Tuesday, February 26, 2013

My Review of the Best Castle Episode Ever

Where do I even start?

Let's start at the beginning.  My fave moment in the beginning?  Kate trying to comfort Castle in that hallway, holding hands.  The despair in his voice.  Then the tiny bit of hope when the kidnappers have terms.  The ransom exchange.  Boy I thought they were going to shoot Achmed right there, but then when he showed up with Sara I was right there with Castle going, "where's Alexis?"  I know I've said it before but Nathan Fillion is an incredible actor.  The way he handled his daughter's disappearance seriously made my heart ache.  I believed every emotion he showed.

I loved the little scene with Espo and Kate.  He called her Kate which isn't normal and you could see the concern in his eyes for her.  I love our little precinct family.

Castle going rogue in Paris was awesome.  His face when he's talking to Gaston about hugging his little girl and then not having her there.  Oh. My. Goodness.  The intensity was ramping up exponentially.  So well done.  I did not see any of the betrayals coming, but loved the introduction of his father.  I was so nervous that the writers would bungle that, but they surprised me and let it be emotional and yet still realistic.

Okay, who didn't love the mole and the techy gadgets?  I really do love that sort of stuff and writing/reading about it in spy novels.  Castle sitting there listening to that tape was so sad.  *sigh*

Then we come to one of the most amazing scenes ever.  Kate in the interrogation room.  Holy crap.  "My partner's daughter is missing and you are in my way."  "I'm not a cop today honey."  Boy, that lady changed her tune quick.  I love kick-butt Kate and the look on Espo and Ryan's faces when she kicked in that door? Priceless.  Love, love, love Kate.

This was such a different Castle than the easygoing guy we see at the the precinct.  He wasn't taking anything from anyone.  "My money.  My daughter.  I'm coming."  He was reacting emotionally, as a father, but it brought something out in Castle's character that was dark and twisty and interesting.  He would do anything for those he loves and I wonder if that will be revisited in other episodes.

Did you love the message that creepy guy left for the bug in the wall?  And then the phone ringing right after? A little bit of a lighter moment in all the tenseness.  (I loved that guy's accent, too.  There's something about the French . . .)

Were you as on the edge of your seat when they got to the woods as I was?  Who is Alexis Castle really?  "This isn't right."  Whew.  Seriously, the editing, the music, the actors, it was so great.  And then the big moment.

"Richard, I'm your father."

Best lines from Dad?  "You wanna stay out here in the woods with all the dead guys?"  "Given how you're feeling so bad about your $200 phone you might want to pick up the $3 million briefcase and take it with ya."  "You didn't tell me your name."  Hunt, Jackson Hunt."  "Sounds made up."  "It is."  "You been playing cop for year, you ready to play spy?"  Haha.  Shooting out the phone was a nice touch, too.

Wasn't Alexis in that cage so creepy?

Loved the dad's backstory overall, loved the escape, although it was a tiny bit unbelievable that Castle could just shove a gun-toting bad guy out of the way and not have him shoot at them at all.  Worst bad guy ever I guess.  (And why didn't the CIA give him some back up?  Is he a rogue agent or something?)

Such a great reunion with Castle and Alexis.  "We're together."  "You look good."

Great ending with our little Castle family.  Kate and Alexis hugging.  Martha and Castle.  Casino Royale.  But, of course for the Caskett fans there was the "please don't ever do anything like that again without me."  Awwww.

Best. Episode. Ever.

What did you think?

7 comments:

Jon Spell said...

Oh my word, it was so awesome. I don't even have any nitpicking (except for the absurdly loud timer on the pipe charge, until the plan unraveled) this time - I was just so enthralled at the way it flowed.

The blind mole was awesome. (I sort of wanted the Catacyclist (?) to show up at some point. (hat tip to Rob Wells)) I was surprised Kate didn't show up in Paris - I was sort of expecting it.

Julie: there's one tidbit that I think you might be able to solve for me. The dad said something about greasing the wheels at the CIA for Richard once. I sort of have in my head a scene where Castle is in some kind of underground government station with big monitors and ... there's something that comes up where he gets clearance unexpectedly. Is that related, or am I misremembering it?


Overall, I agree. Best episode ever.

Debra Erfert said...

Or it will be the best episode ever ... when I actually get to see it!

But a blow-by-blow can't take away the fabulous Castle, just will help me not be so anxious about whether or not Alexis ends up okay.

I finished my first half of the edits of Firesetters tonight. Officially. I'm waiting on the second half. Now, at least, I know how to use my Office Word Review/Edit program. I used an Internet tutorial for Mac to learn how. ;D

Julie Coulter Bellon said...

Jon, I sort of wanted her to show up in Paris, but after seeing what she was doing at home, it made sense for her to stay behind. And you're right, there was an ep with Castle and his first CIA "muse" Sophia Turner played by Jennifer Beals. She was the one who hinted his dad was CIA right before she died and also talked about his access and clearance. Great memory! Glad you liked the ep last night as much as I did.

Debra, you seriously have to catch up my friend. You are missing some great TV! But I am excited for your new release and understand deadlines. Here's hoping you can come back to Castle-land sooner rather than later! :)

wondering04 said...

What happened with the other girl that was kidnapped?

Julie Coulter Bellon said...

wondering, her parents paid the ransom and she was returned. It was right at the first when Castle was so devastated that the other girl was returned and Alexis wasn't. So. Sad.

wondering04 said...

Thanks, I missed that. My husband is a remote control hog (and he loves to channel surf) I don't think I've watched a complete episode of anything in years. :)

Julie Coulter Bellon said...

Aw, I hate missing even a moment of Castle! If you need to, you can watch it online here http://beta.abc.go.com/shows/castle

:)