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Castle: After Hours

“They come from such different worlds.”

From dinner with the parents to being on the run with a witness to a killing, this was the episode where we got to see that the honeymoon is ending and that Caskett are beginning to settle into the routine of being a couple while having their first fight.

Unfortunately, this episode fell flat and I was bored through most of it. I guess after five years, the writers are beginning to run out of new ideas. We have seen the Irish mob -- a lot. We have seen Beckett lose her gun and her badge -- a lot. We have seen Castle talk himself out of trouble -- a lot. We have seen the bad guys shoot into an empty car -- a lot. We saw one of the two send the other a coded message just a few episodes ago.

The other thing we are seeing far too much of is Beckett’s insecurities around the relationship. For some reason, the writers seem willing to allow her to be the one who is questioning and Castle to be the one reassuring her. I was on board when she pulled up to the house in the Hamptons, but this different worlds conversation annoyed me greatly. From the beginning, one of the reasons that Castle so responded to Beckett was the fact that she couldn’t have cared less about the fact that he was a famous writer. One of the great things about the Beckett character is her inner strength. Making her this insecure undermines a lot of what has been set up in the previous seasons. “I’m just a cop” had me wanting to throw something at the screen. Beckett has always been proud of what she does and why she does it. Having her put herself on a lower level than a writer felt forced and, frankly, ridiculous.

The parallels between Caskett and the other relationships on the show were heavy handed this week. Martha and Jim, who so obviously have nothing in common, come together in the end over a shared concern about their children. Dolan and McMurtry (a mobster and a priest -- really?) have been best friends since childhood. So, are we meant to take from this that people from different worlds can find common ground? That’s my sarcastic voice, by the way...

There were too many things that stretched our suspension of disbelief too far. The most obvious was the phone that Beckett “borrowed.” Even from a locked phone, it is possible to dial 911 so all of that stuff around Castle breaking the password was absurd. Leo was able to run surprisingly well on a sprained ankle. Additionally, with both parents showing up at the precinct at the same time, is there any way that Gates doesn’t know that Caskett are a couple? If not, she must strongly suspect.

It wasn’t all bad. The scene with Esposito, Ryan and the nun was fun. The twist was actually pretty good for a change. Castle on the CB radio was hilarious. Leo might have made a great shrink if he had gone another way.

But, overall, this one was a disaster. One of my least favorite episodes of any season. One out of four thrown bottles of beer.

Tidbits:

-- Susan Sullivan is a wonderful actress and Martha continues to be one of my favorite characters ever. Wonderful range of emotions throughout this episode.

-- I thought it was a nice touch that Martha brought Jim coffee in the station.

-- Looks as though Castle may finally have met his poker match.

-- The idea of the relationship existing only on paper is spot on. Caskett are fictional characters, existing only on paper.

Soundbites:

Ryan: “Catholic school is like combat. If you haven’t been there, then you don’t know.”
Esposito: “I have been there… in combat.”

Martha: “Stop. You are a terrible actress.”

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.

8 comments:

  1. Definetly the least engaging episode of the season so far. When does Gates find out about Caskett I wonder? Liked the parents meeting and the kiss, otherwise, meh. Nice review.
    Anna

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  2. ChrisB, I have to disagree with you again. I actually liked this one! Haha. We have seen Castle and Beckett trapped and isolated from everyone else before, but I haven't gotten tired of it yet.

    I thought it was a fun little episode. Still, I was annoyed by some things, not least of which is insecure Beckett. Like you said, it was believable at first, but when is she going to get over it?

    The phone thing also drove me nuts. If you look carefully at the phone's screen, they've blacked out the 'Emergency Call' button. It's still there, though. Just a little blank square. Half of the world owns that freaking phone, of course we were going to see through it.

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  3. Ah

    Agreement and disagreement LOL

    I have to agree with you that, emotionally, this one was a bit of a downer after the SPECTACULAR previous weeks. Yes, putting the cap lock here. I do however confess that I did make a little scream of joy when I saw my favorite Waffle Nazi, Manicoid in disguise and Lost Phil (aw crap, he was also in Alias, but I don't remember) (ok, ok, ok, I'm talking about Patrick Fischler).


    I'm also agreeing with you : Beckett is way stronger than this; she went through a lot and the writers should acknowledge this. On the other hand, I will not loose my interest in the show because of this; after all, we've had a MASSIVE number of memorable amount of great TV moments in the past 4.5 seasons...

