The Insider.com

One of the most crucial elements to Beauty and the Beast's mythology is that, at times, "Belle" is scared of "The Beast." That element comes into play heavily with tonight's all new episode of The CW's Beauty and the Beast as Catherine learns some very unsettling facts about Vincent's past.

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TheInsider.com scored an exclusive clip from the episode, titled Basic Instinct, and caught up with Jay Ryan to talk about Vincent's evolution, what's next for the character and if Evan is this version's "Gaston."

TheInsider.com: The last time we spoke, you only had the pilot under your belt. Looking at the show now, what do you think about it?
Jay Ryan: I feel like, especially with tonight's episode, the series really finds its feet and delves into that mythology of Vincent's backstory. And that's what's always excited me about the project, from the time I opened the pilot script. So now that I feel like we've laid down the foundation of the series, we can start to explore that more. Things start to unravel a bit tonight, which gives room for Vincent and Catherine to forge a romantic relationship a little more.

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Insider.com: Is tonight's episode flashback-heavy, then?
Jay: No, not at all. The episode is really Vincent's greatest fear because Muirfield really nails down Catherine as a target and lures Vincent back to the lair where he was created. In the first few episodes, we've seen Vincent's sense of safety and Catherine bringing in these opportunities for him to relive who he used to be, so in tonight's episode he comes across a young man who's been badly beaten. Vincent delivers him to the hospital, and does what he can, but then he takes the case to Catherine only to discover that Catherine has, all of a sudden, gone very cold on him. As he delves in deeper, he realizes that she's very fearful of him because that Muirfield has knocked on her door.

Insider.com: How much does Silverfox play into that?
Jay: Silverfox is the man behind the curtain that pushes the button. So in the world of the beasts he's God really. He can create them and he can also destroy them. Now, Vincent is very tactical and I think Vincent believes that he can outplay his creator. But he knows how dirty this man is, and he worries that Catherine doesn't know these kind of tactics. She plays it by the book a lot, but in his world, it's very underhanded combat. Silverfox is a huge threat because of that and in Vincent's mind, Silverfox may possibly need to be taken out altogether.

Insider.com: As we saw in last week's episode, Catherine seems able to soothe Vincent's beastly tendencies. Are you saying that won't always be the case?
Jay: We always wanna keep that high stakes element where Vincent could, at any time, flip out and wrongfully attack Catherine. But she definitely holds the key to his humanity. And she does have a calming element on him. And for me, that's the connection with Catherine, and Catherine's mother, who possibly had something to do with his creation as the beast. So there's something about these female Chandlers that can create beasts but also calm them.

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Insider.com: When do we get more information about the death of Catherine's mother?
Jay: The following episode is a lot about that whole mystery. Vincent is honest with Catherine, but he's holding all these secrets from her just hoping they'll never arise. But the visit from Muirfield definitely laid it all on the table.

Insider.com: The show seems to be setting up Evan as a possible alternate romance for Catherine, is he the "Gaston" of the show?
Jay: I definitely think that love triangles are golden TV bible stuff, so that is definitely gonna be put into our story. And he poses a great threat for Vincent on an emotional level amongst all this chaos and violence because when you throw another player in there for Catherine's affections, it's really interesting to see how Vincent deals with that emotionally. There's also his identity, which can be very easily taken from him, and Evan is putting pieces together.

Insider.com: Looking ahead, what are you excited for the audience to see after tonight's episode?
Jay: I'm really excited to continue building off of Vincent's origins because that's the past ten, fifteen years of his life before he became the beast. Where are all those people from his life? How is he keeping away from family members, ex-lovers, or fiancees, maybe? All of that stuff starts to be revealed. And as Catherine and Vincent's relationship heats up, those characters may just come up to pose a threat. His past may catch up with him.

Beauty and the Beast airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. on The CW.