Tag Archives: castle

TV Time: Castle 5.02

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Title Cloudy with a Chance of Murder

Two-Sentence Summary The murder of a local TV news personality provides the backdrop for Castle and Beckett’s first case together after her suspension is over. Their plan to pretend to be single (because of the NYPD’s rules about partners dating) backfires when a flirtatious talk show host sets her sights on Castle.

Favorite Line “Excuse me, it was you that was trying to sleep with me…Don’t tell me you dress like that for Esposito.” (Castle)

My Thoughts I think I summed up my thoughts on last night’s episode of Castle in the most succinct way I could on Facebook after it aired: “Another Monday night, another perfect episode of Castle.” There really is nothing else that needs to be said. I know this season is only two episodes old, but I really feel like the writers and the actors are operating on another level right now. Not only are they working to disprove the “Moonlighting Curse” and the belief that a show’s quality deteriorates once you get your will they/won’t they couple together; they’re working to prove that the opposite is true: If put in the right hands, a show can actually improve once the unresolved tension becomes blissfully resolved.

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Nerdy Girl Reads: Frozen Heat

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Title: Frozen Heat

Author: Richard Castle (Heat Wave, Naked Heat, Heat Rises)

Genre: Mystery/crime

Page Count: 313

The Basics: New York City homicide detective Nikki Heat has been haunted for years by the one case she could never solve—her mother’s murder. When an old friend of her mother is found stabbed in the same brutal way, Detective Heat finds herself in the middle of an intricate web of secrets, betrayals, and international espionage. Along with investigative journalist Jameson Rook (her professional and romantic partner), she travels from the bright lights of Paris to the dark alleys of New York City, seeking the answers that have eluded her for over 10 years.

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TV Time: Castle 5.01

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Episode Title After the Storm

Two-Sentence Summary As Castle and Beckett begin a romantic relationship four years in the making, they have bigger things to deal with than just keeping the change in their partnership a secret. The estranged duo of Ryan and Esposito help them finally track down the man who orchestrated the murders of Beckett’s mother, Captain Montgomery, and many others, but when Beckett finally confronts this senator with presidential aspirations, she chooses to seek justice instead of vengeance, deciding to take back control over her own life and shifting the balance of power in her favor.

Favorite Line To represent the expert blending of comedy and drama in this episode, I have two favorites.

Comedic: “Just act normal – if that’s even possible for you.” (Beckett)

Dramatic: “I’m done being afraid. It’s your turn now.” (Beckett)

My Thoughts In the last few years of my media-consuming life, I’ve tried really hard to keep from labeling things I’ve just watched/read/experienced my “favorite.” With that being said, this was my favorite episode of Castle to date. I’ve been religiously watching this show (and re-watching it during hiatuses) since the pilot episode in 2009, and I can honestly say that I don’t think there has ever been a better example of what Castle is as a show when it’s firing on all cylinders than “After the Storm.”

When Castle is at its best, it mixes comedy, drama, and romance in a way that no other show on TV can do as successfully. The best Castle episodes are the ones that make you laugh out loud one minute and wipe away a tear the next minute. This episode did all of those things, and it added an element of suspense that rivaled anything I used to see during my days of watching Alias and other action-driven TV shows.

The major question people had going into this season was: Could Castle break the dreaded (and ridiculous, if you ask me) Moonlighting Curse? I think by the first commercial break that question was answered with a definitive yes. Those opening scenes took everything that makes Castle and Beckett such a dynamic pairing (their smart banter, their humor, and the indescribably potent chemistry between Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic) and turned it up to 11.

The dynamic between Castle and Beckett at the start of this episode was filled with the sparks and sharp dialogue that made the show so enjoyable in its first two seasons. But as the episode went on, we got to see that there is now another layer to their relationship that we finally get to explore. We’ve seen the spark, we saw the heat, and now we get to see the warmth.

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I’ll Be My Own Savior: The Extraordinary Kate Beckett

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Kate Beckett, the main female character in the ABC crime drama Castle is many things: detective, daughter, partner, lover, friend, coffee drinker, nerdy girl, trauma survivor…

She’s also a hero, but her heroism goes even deeper than saving her father from his descent into alcoholism; saving her partner Richard Castle from numerous life-threatening situations; and saving countless others through her work as one of New York City’s best and brightest homicide detectives.

Kate Beckett is her own hero; she’s her own savior. And in a society where so many “romances” still feature men saving women from forces both outside and inside of themselves, Beckett’s desire and ability to save herself matter immensely.

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Grading the Season Finales: Castle

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Title Always (Episode 4.23)

Written By Andrew Marlowe and Terri Miller

Major Characters Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion), Detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic), Detective Kevin Ryan (Seamus Dever), Detective Javier Esposito (Jon Huertas), Alexis Castle (Molly Quinn), Captain Victoria Gates (Penny Johnson Jerald)

What Happens? When a murder investigation leads the detectives to the man who shot Beckett in last season’s finale, she is tempted to once again go down the proverbial rabbit hole and lose herself in the conspiracy surrounding the fatal stabbing of her mother. In order to keep her from risking her life, Castle is forced to reveal to Beckett that he has been withholding leads from her as part of a deal for her life that he made with a mysterious Mr. Smith: If Beckett doesn’t investigate her mother’s death, she stays alive. After his pleas for rational thought and honest confessions of love appear to fall on deaf ears, Castle decides to walk away from Beckett once and for all.

Beckett and Esposito go rogue to try to take down the killer on their own, which ends with Beckett hanging off of a rooftop ledge and Ryan coming to her rescue – after he alerted Captain Gates to what she and Esposito were doing. Though Ryan saved their lives, Beckett and Esposito are suspended, but Beckett takes it one step further. She resigns, turning in her badge as she realizes that she has more to live for than simply avenging her mother’s death; that she wants more than the life she had been living up until that moment. This revelation sends her to Castle’s loft, where she tells him that she is ready to move on from her all-consuming quest for justice and become a whole person – with him. As the two of them kiss and prepare embark on the next chapter in their story, we learn that Beckett’s life is in grave danger as her shooter has found Mr. Smith, taking away Beckett’s greatest source of protection and vowing to kill her once and for all.

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