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Castle: Death Gone Crazy

“It’s hard, isn’t it, when the killer turns out to be a better person than the victim.”

In season four, we met Beau Randolph in an episode called “Head Case.” Tonight, the man was the victim and, because of what he does, there were suspects aplenty.

There may have been many suspects, but this was another dull episode. The case was pedestrian; most of the guest characters were not at all interesting or fun to watch; and, the guilty party was so obvious that I had it twigged from the start. Having said that, Tiffany with the bra and the club sex made me smile.

This was a case about fathers and daughters and what the former will do to protect the latter. All fine and good, except that our father and daughter did absolutely nothing new nor did they do anything to move their relationship further. Castle worries and overreacts; Alexis gets irritated or angry or snarky and tells him that (a) she is adult and (b) he should mind his own business; they make up over dessert. This is a theme we have seen since the beginning and I was writing it in my mind as it unfolded on the screen. Castle squirting the whipped cream directly into his mouth happens about ten minutes into the pilot. While I don’t want anything bad to happen to the girl, I almost hoping that this is foreshadowing. Maybe then all of Castle’s concern would make more sense.

This was also a case about a former playboy (although taken to an extreme) who is willing to give up everything to be a father to his child. Lovely sentiment, but I think it missed. While Castle was much more of a playboy in the early years than he is now, he has always been a wonderful father and his relationship with Alexis was one of the reasons I stuck with the show in the beginning. Beckett has seen this side of him many, many times so that whole scene at the end made me cringe. Too much sentiment for no payoff whatsoever.

While not every episode can be a heavy Caskett episode, this one felt like a throwback to the early years. In fact, we had absolutely no personal interactions at all, except for Esposito and Scarlett. What was the point of their date? If Esposito had commented once more about how hot she was, I was going to throw something. It did give Ryan a chance to tease him a bit, but Ryan’s continually telling Esposito why he is still single is getting old and tired. The joke was made quite a while ago.

Another blah episode, I’m afraid. Two out of four cans of whipped cream.

Tidbits:

-- No Gates, again.

-- Gillian Alexy, who played Candice Mayfield, is Australian. Her American accent is impressive.

-- Castle obviously understands all about things going missing during club sex. Beckett is more coy about conveying that particular piece of information.

Soundbites:

Esposito: “$250 for a bra?”
Lanie: “Oh, but it’s OK to spend that on a pair of sneakers, right?”
Esposito: “A pair of sneakers is practical. They can support your, um…”
Castle: “Eject.”

Ryan: “Well, I never thought I’d say this after graduating the sixth grade, but our bra research is in.”

Esposito: “Why’d she have to be the bad guy?”
Ryan: “Sorry we had to cop block you, bro.”

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.

5 comments:

  1. That "bra research" quote was my favorite!

    I definitely agree with you about the foreshadowing of future issues with someone coming after Alexis. I kept wanting Castle to tell her that he found her vlog by searching for himself. That means other people can do the same...I don't know where they are going with this, but I am not looking forward to it.

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  2. > That means other people can do the same...

    Including us! I'm gonna go look right now.

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  3. After reading your comments, it makes me wonder if this episode started out as a spec script. According the IMDB, this is Jason Wilborn's first Castle writing credit. The episode felt like it was pieced together from a bunch of old episodes: whipping cream (pilot), father-daughter argument, victim is a bad-boy trying to be responsible (that episode with the restaurant chef), etc.

    Did not like the Castle/Alexis argument. In an earlier fight, Castle had a background check done on her boyfriend, and she called him on over-reacting. In this episode, he didn't do anything, other than ask her to show discretion about what personal information she makes public, which is a reasonable discussion. (He didn't tell her to stop, or try to shut down her blog behind her back.) In this case, she was the one who over-reacted, but we only see Castle moping afterwards.

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  4. Nice to see Kelly Hu, but otherwise a meh episode..Castle was right to ask Alexis to be careful. I'd like to see her ask Kate for advice on something. They have abrely interacted all season. Esposito should get better focus episodes. Gates was missed again. We'll see when she returns.
    Anna

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  5. The plot was comically predictable. The scene where Ryan and Esposito try to figure out why Beau Randolph would set up a trust fund thing was downright painful. Guys, you're supposed to be smarter than this. The story also had a few gaping holes. For instance, why didn't Candice tell the truth from the beginning? She had NO REASON to lie. Very disappointing episode; the show is better than this. I do have to say the bra and club sex conversations were pretty funny.

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