Castle: "Hunt"

By Michael Seese 

One word: WOW!!!!!!!!!!

(I suppose I should add another word to this, and all Castle reviews: SPOILERS!)

I try to avoid hyperbole, but that may have been the best Castle ever. I recall, years ago, reading a review of the Ron Howard movie Apollo 13; the reviewer called it a great film because, even though you knew it would end well, Howard still managed to keep it thrilling. I would say the same about "Hunt." (After all, we knew that they wouldn't kill off Alexis.)

The episode started out great (and in sepia), and just got better. I thought the scene with Castle and Gaston, where Castle asks about the latter's daughters and then says, "Now imagine them gone" was terrific. Then came the scene in the church, where Castle meets Jacque Henri. It was even better. (OK, it bordered on suspense movie cliche...whatever.) The underground scene, with Henri and his "audio mole" (I couldn't find a listing of the character's name) listening to the phone call between Castle and Alexis was even EVEN better. And Beckett's interrogation of Pauline...even even EVEN better. She really dialed her intensity up a notch. And then the rescue...

Again, sorry for the hyperbole, but that may have been the best two minutes of any Castle episode. First, unless you're WAY more insightful than I am, we all assumed Castle had been captured. But the manner in which they presented the rescue -- Castle's Dad (who in IMDB is credited only as "Castle's Dad") talks to Volkov and detonates the walkie-talkie, and then the actual escape sequence is intercut with flashbacks of "Spy Dad" explaining HOW Castle is going to get Alexis out -- was simply brilliant. Truly, as an author, I hope that some day I can write something so clever. (Though the technique really applies more to a screenplay; it would be hard to pull off in a novel.)

In addition to the plot / action, visually "Hunt" was a stunner. The lighting when Castle picked up the strand of hair was gorgeous. And I loved the camera pan through Volkov's mansion: opulent room, opulent room, another opulent room, girl in cage.

I have no real "looks" to report. 

Most of the lines which stood out were less "Castle," and more "Die Hard." (And most were delivered by Castle's Dad.)

- "Your friend there was pretty good. But he was out of his league."
- "Oh, don't be an idiot. I'm the good guy."
- "Given how bad you feel about your $200 phone, you might want to pick up that $3,000,000 briefcase."
- "You've been playing cop for years. Are you ready to play spy?"

Castle: "My dad's a spy? Does my mom know?"

Whew! After this, I can see why they're giving us a three-weak break. (That doesn't mean I like it, of course.)

Feel free to share your thoughts on "Hunt."

The "Hunt" is on for Alexis. Can Castle find her?  Click to tweet.

Castle: "Target"

By Michael Seese

What a gritty, emotion-wringing episode! Of course, given the plot, could it be anything but? Still, it was nice found a way to let Castle maintain a little bit of his trademark humor.

Martha: "My heart is never wrong."
Castle: "What about your first marriage? And your second?"

Beckett: "Do you want a coffee?"
Castle: "No thanks. My adrenaline will suffice."
 
The latter came after Castle's tête-à-tête with Stevens, the "wheel man." Personally, I'm glad they had Castle go medieval on his heinie. (Off-screen, of course.) It's what any father would want to do. And since in other situations Castle has been less than macho -- the bar fight in "Headhunters" comes to mind -- I thought it was good to see his other side. Or, as he stated:

Beckett: "I didn't think you had that side to you."
Castle: "When it comes to the people I love, I do."

Director Bill Roe employed a visual trick the show has used before: sepia. When Castle and Beckett met with Agent Harris, the room was awash in a light brown tone, giving everything a warm glow, which contrasted nicely with the chill of the scene. I would point out that the interview with Sara's parents involved no such visual effect.

Naturally, the funniest lines came before Castle found out that Alexis had been kidnapped:

Castle: "Well, it was acceptance until you started applying your fiendish logic."

Castle: "He was hiding in plain sight. A foreign agent in deep cover, on a special reconnaissance mission."
Beckett: "Why would he shoot up a van?"
Castle: "Maybe Jack Bauer was driving it."

Castle: "Though by definition, science fiction is not science."
Esposito: "It has the word in it."
Castle: "It's...that's an excellent point."

This was not an episode for "looks."

If I may pat myself (and my wife) on the back, our predictions were pretty spot-on.

Last week, I said that Beckett's line, "Castle, you don't need to see this," would refer to a blood-soaked jacket. OK, so it was a blood-soaked floor of the van...close enough. I did, however, say that this revelation would be at the very end of part 1. So call me 50/50. This week, when we found out that Hasim possessed an arsenal that rivals Ted Nugent's, my wife said, "He was probably paid by her family to protect her." She nailed it. Then at the end, when Alexis ran out to the roof, I said, "She's probably in Europe." And to be 100% honest, in my mind I thought, "Paris." Though as I've said elsewhere in this blog, I kind of have Paris on the brain right now.

So here is my prediction for this week: Sara's parents were behind the kidnapping. We'll see if I'm any percentage of correct on that one.

We're definitely looking forward to "Hunt."

Feel free to share your thoughts. 

What happens when Castle learns that Alexis was really the "Target."  Click to tweet.

Castle: "Always"

By Michael Seese

OK, so perhaps (contrary to my previous estimate) it could take us two weeks to watch the season finale of "Castle." But it was worth the wait. There were a lot of fine, fine elements in this episode.

The folks who have spent years wondering when Castle and Beckett would get together now have their answer. I thought it was both set up and implemented well. (More on that later.) But I will state for the record that I have concerns about where it will go. In my opinion, "Moonlighting" essentially jumped the shark when Maddie and Dave consummated their relationship. So we shall see...

They reused the same technique as in a previous episode (the name and most of the plot escape me; the important point is the episode begins with Castle and Beckett in an alley, pointing guns at each other), starting out with a cliffhanger (in this instance, literally) and then flashing back to get us up to that point. I'm glad that they didn't end the season with Beckett clinging to the ledge. As I've stated before, unless the writers are planning to kill her, we know she will be rescued. So it really isn't a suspenseful element.

But I thought they staged her rescue well. She called out to Castle and heard (or thought she heard) his voice. When brought back up, she imagined it was him before Ryan came into view. Then the sea of officers parted to reveal...Captain Gates.

As has been the case in a number of previous episodes, the director really paid attention to the lighting. When the gang was planning their next move -- which Castle wanted to short-circuit -- there was dramatic side lighting, with his face in half light, half shadow. Also, near the end, when Beckett and Esposito were getting chewed out by the captain, the entire room was bathed in a sepia glow. In real life, I've noticed that the sky takes on a yellow-brown hue when a rain shower approaches near sunset; and sure enough, Beckett left the precinct and walked through a driving rain at night. As an aside, I thought it was funny that Esposito handed over his firearm, but walked out with two ammo clips on his belt.

One nitpick: a thief breaks into Captain Montgomery's house, his wife shoots him, and Castle and Beckett find out by tracing a phone call? What, did she forget the numbers 9-1-1? 

Of course there were plenty of "looks." I think the best was near the beginning when Castle asked Beckett to join him for a double feature. "Actually, I'd love to," she said, smiling. Then he displayed a dreamy smile.

OK, so back to "the moment." I thought the entire scene where Castle expressed his feeling for Beckett was simply great. Great dialogue ("You've already known that; you've known it for a year), great emotion, great impact. I wasn't sure whether they could top it and the end. But they did with a beautiful simplicity:

Castle: "What do you want?"
Beckett: "You."

So what did you think of "Always?" Please share your thoughts.

Until next season...