'Beauty and the Beast' Sneak Peek: Vincent Plans Big Proposal for Catherine -- Is This Their Happily Ever Afte

Are wedding bells in Beauty and the Beast’s future?

Fans of The CW’s supernatural romance have been waiting a year for the next chapter in Vincent (Jay Ryan) and Catherine’s (Kristin Kreuk) epic love story and boy, does patience sure pay off!

When Beauty and the Beast returns Thursday for 13 brand-new episodes, two months have passed after the devastating finale (R.I.P. Gabe) and things between Vincent and Catherine couldn’t be better. So naturally, Vincent – done with his beastly ways for now – makes the bold decision to propose to Catherine, and ETonline has your exclusive first look from the premiere.

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Unfortunately for the couple, all good things must come to an end and their brief respite certainly does but at what cost? Ahead of the season three premiere, Ryan jumped on the phone with ETonline to chat about Vincent's marriage goals, conflicts with Catherine and a hint at season four.

ETonline: What do you want fans to know about season three?

Jay Ryan: Season three is a very precisely-sifted version of seasons one and two, and it’ll be in a more cohesive form. It’ll be more charming for the audience I think, because we know what the audiences want now, and it’ll have a good mix of the mythology and the romance that our dedicated fans are after.

Speaking of things loyal fans of the show like, Catherine and Vincent start off the season trying to be a real couple but I imagine that honeymoon period doesn’t last.

It doesn’t last. We definitely play on that in the opening of season three. Vincent is very much in a comfortable, glorious place – probably where we’ve never seen him before. It feels like he has come full circle and he’s put the lid on the darker side of who he is. The DHS agents, who are supposedly helping them out, he got them exonerated from his term in prison and they’re keeping this watchful eye on him and making sure he’s protected. He feels safe and he feels like he’s at the point now where he can life the commitment to Catherine a little higher and possibly pop the big question. But that doesn’t last very long!

What prompts Vincent to take that big leap forward and plan his proposal to Catherine? Does he feel, like you said, that this is the natural next step in their relationship?

Vincent feels like it’s now and never. There’s a calm in the storm, everything seems to be tied up, there are no creatures or nasty people hanging around in their inner circle – or so it seems. He wants to show Catherine that he can have this other side to him, that he doesn’t have to be a half-man, half-creature who is out to fight all the time – that he can be a regular Joe Blow and live a normal lifestyle. He misreads what Catherine wants in their relationship and that’s where conflict may hit the two. Vincent has a lot of maturing and growing up to do in terms of what he understands what a relationship should be and Catherine as well. They’ve been so occupied by their occupations that they’ve got to give time to really learn who each other are now and who they are as a unit together.

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You mentioned Catherine and Vincent won’t be seeing eye to eye when it comes to their romance. Anything in particular you can speak to?

He finds out that Catherine is feeling a little empty [with] this new lifestyle the two have been living as a normal couple. He’s taken aback by that. The DHS agents withdraw their offer of keeping them safe because of supernatural occurrences in New York City. Catherine wants to jump on the case, she wants to fight the good fight and find out what the answers are, and Vincent just wants to pop the question and run away from it all. You’ve got these opposing stereotypes of the female and the male mind.

Does he actually go through with the proposal? Is there an answer?

There are several attempts and often when Vincent thinks it’s the perfect time to get down on one knee, a larger threat creeps in. But there is a proposal. I’m not going to tell you if she accepts it or not, you’ll have to wait and see. But I think what the conclusion these two characters come to is now that they’re at this point in their lives, they have to really accept who they are in this world and what their purpose is.

The fact that Vincent is bottling up the beast side of him for so long is going to be a major issue moving forward.

It really is. Vincent is so good at lying to himself and thinking everything is going to be OK. He is very much a dormant volcano at this point. It’s bubbling inside and he is so afraid of anyone asking him to show that darker side of him. He’s worried that as soon as it comes out – it’s been so long since he’s shown that side – it’s going be even darker and more ferocious than anyone’s seen before, especially Catherine because he’s always worried about losing her. Right at the happiest point in his life, everything can come crumbling down at the beat of a heart. He is on eggshells at this point.

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There are several new characters coming into fray, notably Bob (Alan Van Sprang) and Carol (Natasha Henstridge), married Homeland Security Agents. How does their presence affect Vincent and Carol?

Bob and Carol were brought as a device to show what Vincent and Catherine could be like in the next five or 10 years and make it OK that there is another couple like them. [Bob and Carol] help them along with their predicament but also show how to live life as a loving couple. [Vincent and Catherine] are lured into a sense of hope with Bob and Carol entering the picture, but as is the way Beauty and the Beast is formulated, it all goes awry. They become best of friends and the worst of enemies, all in the matter of a few episodes. There are some great fight sequences between the four characters. Bob and Carol are almost carbon copies of Vincent and Catherine, so they’re a lot harder to manage than some of their other encounters.

There’s also Liam (Jason Gesnick), who is a new character that is said to be a major threat to Catherine and Vincent. What can we expect from him?

Liam enters the picture later down the track and Liam is connected to another character which you’ll discover. The audience will sort of put two and two together once he enters the picture. Liam is a mastermind who can definitely take Vincent and Catherine down. He is a huge threat.

How would you describe Vincent’s journey this season?

Vincent’s challenge this season is learning to be in a committed relationship as this creature that he is. He needs to really accept who he is and accept who Catherine is and accept that they’re meant to be together. “Who am I?” was season two and “Who are we?” is season three. That is the greatest challenge, not the life and death situations [they face] but the situation of love and lust.

I know it’s a little early to chat about season four but what can you tease?

We finished shooting 4x01 [on Tuesday]. We had a cast and writers meeting before pre-production and we got a rundown from Brad Kern, our showrunner, and I’m way excited for season four. Already the tone of the show is a little lighter than season three. That’s definitely more fun to play and I definitely have more freedom to develop Vincent’s character even more in season four. There’s only so much crime-fighting you can do. Finding those more human, comedic moments is something I get to do in season four.

So Vincent and Cat: The Comedy Hour in season four?

Yeah! Season three is a blood-curdler and season four is love and laughs.

Beauty and the Beast premieres Thursday at 8 p.m. on The CW.