Tonight’s episode of Beauty and the Beast was titled “Cat and Mouse,” but what it really should have been called was “The Fall of Gabe,” since that was the focal point of all the drama. Gabe (Sendhil Ramamurthy) may not be a beast in the same sense as Vincent (Jay Ryan), or even in the same vein as his former self, but we find out that he is definitely a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
For most of the season fans watched as Gabe shed his former role as the antagonist bent on sacrificing Vincent in order to emancipate himself from his beast side. After his near death experience, he spent countless episodes atoning for his actions, and even managed to woo Cat (Kristin Kruek) to the point that she believed she had fallen in love with him. And who knows, maybe she really had. Unfortunately, he tied so much of his second chance into their relationship that when it was over, he was the only person that couldn’t accept it.
Despite adamantly denying his involvement in Vincent’s arrest, Gabe’s hubris prevented him from keeping up the same façade he managed with Cat on last week’s episode. He couldn’t stop himself from revelling in Vincent’s current fugitive status, especially when he thought he had caused a permanent wedge in VinCat’s renewed love affair. Yet, perhaps the most painful thing that fans experienced on tonight’s Beauty and the Beast was just how incredibly genuine Gabe comes across as. There is no doubt that this is a character who truly believes he is protecting the woman he loves by eliminating his competition not only as an option, but completely.
That being said, Ramamurthy gave an incredibly believable performance as he escalated the stakes for Vincent and all his cohorts. There’s no chance that Gabe will ever become a fan favorite, clearly pegged as Vincent’s understudy, but he doesn’t shy away from giving it his all anyway. When Gabe finally takes his last bow, however tragic or welcomed it is in the end, he doesn’t risk being as easily forgotten as Evan, even though he probably will take his last breath in a similarly heroic fashion.
