A Total Cat Person – Episode 7 begins with Gracie/The Dragon Queen (Jodie Turner-Smith) reflecting on her life when she realizes the end might be near. This scene shows that Gracie grew up, rebelling against her predetermined role as Dragon Queen. This was until she fell in love with a man visiting Andros, who broke her heart when he left. It was after the heartbreak that she began her transformation into the Dragon Queen, under the guidance of Ya-Ya (L. Scott Caldwell). Ya-Ya will also mention in the scene that Gracie’s mother was the victim of a similar fate.
When the car finally comes to a stop, the Dragon Queen will realize she’s been kidnapped by Christopher/Nick (Rob Delaney) and Eve Stripling (Meredith Hagner). The kidnapping is quickly revealed to be nothing more than a showing of intimidation.
After learning that Detective Mendz’s (Gonzalo Menendez) priceless Persian cat is down in the dumps, Andrew Yancy (Vince Vaughn) and Ro/Rogelio Burton (John Ortiz) spend the morning staking out the vet. During this time, Ro will apologize for leading Yancy into a trap. Their attention will soon be turned to Mendez who shows up and is practically arrested without incident. Ro will immediately report the arrest to Sheriff Sonny Summers (Todd Allen Durkin) while Yancy briefly speaks with Doctor Rosa Campesino (Natalie Martinez) to learn that Neville Stafford’s (Ronald Peet) gunshot was nothing more than a flesh wound.
It doesn’t take long before things take an unexpected turn after Mendez discovers Natalia’s (Lily Jane) missing unicorn hair clip. A brief struggle will ensue and Ro will sustain a leg wound but during the following shootout, Donald (Tyler Colfer) will make a surprise appearance. It is quickly revealed that he’s been tailing Yancy even since he got him fired. There is a bit of back-and-forth about who Donald should help, but the situation ultimately ends with both of them getting shot. Mendez’s wound is fatal.
Feeling defeated, Cody (Alex MacNicoll) turns to Jim Yancy (Scott Glenn) for answers to his Bonnie Witt (Michelle Monaghan) situation, but all he appears to be willing to offer is that his boat didn’t have much gas so Bonnie couldn’t have gotten far. Another brief scene will show that this is not only true but Bonnie is having an equally hard time with running away. She even considers death by an alligator. At the same time, the Dragon Queen decides to sell her stolen property to Eve. Although nothing happens at the moment, Asia (Lauren F. Walker) will see Eve inviting the Dragon Queen back to her place to collect a special gift to celebrate the signing. That gift will later be revealed as an electric scooter for Ya-Ya.
While Ro recovers in the hospital, Neville will share the mountain of evidence he has against Christopher, including a recent photo of him with the missing arm. Later that day, Yancy will have another unpleasant encounter with Evan Shook (Alex Moffat) before handing over Neville’s evidence to Sheriff Summers. He then celebrates the potential of getting his badge back with a visit to Rosa’s house.
The Dragon Queen’s visit to Asia’s shop quickly turns bad when Asia questions seeing her with Eve. There will be a few heated exchanges and Asia will accuse her of stealing Andrea Wendell’s (Anmalya Delva) family property before she storms off. At nearly the same time, Yancy will revisit the Crab Shack with the intention of reclosing it. During his brief debate with the owner, Yancy will learn that Madeline (Nina Grollman) and Pestov (Anthony Belevstov) are now an item that Charles Phinney (Brett Cormier) is out of the way. Rosa’s return to work doesn’t go so well and leads to her visiting Mel Campesino (Gizel Jimenez), who actually gives her the much-needed advice of taking care of herself.
Yancy helps Bonnie in a similar way when he returns home to find her sulking over the Cody situation. At the same time, Asia attempts to convince Ya-Ya that the Dragon Queen stole the Wendell family’s land. Ya-Ya gives the impression of believing that the Dragon Queen could do no wrong, but after she storms off in a hissy, she finds the evidence that convinces her.
Before turning herself in, Bonnie takes a trip down memory lane with a visit to her storage shed. She will soon realize that she has only hastened her demise thanks to the security cameras that Johnna Russell (Ashley Nicole Black) had set up. Despite officially becoming a detective again, things aren’t going much better for Yancy thanks to Director Rhodes (Lauren O’Quinn). She practically tells him that the Feds won’t be extraditing the Striplings.
Ya-Ya tries to convince the Dragon Queen to return the stolen property during a visit to her mother’s gravesite. This only makes the Dragon Queen angry and she becomes even more so as Ya-Ya promises to help her. The Dragon Queen will ultimately end up storming off, giving the impression that she has no intention of returning the land. She will later take things to a physical level when she returns home and begins smashing her magical artifacts. Egg (David St. Louis) will soon interrupt and they will begin making out.
Yancy and Rosa are in the middle of comparing their horrible days when Jim shows up with Cody. After very brief introductions, the episode will end with a shot of several armed men outside Yancy’s house.
Bad Monkey Review
I had figured it was only a matter of time before more about the Dragon Queen’s past was revealed. I wouldn’t say that her background was shocking but it certainly was intriguing enough. I appreciated how it revealed more of her human side as well. Despite the coveted reputation, she’s just as human and vulnerable as anyone. I did not expect Mendez to end up dead or Donald to be a hero but I’m glad that story is wrapped up for the moment.
Although I am enjoying the series and this episode, it is leading into the stagnant waters that I feared it would. 10 episodes are far too many and although the runtime of the episodes has been cut, mostly everything is starting to feel like fluff or filler. I’d give this episode a 5.5 out of 10.
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