Castle: Cloudy with a Chance of Murder

“We just have to live with the questions and find our way.”

Caskett are now a couple and trying to navigate the waters of being in a new relationship, yet keeping it secret from the rest of the world. It won’t be easy. Neither one of them has ever been very successful in romantic relationships and, as Beckett says, they work surrounded by detectives.

If there was one thing that this episode showed, it is that Castle really doesn’t understand women all that well. I truly believe that he thought that going out on the date was a good idea and a good way to throw off suspicion. And, in his mind, he asked Beckett for permission and she gave it. But, our girl is not one to appear clingy or needy. Of course she is going to play it off as all right. That is, until she finds him making out with another woman. I was pleased to see the scene at the end where they actually communicated with each other. They need to do a lot more of this.

In terms of keeping everything secret, the writers gave themselves a pass this week by not having Martha, Alexis or Captain Gates in the show. But, if Castle is staying at Beckett’s every night (which it appears as if he is doing right now), certainly Martha and Alexis will pick up on the fact that something has changed as soon as they are home. And let’s face it, as mad as Martha is, she is intuitive as hell and knows her son very, very well. Both Esposito and Lanie pick up on that things are different; which, while a lot of fun to watch, cannot sustain indefinitely. If the writers try to carry out this storyline for too long, the other members of the team are going to start to look as though they are not very good at their jobs.

The other relationship that played out this week was the Esposito/Ryan friendship. Esposito was being pretty awful to Ryan throughout most of the episode and, rightfully so, Ryan was getting sick of it. I understand why Esposito is upset, but the fact remains that it is because of what Ryan did that Beckett is still alive. Is there part of Esposito that knows this, feels guilty about it and is turning that guilt into anger at Ryan? Whatever it is, the scene at the end where Esposito realizes that Ryan took a punch for him was beautifully played by both actors. And, I loved the fact that there was no touchy feely nonsense; just an invitation to go out for a beer. Very much in keeping with how these two have always related to each other.

All of this relationship drama was played out during a case of a dead weather girl keeping secrets of her own. While the case itself was not very exciting and the guilty party was obvious from the beginning, it did give the writers parallels to what was happening with our team. It also gave Caskett a chance to work together as partners. As much fun as this new romance is, my favorite scene this week was the two of them tricking Cazuli into admitting he knew about the problem with his factory. Vintage Castle.

I’m hoping that the writers are not painting themselves into a corner with this rule that co-workers cannot date. While all this sneaking around may be fun for another episode or two, it will soon grow very old. In fact, it was already beginning to bore me by the end of this episode. Not good. Two (maybe two and a half) out of four oysters.

Tidbits:

-- Martha and Alexis are in Europe celebrating the latter’s graduation. Must be nice not having to worry about where next semester’s tuition is going to come from.

-- Beckett appears to spend a great deal of her salary on lingerie. Her bras are always gorgeous, and expensive.

-- Castle playing in front of the green screen was great, but even better was Beckett’s response to it. Instead of getting irritated or frustrated, she just laughs. She’s come a long way since season one.

-- I’m surprised that we only got two brief mentions of Frozen Heat. After all the hoopla surrounding the first three books, the fact that Castle is a writer seems to be taking a back seat this time around.

-- Castle’s voicemail message is so him: “Hi. You’ve reached Richard Castle. Lucky you!”

-- Stana Katic has the cutest giggle. It always makes me smile.

Soundbites:

Beckett: “Castle, where is my coffee?”
Castle: “You already had one.”
Beckett: “You’ve been bringing me coffee for the past four years. I told you to act normal. This is gonna look suspicious.”
Castle: “Don’t worry. Relax. You’re over thinking this, really.”
Esposito: “What, no coffee?”

Lanie: “I figured out what’s different. You’re having sex.”
Beckett: “Excuse me?”
Lanie: “Oh, don’t try to deny it. There’s a glow. I know that glow. So, who’s the guy?”
Castle: “Yeah, Beckett, who’s the guy?”

Beckett: “Do you actually buy this whole ‘just friends’ thing?”
Castle: “It’s possible.”
Beckett: “Yeah, it’s possible, but its not probable.”
Castle: “I don’t know. You and I were just friends for four years.”
Beckett: “Yeah, except you were trying to sleep with me that whole time.”

Beckett: “Can we say that we will talk about dating other people, but we won’t actually date other people?"
Castle: “Yeah. I… No, I can do that.”
Beckett: “OK, good, because I have a gun and you don’t really have a choice.”
Castle: “Clearly, I don’t have a choice.”

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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