Beauty and the Beast FanFiction
Beauty and the Beast is an American television series written by George R. R. Martin. It first aired on CBS in 1987. It stars Linda Hamilton as Catherine Chandler, a New York corporate lawyer, and Ron Perlman as Vincent, a lion-faced “beast” who belongs to a society of misfits and outcasts dwelling beneath the city. The beast makeup was devised by veteran Hollywood makeup artist Rick Baker.
The show often dealt with antagonists in New York’s organized crime world. In the third season, the character of Catherine was killed off, and replaced by Diana Bennett, a policewoman portrayed by Jo Anderson. As the title indicates, the premise of the series is inspired by the fairy tale “Beauty and the Beast”; in particular, there is some connection to the Jean Cocteau French film of 1946, La Belle et la Bête.
Beauty and the Beast Seasons 1 and 2
While returning to her Manhattan apartment, Catherine Chandler (Hamilton), a wealthy socialite and corporate lawyer, is abducted off the street by a pair of thugs, is beaten and her face slashed, and abandoned in the middle of Central Park. She is discovered by Vincent (Perlman), a member of a secret community of people who dwell in caverns and tunnels beneath the borough. Vincent, due to his extraordinarily abnormal, leonine appearance, only emerges from the Tunnels during the night, and it is on one of his rambles that he discovers the wounded Catherine. Carrying her down to the home chambers of his community (the World Below), Vincent nurses Catherine back to health with the aid of his adoptive parent Father (Roy Dotrice), who is reluctant to host the woman because of the risk of exposure she represents to the Tunnels. During this time, a bond develops from Catherine’s emotions to Vincent, as well as a deep love on Vincent’s part for her.
Partially recovered, and told the truth of Vincent’s community, Catherine promises to hold their secret safe, and returns Above. After completing her recovery, she changes her life from its previously shallow round and joins the Manhattan District Attorney’s office as an investigator and trial lawyer. Vincent, still empathically “connected” with her, visits her on her apartment terrace at night, and a romantic relationship grows between them, but one which can never be physically consummated. (This leads to the sexual tension that was one of the series’ drawing cards with fans.) Catherine’s duties as an investigator lead her frequently into situations where she is placed in danger; although she has taken self-defence instruction, she is often placed in a situation from which she cannot extract herself. Vincent, sensing her fear through their bond, uses various tunnels and interior paths (sometimes even riding atop subway trains) to reach her in time and save her.
Toward the end of Season 1, and through the majority of Season 2, the above action-oriented situations were decreased in favor of character development and more pure dramatic situations. Emphasis was placed more on the lovers’ relationship with each other and with their friends and families; Catherine’s role as a “Helper” (one of the people living Above who know or have befriended the Tunnel community, assisting them with food and aid) also grows during this period. Near the end of Season 2, however, in an effort to boost faltering ratings, the action orientation returned, emphasizing a seeming breakdown or reversion in Vincent to the animal side of his dual nature (See also: Personality). In a cliffhanger final episode, Catherine is seen walking down a tunnel into a chamber, where Vincent is suffering from a violent madness.
Beauty and the Beast Season 3
The season begins with a two-hour (later split into two parts) episode in which Catherine pulls Vincent from his insanity, but with his empathic connection to her broken. Though the viewer is never given the specifics, Catherine becomes pregnant with Vincent’s child.
Later, in the course of her work, Catherine stumbles onto evidence of massive corruption in high places. She is kidnapped by Gabriel (played by Stephen McHattie[2]), an apparent druglord who is at the center of the corruption, in an effort to find out the hiding place of a book which contains evidence of the corruption. Following Vincent’s discovery of her hiding place and his attempted rescue, Gabriel discovers Catherine’s pregnancy and holds her until she comes to term. Vincent finds where Catherine is being held, but Gabriel knows that Vincent is coming and orders the doctor to get the baby, by C-Section if necessary, then kill Catherine. After Gabriel escapes with the baby, Catherine makes her way to the roof of the building. The doctor has given her a lethal dose of morphine. She dies in Vincent’s arms after she tells him about their son. The remainder of the season, except for the final two episodes, follows Vincent’s quest to bring Gabriel to justice and rescue his child. He is aided in this by Diana Bennett (Anderson), a special police investigator specializing in criminal profiling, who is apparently gifted with a degree of intuition verging on extra-sensory perception. She has discovered the existence of Vincent and the Tunnels through her investigatory work, and joins him in his efforts.
Alternate Developments by Fans
Many fans were disappointed by the loss of Catherine in the third season and have created their own series proliferations based on the return of Catherine after the series or an entirely different storyline without the new characters installed in the third season of the series. While some fans were disappointed with the ending, others focus on the interim actions and adventures that take place between the first and third seasons and some have even focused on tales of other side characters in the series and stories prefacing the BATB (Beauty and the Beast) storyline.