I am six months into this show, and thus only invested enough to make incoherent sounds of “naugh!” at the end of the teaser. Before that, I was wondering who designed such a crappy emergency room layout. Also, doesn’t the patient needs oxygen? Hands-only CPR is the standard bystander response for cardiac arrest. Eh, but what do I know? I’m not a doctor!
For a lighthearted crime procedural, the Castle premiere was…kind of depressing, and heavy. It makes sense since it does take place immediately after the events of “Knockdown,” but I missed the humor. Yes, Ryan — *sniffle*, I miss his charming, sweetheart personality — and Esposito did their best to amuse me, but it was still a very dark episode, and it wasn’t helped by the presence of Captain “Iron” Gates. It was necessary, coming immediately after the season three finale/Knockout. Still *sniffles*
While it was amusing to see how badly Ryan and Esposito were hiding information from their new Captain, Ryan’s edgier personality highlighted how much everything had changed. It’s not a warm, welcoming precinct anymore; it’s colder, darker, and I hope that’s not foreshadowing how the rest of the season is going to play out. I watch Castle for the antics, not for the creepy cases. (That’s Criminal Minds.) It’s clear that Montgomery’s death has hit the crew hard, and that Gates’ presence, even four months in, is still something that everyone’s getting used to. I hope that there will continue to be fallout from Montgomery’s death, sprinkled throughout the season, even as people adjust to the new captain.
It will be interesting to see how Gates’ characterization plays out in the coming season; I hope the writers don’t make her into a cliché about female minority authority figures. I also hope that she doesn’t come off as an exasperated kindergarten teacher—even though there are moments when the precinct comes off as a daycare (I’m looking at you, Castle). Speaking of Castle…
Castle. Richard Castle.
Tell Beckett about the damn phone call.
Overconfidence is going to get you both killed! You can't control her, and she is going to make you part of her target practice when she finds out.
She will find out Richard Castle, and there will be hell to pay. Remember, she carries a gun.
As for the other half:
Beckett… remember how Castle is still mad at you for not calling him for three months? Yeah, um, when he finds out you lied to him about remembering the shooting and the (inconveniently timed) confession, that angry is going to come back. Granted, if you ask him out on a date immediately afterwards, he might be quicker to forgive you. (He’ll forgive you, either way, it just depends on how long you want him to sulk.)
Either way, Ms. Katic was outstanding tonight. The shaky reholstering of her weapon alone…wow. (Though that reaction does beg the question, how the hell did she get her psych clearance back? By lying? If so, that has…disturbing implications, but we do see her going back to her psychologist/psychiatrist at the end scene to deal with the issues. Still, scary that she would put herself and her team at risk like that just to get back to work…)
Actors must work with the material they are given, so I appreciate the vibe between the two leads in the showdown scene. The Castle and Beckett exchanged reminded me of the Booth and Bones vibe, particularly the episode where Booth had to requalify on the range after his brain surgery. One partner being able to calm another one down just by being there—that’s very sweet.
As for the rest of the Castle family… even though Martha and Alexis had small parts, I enjoyed watching Castle needing the acknowledgement of his mother and daughter to move forward with his (foolish) plan. As flighty as Martha sometimes is, she is a capable mother figure who doesn’t hesitate to whack her son upside the head when he needs it. It doesn’t always work, but at least she tries. Alexis appears quite a bit more confrontational in this episode, which I suppose stems from the fact that her father was shot at, and one of her friends was shot right in front of her. That alone is enough to send anyone into a protective rage. (Ms. Quinn played that scene in the hospital corridor beautifully. “You want a piece of my father? You have to get past me first.”)
I would have liked to see a bit more Lanie, being protective and supportive while trying to handle her own fallout from witnessing her best friend being shot. For all that Lanie is a Shipper On Deck, I think she would be the type of guard-dog friend that Beckett would need to pull herself back together, not to mention that outside source of Common Sense to keep Beckett from disappearing into her mother’s murder case (again).
Who else am I forgetting? Oh, yes, poor Josh; he’s not a douchebag character, and there’s really no reason for fandom to not like him, other than that he’s a rival to Castle for Beckett’s affections. He just stuck his hands into his girlfriend’s bleeding chest; I’d excuse a brawling fistfight as an appropriate reaction. Not sure what to make of Mr. Beckett’s reaction, but I’ll just assume he had a massive breakdown off screen before he took Kate to the cabin and tried to wrap her in bubble wrap. Also, case? What case? Oh…you mean that case that took a backseat that it nearly toppled off the show? Yeah… I barely remember it.
So overall, it was a good season premiere, but please give me back the funny, happy Castle, or else I might not be able to last very long. (Or you’ll turn into my Criminal Minds redux, where I only watch after I’ve read the episode summaries and made sure it’s a happy ending.)
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