Despite receiving largely positive reviews from critics, it garnered low Nielsen ratings and was cancelled in early June 2009, three months before Swayze’s death.
[1] Set in Chicago, veteran middle-aged FBI agent Charles Barker applies controversial techniques in his attempts to bring criminals to justice, which often border on illegal and unsettle his uninitiated rookie partner, Ellis Dove.
Dove's loyalty to his partner is challenged when FBI internal affairs agent Ray Beaumont (Larry Gilliard) approaches him to gain information.
[3] Suzan Young of RealNetworks stated that, "Patrick Swayze gives the performance of a lifetime as the hard-edged FBI agent Charles Barker in A&E's The Beast".
[4] In his review, Ray Richmond of The Hollywood Reporter stated that, "Beast has a far grittier feel and look than one would suspect from a show starring Swayze—not to mention one on A&E.