Castle: "The Lives of Others "

By Michael Seese

They got me. Twice. Which is another way of saying this blog has LOTS of spoilers. Don't even think of reading it unless you've seen it.

OK, admission time: I've never seen "Rear Window." (Hey, cut me some slack; I barely have time for Castle.) But I looked it up in Wikipedia, and expected that "The Lives of Others" would be more of a straight-up homage. It wasn't. But that's OK. It was a fun episode.
 
I especially loved Castle's play-by-play as he spied on his neighbors for the first time. "That better be for a sick child," to the maid stealing cash. And, "Oh, to be young an underemployed" to the paramours.

The murder he "witnessed" was well staged. You see the woman leave the room with the open blinds. You see the husband / boyfriend (we're not sure which) pick up the knife, look at it, then storm to the other room, where the blinds are closed. The shadows indicate some form of struggle. Then something is pushed against the Venetian blinds, and creates a ripple as it slips down. Bravo!

One unique twist: as I commented aloud while watching it, this was the first episode that I could recall which featured two completely distinct murders. So I just knew they were going to somehow tie them together. Then the writers pulled the rug out from under us, which I would call the first "gotcha."

The opening segment was one huge line-fest.

Castle: "I won't think it's because you've forgotten. I'll think it's because you made other plans." (Accompanied by a great "look.")

Martha: "It is a spa trip, darling. Not a guilt trip."

Ryan: "You must be bored. You've actually gone Rear Window."

Beckett: "Unless the body you're looking at is dead, I suggest you drop those binoculars."

And then it all ended with a great homage, courtesy of Castle: "Hey what if I consult by phone? We could pretend I'm Charlie, and you're my angels."

A few other odds-and-ends looks and lines:

Ryan: "Staring at the phone won't make it ring. I learned that in junior high."

Alexis's eye roll after Beckket said, "Or, maybe his girlfriend asked him to keep it in storage until she's ready to pick it up."

Castle: "When you do it, it's an illegal search. When I do it, it's just illegal."

Beckett: "You didn't have to kick down the door."
Esposito: "I was in the moment."
Ryan: "We wanted to be convincing."

Castle: "Where is Captain Gates?"
Esposito: "She couldn't make it."
Castle: "Good."

Wrapping it all up was the second "got me." I really thought Castle was going to blow up over the joke, especially since he would have spent an agonizing X minutes thinking Beckett had been murdered. And the way his face changed from grim to glee when he said, "This is without a doubt...the greatest birthday present of my life!" Spectacular.

And then Beckett solved the real murder. I thought it was a bit of a stretch, but what they hey.

One picky thing. Beckett said that Captain Gates was in on the joke. Perhaps Beckett sold it to her as a birthday prank for "my friend and professional partner" Castle. Still, it should have raised an eyebrow. (Something Captain Gates does exceedingly well.)

Next week (actually, two weeks) looks to be another "Scooby" episode in the vein of UFOs, zombies, and deadly DVDs. 

Feel free to share your thoughts.  

Have YOU been staring in a "Rear Window" with Castle? Click to tweet. 

Castle: Scared To Death

By Michael Seese

Kids have Scooby Doo. Grown-ups have Castle episodes like "Scared To Death." Like "Close Encounters of the Murderous Kind" and "Undead Again," you knew that no supernatural forces were at work. Still, you wanted to go along for the ride, to see whatdunit, I mean, whodunit. The major difference is that in those episodes, Castle wanted his out-of-this-world explanation to be the answer. This time, he was (if you'll excuse the obvious homage) scared to death that he was right.

Since Scared To Death was a horror episode, the writers made sure to serve up all the right slasher film cliches:

- The creepy clerk at the Brunswick Inn. (My wife opined that he was Nigel's half brother, and the murderer. Not correct. But still, a good guess.)
- The brother in the insane asylum.
- The cabin in the woods.
- The unknown person in the bushes watching Castle and Beckett as they approached the cabin.

