Source: http://www.tvequals.com

Title Sleeper

Two-Sentence Summary When Castle starts having dreams about the two months he was missing, he sets off on a quest to find the truth. That quest ultimately leads him to an old prep-school acquaintance who holds the answers about his dreams, his disappearance, and the reason he had to miss his wedding day.

Favorite Line “I’ll be with him. Wherever this leads him, I promise you: I’m not going to let him go too far.” (Beckett, to Martha)

My Thoughts We learned a lot about what happened to Castle during his two-month disappearance in “Sleeper.” And yet I can’t help but feel that this was a case of too little, too late. By abandoning this mystery for the better part of the season, much of its emotional weight was lost by the time we got to “Sleeper.” And that lack of emotional resonance wasn’t helped by the episode’s rushed pacing and anticlimactic resolution. Castle has always done remarkably well with long-running story arcs, but I don’t think Castle’s disappearance will be spoken of with the same reverence among fans as the Johanna Beckett arc or the 3XK arc.

The latter arc might have played some role in this episode’s reception—at least for me. This season did such a brilliant job of handling the 3XK arc that it didn’t feel necessary to have another big, dramatic arc that wasn’t connected to 3XK at all. Beckett had Bracken; Castle had 3XK. It was a perfect balance. Throwing a new overarching story into the mix seemed to be something that should have waited until 3XK was finished. It only led to comparisons between “Sleeper” and this season’s fantastic two–parter, and, frankly, “Sleeper” didn’t stand a chance against those two episodes.

To be fair, I think “Sleeper” didn’t stand a chance for many reasons that had little to do with the actual quality of the episode. I normally try to stay away from discussions about contracts and show renewals because the speculation just stresses everyone out. However, when issues with the business side of television carry into what I’m watching onscreen, I need to talk about it. And “Sleeper” was very clearly a victim of circumstance. At the time it was written and filmed, no one was certain if there would be another season of Castle, and I suppose we still don’t know for sure. With actor contracts up in the air, it made sense for them to try to wrap up a storyline that could have gone on much longer, while still leaving some things open in case the show ever got the chance to go back to them. However, that uncertainty made for a rushed and incomplete resolution to what should have been an important story. It felt like the writers just threw a bunch of ideas at the wall and went with what stuck.

And what stuck was an incredibly strange story of espionage, terrorism, and…boyhood friendship?

Continue reading →

Source: http://www.tvfanatic.com

Title At Close Range

Two-Sentence Summary Ryan finds himself in the middle of a murder investigation when a philanthropist with political connections is killed at an event where he was working as a member of the security team. Things get even more complicated when Ryan’s brother-in-law, who got him the extra work, becomes a suspect.

Favorite Lines
Castle: Is it One Direction? You’d tell me, right? Are they in town?
Esposito: No, they’re in Hong Kong.

My Thoughts Sadly, non-NGN responsibilities have forced me to be brief with this week’s Castle post. So instead of a full recap, here are Five Fast Takes from “At Close Range,” and I can’t wait to talk about this episode in greater detail with all of you in the comments!

1. Castle and Esposito being One Direction fans was one of the greatest side conversations on this show in a long time. I think I’ve re-watched that one little exchange five times since last night. Nathan Fillion and Jon Huertas had great timing with their line delivery, and sometimes a silly moment like that just lands perfectly, which this one did for me.

2. I love Kevin Ryan. I don’t know if it’s the way he’s written or if it’s the earnestness Seamus Dever brings to him or if it’s some combination of the two (I’m guessing that’s it), but I find Ryan-centric episodes to be some of the show’s finest hours. My favorite thing about Ryan is how deeply he cares about doing the right thing. It makes him an easy character to root for. I also love how perfectly in-character it is for him to be burdened by guilt and a sense of failure when things go wrong on his watch. Ryan has the one-two punch of Irish-Catholic guilt working against him, and that makes his sense of devotion to doing the right thing even more believable.

Continue reading →

Title The Wrong Stuff

Two-Sentence Summary The 12th precinct team investigates a murder in a simulator designed to train astronauts for a 2018 Mars mission. The psychological effects of too many people in cramped quarters is also explored within Castle’s loft, as Alexis starts bringing more friends over and Martha gets a new boyfriend.

