EPI-LOG ARTICLE on Beauty
and the Beast
review by Nina Johnson. Click
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Episode 30 (Season 2, Episode 8)
Labyrinths
Labyrinths (airdate: Jan 20, 1989). Three teenagers are playing Dungeons and Dragons. The game comes to an end when Bryan, the leader, is called by his father for dinner. As he and Bryan have dinner, he asks the usual questions expected of him, said without much feeling. The father tells Bryan that his mother wants him to spend Easter with her. Bryan agrees and asks to be excused. Downstairs, Catherine enters the building in a jogging suit and nears the elevator. She hears a newspaper rattle and calls a hello to Bryan. Vincent appears on Catherine's balcony. He tells her that the children have been practicing in secret since Winterfest when they didn't get to perform. Tonight they are going to give a musical recital and he invites Catherine to join them. Bryan is getting ready for bed when he hears his father on the phone with his mother. She has changed her mind about seeing the boy over Easter and his father yells that he needs a break from the boy. It seems that neither one of his parents want him and he runs out of the apartment. Catherine is ahead of him and he follows her down into the basement. He later calls his friends. They join him at the tunnel but have no intentions of following the passageways. Brian will go alone and ties a piece of string to the entrance. He goes deep into the tunnels but doesn't find anything. He tries to go back, but the string has broken. Terrified, he runs haphazardly through the tunnels. One of Mouse's traps catches him. Mouse releases him but Bryan frees himself from Mouse's grip and runs toward the Whispering Gallery. All the echoes from there make him turn around and he follows the music. He stops above Father's chamber where he overlooks Catherine. He panics and as he runs from the chamber, Vincent catches him and calms Bryan down. The citizens appear and start asking questions. Catherine notices who the boy is. Bryan tells them that he followed Catherine. Now he wants to go home. Father and Vincent decide to keep him there until they decide what to do. Catherine talks with him in the chamber while the Tunnel Council is deciding what to do. Catherine comes in as Vincent voices the idea of explaining why each person seeks refuge in the tunnels. Everyone explains to Bryan why they are in the tunnels. Some are there because they had outlived their usefulness above and have found a family below. Father tells him that the tunnel offers protection and healing powers. Vincent's reason is that without the tunnels he could not survive. It is his world. Bryan promises not to tell anyone of their worlds and Catherine takes him back to the apartment entrance. Bryan sneaks into the apartment but his father hears him and wakes up. He demands to know where Bryan has been. Bryan finally tells him that he has a secret place. His father tells him to face reality and go to bed or he will send him to his mother. Bryan runs from the apartment in tears. Catherine is leaving for wok when she comes upon a crowd of police and fire officers. They head for the basement and she follows. There she learns that Brian has run away and they are going to search the tunnels for him. She goes to a different tunnel entrance and taps a message on the pipes for Vincent. Vincent appears and she tells him what is going on. Mouse finds Bryan in the Whispering Gallery. Bryan asks Vincent if he can stay. Vincent explains that the Tunnel World is a place to heal and grow. He then advises him to give his father a chance. He must be under a lot of pressure and worries too. Vincent gives him the King from his chess set as Bryan leaves. Two firemen find Bryan and bring him to his father who embraces him warmly. The boys restart their game of Dungeons and Dragons. Bryan takes out his chess piece of Vincent's and one of Lady Catherine. Catherine and Vincent are in the tunnels where they talk about how both Bryan and his father need courage for them to forgive each other and admit that they really need one another. Vincent says that families can heal. Catherine tells him "We have family wherever people love each other."
Guest Cast: Jonathan Ward as Brian, Daniel Benzali as Bryan's father Edward, Henry Sanders as Freman, Robert Cornthwaite as the old man, Ritch Brinkley as William, Laurel Moglen as Brooke, Philip Waller as Geoffrey, Paul Davis as Johm, Jeff Maynard as Stevie, Justin David as Derek, William Forward as the building resident.
Writers: Virginia Aldridge, Howard Gordon, Alex Gansa.
Director: Daniel Attias.