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Castle: Get A Clue

“It’s a real life Da Vinci Code!”

Only in a show like Castle would we watch a sword fight and not roll our eyes, or at least not much.

The mystery in this episode was old-school Castle. A treasure hunt through Lower Manhattan that leads to Caskett being trapped, some fun Ryan and Esposito moments, and plot points taken from at least four movies that everyone has seen. I counted The Da Vinci Code, National Treasure, Indiana Jones, and Roman Holiday. Did I miss one? While it is impossible to take these cases too seriously, they are a romp and they are a lot of fun to watch.

Except for the other Castle trope. Six seasons in and the writers still do the same thing. Show us the killer as the first suspect, never show him or her again, and then reveal him or her as the murderer at the end. It’s so bad that as soon as the cousin left the precinct, I knew he’d be back.

As much fun as the mystery was this week, we need to discuss the Alexis arc. I’m sorry, but this sweet little girl has turned into quite the entitled bitch. By the end of this episode, I wanted to slap her -- hard.

Castle’s behavior at the apartment was bad and Alexis should be angry about it. However (and that is one big however), her behavior at the end of the episode was beyond the pale. Alexis appears to have forgotten that her father has given her everything she has always wanted, including the trip to Costa Rica where she met current boyfriend. Castle has protected her and he has never turned away from her. To express her anger by not allowing him access to her home and then (and this is where I gasped in astonishment) shutting the door in his face is well and truly the sign that this girl needs a reality check.

I have mentioned before that perhaps one of the reasons that Alexis is acting out so badly is her jealousy about Beckett. I can understand her being hurt at Castle not telling her about the engagement, but to try to compare Castle’s relationship with Beckett and her relationship with Pi is idiotic. Castle and Beckett have known each other for years and Alexis has been part of that relationship from the beginning. The same cannot be said with Castle and Pi.

At the beginning, Beckett was not thrust into Alexis’s life the way Pi was into Castle’s. Alexis’s life went on more or less the same in the early days, other than the fact that her dad was hanging out with the NYPD. He still came home at night, alone, and she was still her dad’s first priority.

Pi, on the other hand, is introduced to Castle at the same time that Alexis announces he needs to stay with them for a while. Castle did not have the luxury of getting to know Pi over time and in a non-intrusive manner. The fact that Castle allowed them to stay in the loft for the better part of a month (rent free, one assumes) was generous, another fact that seems to have slipped Alexis’s mind.

Martha’s role in all of this is complicated. On the one hand, she is Martha and she has always been unable to stay out of anything. She should not have told Alexis about the engagement and she should not have sided with Alexis against Castle. Yet, she does have a good heart and she is trying to make the best of a bad situation. I think she’s right in that the Alexis’s father and grandmother need to let this all blow over, but Martha needs to find a less intrusive way to be supportive of them both.

This was an interesting episode. The mystery was fun and old-school, but the Alexis story really annoyed me. The character is teetering on the brink of being beyond redemption. Two and a half out of four free couches.

Tidbits:

-- Sign in Alexis’ apartment: Everything is funny as long as it happens to somebody else. An odd choice, and a bit cynical for college students.

-- Loved Felonious Monk. Additionally, the set designer really knocked it out of the park this week. The church and the crypt were both gorgeous and beautifully filmed.

-- So, what’s going on with Esposito and Lanie? I got excited when he went down to the morgue, but we got nothing. Sigh...

-- An ID photo with a hat and sunglasses? It couldn’t have been more obvious that we had already met the killer.

Soundbites:

Pi: “Hmmm. I don’t know Mr. C. What color is it?”
Castle: “Free.”

Castle: “It’s as though he’s turned being a charming man-child into a career.”
Beckett: “Yeah, that doesn’t sound familiar, does it?”

Ryan: “You know, there are times I wish she stayed in DC.”

ChrisB is a freelance writer who spends more time than she ought in front of a television screen or with a book in her hand.

11 comments:

  1. As much as I hate Alexis's story this year (so far), I was totally on her side at the end of an episode.
    Castle behaved like child - rude and annoying child! She was right to say everything she said at the end.
    Castle needs to grow up a bit.

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  2. Anonymous -- I agree that Castle acted badly and, as I said in the review, I believe that Alexis had the right to be angry with him. However, I think barring him from her home and shutting the door in his face was two steps too far. I can't imagine Castle ever doing that to her.

