Castle: Get A Clue

By Michael Seese

This was an "enjoyable" episode of Castle. I don't wish to damn it with faint praise. It was good. But coming on the heels of "Time Will Tell," it paled a bit in comparison. (Did I happen to mention that I REALLY liked "Time Will Tell?")

I thought the major strength of "Get A Clue" was that it had a lot of good "moments." A lot of well done individual scenes.

The opening grabbed you right away. A rat scampers along a dark alley. The camera, low to the ground, zooms up to something. Flash! A bloody hand. Flash! Another bloody hand. Flash! The victim's (thankfully not bloody) face.

Then we cut to Castle, running at the mouth as he tells his mother everything that he thinks is wrong about the new living arrangement Alexis has with Pi. Castle made no effort to hide his disdain for Pi, and it came back to bite him in the a$$ at the end. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Quick line intermission, because it fits...

Pi: "I don't know, Mr. C. What color is [the couch]?"
Castle (with a look of withering disdain): "Free."

Quick intermission for an observation...

Not one, but two, of the victim's acquaintances reported that she had been "acting oddly lately." Doesn't EVERY victim on Castle do that?

Though early on the show moved a little slowly, I thought the scene in the church (the first time in the church) really got the ball rolling as Castle started fitting the pieces together, and laying out a Da Vinci Code mystery.

Castle's sword fight was another well executed (pun absolutely intended) moment.

And, the writers gave Martha her time in the spotlight when she admonished Castle and told him to, in essence, man up and deal with the fact that Alexis is heavily into Pi.

Then, at the end, Alexis gave her Dad the (deserved) cold shoulder, and went so far as to close the door on him. Very well crafted.

Though I have focused on the pieces / parts of the episode, there were more than a few great lines.

Castle: "It's as though he [Pi] has turned being a charming man-child into a career."
Beckett: "Now that doesn't sound familiar, does it?"

Castle: "It's your job to follow the evidence. You're messing with the natural order of things."

Third intermission...

Though not a great line, per se, I thought the implication -- the breadth of knowledge -- behind Castle's "my Latin is pretty rusty," but then translating some text nonetheless, was pretty cool.

And, saving the best line for last: Beckett's reference to Wade as a "felonious monk."

My favorite look had to be Castle's wide-eyed, "who me?" innocence when Beckett rejoined "the party" after his sword fight, and he stood there, trying to hide the épée behind his back. (OK, it wasn't really an épée; I just didn't want to say "sword" again."

One nitpick: when Castle and Beckett looked through the victim's apartment, they did so without wearing gloves. OK, so it wasn't the crime scene. But, hello! Fingerprints!

Feel free to share your thoughts about "Get A Clue."

Castle: "After Hours"

By Michael Seese

With all apologies to the Monty Python players, this episode of Castle was defined one chief thing: tension. Tension, and an overriding sense of doom. TWO things: tension, and an overriding sense of doom. And claustrophobia. Three! Three things....

I really enjoyed "After Hours," because it was a radical departure from the norm. Beckett and Castle, usually the hunters, became the hunted. As I've said before, yes, we all know they're going to get out of it. Still, I was on the edge of my seat. This entire episode reminded me a lot of the last five minutes of "3XK," when Castle realizes that he's alone in a motel room (Ryan having been knocked out) with the killer. And in both cases, a carefully worded phone conversation served as the SOS.

 I'll admit to be taken completely by surprise when it was revealed that Leo was the killer, and a smart criminal to boot. If I may pat myself a little on the back, I did figure it out when FBI Agent Lucas said Dolan was not the bad guy, but rather a state witness; but that was about 30 seconds before Leo revealed himself.

Two bits of insight I will take credit for: when Castle said, "It's a Vatican conspiracy," I knew a Da Vinci Code reference was coming; likewise, when Castle started tinkering with the CB radio, I knew the word "MacGyver" would follow.

Along those lines, a few other noteworthy lines included:

Castle: "How about we dive into this dessert? Because honestly that death thing is sounding pretty good right now."

Castle: "I'm just saying there have been worse dinners."
Beckett: "Like what?"
Castle: "Well, the dining scene from Alien comes to mind."

Ryan: "Catholic school is like combat. Unless you've been there, you don't know." (I've heard a lot of people say that.)

Castle: "Dude. Where's your car?"

