By Will Beall
***Spoilers! If you haven't watched this episode, please go and do so before continuing!***
So it's been seven episodes already... and Beckett is still rebuffing all of Castle's efforts. The return of the ex-wife in the last episode of course didn't help... but still! The show was nearing the end of it's first season, views had slacked... but maybe everyone felt like it was time for one or the other to commit to the obvious! Since when had it taken so long for a TV show couple to fall for each other?
Not that I'm complaining! So many times a "ship" moves way too fast, in my opinion, so the fact that the folks on Castle are taking the time to get the viewer acquainted with the characters before putting the leading couple securely together is refreshing--because it makes the relationship all the sweeter when the two of them finally get around to it. Plus, it's just more realistic that way.
The "Good Parts" Version:
-So for this episode, there have been a string of home invasions where the robbers have stolen millions in jewelry--but this time, there's a body stuffed in the wall safe.
-It's the fourth break-in, and everything else is the same: no forced entry, jewelry gone--but murder?
-Points to the show for lightening it up with a trade-off between Castle and Beckett over jinxes: when "blessing" Ryan's sneeze, Castle claims a jinx on Beckett, who then turns it into a "reverse double jinx" and "according to time-honored tradition you cannot speak until I release you." That should keep him from running his mouth off when she's trying to inspect a crime scene!
-Okay, I just had to put this video in here JUST BECAUSE IT IS SO FREAKING CUTE that there was no other way for me to describe it or quote it at all. Just watch it. Molly Quinn is awesome.
-Castle: 'Pulp'? You think what I write is pulp? Listen, I will have you know that the 'New York Review of Books', not the 'New York Book Review', mind you. The 'New York Review of Books' said that Derrick Storm is this year's...
Beckett: I read that piece. And you have to admit it was a little hyperbolic. So what'd you pay the reviewers?
Castle: A case of Chateau Neuf de Pape, but that's not the point. The point is, you read the 'New York Review of Books'?
Kate Beckett: Oh, so many layers to the Beckett onion. However will you peel them all?
Castle: --->
-And it's time for another totally adorable father-daughter scene!
So it's been seven episodes already... and Beckett is still rebuffing all of Castle's efforts. The return of the ex-wife in the last episode of course didn't help... but still! The show was nearing the end of it's first season, views had slacked... but maybe everyone felt like it was time for one or the other to commit to the obvious! Since when had it taken so long for a TV show couple to fall for each other?
Not that I'm complaining! So many times a "ship" moves way too fast, in my opinion, so the fact that the folks on Castle are taking the time to get the viewer acquainted with the characters before putting the leading couple securely together is refreshing--because it makes the relationship all the sweeter when the two of them finally get around to it. Plus, it's just more realistic that way.
The "Good Parts" Version:
-It's the fourth break-in, and everything else is the same: no forced entry, jewelry gone--but murder?
-Points to the show for lightening it up with a trade-off between Castle and Beckett over jinxes: when "blessing" Ryan's sneeze, Castle claims a jinx on Beckett, who then turns it into a "reverse double jinx" and "according to time-honored tradition you cannot speak until I release you." That should keep him from running his mouth off when she's trying to inspect a crime scene!
-Okay, I just had to put this video in here JUST BECAUSE IT IS SO FREAKING CUTE that there was no other way for me to describe it or quote it at all. Just watch it. Molly Quinn is awesome.
-Castle: 'Pulp'? You think what I write is pulp? Listen, I will have you know that the 'New York Review of Books', not the 'New York Book Review', mind you. The 'New York Review of Books' said that Derrick Storm is this year's...
Beckett: I read that piece. And you have to admit it was a little hyperbolic. So what'd you pay the reviewers?
Castle: A case of Chateau Neuf de Pape, but that's not the point. The point is, you read the 'New York Review of Books'?
Kate Beckett: Oh, so many layers to the Beckett onion. However will you peel them all?
Castle: --->
-Castle meets Beckett down at the shooting range to discuss getting the photos of the stolen jewelry so that he can figure out why someone would suddenly decide to kill over the pieces.
Of course, she refuses--till he bugs her enough about shooting to get her to agree to give him the photos if he can nail the target. Ha! Apparently somebody didn't watch "That one Joss Whedon show" to know that in a past life, Richard Castle was a full-on space gunslinger! How clever of him to slop around and pretend like he has no idea what he's doing until after she agreed to let him have what he wanted!
Castle: "How was your date with Owen?"
-To ascertain what kind of a jewel thief would steal the sorts of jewelry that were stolen, from those four specific people and not any others, who better to ask than a jewel thief? Yes, amid all of his high-profile fans, Castle also has some... ahem, references on the shady side, one of which is a man by the name of Powell, who had total anonymity in his thievery--until Castle based a character on him in one of his Derrick Storm novels... and thanked him by name in the Acknowledgements. Apparently, Powell has had it in for him ever since. Thieves enjoy their privacy.
