are supposed to be in your face and all that. They're supposed to be strong and go for what they want but she is almost too much of that.  She can't take no for an answer--and by no for an answer I mean no for now then try again later or bide her time.

The casting director(s) expect(s) us to believe Brian White as a police captain of a precinct. I mean, really? Who was in charge of the Casting this show? Perhaps they were trying to do the token visible minority or something else but Brian White does not work as the head of a precinct. He looks too young and what is with the porn star mustache?

Then the writers of this show expects us to believe that her partner is going to just let it go that she's been acting weird lately. That I could get--but then they expect us to believe that a partner would let her partner keeps on chasing the bad guy alone while she mope around on a roof with the beast while her partner chases a suspected killer who tossed his victim off a roof! I mean come on! We'v been led to believe partners have each other's backs and when they are chasing a bad guy, one partner doesn't go off to grill her potential love interest over who killed her mother!

There's a time and place for everything.

I'm not going to mention any other characters because quite frankly what's the point? You rarely ever see them. All you see is Kristin Kreuk's character haul-assing around the place playing cop and the others just shows up when she needs something. Half the time she's walking around with this soap-opera-esque expression on her face like someone told her they were her dead sister's child uncle's brother's cousin twice removed who had amnesia for ten years and is just coming back from the dead.

Ugh!

The relationship between beauty and her beast his progressing too fast. It's almost as though they know the story will be over soon so they are pushing it hard and fast. They are too close for just the second episode and he looks at her like a lost puppy.

In the first episode it didn't say anything about a sister but all of a sudden in the second episode WHAM there's a sister who's the exact image of every spoiled brat you've ever seen. And then every time she's in a bad spot, here comes the beast to protect her! I mean talk about a push back to fighting for women's rights. She's perfectly capable of being a cop just not capable of protecting herself or getting out of tight spots by herself. And she's always alone--its like her partner is just there like Danno from Hawaii 5-0. You know, when the other guy captures the bad guy he hands him over and said "Book him Danno" and all is right with the world.

How positively upsetting.

Then her cases - they gets wrapped up so neatly and so conveniently I want to laugh at the way they get their evidence and how they work it.

There are some serious issues with whoever is writing the scripts for this show. I don't know if its because they're all men or if its because they just don't care or don't know what they're doing but I expected so much more from the CW. I mean they are the same guys who was running One Tree Hill and Gossip Girl! How can they go so horribly wrong with this one?

I'll keep watching whenever Nina is on the screen or when the Beast is doing something beastly but anything else I'm changing the channel. Don't know how long this one will last.

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