Castle: The Limey

“How long can you circle before the fuel runs out?”

Castle is a show that usually ends its seasons with a long story arc. Last week, we got the reveal of secret number one. This week, we got the fallout. We also got a pretty good case to go along with it.

The opening scene was great – all James Bond/Jason Bourne music and a gorgeous guy searching a woman before kissing her on the cheek and calmly walking away. All followed by the requisite scream.

Meet Detective Inspector Colin Hunt, Scotland Yard, who has come to New York to help his friend’s daughter, Naomi. My, oh my, Brett Tucker is a handsome man, but a shame about the accent. I have met an Etonian or two in my time and I’m here to tell you that they speak with perfect English accents, even if they are Australian by birth and especially if they have minored in blending in. Tucker’s American accent was marginally better, but just.

Putting those quibbles to one side, Hunt was an interesting addition to the show as he had a personal motivation for finding Naomi’s killer. He’s the one who managed to get Beckett into the party where we got to see some serious Beckett moves, aggressively dancing and picking Wyndham’s pocket.

I loved the fact that it was Jacinda that blew open the case for our team, and that it was Hunt who got in and found the missiles as Agency Bauer. Great shout out to 24! The resolution was a tad contrived and the partnership between the guilty parties was forced, but at least we got an answer to the murder and Hunt could go home with the answers.

Although the case itself was fairly serious, there were some hilarious moments. Castle trying to cover Beckett’s eyes from Hunt’s naked body while she peeks around was classic. The edit from Castle walking out of the station, arms around Jacinda, and Beckett staring after him to the jump with Nicky Jay saying, “Hell, yeah, I clocked her.” Pure genius.

One of the joys of this show is watching Castle concoct some ridiculous plan, then watching the reactions of his team as he describes it to them. Rappelling down the face of a high security building with Ryan and Esposito as a distraction? Even better, using a Romanian gymnast Castle found on YouTube? I couldn’t stop laughing.

But, once again, the case was only the backdrop for what the show was really about – the fallout from last week’s reveal of the secret.

Castle has reverted back to his playboy ways. Jetting off (first class, of course) to Vegas for the weekend and picking up a flight attendant (“the preferred nomenclature”) on the way home was like something out of season one. He is not at all shy about showing Jacinda off. He comes roaring up to the crime scene in his Ferrari with her in attendance and then we see her again at the station when she comes back for lunch. While there was a part of me that was a bit put off by this behaviour, on the second viewing it became clearer. Castle is hurting. The looks he gives Beckett when she’s not looking at him, the reaction to the dress and the date, the fact that he leaves the station in the middle of a case all point to a man who is struggling to be around the woman he loves who, he assumes, does not love him back.

Gates also hurts Castle by continuing to dislike him. A lot of his actions in the second part of the show were driven as much by Gates allowing Hunt into the fold as they were driven by his reaction to Beckett’s ‘rebuff.’ I don’t think that it is a coincidence that he leaves the case for a lunch date immediately after Hunt comes on board.

Beckett knows that something is off about Castle’s behaviour and confides her fears to Lanie, a real step forward for a woman who tends to keep her deepest thoughts and feelings to herself. I think the writers had a wonderful time with the BFF scenes between Lanie and Beckett. Throughout, I felt as though the writers were putting into Lanie’s mouth what so many of the fans are feeling about the Castle/Beckett relationship: ‘it’s been weird for four years,” “he’s [read we’re] tired of waiting,” “you cannot ask him [read us] to wait forever” and the opening quote above.

Lanie’s final speech in the morgue was actually quite moving. As someone who deals with death everyday, she is the right person to nudge Beckett along and not allow her to keep wasting time.

We only had two real scenes between Castle and Beckett. The first was, appropriately enough, over the coffee machine. Both are angry and hurt and they can’t help but snipe at each other. Whether or not Beckett was actually going to confront Castle, we’ll never know because (I know, it’s a shock) they were interrupted. The second was the scene at the end. Beckett was trying, but Castle blew her out in a big way. No wonder she went for a drink with the gorgeous Hunt.

I’m intrigued with how the writers are handling the secrets and the repercussions from their becoming known. Something tells me that the final three episodes are going to be game changers both for Caskett and for us.

Three out of four falling towels.

Tidbits:

-- No Alexis or Martha in this episode. Too bad, as I think Martha might have had something to say about her son’s current actions.

-- Did anyone else think that dead Naomi looked a lot like Beckett? I jumped the first time I saw the episode.

-- I’m glad that Lanie and Esposito still make the occasional booty call. I’m really rooting for the two of them.

-- Brett Tucker in a tux. Wow! And how gorgeous was Beckett in that black dress. Probably my favourite of her dresses to date. She looked stunning.

Soundbites:

Beckett: “I feel like I just walked into a bad episode of Miami Vice.”
Castle: “OK, first, there are no bad episodes of Miami Vice. Second, who died?”
Beckett: “You from the looks of it.”

Beckett: “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
Castle: “Yeah, that we should throw a party and hire a bunch of models.”
Beckett: “No. That maybe Naomi somehow got into that party last night and that that’s where she met her killer. That’s what I was thinking.”
Castle: “Weird. We’re usually more in sync than that.”

Biggie Slim: “What can I say? Women are powerless against my good looks and charm.”
Hunt: “Yes, it’s a real curse.”

Castle: “Sometimes it’s the people we know best that we don’t really know at all.”

Beckett: “People change when you’re not looking.”

Beckett: “So, how was your lunch?”
Castle: “Oh, I loved the special.”
Beckett: “I’ll bet.”

Esposito: “Question. Why’s the brown man gotta be a hobo?”
Castle: “You want the flowers?”
Esposito: “Hobo it is.”

Hunt: “I expect [Wyndham] will skip the champagne and drink something posh and pretentious, leaving his print on the glass.”
Beckett: “Well, what if he doesn’t drink?”
Hunt: “He’s British. Trust me, he drinks.”

Beckett: “Wow. Four dates in three days [but, who’s counting?]. You like her.”
Castle: “Yeah. Why?”
Beckett: “Uh, she just – she doesn’t seem like your type.”
Castle: “Well, she’s fun and uncomplicated. I think that’s what my life needs right now.”

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.

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