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: "Probable Cause"

By Michael Seese


One word: intense. (Though I probably should add five more: Sorry this is so late.)

I'll repeat a phrase I know I've used before. "Probable Cause" illustrates why Castle is a great show. You knew Castle wasn't guilty, even in the face of the video evidence. So the fun came from watching the events unfold and wondering exactly what was going on. And when exactly what was going on was revealed, it caught me completely by surprise. Also, I loved that the real culprit came forward halfway through, resulting in a tense cat-and-mouse game for the rest of the show.

And the villain is one horrifying cat. When I first watched "3XK," I said aloud that I hoped they'd bring him back; apparently the writers listened to me.

Though light on humor (I imagine "The Final Frontier" will remedy that), there were so many stellar moments.

The range of emotions portrayed on Beckett's and Castle's faces as she arrested him was spectacular acting. The scene at 2420 Nicholas -- 3XK's workshop -- was pure tension.

But the climax ...

When Beckett and Castle stopped to wait for the bridge, my wife said, "They're ..." Well, I won't repeat it. Suffice to say, the adjective she chose shares a lot of letters with "firetruck." The focused intensity on Beckett's face as she approached 3XK's car, firing, was amazing. So, too, was Castle's determination when he "manned up" and shot. (In sharp contrast to his milquetoast fight-esque in McCrawley's Bar in "Headhunters.")

The perfect coda came from one of the final exchanges.

Beckett: He's dead.
Castle: For now.

My only gripe comes from that final scene. We know 3XK is brilliant. We know he's a consummate planner. So when Beckett marched toward his car, blasting away, I said, "He's wearing armor." In fact, I probably said it loud enough that Beckett should have heard me. Then when Castle picked up the gun, I thought, OK, you know Beckett shot him and he's still alive. He wearing Kevlar. Go for the head. Go for head! But of course, had they done that, he really would be dead, and not able to appear in any future episodes, which now we are guaranteed will happen. (Since I know the writers pay close attention to my ideas.)

Look for my thoughts on "The Final Frontier" soon. 

Castle: "Murder He Wrote"

By Michael Seese

This was my least favorite episode of the young season. I can appreciate that the writers want to shake things up by putting the leads into new locales. But as I've said at least once before, I really consider New York City to be one of the characters. So if you take the show out of the city, it loses something. That's why "Murder He Wrote" left me lukewarm.  

Still, there were many good elements worth mentioning.

Four standout scenes come to mind. The first was the gang's inquisition of Beckett as they sought her boyfriend's identity; you just knew Castle couldn't resist lobbing a beach ball like, "A boyfriend, Beckett? Really?" Also noteworthy was Castle's and Beckett's back-and-forth as they realized that Franklin was the meth king of the Hamptons. Another was Ryan's interrogation of Aaron Lerner, especially the way he ratcheted up the intensity as he drew closer to cracking, not the case, but the Castle-Beckett romance. (Nit-pick: why wasn't Esposito on the other side of the one-way glass providing a second set of eyes and ears? They ALWAYS do that.) Finally, there was the speakerphone conversation between Castle (with Beckett listening in) and Ryan, where the two of them came to the dreadful realization that Ryan knew.

I also love how Castle's Ferrari has become the currency for favors from the boys, as in "Headhunters" last season.

The ending, likewise, was a nice surprise. As was the case with the episodes "Til Death Do Us Part" and "A Deadly Game," the killer was someone who was not even on the radar, but popped up at the last minute.

My two favorite lines were:

Castle: "Call 911."
Beckett: "Really?"

and

"Suspects tend to hold back on stuff like that," said by Castle to Chief Brady, in reference to the affair between Franklin and Natalia Roosevelt.

There were very few "looks." The best was Esposito's quizzical eyebrow arch as Castle and Beckett went their separate ways after the "boyfriend" discussion.

What did you think? Feel free to share your thoughts.