Patrick Swayze is back and ning for justice as Charles Barker,
an unorthodox but effective FBI veteran in THE BEAST. Though
considered by many, including rookie partner agent Ellis Dove
(Travis Fimmel), to be the best in the business, FBI undercover
operative Barker has a style that is nothing if not
unconventional. In pushing Dove to immerse himself more deeply
into the characters they create, Barker makes it clear how the
stresses and dangers of working undercover make normal
relationships impossible. As he and his mentor are tested by
cases that pit them against ruthless drug lords, dangerous arms
dealers, corrupt cops and deadly killers-for-hire, Dove also
struggles with his own secret: he's being asked to cooperate with
an FBI investigation of Barker, who's suspected of going rogue.
And as Dove is pressured to become an informant, Barker launches
his own investigation into a conspiracy within the Bureau that's
protecting a secret cadre of agents operating outside t
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The arrival of the crime drama The Beast on DVD is bittersweet
for several reasons: its release unfortunately coincides with the
passing of its star, actor Patrick Swayze, who logged his last
(and some of his best) hours on screen in the show, and his death
brought an end to a promising series that might've endured even
without him. Swayze, who was diagnosed with the pancreatic cancer
that cled his life in 2009 shortly before beginning work on
The Beast, is top-billed as a seasoned FBI agent whose superiors
look past his unorthodox methods due to his success rate at
breaking cases. Travis Fimmel, last seen in the short-lived
Tarzan series, is Swayze's new partner, a former sharpshooter
whom the agency hopes to groom in the veteran agent's image. The
episodes that comprise The Beast's first season are split between
Swayze educating his younger partner in the finer points of
two-fisted crime-solving, and Fimmel's discovery that Swayze is
the subject of internal investigation for his actions. The core
story has been done before, and done better (the theatrical
feature Training Day, for one), but Swayze brings a palpable grit
to his performance (one can recast his career along the lines of
a Dick Powell, who also transitioned gracefully from song and
dance to action-drama), and while the 13 episodes included on
this three-disc set are a fine tribute to the breadth of his
abilities, one can't watch The Beast without thinking that the
actor's untimely death robbed viewers of what might have been a
truly intriguing shift towards harder fare than the titles
commonly associated with Swayze. Each of the 13 episodes is
accompanied by a brief, by-the-books featurette that addresses
aspects of the show's production; one wishes that more material
could have been produced while Swayze was alive to provide for a
fitting tribute. --Paul Gaita
Stills from The Beast: Season One (Click for larger image)
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