Beauty and The Beast (TV) Season 2, Episode 4 Dead of Winter Commented by
Agnès |
The opening speech for the Tunnels'
Winterfest celebration is best understood when we keep in mind that Winterfest
was created as a means to boost the Tunnel community's spirits after Paracelsus
was banned. The light has all the more meaning when confronted with the
darkness. This explains why the first part of the episode dwells a lot on this
darkness, through Paracelsus' many (articulate) words.
Paracelsus
Their world is mine by rights.
I made them. I taught them. But... they have lessons yet to learn.
Tamara
What kind of lessons?
Paracelsus
Poetry lessons...
(begins to recite from "
That this world, which seems
To lie before us like a land
of dreams,
So various, so beautiful, so
new
Hath really neither joy, nor
love, nor light,
Nor certitude, nor peace, nor
help for pain;
And we are here as on a
darkling plain
Swept with confused alarms of
struggle and flight,
Where ignorant armies clash by
night.
Later
on, he talks with Narcissa, for whom there is no darkness, for she is
clairvoyant.
Paracelsus (as himself)
There are no friends in the
darkness, old woman. In the dark, all men are enemies.
Catherine's
first entrance into the Great Hall at Winterfest appears as a ritual. Vincent
is a symbol of light, not only to Catherine who is in love with him, but also
to the whole community who knit together around him (see the episode
"Remember Love" that occurs not long before this one in the show's
timeline); we are told he was just a baby at the time of the first Winterfest
celebration. His next words might as well be spoken to any new guest about to
join the circle.
Vincent
Can I lead you through the dark?
Catherine
There is no darkness, Vincent... when you’re with me.
The celebration begins, candles are slowly lit one by
one. The ritual words are spoken by three symbolic characters: Father, Mary,
and the Son...
Father
The world above us is cold and gray, summer a distant memory. Our world,
too, has known its winters, so each year we begin this feast in darkness, as
our world began in darkness.
Vincent
Long before the city above us raised its towers to the sky, men sought
shelter in these caverns.
Mary
In those days, these tunnels were dark places, and those who dwelt here
dwelt in fear and isolation.
Vincent
This was a land of lost
hope... of twisted dreams, a land of despair... where the sounds of footsteps
coming down a tunnel were the sounds of terror... where men reached for knives
and rocks and worse at the sound of other men’s voices.
Father
But at last a few people
learned to put aside their fear.
Mary
And we began to trust each
other... to help each other.
Vincent
And each of us grew stronger... those who took the help, and those who
gave it.
Father
We are all part of one another... one family... one community. Sometimes
we forget this, and so we meet here each year to give thanks to those who have
helped us... and to remember... even the greatest darkness is nothing, so long
as we share the light.
Later,
doubt and suspicion set in. Who is the traitor? We hear how the celebration is
meant to endure: as a regularly renewed alliance between its members. Now
Paracelsus' role may be seen less as accidental than as an indispensable
mimodrama to remind everyone of the celebration's deeper meaning. It reminds me
of the Mummer's plays played at Christmas by English villagers (and that I was
privileged to see in
Father
Winterfest is a time for brotherhood, for joy, and trust. Now, if we
forget that, if we allow this day, of all days, to be tainted with fear... then
Paracelsus will truly have won!
The drama is over. Now it is time to celebrate the
victory of light and to acknowledge its meaning. Words are not enough. The
unity that exists between the Tunnel
community and its Helpers is enacted through the human chain into which a new
link can be inserted.
Father
To Catherine:
Come, complete the circle.
To all:
The darkness almost engulfed us this year, but our unity gave us strength.
Our shared light showed us the truth. As we part for another year, let us
remember that darkness is only the absence of light... and all winters end.
This episode's whole transcript can be found at The Beauty and the Beast Scripts and
Transcription Project
Comments translated by Claire "with a little help from my
friends"