Favorite Line “To boldly go—oh, right over there.” (Castle)

My Thoughts Due to time constraints (and a brain that can think of little else but the Parks and Recreation series finale) today, I have to keep my thoughts on this fun episode brief. Therefore, I’m going to break them down into Five Fast Takes on “The Wrong Stuff.”

1. This episode didn’t really take off until its final act.
Sometimes the shift from dramatic Castle episodes to comedic episodes works, and sometimes it feels incredibly jarring. The beginning of this episode felt like one of those jarring times. After the intense drama of the previous two weeks, it was difficult to get back into the swing of a typical Castle episode, especially when a standalone episode like this one doesn’t allow for any residual talk of what happened with 3XK or for any residual effects to be shown by the characters. It took me longer than usual to go with the flow of this light Castle fare, and I think it’s because—for as much as I like the “fun and nerdy” cases—I’ll always favor the heavy stuff when it comes to this show. It was only when the twists started coming fast and furious that I really began to enjoy the ride.

Continue reading →

Source: tv.com

Title Reckoning

Two-Sentence Summary Castle and the rest of the team at the 12th precinct race to save Beckett from Jerry Tyson and Kelly Neiman. As the hunt for Tyson turns into a kind of psychological war between the mystery writer and the serial killer, Beckett works to free herself from Neiman’s clutches after the plastic surgeon reveals she has special plans for Beckett’s beautiful face.

Favorite Lines
Beckett: Every time I close my eyes, I see her face.
Castle: I see his, too—since that night on the bridge. You know how I deal with it?
Beckett: No.
Castle: I open my eyes and look at you.
Beckett: Thanks for coming to get me.
Castle: Always.

My Thoughts After seven seasons, Castle can still pull of a February sweeps two-parter like no other show in the business. In fact, it might have pulled off its most riveting two-parter yet with the one-two punch of last week’s twisted “Resurrection” and this week’s breathless “Reckoning.” This was Castle at its very best: confident, intelligent, emotional, and driven by pitch-perfect performances.

There was no easing into the action after the chilling cliffhanger of “Resurrection.” From the very start, we were put into Castle’s shoes, and the panicked, dark, increasingly desperate state he was in informed the tone of the episode from its first beats. In the world of television, some things are certain, and those certainties can sometimes keep us from losing ourselves in a storyline. We all knew Beckett couldn’t die, just like we all knew in this season’s premiere that Castle couldn’t be gone forever. However, the mark of a great actor is their ability to make you forget that you know how this is all going to work out. Stana Katic did that as Beckett wrestled with Castle’s disappearance, and Nathan Fillion did that in this episode. We might have known Beckett was going to survive, but Castle didn’t know that. And Fillion had to play Castle’s fear and uncertainty in such a way that it became real for us because it felt so real for him. I think the fact that I spent the majority of this episode watching through my fingers or crying (or both) speaks to how well he was able to get me to connect to Castle’s desperation, despite my knowledge that Beckett was going to be fine.

The characteristically excellent direction of Rob Bowman and score by Robert Duncan helped create the episode’s oppressive sense of tension without calling too much attention to themselves. Bowman’s penchant for shadows paired perfectly with the haunting musical cues to create an episode so dark and disturbing that I didn’t want go anywhere alone in the minutes after it was over.

Continue reading →

Hello, fellow Castle fans! I hope you’re all doing well despite surely not getting any sleep after this latest episode. Today’s post will follow a slightly different format to account for time constraints on my part and the open-ended nature of the first part of a two-part episode. I hope you find it to be a good starting place for discussing this chilling hour of television.

Source: spoilertv.com

Title Resurrection

Two-Sentence Summary When a blonde woman with a connection to Dr. Kelly Neiman ends up dead, Castle, Beckett, and the whole team at the 12th precinct fear that the dangerous serial killer Jerry Tyson, aka 3XK, could be involved. However, Dr. Neiman’s plastic surgery work, the lack of DNA records for Tyson, and multiple cases of copycat identities allow the pair to continue to torment everyone at the 12th, including Castle and—in a very dangerous way—Beckett.