They even gave one to Leo: "I may be safer outside."

Above and beyond mere "looks" were scenes full of looks: the entire dinner party; Beckett's and Castle's bickering after the dinner party; and Ryan's body language from merely thinking about -- let alone being in the presence of -- a nun.

My only picky little complaint: Castle's speech to Dolan about not shooting Leo being what Father McMurtry would have wanted was nice and touchy-feely; a more direct disincentive would have been Beckett saying, "I'm a cop. If you shoot him in cold blood, I have to arrest you for murder."

All in all, though, I thought this was a great episode. Next week's looks to be a little lighter.

Feel free to share your opinion of "After Hours."

Castle: "Secret's Safe with Me"

By Michael Seese

I hate being more than a week behind in my Castle-watching. If I had known that kids would get in the way ...

I could write this show! Midway through -- when Castle and Beckett went back to Anjelica's to confront her about the insurance fraud -- I said out loud, "The butler did it." And I was right! Castle was even gracious enough to use my exact words. Then, when they went to commercial I said, "Why commit the fraud? Just sell the $4 million bracelet for $4 million, and pay off your debts." And when they returned, what did Beckett ask Anjelica?

Overall, though, this was a mixed episode. There were a lot of good points. The homage to "Da Vinci Code" was a great way to start. 

In my writing, I enjoy throwing in pop culture references. (Did I mention I could have written this one?) 
 
I thought it was hilarious when Captain Gates turned into a giddy child when she saw the "Gemini" doll, and then became a fawning fan of Castle, the author. And I love the quirky characters they throw in. Last week, it was the makeup artists; this week, it was the you-store-it owner who looked at the victim's picture and said, really drolly, "She was a lot less bloody when I saw her."

My primary complaint was the plethora of plot implausibilities, some bordering on deux ex machina. Castle and Beckett wanted the contents of storage unit 317. A lot. Obviously, so did Felix. A lot. They didn't think to question him right then? Really? Wendell was able to take a photo of an artificial eye fragment and actually find the owner? Really? And then poor Wendell just happened to use the subway station which happened to have out-of-order cameras, allowing Kirby the butler to shove him in front of the train? Oh, and no one standing on the platform saw it? Really?

Oh well.

As always, much of the dialog had me in stitches.

Castle: "I learned so much," in reference to the time he and Alexis had "the talk."

Castle: "Mother used her Jedi mind tricks on me." (See pop culture reference comment above.)

Lanie: "Oh, you are in trouble." (After Beckett busted him rummaging through her desk.)
Castle: "I'm not in trouble." (Hangs up.)

Castle: "I'm a best-selling author. Why wouldn't I have two grand in my pocket?"

Castle: "I think my hand's getting sweaty."
Beckett: "I know. It's kind of gross."

And the capper, which was 50% a "look."

Beckett: "Take your hand off your tool."
Ryan & Esposito: (snicker)
Beckett: "Shut up."

My other favorite look was Castle's raised eyebrow when Beckett did not disavow her "kinky past."

Hopefully we will get to "Murder He Wrote"(I think that's next) sooner than next Tuesday night. 

PS: You'll notice I added some photos...thumbs up or thumbs down?

"Torn Between Two..."

By Michael Seese

... with all apologies to those of you who will now have that sappy 70s song in your head, I read something the other day which, to be honest, leaves me with mixed feelings.

Here is a link to the Wall Street Journal article titled, "Your E-Book Is Reading You"

It's an interesting, short piece. I would suggest you check it out. But the main point is this. If you use an e-reader -- a Kindle or a Nook -- then you obviously know that Amazon or Barnes & Noble are aware of the fact that you downloaded, for example, The Hunger Games.

But did you realize:

- If you read The Hunger Games in a single eight-hour sitting, they know.

- If you read the first ten pages of The Da Vinci Code, and then stop reading, they know.

- If you bookmark or highlight a passage, they know.

The privacy professional in me rates this about a "10" on the "creep-o-meter."

But the author in me thinks, Hmmm. I can't help but be intrigued by comments like "Pinpointing the moment when readers get bored could also help publishers create splashier digital editions by adding a video, a Web link or other multimedia features" and "If you can find out that a book is too long and you've got to be more rigorous in cutting, personally I'd love to get the information."

Hmmm.

Did you know about this?

What do you think?

Please share your thoughts.