Home Featured TV Shows All TV Shows Movie Reviews Book Reviews Articles Frequently Asked Questions About Us

Castle: Watershed

“Detective, you’ve got the job.”

Based loosely on the Chappaquiddick incident, the case of the week revolves around a Harvard honors student trying to get to the bottom of her friend’s death. The case, as usual, was much less important that what was happening to our favorite couple. As many of us predicted, Beckett was offered the DC job. What I genuinely didn’t see coming was the conversation at the end of the episode.

Being the card carrying feminist that I am, I am a tad irritated that Beckett’s job is the cause of all this angst. If we step back for a moment, Castle’s ties to New York are now tenuous at best. Alexis is grown and gone, off to Costa Rica for the summer. He is a writer, which means he can work from anywhere. I’m not sure why the idea of the two of them moving to DC has become so immense. Of course, because this is a television show and not reality, I can’t see Marlowe and Co. reworking the formula to such a large extent. I just wish the writers could have come up with something better than a woman having to choose between her job and her man.

Having said that, I completely understand why Castle is so upset. This is now the third season finale in a row that Beckett has made some sort of comment about it being her life and that the decision she is facing is not about Castle. While that was true for the past two years, it is no longer that way. She is in a relationship and the decisions she makes, especially such big ones, will affect those around her.

Being the sappy romantic that I am, I usually melt at highly emotional moments like proposals. This one, however, left me vaguely unsettled. It felt desperate, forced and unearned.

Beckett and Castle are facing a crisis. They both know what their weaknesses are when it comes to relationships and, let’s face it, neither of them has proven to be very successful at them in the past. What they need to do is sit down and talk to each other. Instead, they talked to other people. Both Martha and Jim told their respective children some home truths that needed to be said, but now Caskett have to communicate with each other.

Instead, we have Castle down on one knee after telling Beckett that he wants more, that they both deserve more. I agree, but I am not sure how a ring is going to change what is fundamentally flawed in the relationship.

Of course, we will have to wait until September to discover what Beckett’s answer will be. The biggest hint we got was in the interrogation scene when she talks about that room being her home. I have now watched that scene several times and I cannot decide how to interpret it. Either, she has had enough of it being her home and she is ready for the next step professionally or she has not had enough of it being her home and she wants her home to be in that room and with Castle. I believe it could go either way, although there is no way that the writers are going to send her to DC for very long.

Castle seasons always end with a fundamental shift in Caskett’s relationship. This one is no different, but I wasn’t as blown away as I have been the past several seasons. Which is, frankly, indicative of the past year. Mathematically, I have rated this season a 2.85 out of 4 which is about right. Some truly memorable and wonderful episodes and some truly dire ones. It ended on a good one, but not great. Three out four icky red showers.

Tidbits:

-- There was a plug for the new Nikki Heat novel. It comes out September 17th for those of you marking your calendars. I did like Esposito poking fun at the names of Castle’s characters, many of which are truly comical. Esposito’s name in the books is Ochoa. That’s about as ethnic as it gets.

-- Did anyone else think that Kyle Secor looked unwell?

-- I’m not sure why the idea of Beckett’s being pregnant upsets Esposito so much, but he is appropriately excited by Ryan’s news.

-- Esposito certainly dressed up for the end of the episode. I like him in a tie.

-- Having the final talk at the swings was lovely and a wonderful reminder of other big shifts in the Caskett relationship.

Soundbites:

Esposito: “Crystal Sky? That name’s so fake it sounds like something out of one of your books.”
Castle: “Right? Whoa! What is that supposed to mean?”

Castle: “Now, why must you be so cynical?”
Beckett: “It’s in my job description.”
Castle: “Which is why you need me.”

Castle: “So without it, we’re dead in the water, much like Erika.”
Esposito and Castle together: “Too soon.”

Beckett: “Castle, this isn’t about you. This is about me. This is about my life.”

Castle: “That’s not the point. The point is, you knew what this could mean and it didn’t occur to you to include me. Or worse, it did occur to you and you chose not to. Now, what does that say about us? Not much, you ask me.”

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.

4 comments:

  1. Bayliss on Castle..yay..umm I thought Secor looked fine. Always great seeing him. Hope Caskett will be fine next season post proposal and new job offer. They clearly belong together
    Anna

    ReplyDelete
  2. This episode aired ages ago lol. Still, thanks for the review. I'm curious to see where they go from here. There's really no rational reason for Castle to stay in NY. But, being a TV show about NY cops, she has to stay. Shame.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I mentioned this in the last episode comments. I don't think the (major) problem is the location. The problem is the job: lots of travel, long hours, and not being allowed to talk about it with Castle (it's classified). None of that sounds healthy for a relationship that was still being defined.

    ReplyDelete
  4. As I was watching the episode, I was trying to figure out what bothered me about that proposal scene and I think you hit it on the head: it was desperate and forced. And rewatching it, I'm wondering if that wasn't the intention of the writers. Yes, Castle is trying to tell Beckett she should make the choice she wants, and that instead of moving apart he wants them to be closer, but it was a very heavy-handed and Castle-like way to do that.

    ReplyDelete

We love comments! We moderate because of spam and trolls, but don't let that stop you! It’s never too late to comment on an old show, but please don’t spoil future episodes for newbies.