By Michael Seese
This won't be a gushing review. (And no, Hell did NOT freeze over.) "The Fast And The Furriest" didn't do a whole lot for me. Perhaps they went to the "Scooby well" once too often. And too recently. Although, what other show could work the Smurfs and Avatar into the same cultural reference?
So back to the "well" analogy. Like "Scared To Death" and "Undead Again," you knew that:
1. Castle would be absolutely convinced that a supernatural force was at work.
2. Beckett would be absolutely convinced that a supernatural force was not at work.
3. There would be a moment where she sees something which makes her think, "Could Castle be right?"
4. Then the balloon would pop.
In my review of one of those episodes, I probably recited the same basic "you knew..." litany. But it didn't bother me then. Perhaps this time, it was just old. Or perhaps, I assumed that, if nothing else, it was a guy in a Bigfoot suit; in contrast, "Scared To Death" offered no immediately apparent alternate explanations. Also, I thought the ending fell flat. In many episodes, the killer turns out to be a non-suspect. But at least, they offered a credible and clever explanation for the motive. In this case, they took the easy way out: "It turns out, you're a known stalker." Deus ex machina.
Oh well.
On the positive side, I did enjoy the scene where Castle and Beckett were sitting in bed, and he was trying to explain his love of the unknown: "There are no new continents to explore. There's no more deepest, darkest Africa."
I did think it was funny that, in this episode, Ryan was totally on board with Castle's hypothesis. I give extra credit for the exchange:
Beckett & Esposito: "Who's Darrel Meeks?"
Castle & Ryan "Who's Darrel Meeks?"
Which segues nicely to lines.
Castle: "I've never sleep aten... Sleep ate... Sleep eaten."
Castle: "You're saying someone framed Bigfoot?"
Esposito: "Gentlemen, I hate to rain on your parade."
Castle: "Do you?"
Esposito: "No."
Castle: "Are you scared of my work?"
Beckett: "No, I'm scared that I might murder you, and then I'll have two crime scenes."
And looks:
The entire scene with Castle and "Moonshine."
Castle's smirk when the Aussie Bigfoot hunter told Beckett, "You're squatting in the wrong bush."
Castle's look of subtle realization when Alexis said she was afraid he would have given her "the speech," and he replies, "Oh..that speech, yeah."
Next week's episode, "The Squab And The Quail," looks to be (if I may re-use a favorite word) intense. I'm going to make a bold prediction, though, and say they won't kill Beckett.
Feel free to share your thoughts. And something new...
Get someone else's fur flying. Click to tweet.
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.
There was a lot of like about this week's episode of "Castle."
Though the show rarely has a "straight line" plot, this one, I felt, really was like peeling back the layers of an onion. At first, it was just about the ghost hunter and a chance, bad encounter of some sort. Then we learn that he was from New York, and that the McLaren house always creeped him out. Then we meet the (faux??) psychic named Mercedes, aka "Mercy," which just happened to be the last thing the victim said before he died. Then comes the revelation that he had been having dreams about the place, and consulted Mercy for help in uncovering a real, repressed memory. Finally, they wrapped it up by tying that memory back to the last (of many) deaths in the building.
I also enjoyed "the looks." Since I don't watch much TV (well, any other TV), I can't say whether other shows get the actors to express themselves so much with their faces. But the players on "Castle" really do. Looking back at the previous episode, I loved it when Castle did a spit-take, and Ryan glanced up and to the right, watching the spray. Notable "looks" this week:
- Alexis's "WTF" look when Castle had just finished telling her it sent the wrong message to rearrange her life around Ashley, and then rushing off because Beckett called.
- Castle's "yes" look when Beckett said "I ain't afraid of no ghosts."
- Lanie's burn when Ryan's fiancee asked, "When are you two going to get married?" and when Castle asked, "How was the date?"
- And finally, Beckett's skeptical look, every time Castle brought up a paranormal theory. Of course, she gets to use that look a lot.
And finally, I really thought they made good use of cultural references: "Ghostbusters," "Scooby-Doo," and "Poltergeist."
