Castle: The Squab And The Quail

By Michael Seese

This will be a slightly discombobulated review, because my viewing "experience" was a bit off. At the conclusion of "The Fast And The Furriest," the previews for the coming week indicated a tense episode in which Beckett has stepped on a bomb trigger. "The Squab And The Quail" begins with an unseen hand spraying some liquid onto a plate of food, and moves quickly to some rich guy keeling over in his haute cuisine. The team starts interviewing the victim's associates, to see if he had any enemies. Then Castle hears that the poison had been sprayed on the mushrooms (poisoned mushrooms...nice touch), and realizes that the tainted food was meant for the OTHER rich guy at the table, the wealthy (and handsome) Eric Vaughn. So the gang has to begin again, probing to see if he had any enemies. They find the killer, and then find him killed. (I thought it was pretty cool when Esposito looked down, saw feathers blowing out from underneath the killer's apartment door, and knew something was up.) So now the team has to race to find the real killer. Of course, they were racing primarily because Castle led the charge, since Beckett had been ordered to serve as Vaughn's personal bodyguard, and they were holed up in a posh hotel. (I mentioned that Vaughn was wealthy and handsome...right?)

The point to all that (other than offering you, dear readers, a summary) is that I kept wondering, "OK, when is Beckett going to step on the trigger?" I later learned, through the Internet, that the show's producers opted to delay that episode in deference to the victims of the Boston Marathon attack. Perfectly understandable. But as I said, I felt somewhat confused throughout the whole episode.

Overall, there were a lot of funny lines.

When Castle, thoroughly engrossed in an online combat game, ignored Beckett's proposition, she lamented, "Oh my god! You actually have to think about this!"
And then he had to tell his gaming partner (via phone), "No, it's not my mom."

Also:

Castle: "I was in the zone, like Gretzky."
Beckett: "At least Gretzky knew how to score."
Castle: "Ouch."

Castle: "It's poetic, diabolically speaking."

Castle: "The guy won a MacArthur Genius Award. Do you know who they give those to? Geniuses!"

Castle: "I can't believe that the department is forcing her to hang out with some womanizing rich guy against her will."
Ryan: "Unbelievable."
Esposito: "Yeah, she's never done that."

After that exchange, Ryan and Espo shared "the look."

So Monday brings us "Still." (Of course, for me, it will be on Tuesday, or Wednesday.) Also, I found it telling that the previews downplayed the bomb, and played up that "Still" will be one of those "I'm going to die, so let's look back and recall the good times" episodes. 

Feel free to share your thoughts on  "The Squab And The Quail."

Does anyone know what a squab actually is? Castle does. Click to tweet.

Castle: "The Fast And The Furriest"

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.