-I must say, Castle is pretty clever. Getting a suspect to open up and provide a lead to the real culprit by pretending he just wants to "get the details right" in his upcoming book is a pretty creative idea!
-The victims have a charity event in common, so Castle gets two tickets to the black-tie event, and wants Beckett to come along. He even buys her a dress accompanied with a note that says "Bibbity-bobbity boo!" (which is delivered after a fun scene where Beckett has Laney over to help her pick a dress out of her closet which is sadly outdated)... and I must say, she looks stunning!
This episode was pretty awesome. The suspense was good, the mystery compelling, and things are shaping up for this brand-new little show! From the non-verbal winks and nods between actors that were completely in tune with their characters, to the way the show emphasized over and over again that, "ladies' man" though he be, there are really only two (about to be three!) women who really matter in Castle's life--which is as it should be. I'd give this episode a 9/10.
Alexis: "It wasn't a date, it was a study group!"
Castle: "Uh-huh; how many in the group?"
Alexis: "Just the two of us." Riiight... totally not a date...
-To ascertain what kind of a jewel thief would steal the sorts of jewelry that were stolen, from those four specific people and not any others, who better to ask than a jewel thief? Yes, amid all of his high-profile fans, Castle also has some... ahem, references on the shady side, one of which is a man by the name of Powell, who had total anonymity in his thievery--until Castle based a character on him in one of his Derrick Storm novels... and thanked him by name in the Acknowledgements. Apparently, Powell has had it in for him ever since. Thieves enjoy their privacy.
-I must say, Castle is pretty clever. Getting a suspect to open up and provide a lead to the real culprit by pretending he just wants to "get the details right" in his upcoming book is a pretty creative idea!
-The victims have a charity event in common, so Castle gets two tickets to the black-tie event, and wants Beckett to come along. He even buys her a dress accompanied with a note that says "Bibbity-bobbity boo!" (which is delivered after a fun scene where Beckett has Laney over to help her pick a dress out of her closet which is sadly outdated)... and I must say, she looks stunning!
-Of course, this is Castle's world, so everyone knows him and assure "Katie" that he's quite the catch... One helpful woman confides that they call him "the white whale", seeing as he's both rich and handsome.
-Here is how Powell gets his revenge: bringing Martha with him to the event, where she volunteers to be the caller auctioning off his book... and "as a bonus, he'll throw in a dinner date." The bidding heats up after that! (There is even one guy who bids... yech!)
-Lesson learned: beware the creepy, grinning, outgoing chicks who seem to make it their business to know absolutely everything about yours! Turns out the "inside source" these thieves had was the boyfriend of the charity's "Donor Development Liaison"--which means he would have access to all the information about the donors.
He had done time with the murderer, who protected him in jail, but threatened the same treatment if the boyfriend didn't get him what he wanted.
-Of course, that was all the information they needed. They head over to the guy's apartment--and for once, Castle does his utmost to stay in the car when Beckett asks! This was a really sweet scene where Castle starts to "play cop", goofing with the CB and twisting the wheel while humming a "chase" theme! (Which then plays when the perpetrator hauls him out of the car and tussles till Beckett can catch him! This is the first time they do that... but not the last! Stay tuned for the episode where Castle grunts out the Castle inter-scene vamp!) Poor guy, he really tried... good thing Beckett didn't chew him out this time.
-The killer is caught, the stolen goods recovered, and all is well in the world. Finally we see the very beginnings of the relationship that just gets more beautiful as the seasons continue, when Beckett stops by for a morning visit and Martha and Alexis welcome her to breakfast like one of the family, wanting to hear all about the previous night. "We've already had Richard's version," says Martha, "and he can be a little vague on the juicy details."
-Lesson learned: beware the creepy, grinning, outgoing chicks who seem to make it their business to know absolutely everything about yours! Turns out the "inside source" these thieves had was the boyfriend of the charity's "Donor Development Liaison"--which means he would have access to all the information about the donors.
-Of course, that was all the information they needed. They head over to the guy's apartment--and for once, Castle does his utmost to stay in the car when Beckett asks! This was a really sweet scene where Castle starts to "play cop", goofing with the CB and twisting the wheel while humming a "chase" theme! (Which then plays when the perpetrator hauls him out of the car and tussles till Beckett can catch him! This is the first time they do that... but not the last! Stay tuned for the episode where Castle grunts out the Castle inter-scene vamp!) Poor guy, he really tried... good thing Beckett didn't chew him out this time.
This episode was pretty awesome. The suspense was good, the mystery compelling, and things are shaping up for this brand-new little show! From the non-verbal winks and nods between actors that were completely in tune with their characters, to the way the show emphasized over and over again that, "ladies' man" though he be, there are really only two (about to be three!) women who really matter in Castle's life--which is as it should be. I'd give this episode a 9/10.
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