BEAUTY AND THE BEAST: TO REIGN IN HELL (TV)
Summary
One in this series about the love affair between a beautiful career woman and a sensitive man with a beastly face who lives in a secret labyrinth beneath Manhattan.
Catherine is kidnapped from her apartment by a gigantic man. Vincent senses her danger, but arrives too late to save her. He finds a gold wafer on the scene and suspects that Paracelsus is behind it. He reports his encounter to Father, who concurs on Vincent’s assessment. Vincent is especially distressed because he cannot sense any of Catherine’s emotions. Father believes that Paracelsus is attempting to reclaim his position in the Tunnel World. When Vincent maintains that he must rescue Catherine, Father warns him that there is a “truth beyond knowledge.” Pascal hears Vincent’s name transmitted in code along a pipe leading far beyond the tunnel dwellers’ known territory. Vincent asks Pascal to lead him down, accompanied by Winslow despite Vincent’s warnings of great danger.
Deep below, Catherine is taken to Paracelsus himself. He wears a half-mask of gold to cover his burn injuries from his last encounter with Vincent. Vincent and his companions are given supplies for their journey. Jamie wishes to come with them, but they will not allow it for fear of putting her in danger. They set off on their journey. Paracelsus informs Catherine that she has been brought so that Vincent can watch her die. Along the way, Vincent encounters an old blind prophetess named Narcissa, who tries to warn him of impending death. Over a campfire, Winslow tells Vincent that he is going along not only to oppose Paracelsus but because he wants to protect the bond that Vincent has forged with Catherine.
The next day, the trio is ambushed by the giant man in service to Paracelsus. A fight ensues. They manage to drive off the man with assistance from Jamie, who has accompanied them against Vincent’s wishes. However, Winslow was killed in the struggle. They pause to give Winslow a funeral and Vincent insists on completing the journey on his own, unwilling to risk any more casualties. Catherine is chained up in preparation for Vincent’s arrival.
Vincent finally enters Paracelsus’s lair, where Paracelsus is waiting for him. He holds Vincent at bay by threatening to kill Catherine. He claims that it was he who found Vincent as a baby and not Father. He also claims to have raised Vincent from infancy and that Father made him leave Vincent behind when he was banished. When he professes to love Vincent, Vincent balks and points out that if Paracelsus was capable of his murderous acts, than he “never really knew love.” He rushes in to save Catherine, but Paracelsus’s gigantic minion lights a pyre under her and fights Vincent. Vincent manages to beat him and unchain Catherine, but Paracelsus gets away.
His journey complete, Vincent takes Catherine with him out of Paracelsus’s lair. When he asks why he couldn’t sense her fear, Catherine says she didn’t allow herself to feel any. Vincent ponders the revelation that Paracelsus raised him and realizes the meaning behind what Father meant about “truth beyond knowledge.” Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: CBS
- DATE: March 18, 1988 8:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:47:50
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:15103
- GENRE: Drama, fantasy/science fiction
- SUBJECT HEADING: Drama, fantasy/science fiction; Romance
- SERIES RUN: CBS - TV series, 1987-1990
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Paul Junger Witt … Executive Producer
- Tony Thomas … Executive Producer
- Ron Koslow … Supervising Producer, Created by
- Stephen Kurzfeld … Co-Supervising Producer
- David Peckinpah … Producer
- George R. R. Martin … Producer
- Kenneth R. Koch … Producer
- Christopher Toyne … Associate Producer
- Anthony Mazzei … Associate Producer
- Christopher Leitch … Director
- Howard Gordon … Writer
- Alex Ganza … Writer
- Don Davis … Music by
- Lee Holdridge … Theme Music by
- Linda Hamilton … Cast, Catherine Chandler
- Ron Perlman … Cast, Vincent
- Roy Dotrice … Cast, Father
- Jay Acovone … Cast, Joe Maxwell
- Beah Richards … Cast, Narcissa
- James Avery … Cast, Winslow
- Armin Shimerman … Cast, Pascal
- Tony Jay … Cast, Paracelsus
- Ellen Geer … Cast, Mary
- Irina Irvine … Cast, Jamie
- Big John Studd … Cast, Erlik