    Castle does need to let go a bit and allow Alexis's relationship with Pi to develop as it will. In that sense, Martha is entirely correct.

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  3. Ny biggest issue with this was that Alexis wants something in return for a favor that she was never asked to do.

    She says that she "accepted" her father's engagement. To me that is the most outrageous thing. If you have issues with some of my behaviour — say it out loud. Then there would be something to discuss. If my actions need tweaking — I want to know it. If you choose to silently accept — it would mean that my choice is completely OK with you, so shut up forever.

    So, Castle was completely right to assume his engagement to Beckett is OK with Alexis. Therefore, he doesn't owe her ANYTHING. It wasn't something she did for him; it was something she chose to do freely. In particular, he is not required to show acceptance of Pi.

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  4. Everybody seems to ignore the real issue with this episode. No one with Castle`s imagination and background in all things geek would stick his arm in a dark foreboding hole. His screaming prank only shows, that he was fully aware of the danger and the audiences (Beckett`s) expectation. He should have lost his arm for this.

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  5. > His screaming prank only shows

    that he had seen "Roman holiday". That's all.

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  6. I was shocked at Alexis' behavior at the end. But I think that the writers are setting us up for something so I am withholding judgment. But I did think that while Castle was rude, for Alexis to be on her highhorse is way too snotty.

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  7. What bothers me most of all about the Alexis story line this season is how out of character it feels. The Pi character is so ridiculous that I can't imagine someone as responsible and sensible as Alexis ever taking him seriously and being seriously interested in him.

    Yes, I get people can go through phases, and opposites attract, but this really feels out of nowhere for Alexis. Maybe if the writers had made Pi a little less over the top I could see it, but as he is, ugh.

    Oh and it got worse this episode when they showed their apartment. I cannot picture someone like Alexis who has grown up with a rich dad who would provide her with good things all her life being willing to just take furniture out of a dumpster. Um no. Even if she didnt go to Castle for the money, this girl has probably been saving a good chunk of her allowance or whatever other money she's earned for years. I think she would be spending some of that to buy stuff for the apartment, not using a door for a table and a couch from a dumpster!

    And yeah, as if I wasn't already upset enough about all of that, then there was that last scene with Castle. I get she would be mad about his behavior at dinner, but yes I agree that basically telling her father to keep away from her for a while was beyond the pale. (And then the previews for next week showing she goes to him for help didn't exactly increase my faith in the writers here!)

    The conflict here just feels so manufactured...

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  8. basically telling her father to keep away from her for a while was beyond the pale

    I think was she meant was that you can't just behave like that and then just go for an ice-cream and all's forgotten.

    I'm not saying Alexis is behaving like an adult, no, but Castle needs to start treating her like one. Not everything could be solved with an ice-cream.

    Having said that, I agree with comments above - that if you have a problem you say it, don't act out. Plus Castle is pretty clueless, so she should have talked it out with him.

    I don't know... it all just feels weird how they ruining their relationships...

    Kate (the first comment was mine too)

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  9. Yes, fun episode, but the end really ruined it for me.

    Seriously, Alexis? You've had this golden relationship with your father all your life. He's been kind and supportive and there for you. He's given you everything you wanted, paid for your education, made you the most important person in his life, never abandoned you, never mistreated you. Then he gets snarky about your boyfriend, which, I'm sorry, is a universal dad thing, and this entitles you to be THAT pissed off? Grow up, honey. Of course she was entitled to be mad at her dad and entitled to not let him buy her off with ice cream, but not letting him in her place? Slamming the door in his face? I'll say it again - grow up.

    PS. I totally agree with Anon 2. If my father was a millionaire, there's no way in hell I'd be using furniture I found on the street.

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  10. Is it cynical of me to hope that Pi will be turn up as a 'Victim of the Week' in a future episode? Or maybe the killer? (can't get more out of left field than that) If I close my eyes, I can see him getting dragged away in cuffs, after the obligatory confession scene, never to be seen again.

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  11. The Alexis story is REALLY annoying me. Pi is a complete tool, I cannot understand why she's fallen head over heels for him so fast. It's completely out of character. And this reaction to her dad's engagement? It's so petty, also completely out of character. I don't remember anything to indicate she'd be less than thrilled for the two of them. Yes, Castle acted badly, but if there's any realism to the story, she's going to regret her actions at the end. I just hope they don't save the big reconciliation for the wedding episode.

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