Oh, and kudos to me... When Leopold how he could have sent DVDs to Val or "the other witness," I thought (and Castle said), "We never said anything about the other witness."

Even though Castle was shaking in his shoes, he (and others) managed to get in some good lines.

Castle: "Based on the fact that she looks like an Edvard Munch painting."

Beckett: "Find anything yet?"
Castle: "Yes, a closet with more stilettos than yours."

M.E. Perlmutter: "Detective Beckett. And defective Castle."

Beckett: "You want me to outlive you?"
Castle: "Yes, who else will tell my tale of heroic sacrifice?"

Wes Craven (nice cameo, by the way): "So you call me up in the middle of the night to join my fan club?"
Castle: "Ha ha. No."

And the looks:

- Castle's lip actually quivering when he said, "I'm next."
- Castle's and Beckett's glances as they watched the DVD together.
- Beckett's overall barely contained laughter as she tried to cajole Castle into (perhaps) their final amorous encounter, and then her smirk as he walked into the standpipe.
- Finally, at the very end, as Castle counted down to "his" midnight. "Three, two..." Smile.

I must concede that I have a few complaints:

- I can understand why they had nurse Lockhart out at the cabin. Some plot device was needed to draw Beckett outside, leaving Castle and Heller alone inside. But doing it to prove the innocence of Leopold...really?
- Along those lines, she dug up Nigel's grave...really?
- By the way, how did she and Amanda know that Heller would be up there? Sure, it could have been (limited) public knowledge that he owned the cabin. But it's a big logical jump to think he'd abandon the relative safety of New York City to venture out there alone.
- Oh, and a defibrillator wouldn't leave any mark?

Oh well. It was still a good ride. And I'm looking forward to "The Wild Rover" tonight. 

In the world of Castle, DVD stands for "Deadly Video Disc."  Click to tweet.

Castle: "Undead Again"

I know this is pre-anticlimactic, I guess, considering that the season finale already has aired. But we just got around watching "Undead Again." I'm sure it won't take two more weeks to watch and review "Always." So bear with me.

This was a fun episode. Of course, like "Close Encounters of the Murderous Kind" and "Heroes And Villains" -- not to mention every episode of "Scooby-Doo" -- you knew it was not a real zombie. Castle even acknowledged as much when he answered Ryan, "No. You know what I do believe in? Driving Beckett crazy." But still, you want to go along for the ride to see how they're going to take a zombie killer caught on tape and turn it into a real murderer. If I may boast, I picked the killer right away. Tom just seemed like the obvious choice. (Actually, though, I have to admit that I noticed he had blue eyes, just like the still-image close up of the walking dead.) And finally there was a character -- Tom's fiancée Greta -- who actually had a New York accent.

The scene where Castle and Beckett first encounter the zombies was just superb. As I said above, you knew it wasn't real. But it didn't matter. (For the record, zombie walking is a true phenomenon; a Yahoo search yields 63,000,000 hits, the first of which is www.zombiewalk.com)

Likewise, you just knew that "zombie Kyle" was going to come to life in the morgue. It was still great.

Plus, the running gag with Castle and Alexis playing laser tag -- especially the fact that she rappeled down into the living room -- was just a nice addition to the show. I hope they touch on it again at some point in the future, because it was a good father-daughter moment.

In short, "Undead Again" was another of the type of episodes which makes Castle a great show.

I think my two favorite lines were "pants-wetting terror" and (Castle, to his mother) "You will pay for your treachery." And, kudos for the cultural reference to World War Z.

Naturally, I must cite the looks:

- Castle's overall look as he listened to Charlie's frantic 911 call.
- Castle's excitement when they first saw the face of zombie Kyle on the video, along with the disbelief on the part of Beckett, Esposito, and Ryan. (The random high five when Castle proclaimed, "Our killer's a zombie!" was precious.)
- Beckett's confused recognition when Castle told the M.E. who is not Lanie (character name: Sidney Perlmutter) "I will treasure the special moments we've shared."

Feel free to share your thoughts, and check back soon for a review of "Always."