Castle: Dead From New York

by Michael Seese

This one had a little of everything. Humor. You knew a riff on a popular comedy show (one which runs on another network, mind you) would be funny. Tenderness. Castle's consoling and inspiring his mother was a wonderful scene. Exhilaration. Not only did Castle and Beckett nab the murderer, but Martha wound up the toast of the Twitterverse, "as they say." Oh, and a musical guest. Yes, "Dead From New York" had it all.

Including lividity, which put the time of death between 11 p.m. and 2 a.m. Thank you, Lanie.

The opening was a marvelous homage to the current SNL opening, both in terms of the cinematography and the theme song. I also appreciated that Castle noted the show had been on for 35 years, seeing as how SNL has been playing up their 40th anniversary this year. (And, he pointed out that a few of the seasons were clunkers. Art does imitate life, after all.)

I think my favorite scene had to be the one with the actress who would play Beckett in the skit (I don't recall hearing her name) standing there and aping Beckett's movements and gestures, both right to her face (even questioning one of them) as well as behind her back. I could watch that scene again. And I just might.

With regard to verbal humor...

Beckett: "Castle, something's wrong with your mother."
Castle: "You're just realizing that now?"

Beckett: "There's been a homicide."
Martha: "Is he dead?"
Beckett: "Yes, Martha..." 
(Martha waves her off.)

And of course, the whole "Is he dead" shtick was hilarious. Though I didn't write down the setup, I loved Castle's reference to Martha's first-line-only policy, one time long ago, leading to "the most awkward parent-teacher conference ever."

Castle: "How can you not like Dr. Finger?"
Beckett: "Because I'm not a 13-year-old boy."

Liz Ball: "I wanted to be a cop, but wound up a writer. I know... pathetic."
Castle: "Excuse me?"

Unnamed Beckett Impersonator: "Model cop down!"

Castle: "Is this a trick? What answer is not going to have me sleeping on the couch tonight?"

A few nitpicks:

- When Beckett and Castle were interrogating Mickey Frank, he spoke through his "lawyer." Beckett never would have tolerated that.

- The timing at the end. SPOILERS HERE. Let's assume there really was a show like "Saturday Night Tonight." And let's assume the musical guest would go on... I don't know...let's say just after midnight, perhaps following a satirical news sketch. That wouldn't leave them much time to arrest a suspect (Chad, the intern), get him back to precinct, interrogate him, book him (he was being led away in handcuffs), realize he wasn't the killer, and get back to the studio before the show ends at -- hypothetically speaking -- 1:00 a.m.

- And speaking of timing, I know Beckett wanted to bust the murderer. But she was standing there, next to him. Really? She couldn't wait 5 minutes until the show ended?   

What did you think of "Dead From New York?"

And sadness, as next week is the season finale.