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

Episode 9 (Season 1, Episode 9)

Dark Spirit

Dark Spirit  (airdate: Nov. 27, 1987).  In the penthouse of a skyscraper, a grand party is being held.  The guests are having after-dinner drinks while discussing the host's many tax write-offs.  The accountant for the man's firm is there.  He agrees with his boss concerning the borderline write-offs, then takes a sip of brandy.  He talks with the woman next to him when he suddenly begins to complain that the room is very warm.  Trying to dismiss the feeling, he starts to drink a little more.  As he looks into his glass to take a sip, he is shocked to find that it is filled with roaches and other crawling insects that crawl onto his arm.  He tries to get away from the bugs, but they are everywhere and in his confusion, he throws himself out the window.  Catherine is assigned to the case.  Joe has learned that the butler, Hector Ocala, is named in the will to receive $50,000.   They have also found a hallucinogen in the drink. But their case develops a hole when Joe learns that the Riker's Island Jail has called to say that Ocala is in a deep trance and is muttering incantations.  Catherine decides to investigate for herself and goes to see Ocala. The whole time she is there, all he does is chant.  He acts as if she weren' t there. Not knowing what else to do, she decides to contact Alexander Ross, a voodoo expert.  He meets with her and tells her some basic concepts about voodoo.  He gives her a shell to protect her and even plans to go with her to Riker's Island to verify Ocala's trance.  That night Vincent has a nightmare in which he goes through the tunnels to a wake.  As he approaches the casket he finds that the body inside is Catherine's.  He quickly awakens to scream out "No!"  Ross and Catherine go to the jail where they find Ocala still chanting.  He turns to her and starts saying "Beast of the Night!" and unknown Jamaican phrases.  Ross tells Catherine that Ocala's trance is for real.  His chants are not to keep him from being prosecuted, but rather to invoke the spirits to protect him.  Ross offers his services and knowledge of voodoo to Catherine.

Catherine talks to Lindsay Gates who owns a shop that sells occult artefacts.  Catherine wants to know a few things about the party and Lindsay offers to help her in any way she can.  She tells her that Ocala had no motive to kill his boss.  The next day, Catherine goes to the prison where Ocala has died during the night.  They can find no reason for his death, nor any marks on his body.  When Catherine returns home, she finds her apartment ransacked.  In her bedroom on the wall is Vincent's face drawn in blood and "Catherine" written backwards above the mantle.  Vincent comes to the balcony thinking that she is afraid.  After being reassured that she is okay, Vincent pays a visit to an old woman, Narcissa, called a "crazy old woman" by Father.  She tells Vincent that Catherine is in danger and she must stop her investigation in order to live.  Catherine finds a snake in her car later on.  She decides to dine with Alexander Ross to discuss Ocala and the case.  She then expresses a feeling that the room is very warm.  They leave and she goes home.  At a voodoo ceremony, a picture of Catherine has some kind of liquid poured on it.  A tarantula is then placed in the container with the liquid.  Back at her apartment, Catherine is having a restless sleep.  She wakes up to find tarantulas covering her bed.  When she tries to brush them off, they disappear.  Totally terrified, Alexander starts to comfort her.  He fixes her a cup of tea to which he adds a powder much like the one he used on the accountant.  She drinks down the tea gratefully and goes back to sleep.  When she awakens again, Ross is still there.  The next morning at the office, Catherine has another hallucination.  The time blood pours out a stack of folders.  She closes her eyes and shakes her head to find the hallucination gone.  Joe tries to get her to go home but she refuses.  When she goes to the ladies room, she sees her face in the mirror, covered with gashes.  Back at her desk, Joe and Edie try to get her to go home again but she snaps at them, then leaves.  Outside the office, she bumps into a man who looks like a walking corpse.  She runs for the safety of her apartment.  Once inside she goes to the bathroom and looks into the mirror to find the gashes are still there.  Her hands are covered with blisters.  A shadow is at her balcony door and she opens it to find Vincent.  She calls him the evil demon and yells that she hates him.  Vincent begs her to let him help her, then promises her that he will never abandon her.  She warns him to stay away, then calls Alexander for help.  Ross gives her directions to his apartment.  There he and Lindsay are preparing a sacrificial voodoo alter.  Catherine is confused and frightened but when she see Ross she becomes more rational.  Looking at the altar, she tries to run but Ross tries to get her to drink out of a cup.  She refuses and falls to the floor while incantations about the "Beast of the Night" are chanted.  Vincent comes through a skylight into the room.  Ross thinks that Vincent is the spirit and when he reaches out to him, Vincent hits him.  Lindsay begs Ross to leave, but he won't.  As she is moving, she turns over some candles that ignites the split wax.  The fire spreads and catches Ross' robe on fire.  He vanishes in flames as Vincent picks up Catherine and leaves.  Later on, Catherine is more her usual self as Joe congratulates her on the job.  But she is wondering whether Vincent can forgive her for all the cruel accusations she made.  Out on her balcony that night, Catherine stares at the shell that Ross gave her.  Vincent's hand touches her and they face each other.  She is very pained but his face is full of forgiveness and love.  He takes the shell out of her hand and crushes it, then hurls the powder over the balcony.  They embrace, safe in their love once again.

Guest Cast: Cliff de Young as Alexander Ross, Diana Barton as Lindsey Gates, Jessie Ferguson as Hector's brother, Obaka Adedunyo as Hector Ocala, Beah Richards as Narcissa, Brett Hadley as William Coleman, David Erskine as Arthur, Carlos Cervantes as Rafael Cruz, David Sabin.

Writers: Robin Bernheim

Director: Thomas J. Wright