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

Episode 8 (Season 1, Episode 8)

Song of Orpheus

Song of Orpheus  (airdate: Nov. 20, 1987).  Inside a barbershop, the barber finishes a haircut, makes some small talk to his departing customer, then settles down to read the paper.  In the personals there is an ad "The Wreck of My Memories - 3133 Lexington Avenue" to which the barber reacts.  He tears the ad out of the paper, writes "FTR" on it then stuffs it in an empty bottle.  He goes outside to a sewer drain, looks around to see if anyone is watching, then kicks the bottle into the drain. In the chambers, Father and Vincent are playing chess as Dustin brings the bottle to Father.  He reads the note, then is lost in thought.  Vincent asks Father what is wrong.  Father assures him that there isn't anything wrong, but he must make a trip above.  He says that he will reveal all when he comes back that night.  In a bedroom, an old bedridden woman, Margaret, is talking with her lawyer, Alan Taft.  She has placed an ad in the newspaper and asks him if there has been any response.  Taft tells her no and that the man she is looking for seemed to have disappeared 30 years ago without a trace.  She insists on running the ad a while longer even though Taft points out it is useless.  They then talk about an upcoming visit from a man the lawyer doesn't care for.  Taft expresses disapproval of the man, but Margaret pays him no heed.  The man, well-dressed, about forty, enters as the lawyer departs.  The two talk about how Margaret is feeling because she has a very serious condition.  He appears overanxious to please her but leaves a feeling of secrecy.  He departs so that she may rest.  At Margaret's lawyer's office, Taft is talking with Margaret's caretaker, Henry Dutton.  Taft has had Dutton's background checked and tells Dutton that he won't tell Margaret about him if he will leave her. But Dutton has no intention of doing so and threatens the lawyer, telling him that he will regret this.  Father comes out of a subway opening in a 50's suit and hat.  As he emerges into the world of the 1980's the shock is obvious on his face as he passes by boom boxes, the new fashions, and the new architecture.  Walking past a Federal building, Father has a flashback of the 1950's where he his being interviewed by reporters.  He gives what essentially is a "no comment" and the flash fades.  Father enters an office building.  He goes to an office, find the door ajar, and finds Taft dead.  Father kneels over him just as the police enter.  They arrest Father for Taft's murder.  When Father doesn't return to the tunnels, Vincent goes to Catherine and tells her what happened.  Catherine says she will help but needs more information to begin her search.  Back in Margaret's bedroom, Dutton and she are talking.  She is worried because Alan has not contacted her, but Henry assures that he is fine and she needs her rest.  But Margaret has no concern over rest, just finding the man she sent the message to.  At the station, all the police find on Father is tickets to a Brooklyn Dodgers game, Silver Certificates, etc.  He won't tell them who he is and in a surge of anger, he has a flashback to the 1950's where he is being questioned.  He is in a hearing where he tries to warn of the dangers of atomic testings.  Back at the chambers, Vincent is going through Father's things.  He searches the desk, but finding nothing, goes to Father's wardrobe, where he finds a picture.  The picture is of Father and a young bridge at the altar.  On the back of the picture, Vincent finds a letter which he takes with him in search of Catherine.

Long after the library has closed, Catherine and Vincent search through newspapers of the 1950's looking for anything that will help them find Father.  Catherine finds an article about Father, who was a research physician for a government lab.  Father, whose real name is Jacob Wells, tried to warn the government to stop the testing, but since he was no longer on their side, they turned on him.  He was accuzed of being a Communist sympathizer, and was forced to resign from the institute.  Vincent gives Catherine the letter.  Inside Margaret tells Jacob that her father had their marriage annulled.  She apologizes for not bring able to be by his side and promises to love him always.  The following day, Catherine, late for a deposition, rushes through the cellblock and towards the end she sees Father.  He tries to turn from her, but she has seen him, then hurries on to her deposition.  Father is led again to an interrogation room where Catherine is waiting for him.  Father tries to convince her to stay out of the matter but she knows that he is going to be charge with murder.  She emphasizes the fact that he can trust her but that is not why he won't give her the details.  Then she calls him Jacob and tells him that she and Vincent know about his past.  Finally, he tells her his story about the newspaper message.  Catherine goes to see Margaret, but Dutton won't let her past.  She leaves and Dutton has two henchmen follow her.  He goes to Margaret and encourages her to take her medicine.  Catherine decides to go to the murder scene and in looking through his office, finds an envelope marked "confidential".  Inside are the financial records of Dutton.  Armed with proof of the murderer and motive, she leaves but is abducted by the henchmen.  They take her to Margaret's apartment where Dutton tells her is is sorry for what he has to do.  A man takes Catherine into the elevator and as they ride down, Vincent cuts the cables, breaks through the top and pulls Catherine out.  Catherine takes Father to the entrance of a subway where he thanks her for getting her released from jail.  As he starts to leave, she calls out, "Father".  He stops and looks at her, and she tells him.  "I would never do anything to hurt him. I love him."  Father says, "I know. I also know that it will bring him nothing but unhappiness."  When she asks why, he replies, "Because part of him is a man."  Once inside the chambers, Father and Vincent embrace, then he asks for Margaret.  They embrace. He takes her on a tour of the tunnels to all the special places including the Chamber of Winds and the Whispering Gallery.  Back in the library, she doubles over and tells Jacob that she is dying.  She feels she is being punished for not standing by him when the were younger, but he says that they must make the most of the time that they have now.  Several days later, Catherine and Vincent are on the balcony.  Catherine is upset that Father and Margaret's relationship was extremely short.  The beginning was fine and so was their end, but they had so many years in the middle that were empty.  Vincent tells her that Father and Margaret had seven days together that they thought they would never have.  With this, Catherine and Vincent realise that they have to make the most of what they have.

Guest Cast: Diana Douglas as Margaret Chase, Robert Symonds as Allan Taft, Castulo Guerra as Guitierez, Paul Gleason as Henry Dutton, Gary Berner as Connor, Vinny Argiro as investgator, Gary Daniels, William Fair, Stan Lachow, Neil Renhold, Stephen Rollman, Clive Rosengren.

Writers: Alex Gansa and Howard Gordon

Director: Peter Medak