Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Castle and Hawaii Five-O Review: The Light & the Dark

I watched Castle first last night.  I was in the mood for something light-hearted and I knew that episode would fit the bill.  Plus, I have family members who love the idea of Sasquatch hunters and the promos drew us all right in.

Castle is almost always at the kid at Christmas end of the spectrum when it comes to believing in fanciful things.  Like a time machine, when they had that 200 year old bullet, the zombie case, ghosts, and now Bigfoot.  But Nathan Fillion does such an amazing job, it is completely believable.  I loved the talk between him and Beckett about believing in magic.  Beckett was her level-headed self that believes in the magic you can see and touch like green shoots through the snow in February and listening to Coltrane, but Castle believes in the possibilities of things like Bigfoot.  Their banter back and forth throughout the case as to whether Bigfoot could really have killed the victim was hilarious.

I think the funniest part of all when when Castle is confronted by the bigfoot while he's in that hole.  The look on his face when it falls in with him and he's screaming for Beckett to shoot it was so funny.  I think the funniest thing, though, was when Castle was "talking" to Moonshine and the ape made that slitting motion across his throat.  Oh man, I laughed so hard.

I did call the murderer pretty early on, but they had some good twists.  Ryan and Esposito had some good moments, (their meeting with Perlmutter), but Alexis annoyed me to no end.  She lied to her dad and didn't even have a good reason.  Spoiled was the word that came to mind.  Although the booby trap Castle set was funny and the rest of the episode was stellar, so I'll overlook that part.

Hawaii Five-O was serious as Steve and Catherine were exchanging prisoners for a Navy SEAL's remains.  It was one of Steve's closest friends from BUD/s training, and was like a brother to him.  He saved Steve's life during an undercover op, but died in the course of it.  Steve realizes the remains they were given weren't his friend's, so he decides to go into North Korea and get the remains himself.  Catherine goes along with him, (loved that) and they meet up with Jimmy Buffett for guns and a way into the country.  The flashbacks to Steve's mission were amazing and I was on the edge of my seat the entire time.  It was a prequel to the first episode of Hawaii Five-O, when he was escorting the brother of the man who killed his father.  Heartbreaking.

Catherine and Steve manage to kidnap the North Korean man who was there when Steve's friend was killed and he eventually shows them the SEAL's grave.  After a car crash where Catherine cracks a rib and they end up getting captured after some really awesome gunfights.  It was really amazing, like a mini-movie.  Right up my alley with action and people who love each other.

It wrapped up with the funeral for the returned remains and Steve presents the man's dogtags to the daughter his friend never got to know.  Emotional and heart-wrenching.  I wish they could have had another hour to really tell the story and how they got out of North Korea, but I loved the balance with action and emotion and I especially loved that Steve and Catherine were on a mission together.  So, so great.  Definitely one of my favorite episodes of the season.

What did you watch last night?  Anyone watching Dancing with the Stars?

6 comments:

Debra Erfert said...

We were driving home from our weekend with our children, so I missed Castle last night. But it was worth it. It was our first grandbaby shower, and I had helped in with the preparation. It was perfect. While the guys stayed in the front room, we women were in the family room playing games and eating (I was in charge of the games). Have you ever tried to take wooden clothes pins down from a line with only one hand? It's not easy, but it can make grown women cheer and laugh out loud. Mike told me that it sounded like there were a lot more women inside that small room than the dozen who came to show their love to my sweet daughter-in-law. We ate authentic Paraguayan finger food, and drank pineapple punch. Yum!

I'll catch up with Castle tonight.

Charlie Moore said...

Debra, the grandbaby shower sounds awesome. Paraguayan finger food sounds tasty. Two of my brothers married filipinos so I get adobo, pancit, lumpia, and of course, rice whenever I visit.

Julie, I watched H5O. I enjoyed the episode, but would have preferred more of the team just because the interaction usually entertains on multiple levels. I'm probably not as much for the romance storyline, even though I acknowledge the need for it. I agree the McGarret/mother storyline is not well thought out.

Now, I have a question for anyone who may care to share. I'm am creating a new website for my soon to be released new novel. Who do you recommend for web hosting? I've looked at iPage, GoDaddy, FatCow and Web so far. Any suggestions will be much appreciated.

Debra Erfert said...

Charlie, I purchased a website through GoDaddy, and my name domain already, now I just need to be bright enough to figure out how to set the website up through HostGator, already purchased. Truly, I haven't spent enough time on it to give it a fair shot. Hopefully after I finish with my current work in progress (under a time crunch) I'll get back to it so I can get my indie-publishing under way. Good luck!

Charlie Moore said...

Thank you, Debra.

Julie Coulter Bellon said...

Charlie, I've heard good things about GoDaddy, but I'm afraid I am woefully uninformed. I hope you'll share your knowledge and experience when you make a decision. Let us know how it goes!

As for H50, I liked the prequel idea, I just wish they'd had a bit more time to flesh it out. Oh well. The next episode (from the spoilers I read) looks pretty intense so I'm looking forward to that.

Debra, that baby shower sounds awesome! You are so lucky to have great family and a new little baby to love. :)

Jon Spell said...

My favorite line in the Castle episode was when Kate told him that he was "ruggedly handsome" - which used to be in opening, before they trimmed it down.

I have to confess - I did not understand the trap Castle laid in the fridge - I thought that maybe Alexis was wearing makeup (Avatar?) or, possibly, on some sort of drug. It wasn't until later, when he points out the blue at her hairline and apologizes that I got it. =(