Favorite Line “I never forget a face, especially if I cut it.” (Dr. Neiman)

Episode M.V.P.: Nathan Fillion
Fillion always rises to the challenge when it comes to Castle’s dramatic episodes, especially episodes dealing with the 3XK storyline. While Stana Katic got to show off her dramatic chops during episode dealing with Beckett’s mother and Senator Bracken, 3XK has always been a more Castle-centric—and, therefore, Fillion-centric—storyline. These episodes have been building since Season Three to create a layered portrait of a man carrying the weight of years of guilt and fear on his shoulders because he didn’t stop Tyson and instead has become the killer’s favorite target for psychological torment.

Continue reading →

Source: tvequals.com

Title I, Witness

Two-Sentence Summary After an old friend of Castle’s hires him to do P.I. work on her cheating husband, she ends up dead, with Castle believing he saw her husband kill her. However, things aren’t as simple as Castle believes them to be, as a tangled web of deception is revealed when the team at the 12th precinct begins to look into the case, with Castle helping them as a witness.

Favorite Line “…Caught him red-handed and bare-bottomed.” (Castle)

My Thoughts Castle has found a really great groove recently. Every episode since the winter hiatus has been entertaining and has felt fresher than the show has felt in quite some time. The combination of personal (marriage) and professional (Castle’s P.I. job) changes in Castle and Beckett’s dynamic has actually done Castle a world of good, breathing new life into a show in its seventh season—no small feat.

“I, Witness” was another fun and compelling episode to add as evidence that many (myself included) were wrong to initially predict that the “Richard Castle, P.I.” experiment would be a weak point for the show. Instead, it’s been incredibly enjoyable to watch. This episode in particular had three excellent selling points: a compelling case, strong moments from supporting characters, and plenty of good Castle/Beckett moments.

Continue reading →

Source: tvequals.com

Title Private Eye Caramba!

Two-Sentence Summary While Beckett and the team at the 12th precinct investigate the murder of a telenovela star, Castle’s private investigator business is struggling to find worthwhile cases. To help him feel better, Beckett sends him a client—a friend and costar of the murder victim looking for her missing purse, which may be a bigger clue to finding the killer than anyone thought.

Favorite Line “Canvasing? Oh, that thing you get Espo and Ryan to do.” (Castle, to Beckett)

My Thoughts While it might not have been quite as much fun as last week’s “Castle, P.I.” (mainly because it didn’t have the element of pleasant surprise on its side), “Private Eye Caramba!” was still a thoroughly entertaining way to spend an hour. It featured some of the show’s most crowd-pleasing elements (plenty of “Caskett” banter—and kissing, a healthy heaping of bromance, and a fandom-inspired case that revealed a secret nerdy side of one of our main characters), and it was a good way to combine beloved elements of Castle lore with this new direction the show is heading in at least for the moment.

This new direction for the show seems to be including more interaction between Beckett and Martha, which I adore. Last week’s cute morning greeting was followed-up by this week’s breakfast-table discussion of Castle’s P.I. business. I loved seeing these two women share their worries about Castle’s new venture while still being willing to support him if it’s what he really wants. Martha fills such an importance place in Beckett’s life, and I hope these scenes are a sign that their dynamic is going to continue to be explored in such a positive way. Scenes between Beckett and Martha are also a nice reminder of Castle’s love for and admiration of strong women. Both his mother and his wife aren’t afraid to say when they think he’s wrong, but it’s also nice to see them still ready to encourage him if he really believes in something.

And Castle really does believe in his P.I. work. It’s something he’s obviously having fun with (hence his film-noir-style voiceovers), but it’s also something he takes seriously, which is why he was frustrated that he couldn’t find better uses for his time as a P.I. than doing background checks on teenage boys. And I loved that Beckett could see how much this P.I. work means to him (even beyond him getting to be his own muse, which was a fantastic line). I found her sending him a client to be a very romantic gesture, especially for these two characters. It was her way of supporting her husband in his new work the way he’s supported her in her work for so many years. Sometimes Beckett might tease Castle about his crazy theories or his goofiness, but she ultimately respects his ability to solve cases. And sending Sofia to him was a nice vote of confidence in his professional abilities, which ultimately paid off for her, too, as it helped her find Anna’s killer.

Continue reading →