Wot, No Third Season

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Title:	Wot, No Third Season
Creator:	Janet Kilbourne
Date(s):	1994
Medium:	print
Fandom:	Beauty and the Beast (TV)
Topic:
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Wot, No Third Season" is a 1994 Beauty and the Beast (TV) essay by Janet Kilbourne.

It was published in an unknown issue of The Chronicle and reprinted in The Spiral Staircase #9.

Some Topics Discussed

• solutions to plot and fix canon "on paper" in fanzines don't work on the screen
• the third season of Beauty and the Beast (TV) had most of the best acting, focused on Vincent Wells, was more daring than the first two seasons
• the traditional story of Beauty and the Beast is one of tragedy and loss
• many fans watched the show for escapism, but there were some episodes in the first two seasons that were real "downers" - "a lot of episodes in a series supposedly watched because it makes people happy"
• for fans opposed to the violence in the third season: consider the first two seasons where "there is enough there to satisfy even the most bloodthirsty. But is that any worse than all the bodies of first and second seasons combined? Or are those deaths acceptable because they were for Catherine? Sobering thought, isn't it?"
• if one calls themself a fan of the series, they must support all three seasons
• the essay includes these combative phrases: "I would personally take these low-life little Hitlers and put them out of their obvious misery as swiftly and painlessly as possible." And: "Catherine is the beautiful, pampered and highly strung racehorse..."

From the Essay

There seems to be a healthy and growing willingness to bring this subject up, and no matter what views are expressed in the end, at least the (published) comments are revealing one thing: in Britain there is an acknowledgement that at least these twelve episodes happened.

Now I know this is a touchy subject. I know I'm going to get some flack for even mentioning it, but to those who know me it will come as no surprise that 1 state categorically, here and now, I lite third season. I think third season was great. Some of the best acting, writing and technical work of the entire series happened in third season. OK? And for those of you who haven't already turned to another article I'll try and explain why I think so.

The premise behind Beauty and the Beast's first and second seasons was innovative, daring and worked well. For at least thirty five episodes. And then it began to tire, as series will that do nothing but meditate on platonic love. After all, where do you take a romance in which the lead characters do nothing but hug each other? Until 'Orphans', when I began to think there was some hope, which was then promptly dashed when neither Vincent nor Catherine ever alluded to that little peck again. I can understand Ms Hamilton's frustration. Can't we all? Our series was beginning to die in the latter half of second season until the trilogy and the beginning of the 'arc', by which time she had already taken the decision to leave, thus necessarily changing the face of our Beauty for ever. What, then, were the creators and writers to do? Finish the story there, and face fan outcry for killing the show prematurely, or take a creative risk and explore new ground?

... the major point I must make on the theme of acceptance is this: it is not, and never was, a Mills and Boon story. Something as great and inspiring as those 56 episodes which touched so many hearts can never be brought down to the simple level of man meets woman and falls into bed. If we are to go further and say it is in the 'Romeo and Juliet' bracket then we must have tragedy on the same scale. The most tragic love of all is that of Cyrano de Bergerac for Roxanne - another love that could never be, and one in which there truly is no hope, no happy ending.

There again, one can go in the opposite direction. If you have a love story where nothing happens week after week eventually the poor writers are going to stop tracking and produce derivative drivel like 'Remember Love'. Which may be all very well, but when one has come to expect better than a rehashed 'It's A Wonderful Life,' (a trick which has been performed time and again in series which have run out of ideas) then it's time to seriously reconsider the direction being taken. Blame Linda Hamilton for leaving by all means, but if she hadn't, then we wouldn't have had twelve episodes which, if they didn't suit everyone's tastes, at least moved and at least produced more emotion of one kind or another in the fans than first and second season put together.

Now this is not a pure paean of praise for the entire third season. The first time I saw it (and I've only ever seen it on video since Central TV haven't yet deigned to succumb to pressure) I was disturbed by 'In The Forest of the Night' and positively sickened by 'The Reckoning' and 'Legacies', which ruined Father forever. 'Forest' seemed to portray a vengeful, vigilante Vincent, who wiped out the drug factory and killed without thought, even though he didn't know it belonged to Gabriel, and knew his action most certainly wouldn't help Rolley. "Is he better now?" Diana asks ironically, and what is shocking is not that Vincent did it in the first place but that her question doesn't even seem to faze him. His depression here is not concerning the bodies, it is over his total lack of any hope, anywhere. That is what is so disturbing on first viewing the episode. Later, however, and after seeing it several times, I have changed my mind. If Vincent is half man and half Otherthen what he did 'for Rolley' almost has a certain logic to it. If it is indeed the last time we see the actions of his dark side rather than the dark side itself, then he has already made his strike at Gabriel and can therefore leave the actual execution to Catherine, via her gun wielded by Diana - and be content with that.

Diana is that unique being in film - a thinking woman. Self-possessed and accepting that the world can be a harsh place, she can be saddened at the loss of Sally Rogers but would never think of turning her face into a male shoulder and bursting into tears because Jimmy Morero was knifed or Ellie died of plague. Like Lena, she doesn't scream and throw things when first setting eyes on Vincent. She simply gazes in calm awe, a streetwise toughness obviously preparing her - as it did Lena - for whatever strangeness the world can throw up. If Catherine is the beautiful, pampered and highly strung racehorse, then Diana is the unfazed, plodding Shire, equally of value but a different breed entirely - and as we have seen in the past, Vincent has a tendency to go for the former who need to be protected. In this way, Diana never a threat to Catherine's memory. She never came close.

...there is nothing worse for a creator, be he writer, actor, composer or than for his efforts to be savaged by those who, ignorant of except their own bias, take it upon themselves to rubbish one part of his work while accepting the rest. It is not up to Beauty and the Beast Fans and TPTB#anyone who pretends to be a fan of the series to then turn around and throw a third of it out the window. Either they must accept the story in its entirety or not at all, and there are plenty of people out there who are more than willing to cast the entire Beauty and the Beast concept into the garbage.

Is it to be despised that the third season did eventually manage to bring in a few male viewers plus children? Without ratings, without commercial success (the only kind the networks look for) there wouldn't be a series to throw out in the first place. And judging by the fight for viewing figures and the policy at CBS after Sagansky took over, Beauty and the Beast could well have been axed even had Ms Hamilton decided to stay and third season never conceived of. What price villainy then?

As for the stories of personal abuse and vandalism by so-called fans - I would personally take these low-life little Hitlers and put them out of their obvious misery as swiftly and painlessly as possible. Censorship by the masses is as obnoxious a thing as can be imagined and madness is not far behind.

Ron Koslow and his staff writers conceived Beauty and the Beast not only out of love but also to make a living. Incredible as it may seem to some dreamers out there, it's true. That means getting as much mileage out of it as possible and then, when you're let down by one of your leading actors, you try a different angle and try to get as much out of that, too. At the same time you're also putting money into the pockets of the other actors, the technicians and, OK, the studio bosses. That's no mean feat these days. Chances like that don't come simply by stepping into the street and hailing them like cabs. Neither do you sit down and say 'today I will be brilliant' (as Captain Kirk so aptly pointed out). True a few episodes didn't work, but plenty more did, and that includes third season as well.

I am proud to consider myself a fan of Beauty and the Beast. I may prefer some episodes to others but to me first, second and third seasons are what it's all about. They always will be. The story is not complete without any of them, and as Vincent once said, "If ever I'm not there... you finish the story... for me." Now that he is no longer here we can do that. Not by seeing only what we want to see and thus missing half of what's going on, but by accepting all of it, no matter how painful it is. Third season and all.