Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Castle Review: The Beckett Show

Well, it was the second of the two-part episode.  Castle has been exposed to a toxin that will kill him in twelve hours.  Beckett joins him in the interrogation room to give him the news, and honestly? It felt like she was telling him she'd always hated his shoes and hoped he bought new ones.  Where was the emotion? Shed a tear maybe?  Your new fiance is dying and it's all in a day's work?  I don't know, I was disappointed in that scene.

Beckett goes on the hunt for the antidote and I thought for one glorious second that Castle would be able to work the case with her, but no, the new boss said he could "help" her from the building.  Which means he sat around almost the entire episode looking mopey.  He did have a great goodbye scene with Martha and Alexis, but other than that, Castle was on the sidelines the entire show.

I liked the case, actually, it was interesting and the evidence trail had a lot of twists and turns, but the thing that made Castle a must-see show for me was the chemistry with Castle/Beckett/Ryan and Esposito.  Ryan and Esposito barely make a cameo in this episode and it's only to have Beckett be rude to them and hang up. Awful.  We also get a tiny bit of Martha/Alexis/and plot point boyfriend, (seriously, that guy just appears and now he's living in Castle's loft and part of the family? Lame).

Now, don't get me wrong, I love Beckett and thought the premiere was great, but by this episode it's clear to me that this show can't revolve around her and her new buddies/boss. They don't have the chem, they don't have the history, and while the cases might be bigger and the technology to solve it more advanced, it feels flat. If I wanted to watch FBI/CIA people that I don't really know or care about track down terrorists, I'd flip the channel and watch The Black List.  (Which I just started watching, and it's actually not bad. But I digress.) Seeing Beckett in action is fine, I always liked that as part of the show in seasons past, but not for the whole show.  The synergy in the cast is what makes Castle stand out and it's definitely missing.

Anyway, by the end of the ep Castle was saved and we're coming back to the precinct in the previews. Hopefully they can get back to what works and put our team back together!

3 comments:

Debra Erfert said...

Oh, I guess that goes to show how unimpressed I was with last week's episode of Castle. I totally forgot about it being on last night. Thanks for the update. I don't think I can stomach seeing Beckett starting a new career with the Feds and leaving everyone else behind. I don't think she has the magnetism to bring the audience with her. Castle really is the star. Beckett is the sidekick. When did the writers forget that?

Julie Coulter Bellon said...

I know! I really do love her, but without Castle there's no sparkle to it. It was dramatic, but was just flat without the core four, you know? Hopefully this DC arc doesn't last long. :(

Jon Spell said...

Hey, Debra, Kate has plenty of magnetism, Rrawr! It works on those of us of the male persuasion, at least. ;)

We enjoyed the show fine, but agreed that it doesn't really elevate the show any to have Kate working for the AG's office rather than NYPD Homicide. I mean, this case started out _looking_ like it was something that could compromise national security, then _appeared_ to be something involving terrorists, but in the end, it was just a revenge-motivated murder plot.

And while we're complaining, why does it matter that it's the AG's office? Because it's not the FBI/CIA/NSA/ATF/DHS/OtherThreeLetterAcronym ? It doesn't seem to add anything special to the show.

In other news, book 5 of the "Richard Castle" Nikki Heat books just came out. One of these days, I'll catch up. =)