    Ditto for Miss Sullivan. Have been admiring her since It's a Living.....

    Two bottles.

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  4. I mostly agree with you, with the caveat that I'd still rate it 2/4.

    RE: Gates, I personally think that she's been operating under the assumption that they were a couple from the moment she took over. If you recall, [i]everybody[/i] assumed they were a couple upon first meeting them from about the fifth episode through the end of season two. Also, it helps explain her antipathy towards Castle: she doesn't approve of the relationship, but (as pointed out earlier this season) there's no real grounds to punish Beckett for it as castle isn't a cop.

    Also, that seems to me to be where the greatest comedic potential lies, which is a factor one should also keep in mind. Law of narrative causality, and all that. ;)

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  5. The overall episode I didn't enjoy as much as the previous episodes, there were parts I did like.

    I am of the opinion that Beckett does have some insecurities due to her past but that the writers at times are too heavy-handed in manifesting them, i.e. too much overemphasis.

    Tangent: Is it just me or is it weird that with the sparring and training that I assume Beckett has that she tends to always be on the losing end of encounters? I.E. Scott Dunn, Maddox, the sniper guy from KillShot to name a few, I can understand Maddox as he's probably military trained and maybe Dunn and sniper guy "got the drop on her", but still...just saying. :)

    In regards to Gates, I'm of the opinion that there is no way in hell that she is not aware of Caskett. Like you said JK, she probably thinks they've been together since she took over. Don't forget, Gates came through IA plus she is the second youngest to make Detective behind Beckett who broke her record. Somebody that good is not going to not notice that Beckett and Castle are in a relationship no matter how "good" Caskett think they are hiding it.

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  6. I agree with the perspective that Gates is already onto the Beckett/Castle relationship. She's playing dumb to have the upper hand and enjoy herself a little watching them scramble to keep it hidden. (Or perhaps that's just what I want to have happen, because it would be fun.)

    As for Beckett's sudden insecurity about their different backgrounds: she wasn't trying to have a long-term potentially permanent relationship with him before. He was working with her, having to fit into her world. Now she's wondering if she really fits into his.

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  7. The phone password bugged me too. They could have the phone be jail-breaked with some crazy password interface (with cats), and have Castle complain that the normal screen allows emergency calls.

    Even if Leo wasn't faking the sprained ankle, it is possible to move around, at least initially. First time I had a bad sprain, managed to play another half hour of basketball (before panicking when I saw how much my ankle had swelled up).

    If the writers are going to return to relationship problems, I don't think social status/wealth is the way to go. The series has set up that both characters have problems being in a serious relationship. Castle is twice divorced, among his many short-lived relationships. And a year or two ago, Castle told Beckett that she was choosing men without long term potential. Both have grown since then, but I think this is the way to go: both characters (at different times) falling into their past destructive behaviors, with the partner bringing them back.

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  8. I agree, I think Gates might think that Caskett was already a couple when she took over.

    I think that's also the reason why Ryan and Espo didn't catch on when Caskett actually became a couple. Because they'd been acting like one from the start, Ryan and Espo didn't spot the differences. They might have thought that Caskett was being their usual awkward, stolen moments that are verbally denied when asked about-selves.

    I remember, in either Pandora or Linchpin, Caskett stepped off the elevator into the precinct while talking and Gates was waiting for them right outside of the elevator. And I remember thinking how much Caskett sounded like a couple and that if Gates didn't suspect before that they might be one, even though they weren't at the time, that conversation would have made her think they might be.

    I think it was when Caskett was talking about Castle's muse club. I remember Beckett ending it with something along the lines of "You know what Castle, I don't even want to know" and then turning to see Gates standing in front of her.

    And I think Gates could have figured it out in this one. I mean, what parents of two coworkers show up together when called and appear to know each other, unless their kids are dating? I mean the cop job doesn't naturally allow for mingling of the parents. I doubt that Ryan's parents know Lanie's parents or that Beckett's dad knows Ryan's parents.

    This episode was when I first really suspected that Gates knew. In Probable Cause the way she treated Beckett, all "Don't thank me yet detective" gave me pause. In Swan Song I wondered if she could have possibly seen that tape and acted like she didn't, but I wasn't sure. But once Target happened I was sure, seeing how Gates blatantly ignored both the hug and the handholding shared between Caskett.

    And about the phone, do all phones have that emergency call button? Because the one I have now does, but the one I had before that didn't. You really did need the password to use my phone at all.

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