This is the pilot episode. Catherine Chandler, a wealthy Manhattan socialite/corporate attorney is attacked after leaving a party in a case of mistaken identity. Her face is slashed and disfigured and she is left to die in Central Park. She is found by a mysterious man/beast named Vincent and taken underground, to his secret world, an intricate network of chambers and tunnels below the city. Vincent and his "father" nurse Catherine back to health while her face remains bandaged. She can only hear Vincent's gentle voice but does not see him until she removes her bandages in a moment of frantic curiosity. Vincent appears from behind her and she catches a glimpse of him in the mirror. She shrieks in horror at his appearance, throwing the mirror at him, and he slinks away in shame. Catherine, feeling loathesome at her reaction to Vincent's appearance, sulks until Vincent returns to the chamber to tell her that her time to return to the world above has arrived. Vincent says, "I've never regretted what I am...until now." He crouches before her and comforts her as she is afraid of returning above, doubting her courage to face her life with a disfigured face. He offers support and encouragement. She then reaches for the hood of the cloak that often hides his face and lifts it away, smiling at him. Vincent can feel her acceptance of him. He guides her out of the tunnels and leads her to the basement threshhold of her apartment building. Before she leaves, she hugs him...a sensation previously unknown to Vincent. He savors and relishes the feel of her body next to his and within his arms. Voices are heard from above. Frightened, Vincent retreats to the safety of his world and Catherine returns above.
The next eight months are a trying time for Catherine. She undergoes plastic surgery to restore her beauty, she quits her job at her father's law firm, she takes self-defense classes from Isaac Stubbs, and applies for a job with the District Attorney's Office. Meanwhile, Vincent cannot forget her. He has fallen in love with her. He is linked to her through an inexplicable bond "stronger than friendship or love." What Catherine feels, Vincent feels as well--her joy, her pain, her fear, her courage. Father's advice to Vincent to forget her goes unheeded as he pays a visit to Catherine late one evening. He brings her a copy of Dickens' "Great Expectations" and they read aloud to each other until the morning light, the bond now forever unbreakable.
Her new job enables Catherine to search for her attackers with the help of Edie, one of her co-workers. Together, they find the intended victim of Catherine's attack, Carol. Carol agrees to testify against the men who attacked both her and Catherine, but even though taken to a safehome, Catherine arrives to find Carol murdered--her attackers still in the house. Catherine fears for her life as she tries to escape but is caught on the stairwell, a gun in her face. Suddenly, an enormous roar is heard as Vincent breaks through the wall, coming to her rescue, killing the men. Catherine is at first frightened, perhaps repelled by what Vincent has done but accepts his actions as necessary. Together they retreat into the tunnels before the police arrive. Vincent is very much ashamed at what he has done, but is relieved that Catherine is alive and with him....
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