Thursday, October 10, 2013

Castle Review: The Team is Back in Business!

This was a great case for me because the team was back together.  Not exactly working together, but there was sparkly dialogue, fun repartee between them, and some really great Caskett scenes.

Castle is finally getting fed up with Pi (but still hasn't talked to Alexis about him, oy) and sees a news report about a childhood TV star from 2 Cool for School has been murdered.  Castle sees Ryan and Esposito on scene and calls to offer his help.  On live television, Esposito rejects his call and the look on Castle's face was priceless.  He goes down to the station and they wrangle a bit, but he's finally allowed to help.  Before they can really get far in the case, however, the Feds show up, aka McCord and Beckett and take it over. They tell the boys they can't tell them why the Feds are interested, which makes them irritated and they coerce Castle to try to get information out of Beckett.  She catches on pretty quick and refuses to be "castle'd."  I loved that little scene.

Once the boys figure out that the murder is connected to Russians smuggling guns and a CIA op of spying on a Russian gangster, McCord and Beckett are forced to shut down their murder investigation.  But ever-sympathetic Kate slips Castle a thumb drive with more information on it so they can still try to solve the murder.  Suspicion is on the murder victim's Russian girlfriend, but is quickly turned to his co-star who confesses.  But it's not over yet.  The CIA has lost an asset and they're trying to coerce the Russian girlfriend to spy on her family, threatening to expose her if she doesn't.  Kate leaks to the media to protect her and I have to say I thought that was gutsy.  Kate's always trying to do the right thing and I love that about her.

We end at Castle's apartment, where he tells her it isn't working with them snatching moments and weekends here and there.  Then he gives her a key to a D.C. apartment and she's thrilled.  That is short-lived, however, when McCord appears at the door to tell Kate they know she leaked the info and she's fired.  Everyone looked shocked, but I was thinking hallelujah.  Let's get the team back on track.

Great case, great character dialogue and cute Caskett moments made this episode shine for me.  The season just hasn't had that sparkle it's always had for me until now, so I was happy to welcome back the show I know and love.  Can't wait to see where they go from here!

What did you think?  Do you hate it when shows try something new (new teams, characters, settings) or do you embrace it?

2 comments:

Debra Erfert said...

I like it when things slowly change, like everyone's life changes, but not when it suddenly shifts in a different direction, like Beckett going to the Feds. Maybe the writers figured they just needed to get this out of the way, and now they'll get back to normal.

Jon Spell said...

It's probably just me, but I'm pretty sure the name of the former child actor is almost a joke name. (Dewey Hancock?)

I wasn't sure how I felt about the DC Apt key scene - it felt so obviously manipulative (are they going to break up?!??) and then, all for naught. The question is why Castle didn't get a place there already.

I'm glad they're back in NYC, but now it feels like Kate's whole job offer was again just a prop to increase tension (and lying.) Here's how they could redeem it: taking the job out there shows that she has ambition, so maybe she could lobby to become the new lieutenant?

I like that Alexis is around the house, but I sure wish they'd stop making her so dumb. She used to be so practical and smart. /sigh