EPI-LOG ARTICLE on Beauty and the Beast
review by Nina Johnson. Click here for contents.

Episode 11 (Season 1, Episode 11)

An Impossible Silence

An Impossible Silence  (airdate: Dec. 18, 1987).  Two men are talking as they leave a rundown bar.  They are walking along to a car as they continue their conversation.  Across the street a little girl in tattered clothing is searching through the garbage cans for anything of value.  One of the men has gotten into the car when the other pulls a gun with a silencer out of his waistband and shoots the driver three times.  The little girl has witnessed this and runs in horror as the killer spots her.  He tries to chase her but she comes upon a policeman and the man turns back. The killer goes to a residential home where he speaks with two policemen in the basement.  The man was killed before he could blow the group's cover about illegal drug-selling.  The killer then tells the group that he has found the perfect victim to take the fall for the killing.  Joe gives a news conference the next day stating that they have arrested the killer, a man named Jackson.  He was an undercover policeman and they have overwhelming evidence against him.  Joe is ecstatic over breaking the case.  Vincent and Pascal are inspecting some pipes when the young girl runs into Vincent's arms.  She is making moaning sounds but no other words come out.  Vincent finally calms her down then begins to speak with her in sign language.  The little girl, Laura, one of the tunnel children, tells Vincent about what she has witnessed.  Father tries to warn Vincent to let the matter go, but he has heard the news about the arrest of the policeman and can not let an innocent man go to prison.  He goes to Catherine's balcony and tells her about Laura and her story.  He also tells her that the man they arrested cannot be the killer, because Laura says he was a Caucasian.  Catherine makes a promise to do all she can.  Catherine goes to talk with Jackson to find out some clue as to who the real killer might be.  Only after Catherine tells him that even though she doesn't like him, she must defend him, does he give her any information.  The man's name is Yates.  Catherine then talks with the dead man's partner, who is also a crooked cop.  He tries to put her off until she mentions that the wrong man may have been arrested.  He gets quite upset and looks guiltily at another co-worker, the man who did the killing.  When Catherine gets back to her office, Joe accuses her of trying to mess up his case to which she retorts that he is being motivated by career enhancement.  She tells him that she has a witness to the shooting who describes the incident differently to him.  In the argument he reveals that his father was killed while coming home from work when Joe was 14, so he has personal reasons for wanting a cop killer behind bars.

Back underground, Laura is looking over her possessions while contemplating what she must do.  When Catherine comes home, two men with stockings on their heads accost her and leaver her on her living room floor with a warning to back off the investigation.  Once inside the elevator they take off their masks to reveal their identities as the two police from the basement.  Vincent rushes to her balcony ands finds her on the floor unable to get up.  He carries her to her bed and applies a cold compress to her forehead.  He starts to go after the men but she begs him to stay with her.  He stays by the bed while she falls asleep.  The following day, Laura and Vincent meet in the tunnel near Catherine's building.  They go up a ladder to meet with Catherine.  Laura tells Vincent that she is sure that she can testify and Vincent tells her that he believes that she is ready to live above.  Laura signs that she will miss him as will he.  Then they hug as Catherine appears.  Laura signs that she loves him and he returns the sign as tears fill his eyes.  Vincent leaves and Catherine calls out to Laura forgetting that she can not hear her.  Laura turns to find that Catherine has some hot chocolate waiting for them.  They share this in the living room and Catherine explains how hard the testimony will be.  Laura understands and then makes a sign to Catherine that she doesn't understand.  Laura writes down on a piece of paper, "you're beautiful".  Catherine blushes and says thank you, then Laura teaches her the sign.  A trust is being built.

The following day, they go to the precinct for Laura's deposition.  Joe is very brisk but introduces all the people.  The lieutenant speaks to the film-man, and Catherine tells them that if they are going to speak anything they must speak where Laura can read their lips.  Laura begins her testimony and the investigators sit patiently until she mentions that the man was killed while sitting in his car.  The investigator stops her because only the police knew that.  He then asks her to begin again, this time to tell him everything because they believe her now.  They finish up and as Catherine starts to leave, she gets a phone call.  She leaves Laura on a bench while she takes the call. The policeman who did the killing comes near Laura.  She recognizes him and tries to flee, but he and his partner grab her and taker her out.  When Catherine comes back, Laura is gone.  Catherine goes to Vincent to see if he can help her.  After he calms her down, they start back above ground, but stop when they hear the pipes.  It is a message from Pascal to Vincent.  Laura has been chained in a basement to a water-pipe and has been beating out her message.  Before she can finish her location, the thugs make her stop.  They argue among themselves to see who is going to kill her.  While they are arguing, she finishes her location and Vincent heads out to find her.  Yates is preparing his gun to kill her when the lights go out.  The sound of the window breaking his heard and two of the men leave to see if they can discover the source.  Laura looks into the rafters and sees Vincent.  The men, meanwhile, have come back.  Yates hears a noise above him and turns to see.  A flashlight beam shines on Vincent's face.  Vincent attacks him and the man squeezes the trigger.  The bullet misses Vincent and instead strikes his accomplice.  Vincent overcomes the man then goes to Laura.  She has decided to live above even though Father is reluctant about the situation.  Vincent, too, is worried about how she will live, but Catherine tells him that she had an excellent teacher.  Laura takes a suitcase with her on her journey above ground.  She is prepared to begin her new life but stops for one more last look at her old home.

Guest Cast: Terrylene (Theriot) as Laura Williams, Jason Bernard as Jack Davis, John M. Jackson as Laine Keller, Chris Mulkey as Danny Tayes, Robert Pastiorelli as Tony Perotta, Glenn Plummer as Curtis Jackson, Dana Gladstone as Det. Schneider, Sue Rohr as Maggie, Rick Garcia and Phil Diskin as cops, Kathleen Heller as Sharon Lewis, Michael Lewis as Constanza, Virginia Watson as Sgt. Walker, Richard Brailford and Kate Mulligan as reporters, Bill Pugin, David Matzke, Sue Rihr.

Writers: Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa

Director: Christopher Leitch.