by Michael Seese
I enjoyed "And Justice For All." I thought this episode strung together a lot of fun individual scenes, and wove them in nicely with the murder investigation. My favorites:
- Castle's "speed dating" with the ESL students, especially when Aida began speaking real French at him.
- Hayley's serving as an interpreter, translating Alistair's "English" to English.
- Castle's classmates throwing up roadblocks as the FBI began tailing Judge Caldwell.
- Castle's "death" at the hands of Hayley.
- NOT among my favorites was Martha's schmaltzy speech at the end about what makes America great.
- And...
(MINOR SPOILERS)
I thought it was VERY cool the way they touched on, in passing, Castle's missing six months by mentioning the letters he had received in response to his plea for information, and then bringing it to the forefront by having him flashback after tasting the Korean food.
And as always, Dr. Perlmutter provided a breath of fresh (or would that be stale??) air. Even before "the break-up," he detested Castle. But now that Beckett (in theory) hates Castle, Perlmutter is free to speak his mind.
"It's because of nitwit pretty boys like you that good men, like my brother Edgar..."
"There's a scalpel and a rib spreader if you need them."
And to back up a moment, when he told Beckett he had a twin, I loved her delivery of the line, "Uh, there's two of you?"
So while we're on the lines...
Castle: "I have a little writer's block, that's all."
Beckett: "So you're taking it out on the laptop?"
Castle: "Not the laptop. The cursor. Just look at it. Taunting me. It's just blinking on off on off. Like it's so easy to write a bestselling novel. Because I'd like to see you try it, Mr. Cursor."
Castle: "While I do love kissing you Beckett, it's just a little creepy when you do it in front of a dead body. It's inappropriate."
Beckett: "Sounds like our mild-mannered zoo keeper rattled a few cages."
Vikram: "Who is the sexiest digital investigator alive?"
Esposito: "No way I'm saying you, bro."
Castle: "In your position, I would have done the same thing."
Esposito: "No you wouldn't have."
Castle: "No I wouldn't have. I have a soul."
Picky aside: I can appreciate that the new arrivals might not know Richard Castle, author. (Though they could have; last time I checked, they do have books in England, Korea, Senegal.) But the teacher, John Emerson, should have recognized the amazing resemblance between the famous mystery writer and Jean-Luc de la Croix.
Please do share your thoughts on "And Justice For All."
by Michael Seese
It appears as though Castle P.I. is still on the job. Though I may be proven wrong, I suspect the show will remain light-hearted as long as Castle is flying solo. Of course, since the crime in Private Eye Caramba! involved a telenovela -- and Castle's assignment a purloined purse -- what are we to expect?
You knew the writers were having a blast when they put the gang on the set and let them watch the heated exchange between a raven-haired beauty and the open-shirted Fabio, minus the flowing locks and rippling muscles. Esposito's (obvious) total infatuation was a hoot. (As was his puppy-dog gushing over Sofia at the end.)
Also, I thought the contrivance to bring Castle into the fold was plausible enough.
Finally, I was glad to see they still had Ryan playing the C card.
Ryan: "She might have been killed by a psychotic plumber lying in wait."
Esposito: "Is that your Castle theory?"
And as always, I enjoyed the presence of Perlmutter, no offense to Lanie. And if memory serves, no "lividity."
Perlmutter: "Detective Beckett, it's so pleasant to see you and not see Castle."
The other quips of note included:
Castle: "I'll be my own muse."
Castle: "Canvasing? Oh, that thing you get Espo and Ryan to do."
Ronnie: "Oh, wow. I thought you were a writer. What happened?"
Castle: "A little awkward."
Beckett: "Try mortifying."
Beckett: "Do you realize how lucky you are?"
Castle: Extremely lucky. After all I'm married to you."
Esposito: "You do realize it was a prop gun."
Castle: "What?"
And, well, any of Castle's voiceovers.
"My phone was quieter than a dead church mouse."
"I was about to pour a little smile in my coffee."
"Give those gams of yours a rest." (OK, that one wasn't a voiceover. Still...)
So, how long do you think the Castle P.I. thing will last?
By Michael Seese
This was a pretty decent episode. Though Castle's typical outlandish theory was not as implausible as those in "The Fast And The Furriest" or "Undead Again," his insistence that the murderer followed "The Way of the Ninja" drew plenty of scoffs and eye rolls from Beckett.
Many episodes do not start with the murder; this one led off with a wicked kill, a knife sailing through the air (replete with a whish-whish-whish sound) and impaling a young woman's chest. Otherwise, the only other standout scene (IMHO) was the ninja fight at the end.
But overall, I thought it was a very lighthearted and humorous offering.
We were treated to the recurring change-up, the presence of Medical Examiner Perlmutter. As I've said before, I think he offers a nice contrast to Lanie. And I always enjoy his barely-contained disdain of Castle.
"What you don't know about post-mortem analysis could fill a book, Mr. Castle. In fact, it has. Numerous times."
Quick aside: since Lanie wasn't in the show, neither was "lividity."
We also had the obligatory reference to the victim's mental state of late; in this case, her dance partner noted that she had been "showing up distracted."
There were not a whole lot of great lines.
#1. Castle: "Not that any self-respecting ninja would be caught on camera."
#2. Not so much the line itself, but I laughed out loud when Castle raised his hand, and Ryan "called on" him: "Yes, Castle."
#2.5. Castle's reference to the "flying dagger of doom."
And the look was Castle's "what just happened" when the ninja slipped in, and stole the knife out of his hands. They kept the mood going when he sheepishly told Beckett, "A ninja stole the murder weapon." Then they capped it with Castle's appreciative, "Yeah!"
That's about it. Even though this review didn't gush, as I stated, I did enjoy it.
Feel free to share your thoughts on "The Way Of The Ninja."
