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

Episode 2 (Season 1, Episode 3)

Siege

Siege (airdate: Oct. 9 1987). Vincent is in a dark alleyway between old and decrepit buildings.  As he stands there he hears beautiful music from a piano being played.  A car has entered the alley and two thugs step out.  They light Molotov cocktails and throw them through the window where the music is being played.  They rush off and Vincent breaks into the basement to rescue the old man who had been playing.  Vincent retreats to the shadows and the man tells Vincent that he and several other of his friends are being harassed to leave.  When the man begins to fall down, Vincent comes into the light to catch him.  As the man sees Vincent's faces, his own is covered with shock.  Catherine is at a cocktail party being given to honor a man who gave the city a new piece of art.  Catherine sees the man and they hold a lingering glance.  Vincent has learned that the man, Misha, and his friends are being beaten, robbed and terrorized to leave by the thugs of the developer.  Later on at the party, Catherine is admiring some artwork when the host approaches her.  They talk for a minute and she learns that he is Elliot Burch, a major developer.  Burch's lawyer joins them and he is introduced.  Elliot then offers Catherine a ride home, which she accepts.

Vincent promises Misha the he will do all he can to help.  Vincent leaves quickly after telling Misha his name when his wife comes to the basement.  At a seedy pool hall a man is talking on the phone with an unknown person.  He says that he and his crew will do whatever is necessary to move the people from the building.  Elliot drops Catherine off at her building, then asks here for a date for the next night, which she accepts.  Vincent and Catherine talk in the balcony and he explains the old people's situation.  He asks for Catherine's help and tells her to follow her heart.  But he is not talking about helping the old people.  It is obvious that Vincent is beginning to struggle with what is best for Catherine and what he wants.  Catherine promises to help out and the next day she talks with some tenants of the building after running off a man who was harassing them.  The tenants tell her he is Mundy, who represents the holding company that bought the building.  They tell her it was bought only two months ago and about all the harassments.  When  Catherine asks Joe about the problem, he says she needs to find some hard evidence for them to convict the men.  Edie is engaged to help track down the man behind all the incidents.  It soon becomes obvious that someone is buying out the whole block one piece at a time.  The individual has covered his trail well and Edie has a difficult time getting any information as to his identity.  She gives Catherine what she has and begins to search for more.  Back at her desk, Catherine spots a vase of red roses.  She then gets a call from Elliot and they agree to meet later that evening. Inside the tunnel, Vincent is becoming more and more depressed as he thinks about Catherine.  Father expresses his concern over Vincent's mood and Vincent relates his predicament.  Father advises that he must let Catherine choose in order for her to be happy.  Vincent understands, but that doesn't stop his heart from breaking.  Elliot and Catherine walk around the city talking about their love of New York and all its wonders.  As Misha and his wife walk home, they are attacked by two thugs.  In an alley, Misha is beaten and told to get out while he still can.  Vincent appears and runs off the attackers.  As one escapes, he drops his wallet which Vincent picks up.  Before Misha or his wife can express their gratitude, Vincent runs away.  Leo Mundy is waiting for his thugs at a bar.  They tell him that an animal attacked them, to which he scoffs.  He then orders them to try more persuasive tactics.  Catherine is on her ways to work the next day when she is approached by a messenger  service employee, Bennie, who  hands her an envelope.  Inside is the wallet and a note from Vincent.  Catherine is able to obtain a warrant for his arrest and Misha and his wife also agree to testify.  Edie has uncovered many companies that are being used to cover the individual's tracks.  Catherine then talks with Joe and asks him to offer a plea bargain for the thugs if they in turn testify against Mundy.  Elliot arrives at the office with a catered lunch complete with a waiter.  Catherine is embarrassed and begs him to leave.  Outside the office, Catherine stops to listen to a sax player on the street.  He acknowledges her and she drops some money into his case.  Inside the bill is a note which he reads, then leaves.  Catherine goes to pick up Misha and his wife.  Outside is Mundy in a parked car.  Catherine then tells Mundy that she has his "goons" and the she has witnesses to testify against him.  He says that he and his friend in the car have connections and that it will only take a phone call to get them free.  Catherine goes that night to meet with Vincent, unaware that she is being followed by Mundy.  Catherine is quite aware of Vincent's feelings and she reassures him that her love for him is first and foremost, no matter what.  But Vincent knows that she must do what he heart tells her.  If it doesn't happen to be Elliot, then he knows it will be someone else.  After she leaves the tunnel, Mundy enters, but all he finds is Vincent's sandy footprints.  Mundy is then seen talking on a phone with his boss who orders Mundy to do whatever he feels he must.  As the man turns, his profile is that of Elliot's attorney.  The next day, Edie has discovered that all three holding companies have a common New York address.  When Catherine goes to the address, she discovers Elliot's attorney.  She threatens him with a court order to reveal his client's name but he refuses.  The attorney warns Elliot that Catherine is on to his part in the deal.  Catherine rushes over to Elliot's office and stalks past a group of reporters.  Once inside she threatens to reveal her knowledge to the public to which he replies that his project will create thousands of jobs.  What difference will 30 or 40 old people make?  Catherine leaves the building, and once outside she breaks into tears.

Meanwhile, Mundy's men have posted bond.  Catherine learns this and goes to warn the old people.  Misha's wife invites Catherine to have dinner with them and they are talking when the power goes off.  Four thugs have come into the building with the plans of beating the old people into leaving.  They leave the apartment and Misha begins calling his friends to band together.  The thugs find Catherine trying to protect Misha's wife and as they begin to attack, the old people appear with their weapons.  A fight ensues, then Vincent appears and rips off Mundy's mask.  Mundy tries to run away but trips over a body on the floor and falls through a window.  Before he leaves, Vincent gives Catherine a loving look, then disappears the same way he arrived.  Misha asks his friends not to breathe a word of what they have witnessed concerning Vincent.  Catherine returns home weary only to find Elliot there.  He starts to ask her to reconsider, but she says she now has enough evidence to convict him and stop his project.  That evening, Catherine finds a book containing Shakespeare's sonnets. Inside the cover, Vincent has written "Shakespeare knew everything."  He has marked a particular sonnet for her with a red rose:

When, in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes, I all alone beweep my outcast state, And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries, and look upon myself, and curse my fate; Wishing me like to one more rich in hope, Featur'd like him, like him with friends possess'd, Desiring this man's art, and that man's scope, With what I most enjoy contented least: yet in these thoughts myself almost despising, Haply I think on thee. - and then my state (like to the lark at break of day arising from sullen Earth) sings hymns at heaven's gate; For they sweet love remember'd such wealth brings, that then I scorn to change my state with kings.

Guest Cast: Robin Gammell as Lewis Arthur, Louis Giambalvo as Mundy, Albert Hague as Misha Langer, Edna Riess Merin as Sophie Langer, Benny Baker as Herman, Ralph Manza and Buff Brady as old men, Herta Ware as Sylvia, Richard Biggs as the reporter, Audree Chapman as the receptionist, Stuart Charno as Bennie, Pat Crawford Brown as the old woman, Jack Juzefsoro as the bartender, Charles Picerni as the thug, Marten Goslens, Branscombe Richmond, Jeanette Miller, Tom Morgan, Leslie Neale, Wally Rose, Daryl Wood.

Writer: David Peckinpah

Director: Paul Lynch