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

Episode 14 (Season 1, Episode 14)

The Alchemist

The Alchemist  (airdate: Jan. 22, 1988).  A woman leaves a bar weaving along the sidewalk.  She is laughing and giggling wildly due to hallucinations.  She is oblivious to the world around her and walks into the path of an oncoming car to be killed.  Catherine is in a van with a group of policemen, dressed to kill.  She is to go into the bar and obtain some drugs from a dealer there.  After the purchase is made, the rest of the force will come in and make the arrests.  She leaves the van and heads for the bar. In the back office of the bar, the owner and his men meet with an old man.  The old man, wearing a black cape, is the drug dealer.  The owner complains to the dealer that he is not bringing him enough to keep up with his demand.  The dealer tells him that he'll take what he brings and that he wants his money.  They pay him, in gold coins, and he leaves.  Catherine has set up the beginnings of the deal and enters the office.  They haggle for a bit, then the transaction is made.  She signals and the backup appears and makes the bust.  Back at the office, Catherine, Joe and the other members are discussing the evening's events.  All but one member of the team, Jimmy Morero, is satisfied with the arrests.  He leaves the meeting and Catherine follows him.  They talk about why he is angry.  He tells her that he is not satisfied with the small-time crooks.  He wants to get the dealer.  A lab technician comes by and tells them that the sample shows that the drug which comes from a fungus or a mould is grown in a damp climate like underground caves.  Catherine is not thrilled with this new information.  The dealer walks through an old part of the city and enters a warehouse.  He goes to a trapdoor in the floor and enters a tunnel.  Catherine takes Vincent a sample of the plant.  She then tells him that she suspects that it may have come from the tunnels.  Father and Vincent discuss this but don't come up with any idea of whom it may be until Vincent mentions that the old man was paid in gold coins.  Father is shocked, then says that the Tunnel World was originally founded by himself and a man named John Pater, who has taken the name Paracelsus.  Paracelsus became so power-hungry that he was banished from the tunnels to live in the outer tunnels by himself as punishment.  Catherine speaks with Jimmy who tells her that he has a new lead.  His plan is to make the bust by himself.  Catherine insists that he needs backup.  He refuses to tell anyone else using the previous weekend's deal as proof for his argument.  She even offers to go as his backup but he refuses.

Meanwhile Father is making a trip into the deepest parts of the underworld.  He locates Paracelsus' chamber and enters.  Paracelsus is less than thrilled with seeing Father.  He calls Father a fool for establishing the kind of world he lives in.  Fathers asks him to stop selling the drug.  Paracelsus points out that he is outside the Tunnel Council's jurisdiction and threatens to expose their world if they try to stop him.  Paracelsus then leaves the chambers with another batch of powder.  Paracelsus exits an old building with his powder in a bag and meets Jimmy in the basement.  Jimmy shouts out for him to stop but Paracelsus acts as if he is hard of hearing.  He then claims that he has crystal in the bag to sell to get money to eat on.  Jimmy drops his guard long enough for Paracelsus to reach a knife hidden in his sleeve and kill Jimmy. He leaves him on the floor and continues on.  Police come later on and take Jimmy away in a body bag.  Joe is heading up the stairs as Catherine descends them.  She asks what happened and he tells her that Jimmy was killed by a dealer.  Catherine breaks down in tears.  Afterwards, she goes to see Vincent and tells him that Jimmy was murdered in cold blood.  Vincent tells her who the man is that is making the drugs, and that he lives in the tunnels.  Catherine demands that he be prosecuted but Vincent explains that he has threatened to reveal the Tunnel World.  She then demands that the Tunnel Council punish him but Vincent says that he is outside their province.  Catherine is insistent that some kind of action be taken, she doesn't want any more deaths to occur.  Vincent tells her that she must do whatever her heart and conscience advise her.  The Tunnel Council has a meeting trying to decide what would be the best plan to deal with Paracelsus.  Winslow wants to kill him but Father gives reasons as to why it can't be done.  They can come up with no solution but Vincent advises them that he will keep Paracelsus from leaving the tunnels until they decide.  The task force is having a meeting at the same time.  One idea is to tear down the building.  Catherine knows that this plan will reveal the Tunnel World and she argues against it.  The task force leader agrees with her and they talk about other means of finding the killer.  In the meantime, Paracelsus is about to deliver another shipment of his drug.  Vincent has been stalking him and Paracelsus is aware of this, and lays a trap for Vincent.  As Vincent follows him, Paracelsus throws a handful of the drug into the air.  Vincent breaks through the hidden door that Paracelsus had entered and walks right into the cloud of the drug.  He immediately experiences violent hallucinations but manages to make it back to his part of the tunnels.  Father hears his growls and rushes to try to help him.  Vincent, in his drugged state, lashes out at Father and almost kills him.  Winslow and others arrive and back Vincent into a dead end chamber.  Father sends word to Catherine.  He tells her what has happened and she is adamant that she be allowed to go to him.  She cries out to Vincent but he doesn't answer her.  She walks down the corridor, slowly advancing on Vincent.  As she walks towards him, he s having and hallucination of her apartment building and of a ghostly angel.  He doesn't even recognize Catherine - all he does is growl and snarl.  When her face is revealed in a shaft of light, his hallucination is broken and she embraces him.  Back in Father's chamber, Vincent is ashamed for Catherine to see him.  They both try to convince Vincent to leave Paracelsus alone but now he wants to resolve the problem and not bother the Council.  Vincent goes back to Paracelsus' chamber.  He tells him to leave his chambers, stop the manufacturing and selling of the drugs.  He then informs Paracelsus that he is acting on his own behalf, not of the council.  Paracelsus pretends to give in and tells Vincent that Father has not been completely truthful with him.  Father knows who and what Vincent is but won't tell him.  Vincent's guard is distracted and Paracelsus flips out his knife.  He wounds Vincent but they end up in a fight that eventually starts a fire.  It rushes through Paracelsus' chamber destroying the drug equipment.  Vincent drags Paracelsus out of the way but the old man screams for his gold and runs back into the fire.  Back at the main tunnel entrance, Catherine and Vincent are talking.  He now has an understanding of why she puts herself in dangerous situations.  Catherine tells him that he has been a great help to her in making decisions to honour what is right no matter what the risk may be.  She says that there are some risks that are worth taking.  Vincent replies that there are some things that are worth risking everything for.

Guest Cast: Joey Aresco as Jimmy Moreno, Dana Gladstone as Claude, John Amos as Farrell, Jeffrey Nordling as Tyler, Katherine Heard as Mary, Albie Selznick as Zeke, Laura Martinez as Carmen, James Avery as Winslow.

Writers: Richard Setlowe, Alex Gansa and Howard Gordon

Director: Thomas J. Wright.